ssed, and subject to fear and suspicion of everyone around in the group.What could cause people to join such groups when it is common knowledge that these groups are known to go against the norms of our society? Many of those who study these groups say that people tend to be more susceptible to manipulation in times of major change and crisis. During the 1960s there was an explosion of these new religious groups such as the Hare Krishna and Transcendental Meditation. A decade later, the human potential movement emerged, teaching self-awareness and consciousness expansion. Groups with self-styled s like Charles Manson, David Koresh, and Marshall Applewhite have flourished, teaching impending doom, using mixtures from Christianity, millennialism and even science fiction. Most of those who join these groups, do not join them with the intention of becoming a cultist, they are usually seeking a new religious group, or a self-help group, looking for some improvement in their lives. It is the group that they join that play on the individuals insecurities and giving them some sense of order and a reason for their existence in the world.There have been many religious groups that have caught the medias attention with their deviant behavior such as the members of Jonestown. Here are some other examples that will illustrate the complete dominance that the leaders were able to hold over the members of the cult.David Koreshs Religious group, known as the Davidian is one of the more familiar cuts during the past decade. On February 28, 1993, Storm Troopers of the ATF tried to enter the Branch Davidian compound in the outskirts of Waco, Texas, where David Koresh and his followers had set up their haven. The compound was stockpiled with weapons that were to be used for a holy war that the had claimed would be coming soon. David and his followers vowed there would be no surrender. For 51 days there was a standoff between the cult, and the ATF. T...
