A cult is not a religion, but an aspect or character of a religion.
Cult expert Carol Giambalvo quotes from psychologists West & Langone, who give the following definition:
"A cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, Information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.) designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community." (West & Langone. 1986).
Why are Cults a Problem?
God has given everyone a free will. Cults by their manipulative techniques, weaken a person's will.
Cults are a danger to their members because:
Cults create a dependency that gets harder to break the longer one is associated with the cult. Proof of this is that once someone has been removed from the cult, and has been told how dangerous it is, they will fight to return to the cult, because they feel "safe" there.
Cult members can be asked to do anything to themselves, and will even commit suicide to please the cult leader.
Cults are a danger to people outside the cult because:
Cult members can be asked to do anything to others, and will commit any crime, including murder and robbery, to please the cult leader.
Thus cults are a menace to everyone, even those who are not cult members.
Cultism is completely at odds with Christianity. A cult can claim the name "Christian" (like the Children of God from the 70's) but that doesn t mean it is.
2006-11-21 05:49:29
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answer #1
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answered by Br. Dymphna S.F.O 4
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I don't know if there is a religion called 'Cultist'. There's Satanism, which is the only religous movement that's directly opposed to Christianity (mostly anti-Catholic, though). There are a ton of religions that have no association with any form of Christianity.
There's Hinduism, Buddhism, Wiccan...Islam & Judaism have the same characters but don't agree %100 with the New Testament. I've listed some of the major ones in existence today but there are a lot more lesser known ones and there were the 'old' religions that the Greeks and Egyptians used, often refered to as cults. There was also Zorastrianism and Mithraism...
2006-11-21 05:49:27
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answer #2
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answered by strpenta 7
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Every cult has a different belief system. So no two believe the same. But, they do have some similar characteristics. Most will try to isolate their followers form friends and family. They easily preying on those that are weak and under-socialized or some how "different." Often the leaders will attmept to control members by any means. Generally the leaders have a skewed sense of reality, are charismatic and become almost a father (or mother) type figure to followers.
2006-11-21 05:52:16
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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Anything that is not mainstream or can not fit into one of these religion basis:
1)Christianity
2)Catholism
3)Hinduism
4)Muslim
5) Buddaism
And any form of mass organized Religion. At one time when Jesus was teaching his religion christianity base. It was called a cult as it did not fit within the norm of Roman Polythesim at the time. So, my guess would be given any time throughout history any of the main world religions could have been classed as cults due to the number of followers and believers of the "new" faith.
Thanks
2006-11-21 05:49:53
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answer #4
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answered by devilduck74 3
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All religions are cults. They're pretty much interchangeable. Well, I guess you could have a cult that has nothing to do with religion, but not the other way around.
2006-11-21 05:41:06
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answer #5
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answered by Chris J 6
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The only difference between a religion and a cult is popularity.
2006-11-21 05:44:38
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answer #6
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answered by sprcpt 6
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The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen.
2006-11-21 05:43:34
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answer #7
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answered by The Doctor 7
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2016-12-10 13:08:16
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answer #8
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answered by ? 4
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Cultism.
2006-11-21 05:40:10
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answer #9
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answered by St. Mike 4
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Any group that believes it is the only true faith is a cult
2006-11-21 05:42:04
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answer #10
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answered by Anonymous
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