what`s the difference between a religion and a cult?

Question

It just shows how close the two are, except society accepts a religion and assumes cultists are fanatics. Food for thought.

Answer 1

the is no difference thay both brainwash one douse it on a small scale cult religion on a big scale

Answer 2

Within a healthy religious environment, family bonds are upheld and even strengthened, questioning of the leader and basic tenets is accepted, and the leader lives in a similar manner to the followers. One is offered all the information necessary to make an educated decision about joining, and once involved, people can choose the amount of involvement that feels right to them.

A cultic environment tears families apart, does not accept any questioning, and has a leader who claims to have an exalted position and to be above reproach. The cult is designed to solely advance its own goals, to abuse the members’ trust, and to use fear and shame to manipulate the followers. It freely utilizes deceptive techniques while recruiting new members and fundraising, misuses scripture, and declares other belief systems as false. Because it is not under the umbrella of a recognized religion, there is no governing body and the leader is, therefore, free to do as he or she pleases.

We have compiled the following comparative list to address this question, though there is no definitive answer.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A DESTRUCTIVE CULT AND A RELIGION

CULT, CULTIC GROUP RELIGION
Deceit in recruitment Information offered up front
Totalitarian Allows freedom of thought and members have a say
Destroys that family unit Promotes the family unit
Isolates its members Works within society
Keeps non-believers out Open to general community
Limits development of individual Interested in promoting potential
Exploits and manipulates its members with mind control techniques While there are guidelines members are not systematically controlled
Commitment is encouraged during recruitment process Thought before commitment is encouraged as part of conversion process
Criticism is met with threats of legal action People are free to speak out against the tenets of a religion
Leader and follower consider leader to be above reproach Clergy are expected to be responsible for their words and actions
Questioning the leader, or basic tenets, is not allowed Critical thinking is allowed and sometimes even encouraged

Answer 3

a religion is the standard accepted Belief System of a Culture and Society. cult is a belief system which goes against the accepted Belief System of the Culture and Society. when Christianity started it too was considered a cult. thus Christianity remained until the empire Constantine made it the official religion of Rome raising it's status from cult to accepted Religion.

Answer 4

a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and recently founded religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. Its separate status may come about either due to its novel belief system, because of its idiosyncratic practices or because it opposes the interests of the mainstream culture. Other non-religious groups may also display cult-like characteristics.

Religion is a system of social coherence based on a common group of beliefs or attitudes concerning an object, person, unseen being, or system of thought considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine or highest truth, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions, and rituals associated with such belief or system of thought. It is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system"[1], but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.

Answer 5

None. A cult is defined as a religious group. So anyone of any religious group is in a cult. OOOH scary. We always think of a cult as being evil. It's not. The media likes to use the word cult to make it sound like something sinister. The word occult sounds sinister too. When we bleed from our rectum we hav Occult blood. Does that mean that we have evil intent in our bowels? Nope occult just means hidden that's all. Funny how words are used out of text to try to make things worse than they are.

Answer 6

religion is an accepted cult by society

A cult is just a cult with out the acceptance of society

Answer 7

a religion is a reckognised body of people ... they would have rules and regulations set that they would have to adhere to ... they would be in reciept of government funding and charitable donations
a cult would be unreckognised by law ... with no official rules set in place other than those set up within the group

Answer 8

a cult is a religion that is out of the mainstream and people look down upon, therefore making it "evil"

or
a cult is a religion with a named deity, I heard that definition somewhere.

Answer 9

PR!

A cult is a religion without political power. - Tom Wolfe

Answer 10

the president of the USA is expected to belong to a religion, instead of a regular cult.