Is religion a fanatical cult?

Answer 1

It was'nt, but it is now fanatical because of the other invented religions providing different claims to what is portrayed in the original bible and therefore creates competition. IT'S A PRETTY SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS.

Answer 2

Religions are just different languages for spiritual universal laws governing human relations and institutions. I believe that faith in Christ is the love of conscience that will rejoin all humanity, so all the different religions or tribes will learn to find peace and harmony as members of one family. So all religions are intended for good purposes, but can be used for good or bad.

Any religion can be abused to exclude others, separate or divide people against themselves or each other, and thus become cultish if they restrict membership and discredit other groups.

Note: the best symbolism I could offer for religion is like the powerful ring in the "Lord of the Rings" -- where the temptation to abuse religion to covet and to control has corrupted the weak; and only the character Frodo, who to me symbolized freedom of religion, remained free from the temptation of the ring, which I equate to abusing religion to seize power over others.

Some negative signs of a cult include: whether leaders promote dependency on them and either punish or forbid those who ask to leave the group; they divorce followers from their family or friends who have different beliefs; they discredit or demonize others, or claim to be right while the others are wrong, or use other tactics to manipulate out of fear and division, instead of reconciling with or respecting all other people or groups equally.

Any true follower of any faith is thankful for and respectful of their traditions equally as any other, as God created all cultures and systems to serve good purposes.

I find that as long as people are true to their faith, their beliefs can be reconciled with any other true believers of any faith; and if people contradict their own faith, they will be in conflict with others as well. Those who are exclusive tend to be biased and limited in their judgment and understanding; those who are truly enlightened tend to embrace all people and religions openly.

Answer 3

religion is just A cult with more followers

Answer 4

Islam is as fanatical as it gets. Blow yourself up and get 72 virgins? Good grief!

Answer 5

Religion itself, all religions, any religion?

No.

but if you're not certain about one that you might have been told about recently, there's a good evaluative tool you can use:

http://www.ra-info.org/library/programming/Bonewits.shtml

Answer 6

some are.

Answer 7

uhh...sure...?