Sects as a negative social phenomenon - a reading lesson

Sects as a negative social phenomenon

1. Pre-reading activities.
Students are split into small groups and in order to attract their attention and increase the awareness of the problem they are to discuss the following questions:
-Have you ever heard about sects?
-What are they? What is their purpose?
-What sorts of people join sects?
-In what sense do sects have a destructive influence on their members?
-What is your personal attitude to sects?
-Do you think that sects are dangerous and, therefore, should be illegal?

2.While-reading activities.
Students are requested to read a letter (adapted from” Advance”) and make a list of things the author is worried about:
Dear Uncle Philip,
I am writing to you for advice as, since Dad died, you have been like a father to me and I always respect what you have to tell me.
The other week I saw a flyer advertising a meeting for people interested in spiritualism and offering help for those with problems in their lives. As you know, after losing Dad so few weeks ago, I’ve been quite depressed and I felt I needed some help.
Well, the people there were wonderful- perhaps too wonderful. And some of the things they told me I had never heard in church before. I’m confused as they appeared to have some answers for me, but I feel a little suspicious about the group. I spoke to a friend of mine about the meeting and she was very suspicious herself. She said if she were in my shoes she wouldn’t have gone to the meeting. She warned me to be careful, otherwise I might get in trouble. So I think I should tell you more about them. At first I felt I had nothing in common with the other members; many of them were dressed strangely, in long, flowing blue robes. They had short hair, even the women. But as we chatted before the meeting started, I discovered that everyone there had lost someone dear to them at some time. And they were so nice to me, so understanding. I felt that everyone there was my friend.
Then the leader of the group began to speak. He is known as ‘The Reverend’, but didn’t dress like a church member. Everyone went very quiet when he got up to speak, and no one said a word throughout his speech. He told us that when people die, they go not to heaven, but to a place in the hearts of those who they have left behind. And because ‘their souls’ are inside us, he can help bring them back to us in spirit form, provided we believe in The Reverend’s method. He also told us that society doesn’t understand the connection we have to people we have recently lost, and if we talk to them about the meetings, they won’t understand. In fact, he went on to say that it is the attitude of outsiders that stops us from achieving ‘perfect joy’, as he called it, and that his group must remain a tight, closed unit. He also said that unless we make contact with our dead relatives now, we won’t be remembered by anyone when we die.
The last part made me sad thinking about it and it made me want to join the group, so I asked a couple of questions about them after The Reverend had finished speaking. It seems that unless we leave our families ‘behind us’, as he said, we cannot be considered a part of the group. Also, it turns out that all the members sleep together in one room. There are a lot of computers in the building and members earn money for the group by designing websites. This interested me, as you know I’m unemployed right now and I designed that website for your company last year; so you know that’s something I can do, but I think that not seeing my family and friends might be too much to ask for employment and help in getting over losing Dad.
I’m thinking about going to another meeting; I mean, they can’t make me stay with them, surely? But at the same time, I’m worried they may be one of these weird cults you read about from time to time, although do cults really advertise themselves?
I hope you have some thoughts on this matter that you can share with me. I’ll probably go to their next Saturday meeting , so I’ll see you at Aunt Jill’s birthday party on Sunday, and we can talk more then.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,
Love,
Angela
The author of the letter is worried about:
1. ........................................
2. ........................................
3. ........................................
4. ........................................
5. ........................................

-After checking the task with the whole group, students are asked to complete the text with missing words. They can’t use the words mentioned in the letter.

Angela decided to write to her uncle because she wanted to know his (1) .................. about the problematic situation that happened in her life. After her father’s (2) ................... she felt (3) .............. and she was looking for (4) ................... everywhere she could. One day she (5) ....................... in a meeting organized by a group of people (6) ..................... help for everybody in need. She was a little bit (7) ..................... with everything she saw and heard there. Although everybody was (8) .................. to her, they looked and behaved strangely. All of them, apart from the leader, were wearing the same, strangely-looking (9) ..................... and behaved in an automatic way. They seemed to be (10) ................... as they listened to their leader with full acceptance, without any (11) ....................... . No one (12) ..................... him while he was talking about contacts with (13) ..................... relatives. That was surprising because it was in complete (14) ...................... to what we could hear in church. He was trying to (15) .................... participants that the world doesn’t understand them that’s why they should live in a closed (16) ..................... .
Angela could become a (17) ....................... of this group but it was difficult for her to (18) .................. them. The necessity of (19) ............................ of families was too demanding for her. She couldn’t make up her (20) ..................... because on the one hand she hoped they could help her, but on the other side she was afraid they might be one of the cults we can sometimes read about.

KEY: 1-opinion, 2-death, 3-lost, 4-support, 5-participated, 6-declaring,7-shocked, 8-friendly, 9-clothes, 10-brainwashed, 11-reservation, 12-interrupted, 13-deceased, 14-contrast, 15-convince, 16-community, 17-member, 18-trust, 19-abandonment, 20-mind

3.Post-reading activities.

Students are supposed to work in pairs. They have to imagine that they are the people Angela has come to for advice. Their task is to prepare a reply letter including tips of how she should behave.