Delusions and the Madness of the Masses by Reznek Lawrie;

Author:Reznek, Lawrie; [Reznek]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated
Published: 2010-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Do All Believers Have folie a culte?

So far I have argued that members of apocalyptic cults like Heaven’s Gate are suffering from the shared delusional disorder of folie a culte. Members of such cults acquire delusional ideas from their close and dependent relationship to a charismatic but psychotic leader. I have also argued that fundamentalists are deluded because, like the members of such cults, they too firmly adhere to beliefs against evidence to the contrary. But I have stopped short of classifying fundamentalists as suffering from the mental disorder of folie a culte. Is this consistent?

Tom Wolfe is right when he says, “A cult is a religion with no political power.” If the only difference between a fundamentalist religion (like Mormonism) and a cult (like Heaven’s Gate) is that the former has political power, then there seems to be no good reason not to classify the members of that religion as having folie a culte. After all, they all share delusional beliefs like the members of apocalyptic cults. So why not see them as suffering from a shared delusional disorder? It is to this question we now turn, looking at two cults that have become worldwide religions.

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