Cults and the Ideology of Individualism in First Amendment Discourse

Abstract

Ever since the Puritans sighted their earthly Paradise somewhere near Plymouth Rock, the New World has been a nesting ground for sects, cults, revivals and alternative religions, both homegrown and imported. Today's cult religious groups, such as the Unification Church or the Church of Scientology, are like their predecessors in offering their adherents not merely an alternative religion but an alternative life style. The English Puritans, for example, were a small sect, most of whose members lacked political and economic status in the dominant culture. Their religion offered them an alternative vision of human worth that required their removal from the larger culture and acceptance of a counter-cultural life, including homogeneity in dress and demeanor, and a daily regimen in which most of their thoughts and activities focused on the religious community and its goals. In return for their immersion in the sect, adherents were granted membership in a family of like-minded people and the sense that their lives had meaning and value.