The Research On Anti-Cult Strategies In Communities In China

Various cults have been doing great harm to the society, and theorganizations and practices of the cults are not only affecting theinternational relations and national security, but also undermine the basisfor social stability, family relations and the physical and mental health ofthe public. However, the general public’s awareness of the harmful effectsof cults has been decreasing as the local government no longer attachesgreat importance to it. In contrast, the cult organizations, though underattack by countries around the world, are changing their strategies andtrying to penetrate into our society more aggressively. The growth trendand characteristics of the cults bring new challenges to our police securitysystem, thus this thesis will focus on the role that communities can play infighting against the cults with their information, network and otherresources. In response to the central government’s call for build aharmonious society, the communities should always make anti-cult animportant task. Communities, deeply rooted in and supported by the public, are capableof getting timely and complete information from the local residents. Withthe reform of government agencies and the change of governments’ role,communities enjoy the advantage of combining the efforts of various socialorganizations, non-government organizations and the public to fightagainst cults. By applying theories in crisis management, communitymanagement and community administration, this thesis will explore thenecessity, importance and feasibility for communities in China to fightagainst cults, so as to find out the principles and main responsibilities inthe anti-cult movement. The thesis will also review what has been achievedin fighting against cult since the foundation of the People’s Republic ofChina. In the end, we came to conclusions that communities in China arenot attaching great significance to anti-cult movement, and that there is agreat need for expertise and joint efforts by various departments.Currently, there still lie great differences in defining cults amongdifferent countries due to different political and religious reasons. However,they have all agreed on the bad effects of cults and the right stand theyshould take. In recent years, we have seen increasing exchange of anti-cultexperiences among anti-cult organizations and non-governmentorganizations from different countries and more cooperation amonginternational organizations and governments in fighting against cults andterrorism, which provides a good theoretical base and social context for the communities’ anti-cult movements in China. This thesis will do a casestudy of anti-cult efforts done by communities in Shanghai, andspecifically explore the strategies used in religious education, publicity,relief work and massive prevention, thus provide a comprehensive way tocope with cult-related issues in communities, such as helping the publicdevelop right religious belief, giving them more scientific insight andsolving the practicalproblems of the public.