ch. 1. What are cults? Cults are harmful and extreme religious groups / Jayanti Tamm --
The term cult is misused for new religious movements / Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley --
Cults and religions have important differences / H. Stephen Shoemaker --
Cults and religions have similarities / Brad Hirschfield --
Mormonism and cults have similarities / Christopher Hitchens --
It does not matter if Mormonism is a cult / Michael Riley --
Scientology is a dangerous cult / Amy Scobee, as told to Mike Hess --
Scientology is more than just a cult / Janet Reitman --
ch. 2. Are cults a serious threat? Cults are prone to crime and violence / Tom O'Connor --
The threat of cults is exaggerated / Bruce A. Robinson --
Cults are a serious threat in Japan / Leo Lewis --
Some cults are sexually abusive / Celeste Jones, Kristina Jones, and Juliana Buhring --
Polygamist cults threaten women and girls / Carolyn Jessop, as told to Luiza Ch. Savage --
The practice of polygamy is defensible / Jacob Hodgen --
ch. 3. Why do people join cults? Cults brainwash their members / Michael Haag --
Cults do not brainwash their members / Bruce A. Robinson --
Psychological traits can influence people to join cults / Frank MacHovec --
People join cults for a variety of reasons / Robin Jackson --
ch. 4. How can cult members be helped? Ex-cult members can be deprogrammed / Rick Alan Ross --
Some cult deprogrammers are as harmful as cults / Dominic Streatfeild --
Some ex-cult members maintain healthy connections with their former cults / Gina Catena --
Children should not be returned to their parents in cults / Flora Jessop and Paul T. Brown --
Organizations to contact.
