New religious movements are often called labeled cults. The media often portrays these groups in a negative light and/or publishes a story about a mass suicide. Perhaps the most famous mass suicide is the one led by Jim Jones of the People's Temple. Jones created a new "world" in the island of Guyana called Jonestown. When some members left they reported physical and mental abuse. With that, a Congressman named Lo Ryan went to Guyana and while he was leaving he and four others were shot down. After, Jones ordered the suicide.
With Jones' charisma and his absolute power as the leader of the group, his disciples obeyed. He ordered this suicide because he was convinced American troops were coming for them because of the Congressman. 914 people were killed in the suicide. The members drank a liquid laced with cyanide but those who tried to escape were shot.
If the media constantly portrays these religious groups negatively then that might push the decline of religion in America even faster. Really, I think the ratio between benign religious groups and fanatical ones is 2-1 because the only groups that garner mass media coverage are the fanatical religious groups. Would these fanatical groups scare people away from religion or good?
How did you come up with the 2:1 ratio? I would be surprised if it was that close; I would expect something more like 15:1 or 20:1. It is true that fanatical religious groups receive more media attention than calmer ones. I think this is true of many things that are reported on. When was the last time you watched a news report on a good, happy family? My guess is never. Because it is more interesting and out-of-the-ordinary, most reports would focus more on a non-functional family, maybe including abuse or teen pregnancy. That doesn't mean that the majority of situations are like that, just that the majority of reports focus on that.
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