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Religions/Cults

I suppose Ayn Rand and objectivism fits into this category. I've never read any of her books but I'm a little familiar with the philosophy.
Sciencetolgy (sp?) is an interesting and contreversial religion. I think there are a few books out by its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
 
I would try Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, which isn't ABOUT the religion, Bokannon, but just presents it as an important part of a very good story - it's truly a classic.

Another good one is Threads: The Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn by Nell Gavin. That's an historical fantasy that goes into the philosophy behind reincarnation by following Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII through several lifetimes - the "before and after" story of a disasterous royal marriage.
 
There's a pretty well-known book about Jim Jones in Guyana, which is a true story, of course.

Heart of Darkness (in case you haven't heard of it?) is Joseph Conrad's book about travelling upriver through the jungle to find Kurtz, a man rumoured to have established a culture with him at the center.
 
Thanks Novella,
Haven't read 'Heart of Darkness', i'll put it on my ever growing list.
Was the film 'Apocalypse Now' based on the book with Marlon Brando playing Kurtz.

Any idea what the Jim Jones book is called? :confused:
 
Yes Apocolypse Now was based on Heart of Darkness ... I would say very loosely based, but the key tenets survived :)

Phil
 
Is the Jim Jones book Our Father Who Are in Hell: The Life and Death of Jim Jones
James Reston
and has anybody read it.??
 
cabrasopa said:
I enjoy reading books on 'New Religions/Cults' Fiction or Non Fiction any suggestions
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You might consider glancing at this scholarly work of five volumes

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Complete/Series/FP.html

The Fundamentalism Project
A series from the University of Chicago Press

Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby, Editors


Page one of volume one makes the interesting observation that every religion has fundamentalist sects, and though many of those sects condemn modernizations, all of them avail themselves of Internet, E-mail, Word Processing and Desktop Publishing to preach their message to the world.

The above work is cited in the FURTHER READING section of this related Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism is the precursor to the formation of sects and cults.

Note from Wikipedia that there are non-religious forms of fundamentalism recognized:

Non-religious fundamentalism

Some refer to any literal-minded or intolerant philosophy with pretense of being the sole source of objective truth, as fundamentalist, regardless of whether it is usually called a religion. For example, when Albania under Enver Hoxha declared itself an "atheist state", it was deemed by some to be a kind of "Fundamentalist Atheism" or more accurately "Stalinist Fundamentalism". There are people who in their attempt to live according to the writings of Ayn Rand seem to detractors to transgress respect for other perspectives in propagating their views, so that they are deemed to be a kind of "Objectivist Fundamentalist", and they are spoken of derogatorily as, "Randroids." In France, the imposition of restrictions on public display of religion has been labelled by some as "Secular Fundamentalism." The idea of non-religious Fundamentalism almost always expands the definition of "Fundamentalism" along the lines of criticisms. Occasionally, it represents an idea of purity, and is self-applied as signifying a rather counter-cultural fidelity to some noble, simple, but overlooked principle, as in Economic fundamentalism; but the same term can be used in a critical way.
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I've never read it, but you could try Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. It's about murders committed by these staunch Mormons and also raises questions about the importance of faith.
 
novella said:
Heart of Darkness (in case you haven't heard of it?) is Joseph Conrad's book about travelling upriver through the jungle to find Kurtz, a man rumoured to have established a culture with him at the center.
Click to expand...

The Simpson's parody was pretty good.
 
There are mentions of cult activity in The Face on the Milk Carton, which I enjoyed in eighth grade. I think it was because one character was in the Hare Krishna. But it's not really about cults; it's about other things mostly.
 
Definitely try The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis. It is more on the religious side... its about letters from hell surfacing to a servant of Satan. Also The Divine Comedy by Dante talks about travels through the afterlife. Very interesting and wonderful novels.
 
Jim Jones Cult - Taping of suicide posted to You Tube

I know this is an old thread, but it had some discussion of Jim Jones, and this is a relatively new video posted to YouTube that I just ran across last week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_0ZhrZhDr0&mode=related&search=

Historically, it's unbelievable. The final 45 minutes (edited?) of the Jonestown cult was recorded, and you hear Jim Jones talking them and cajoling them through their mass suicide, with babies screaming in the background. Wait for the ending...dead silence.

I remember the Jonestown Massacre. This video was the first time I ever got any insight into how and why something like this could happen. Beyond chilling. Listen for yourself...
 
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