Christians... why the fascination with cults?

Question

OK, first of all, I understand the term "cult" to refer to any religious group. But there seem to be lots of people on this site, particularly Christians, who label some groups as cults in a negative sense, and imply that members of such cults are going to hell.

There are many Christian websites with several pages devoted to cults. There are many books sold in Christian bookstores about cults. There is even a Christian radio program in my area that talks about cults every Thursday night.

It's like they're trying to incite hatred toward people who actually make society better. Often they say things about these cults that aren't even true. Why do they do this?

Fish: according to my Webster's dictionary, a cult may be defined as: 1) formal religious veneration; 2) a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also its body of adherents... And you haven't answered the question either.

Alicia S: sorry, I suppose I am stereotyping. But the examples I have provided are quite factual. I guess I should have asked why do SOME Christians do this? I am a Christian myself, as a matter of fact (although many other Christians have told me I'm not).

MyPreshus: true, a cult may be defined that way too. Please see my remarks for Fish. You haven't answered my question either.

So you say: your definition of a cult (in the negative sense) is a bit more limited than some, and I think that is a good thing.

Fish: I see you've added more to your answer. I appreciate the extra info.

dianehaggart: that's a very interesting response. You turn a bad thing into a good thing. I like it.

iamonetruth: I agree. You make some very good points. We could all benefit from more love and less self-righteousness.

rkirby1331: you're exactly the kind of person I'm talking about! It's interesting that you single out the Mormons. Would you say it's OK to belong to any Christian church, as long as it's not Mormon?

KirstyCristy: you imply that all Christians (excepting those labeled as cults, of course) follow God's revealed truth. So why are there so many different versions (denominations, non-denominations, whatever) of revealed truth? Sounds more like chaos to me. Yet there are only a few groups (cults) considered to be wrong? Consider this: I'm thinking of a letter from A-Z, can you guess which one it is? (As long as you don't pick M, you're right!)

Answer 1

My answer:
Honestly, I think that the fascination with cults is a tool that satan uses to distract people from things that are truly important.

My reasoning:
You point out that it incites hatred. I think that it does much more than that. Each person who wastes their time reading such "anti" cult material, takes precious time away from reading God's word, from living a Christ-like life, and from truly spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In fact, I think that it is spiritually, very dangerous to get involved in the cult-bashing. First, it is only the opinion of some that certain groups are "cults". Many of the materials that they share are often inaccurate and amount to bearing false witness and lying. Also, spreading "anti" literature may actually keep some people from finding Christ. Finally, many of the people who spread such materials do so in a hateful way, giving a bad example of christian behavior and thus, they turn off people who may actually be interested in religion.

So, in my humble opinion, the fascination with and subsequent bashing of cults is not good for the believer, the so called "cult-member," or any other innocent by-stander exposed to such behaviors. The only one who benefits is Satan who joys in seeing people lose faith or get angry and who loves to cause divisions amongst supposed christians.

Answer 2

I agree with you 100% !!! I have found that most Christians I have met or spoke with (not all because I have not met all) basically say any religion (where the members accept Christ) in the world is correct other than Mormonism...how can that be?? Oh yeah, it is because Satan has so very cleverly blinded them into believing what they do, some of it is good, but they have stopped short of the complete gospel. Yes, accepting Christ is HUGE step towards eternal salvation BUT NOT the only step!
We could question all day long why why why do they do this and fight against us - but the answer it all stems from is: Satan. He knows the LDS church is true and is doing everything he can to prevent others from knowing it.

Answer 3

Well, cults are about deception and Chrisitians are about the truth...God's revealed truth.

Cults conflict with Christianity when they claim to be Christian but deny the deity of Jesus Christ, institute false doctrines, and follow false prophets. Cults are dangerous to the spirit and soul of mankind; the deception keeps people in hell and separated from God and His love.

The people who are in these cults can tell you for themselves that they have no connection to God and no assurance of their salvation; they have no idea what the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God is about. If they don't worship Jesus Christ as God, pray to Him, and have a personal relationship with Him, they are not Christians; they are a cult.

Answer 4

A cult is not any religious group... for starters.

A cult implies danger or spiritual harm, or misdirected faith or belief - i.e. Mormons claim to be Christians but have essential beliefs that are not in line with Christianity - a cult, and to be wary of.

Answer 5

Occult; when people of like mindedness gather together to share in their belief.Sounds like oxford classifies religions as a cult. I once read some place " judge not for ye shall be judged..."
Another little jewel... John13-34 I give to another commandment (that makes 11) to love one another as I love you.... That means that no is unloved no matter what their beliefs ie:same sex,non christians, ... We are all one. Self righteousness is the Nemesis of human KIND. People fear that which they do not understand. Ignorance ( Ignore the essence ) is a sin if ya really wanna git down ta da nittygritty dar boya.

Answer 6

I cannot speak for their motives I can only say the word cult defines a group such as Jim Jones. For me cults are deadly and against all mainstream anything. Waco and others define the word for me.

Answer 7

My church has often been called a cult I am LDS I feel its just because they really don't understand my doctrines.Yes Jesus wants us to love one anther not incite hatred towards each other.

If churches would truly work on being loving and caring in there own churches they would not have to hate and cause distention to other churches .
I actually love it when they call my church a cult because it causes people to ask questions about our church and causes people to become more interested in my faith.

Answer 8

the following contained in the united kingdom I have not heard of his cult-like status between some. it really is purely the foolishness of mankind, regrettably. What they don't recognize is that as Scripture says "God guidelines contained in the kingdoms of adult adult males and giveth them to whomsoever he will." it really is as authentic on the prompt as ever it replaced into. they imagine that because they could't see God both he's not there or he's passive. i imagine sooner or later they'll recognize there mistake. The extremely interesting ingredient is how will he manage Israel, for they're nonetheless God's people. i have heard completely opposite perspectives in this, so we wait to make sure the reality of it.

Answer 9

Christianity is essentially a criminal business enterprise... in fact, it is the world's longest running and most successful Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) scam. The product they are selling is the illusion of 'salvation'... and the 'pay plan' doesn't kick in until after you're dead. Meanwhile the VICTIMS (having been deceived into believing that it is their God-given duty) are out there busily recruiting MORE victims. What a racket! FORTUNATELY, it only works on those who are gullible enough, and sufficiently lacking in critical thinking skills, to fall for it, and buy in to the prepackaged delusion. UNfortunately, THAT accounts for about 75% of the population of the USA. (There are a lot more people who DON'T know how to think properly than there are people who DO know how to think properly.) That is why there are a lot more religious people in the USA than there are 'Free-thinkers'... including Atheists. Also, Christians are generally too dense to realize that proselytizing (spreading the 'good news') is a key element of the Christian MLM MARKETING PLAN, which was instituted after Christianity lost the political power that had previously allowed them to simply torture and kill anybody who did not comply. Now, they obliviously try to just pester and annoy people to death, through persistent obnoxiousness. If you stop to think about it, you will realize that Christians are very much like the Borg, on Star Trek Next Generation: "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." I would not be surprised to learn that thoughts of Christianity provided the 'creative spark' for the Borg concept.

Interestingly, statistics on supernatural beliefs count the USA on a par with backward, developing Third World nations, rather than among modern, advanced industrial powers.

Answer 10

The definition of a cult is worship of a personality.

an instance of great veneration of a person, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers:

Which religions worship personalities versus God?