Based on the following, are you able to name three religions that are really cults and give examples?

Question

• Manipulative and authoritarian mind control over members

• Communal and totalistic in their organisation

• Aggressive in proselytizing

• Systematic program of indoctrination

• New membership of cults by middle class


(Well, seeing your responses should be amusing and/or interesting!)

Answer 1

The only difference between a delusion, a cult, and a religion is size. (Paraphrased; Mark Twain, I think.)

Answer 2

By your definition: Christianity as a whole, either in theory or practice.

Manipulative and authoritarian mind control over members
- "Believe in my God or go to hell."

Communal and totalistic in their organisation
- In theory. In practice, there's a lot of private property.

Aggressive in proselytizing
- 'Witnessing' and its variants

Systematic program of indoctrination
- Christian schools.

New membership of cults by middle class
I'm not sure what you mean on this one; is it that new members are drawn from the middle class? If that's the case, well, Christianity still qualifies.

Judaism is non-proselytising, so it fails your definition on at least one point.

Answer 3

Actually a cult is usually built around an individual with religious beliefs coming from that person and growing up around them. In addition a cult is usually small in number.

Rhsaunde, with the idea of Mark Twain, is actually one factor of a cult in the study of the Sociology of Religion. Size matters! Cults grow to be religions and are usually built around one central idea or a central persons who branches off of a major religion.

Cults are also defined by existing religious structures or even civic groups to set themselves in standing as authorities; to discredit a movement seen as a threat, real or imagined, or to mark off their membership from proselytizing.

Every religion in the world has aspects of a cult, based on the five factors and wording you have chosen. It would be interesting to see the source of your ideas?

Answer 4

Let's see. As far as I know pretty much all religions try to brainwash their followers, so your first criterion doesn't mean very much. Most religions also demand money for their church, much of which they then redistribute by giving to charities, so you could call all the ones that do that somewhat communal; this means your second criterion is also not very meaningful. Your third criterion doesn't fit all religions, it's primarily the three abrahamic religions that go around trying to convert people, so to make it easier we'll narrow it down to those three religions and any subreligions they have (i.e., catholicism and protestantism are subreligions of christianity). Your fourth criterion basically matches the first, so we'll ignore that too. Your final criterion doesn't make very much sense to me, but I'm sure the three abrahamic religions do it. So the final roster is:
1. Judaism
2. Christianity
3. Islam
and of course any of their subreligions.

Answer 5

Scientology

Moonies (the religious people with stadium weddings, not pulling down your pants at passing traffic)

Heaven's Gate

The list goes on and on...

Also see references to:

Jonestown & Waco

Answer 6

JW
Islam
Mormons
Hindus
THE KINGDOM OF THE CULTS written by a professor of religion says that any church that doesnt preach the TRinity is a cult.....Matt 28:19!!!

Answer 7

Oh no, girl---I think that is a dangerous question right there.......you will have many dissenters on your thread for real!!!!!!!!!! I'd stay away from that question--because one person's dissatisfaction is another person wrath!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

All religions are "cults" to any other religion that isnt a part of that sect...

Answer 9

Pick three examples of Fundamentalist Christianity. I think most of them fit that description. Especially the dispensational premillenialism types.

~Morg~

Answer 10

Mmmm? Is this a trick question?