Religion and its history have managed to manifest themselves in all aspects of human existence from the dawn of humanity to the present day, becoming an inevitable part of our lives. Even if we do not belong to a specific religion or sect, many of the people around us believe in a certain religion or ideology. The reasons for this include the human search for meaning, the attempt to establish a sense of belonging, and a kind of socialization that adapts to societal norms and avoiding exclusion. To meet these needs, the first and easiest way that comes to mind – and the oldest way – is the concept of religion and communities. To distinguish between sects and religion, it is necessary to first examine these two entities separately.

We can clearly state that sociology and religion has always been integrated and according to historians, the history of sanctuary and sect polarities have long history. The terms have analyzed in sociological way by Max Weber for the first time. He contends that a hierocratic organization is a political organization that maintains order by mental coercion by awarding or denying religious advantages (hierocratic coercion). A forced hierocratic organization will be referred to be a ‘sanctuary’ if its administrative staff claims a monopoly on the permissible use of hierocratic coercion. Peter Berger simply explains Weber’s ideology on sanctuaries and sects as; Sanctuaries are under the roof of ministries and memberships are obligatory.

Meanwhile a sect is based on volunteering and those who are a member of a sect must be qualified.’ Weber also mentioned that the ‘charisma’ of the church relates to the office, but the sect is affiliated with the leader. (Berger, “Sociological Study of Sectarianism”)

Sanctuaries are universalistic, unlikely the sects, they rule the masses, mostly conservative and they are parallel with social orders. In other words, sects are basically smaller rather than churches or mosques, they based on personal comradeship, and they refuse to domination of the masses. Population of the church is consisting of upper class that becomes a part of social order while sects are formed with lower class population.

PARTICIPATION IN CULTS

For a social group to exist, it must be gathered consciously. If it is not gathered for a purpose, it is not a group but a community (Günay, 2000:25). Memberships in the sect usually begins with the love and attention shown to new members by high-ranking officials. People who come together around a new religious belief are united by shared religious rituals and worship, and they develop a new perspective on the outer world. The followers of the new religion are distinguished from and even isolated by this mentality inside the conventional culture (Günay, 2000:252). As we have mentioned before, those who are at the membership stage fall into the path of adopting the sect by succumbing to this interest and love due to alienation, loneliness, and lack of meaning in their lives. Members who leave the group shortly after completion of membership find it difficult to adapt to the outside world and return to the sect as the only remedy.

Cult members conclude that their psychological well-being is positively affected due to the reasons mentioned above. The term “New Religious Movement” (NRM) has become a common designation for all belief systems that have emerged from scratch in the last century.

The most notable feature of these types of religions is their innovative and contextually relevant solutions for the modern world. These movements are often led by an authoritative and charismatic leader who easily influences the masses. Under the pretext of being different from others, they complete their membership under the title of ‘outsiders’ or ‘being different,’ requiring them to prove their loyalty. To the extent that cults can sometimes overshadow even a person’s family and other cherished aspects of life.

THE IMPACT OF CULTS IN DIFFERENT AREAS

The public’s acceptance and enculturation of sects is attributed in large part to socioeconomic, political, and cultural factors. Some communities see their Sheikhs as intermediaries in the way of God. So much so that some sects hold the Sheikh above God. The sphere of influence of sects is wider than thought. Sufism, which has no place in Islam, in other words, eastern mysticism, began to take place in Islam centuries after the death of the last prophet Muhammad, this proves to us that these are teachings that have no place in Islam. Depending on the eras, places, tribes, sects, Sufi philosophers’ proclivities, their mores, and the sects they belong to, approaches to the topic of women might vary significantly, though most often they do not. These viewpoints oppose one other and have some commonalities. Sometimes a woman who has been humiliated to the furthest degree is elevated and brought up to the status of an angel.

There are significant disparities between the treatment of women in different nations before the advent of Islam. For instance, women had no rights in marriage, inheritance, and other areas according to ancient Hindu law. The founder of Buddhism, Buddha, initially rejected women as members of his faith. Later, he let women to practice his faith, although he claimed that they posed a threat to Buddhist society. In ancient Greece and Rome, women likewise didn’t have any rights. Their desire to be happy and have a son was the main reasons they got married. These arguments make it clear that women had no rights prior to the advent of Islam and that certain communities did not even view them as human beings (ACAR Gülsüm, Tarikatlarda Kadının Konumuna Sosyolojik Bir Bakış, 22).

Islam does not differentiate between people and Islam places a lot of value on women. If someone practices religion and good acts, it is the only thing that separates them from other Muslims. The first person to believe in Prophet Muhammad was a woman, Khadija, when he first introduced Islam to the populace and started to preach it. In Islam, people are solely distinguished by their conduct and level of faith.

In general, sects do not talk about women’s gender but about women’s identity. There are many, but not all, cults that argue that women’s individuality is being killed and that they have nothing to contribute except to define certain roles for women. Some sects for example has a structure that does not restrict women’s education.

In Turkey specifically, it has been observed that some communities in Turkey and some similar sects trivialize the place of women in society and narrow the boundaries of their human rights, which can be understood by looking at the behavior of people who are members of these groups and in the sphere of influence of these groups. Professor Yeşim Arat summarized her views on this issue as follows: ‘Religious communities organized through civil society and trying to spread their views around the world, it is an undeniable fact that women’s places in social and public life are restricted and encouraged to more traditional roles’ (Burhan Gurdoğan, Religious Movements in Turkey, Dec 20, 2010). Cults in generally, tries to narrow down the importance of women in every field of life and in some societies that are easy to shape the culture like Turkey, society started to believe that women should ‘obey’ some certain rules and norms. We can say that it is not valid in every city in Turkey but especially in the rural area women have no voice basically. When we consider it on the side of culture; it might change. Culture is sort of living thing that can evolve, lose certain believes and norms and even meaning of the words are changing. What has been trying to be said here is that cults have important place in todays’ culture of Turkey that has obviously negative effects on the society to be fully function by narrowing down certain group of people that are part of the country and social life. All these cults and ideologies that has effect on people can be beaten by inoculating households with the power of media, colleges and teaching moral values in primary schools. At the end of the day, fully functioning society will be built up with no hard power and the equality that we are trying to reach will be provided.