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Psychology of Destructive Cults Charismatic cult leadership can be found in the sarin (poison gas) attack on the Tokyo subways by the Aum Shinrikyo cult and the Sept. 11 terror attacks by the Islamic fundamentalists. Why did the people who followed the leaders feel compelled to obey their extreme instructions? Such cults have become prevalent in recent years with frightening results. The word cult has two distinct uses today. "The first sense in which it is used by some refers to doctrinal belief, that is, any religion whose teachings deviate from the doctrines of orthodox Christian belief is said to be cultic" (Paloutzian 166). However, we will focus specifically on the second definition provided: 'destructive cult' and it refers to a number of religious groups that are charged by their critics to seek to control and radically alter the personalities of their members. Paloutzian lists five ways that cults differ...

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