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Friend · **Cult v Religion -** 04-16-05

....does anyone know the difference between a cult and a religion?

Synikul · 04-16-05

The number of members.

eresh_cloudy · 04-16-05

A cult is a "religious" sect generally considered to be extremist, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. (focussed on a leader/person)

A religion is a belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe, and the set of beliefs, values, and practices that go therewith. (focussed on divinity/g'd)

Friend · 04-17-05

Quote:

Originally Posted by eresh_cloudy

A cult is a "religious" sect generally considered to be extremist, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. (focussed on a leader/person)

A religion is a belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe, and the set of beliefs, values, and practices that go therewith. (focussed on divinity/g'd)

would you say Islam, Judaism and Christianity are religions?

Uncletiggs · 04-17-05

Islam, that prays to Allah,
Judaism, that prays to God,
and christianity, that prays to jebus?

I think they fall into the religion catagory.. in general..

I would, and do in some cases, believe that many of the smaller offshoots of these main religious beliefs may fall into the 'cult' catagory.

Necropolis · 04-17-05

Actually Synikul is right in away, a Religious Movement has to reach a certain number of members before it is no longer considered a cult but a Religion.

Here is what a cult is though...

Quote:

http://www.therfcc.org/cult-1344.html
Definitions of a cult

The literal and traditional meaning of the word cult, from the Latin cultus, meaning "care" or "adoration", is "a system of religious belief or ritual ; or: the body of adherents to same." In French or Spanish , culte orculto simply means "worship"; an association cultuelle is an association whose goal is to organize worship (andwhich is eligible for tax exemption). The word for "cult" is secte (French) or secta (Spanish). See false friend . In German or Russian the expression totalitarian religious group hasa slightly different meaning than the English word cult in addition to the German word Sekte. In formal use,and in non-English European terms, the cognates of the English word "cult" are neutral, and refer mainly to divisions within asingle faith, a case where English speakers might use the word " sect ". Hence Roman Catholicism , Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism arecults within Christianity . In English, it remainsperfectly neutral to refer to the "cult of Artemis at Ephesus " and the "cult figures" that accompanied it, or to "the importance of the Ave Maria in the cult ofthe Virgin ."

There is no agreed-upon definition of what a cult is; however, several alternative formulations exist, including thefollowing:

Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply withleadership's demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control , and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious dependency on the group and itsleaders [1]Cult: A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing andemploying unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control . . .designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or thecommunity. [7]The problem with defining the word cult is that (1) purported cult members generally resist being called a cult, and(2) the word cult is often used to marginalize religious groups with which one does not agree or sympathize. Someserious researchers of religion and sociology prefer to use terms such as new religious movement in their research on cults. Such usage may lead to confusion becausesome religious movements are "new" but not necessarily cults, and some purported cults are not religious or overtly religious.Where a cult practises physical or mental abuse, psychologists and othermental health professionals use the terms cult, abusive cult, or destructive cult. The popular pressalso commonly uses these terms. However, not all cults function abusively or destructively, and among those that psychologistsbelieve are abusive, few members would agree that they suffer abuse. Other researchers like David V. Barrett hold theview that classifying a religious movement as a cult has no added value, instead, he argues, that one should investigate thebeliefs and practices of the religious movement.

Some groups, particularly those labelled by others as cults, view the designation as insensitive, and feel persecuted by whatthey call the " anti-cult movement ", the existence of which isdisputed.

Such groups often defend their position by comparing themselves to more established, mainstream religious groups such as Catholicism and Judaism . Theargument offered in this case can usually be simplified as, "Christianity and Judaism can also be defined as cults under somedefinitions of the term, therefore the term cult is superfluous and useless."

Another problem with writing about cults comes about because they generally hold belief systems that give answers to questions about the meaning of life and morality . This makes it difficult not to write inbiased terms about a certain cult, because writers are not neutral about these questions. Some writers who deal with the subjectchoose to explicitly state their ethical values and belief systems to deal with this difficulty.

For many scholars and professional commentators, the usage of the word "cult" applies to maleficent or abusive behavior, andnot to a belief system. For members of competing religions, use of the word remains pejorative and applies primarily to rivalbeliefs (see memes ), and only incidentally to behavior. ...<continues>

Quote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult
Cult

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This article does not discuss "cult" in its original sense of "religious practice"; for that usage see cult (religion). See Cult (disambiguation) for more meanings of the term "cult". In religion and sociology, a cult is a group of people devoted to beliefs and goals which are not held by the majority of society, often religious in nature. Its marginal status may come about either due to its novel belief system or due to idiosyncratic practices that cause the surrounding culture to regard it as far outside the mainstream.

Other resource linkes are..
http://www.religioustolerance.org/cults.htm
http://www.holysmoke.org/hk000/97.htm

Friend · 05-06-05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darktiggr

Islam, that prays to Allah,
Judaism, that prays to God,
and christianity, that prays to jebus?

I think they fall into the religion catagory.. in general..

I would, and do in some cases, believe that many of the smaller offshoots of these main religious beliefs may fall into the 'cult' catagory.

I would say these practices are politics, not religion, but then again its just my humble opinion.

Friend · 05-06-05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necropolis

Actually Synikul is right in away, a Religious Movement has to reach a certain number of members before it is no longer considered a cult but a Religion.

Here is what a cult is though...

Other resource linkes are..
http://www.religioustolerance.org/cults.htm
http://www.holysmoke.org/hk000/97.htm

so if I as a single person followed the Hindu tradition which allows me to form my own religion, would I be following a cult with a membership of one, or following a religion?

Necropolis · 05-09-05

Friend, lol No, one person can only have a belief, or an ideal, the term 'cult' refers to a group focus on something.
There is no set minimum size as far as I know, but I imagine it would be more than 10.
Although I cant seem to remember or find out how many members a religion has to have before becoming a religion, it is interesting to note, that most Cultwatch Sites, veiw any religion that isn't Christianity either a cult or a False religion, This is the Cult Watch Page for my Country http://www.cults.co.nz/ae.html

Dark Messiah · 05-09-05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Friend

....does anyone know the difference between a cult and a religion?

The constant attempts to be clever are failing. Just come out and spew whatever ill-informed and poorly-based opinion you're trying to lead up to, and spare us the fucking runaround.