Portal:United States Congress

Summary

Portal:United States Congress The Cult Phenomenon in the United States… (1979)

In response to simple questions about their future goals and possible return to the United States, the responses were frighteningly similar: the answers were devoid of normal emotion, speaking in monosyllables and quite often not in proper response to the questions asked, making it appear that certain answers were programmed to field a number of questions.
These women showed little interest in careers or college goals, expecting an early marriage within the cult to be the only option in life.
Source: Wikisource

Portal:United States Congress The Cult Phenomenon in the United States… (1979)

As society has become highly industrialized and sophisticated, changes have occurred that I believe bear heavily on the recent proliferation of cults in the United States.
The People's Temple, while not a religious cult, was, without a doubt, a cult. The people who were attracted to Jim Jones apparently were unwilling or unable to fulfill all of their needs in what many of us would consider acceptable bounds of human behavior.
The breakdown of the family unit in the United States along with individuals' overwhelming desire to be accepted preceded the tragedy we now know as Jonestown.
Source: Wikisource

Portal:United States Congress The Cult Phenomenon in the United States… (1979)

Although I was a victim of the attempted murder, a witness to the assasination of Congressman Leo J. Ryan, and exposed to the encampment at Jonestown, I do not present myself here before his Committee as an expert on mind control or cults.
What I have to offer to this Committee are my personal thoughts, observations, and conclusions regarding Congressman Ryan's research and investigation into cults and particularly the People's Temple.
Cults are not new in American society. They have been an integral part of the American fabric since the inception of this nation.
Source: Wikisource

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