The CULTure

In Vulnerability: The Bait for Cult Leaders, Kayla Tucker defines a cult as “a social group that identifies by its unusual beliefs or common interests. But more recently, cults have been defined as groups that use manipulative techniques to brainwash their followers to achieve particular goals.” In other words, a cult is a group of people that have come together with a unified belief, interest, or goal that may or may not require breaking moral and legal codes. Kayla Tucker explores cults through the use of ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos. Tucker includes case studies to show how vial cults can be. One case study, written by psychiatrist Michael Jellinek, discusses a seventeen year old boy who became lonely and vulnerable which led him to join a cult. This is a prime example of Tucker using ethos as she cites a case study written by Jellinek, a credible Harvard professor. Along with her extensive research, Tucker plays upon our natural human emotions such as sympathy and our ability to care. Pathos plays a major role in this article as Tucker includes her beliefs, specific unfortunate examples, and at times horrific examples of how cults operate. Tucker creates a good article, however, at times is guilty of logical fallacies. The slippery slope fallacy is present as she makes a correlation between vulnerability and joining a cult. Throughout the article, Tucker states that vulnerable individuals who are lonely and may suffer from mental health issues are far more likely to join a cult. This may be true, but there is no evidence or data provided to prove this, only case studies and expert opinion. Overall, this article works due to kairos, the timing of different examples, opinions, and facts by Tucker.