couldn't all religion be a cult in a way?

Question

these new cult pop up all over the place such a scientology. i'm thinking couldn't all religions just be old cults?

don't really want to offend... sorry if i did

Answer 1

Not all religions possess qualifying criteria. Every cult can be defined as a group having all of the following five characteristics (let's take Scientology as an example):

(1) It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate & retain its members.

Read here about the use of mind control and brainwashing in Scientology: http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/s/scientology/pignotti/
This article was written by Monica Pignotti, Cult Intervention Specialist and former Scientologist.
Here is more information about Scientology "TR's", or Training Routines (which are billed as a way to improve communication skills, but whose real purpose is to plant the seeds for thought control): http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/TR/

(2) It forms an elitist totalitarian society.

It is official Scientology policy to label anyone who disagrees with the practices of or questions the validity and/or benignity of Scientology as a “Suppressive Person”. The policy also requires members to “disconnect” from them.

(3) Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable & has charisma.

Meet L. Ron Hubbard:
http://www.xenu.net/entheta/entheta/media/tv/secret/secret.html
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/Bare%20Faced%20Messiah.pdf
http://slate.msn.com/id/2122835/?nav=ais

(4) It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds & recruit people.

Absolutely. After all, Hubbard DID create his own religion on order to scam people out of their money: http://lisatrust.freewinds.cx/scientology/hubbard.htm
Scientology is, in fact, seen as nothing more than a business in many countries (which is why, in those countries, it is appropriately NOT regarded as a religion). Here's the Wikipedia article on "Scientology as a business": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business#
And nothing is too low for them: if people leave the church under unfavorable conditions, the church then charges them a "free-loader debt" which is basically retroactive billing for any auditing received or any Scientology training received while in the Sea Org, which can run into tens of thousands of dollars.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/scientology/history/history15.html#European

(5) Its wealth does not benefit its members or society.

The only "benefit" to society that Scientology claims is it's drug rehabilitation program (which is utterly ineffective and whose "success" statistics have been manipulated or outright doctored by Scientology) and it's "stand" against psychiatry.
This is a site that takes a critical look at their drug rehabilitation program which goes by the name of "Narconon": http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/index.html
And here's an article entitled "Scientology's War On Psychiatry": http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/index_np.html?pn=1

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Obviously not all religions are cults, but some are. And some groups that CLAIM to be religions are nothing more than cults (as is the case with Scientology).

Answer 2

There are a million definitions accessible, yet listed the following are 2 that i imagine are the most perfect: a million. Formal - a faith is a longtime perception device, and a cult is a permutation or altered version. E.g., technically Christianity is a cult of Judaism, and Mormonism is a cult of Christianity. 2. undemanding - the undemanding comprehend-how is tha a mainstream faith is a longtime faith held by technique of thousands and thousands. E.g. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc. A cult in this view can be a volatile sect that alters the practise of suggested faith and typically has more advantageous sinister factors like bilking for money, communes that couldn't help you contact your relatives, ritual abuse of any style, etc. So, those are extremely both perfect methods to appreciate the words. wish that enables. Ath

Answer 3

If choose to redifine the word, cult, I suppose so. But Cults are characterized by a few things that most established religions aren't, such as being centered around a charismatic leader and the tendancy to cut off members from any outside influence. This is why Pentacostals aren't a cult and Branch Davidians were.

It is intresting to note, however, that most, if not all, relgions started as cults. Its not hard to imagine Jesus and his disciples as a cult. Cults change to religions when they become institutionalized. Being a christian is no longer about following Jesus around personally and trusting only him, its about (in part) belonging to an established organization.

Answer 4

For all religions to be cults, there would have to be brainwashing involved - making people do what they wouldn't normally do and changing who they are. Do traditional religions do that? Whilst in the cult, the members will say that they are happy - it's not until they get out that they realise how wrong they were. Is it the same with Church? Do you go there to feel better and think that you're happy, but then leave and realise it's all crap? You decide...

Answer 5

A cult is a minor religion rejected by the majority.

Christianity started out as a cult!

To answer your question YES!

Answer 6

Yes, all are cults. Religion was invented to control people, and make them do what the leader wanted.

Like the Abrahamic religions all have violence in their religious texts. How else would a ruler get so many people to go kill other people? And then he also got the people to give him money to keep his armies going by telling them their money would buy them a ticket to heaven.

Answer 7

What is a cult?


In accordance with dictionary.com a Cult is:

1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.

Under this definition all religions are cults!
But the definition that is used the most is:

6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
Any religion that you consider false is a cult (but Scientologist don't live outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader).
So any religion can be a cult depending of the point of view of the observer.

For example: Jesus Christ was persecuted, captured and killed because he was considered to be a cult leader. Christians were persecuted and killed for centuries because they were considered to be cult members. To this day Christians in China have to worship in hiding (members often living outside of conventional society) . And in some Muslim countries the punishment for spreading the cult Christianity is death.

I'm not trying to put down Christianity or any other religion. I'm just trying to explain that any religion can be considered a cult depending on your point of view.

Answer 8

Nope,

Cults are a group that blindly follows one leader in order to gain salvation.

I don't. There for I'm not in a cult and neither is my Paganism

and yes Karma is going to kill me for all i've done to day =-[

Answer 9

All religions are cults, yes.

Answer 10

religions are cults with more members

skippy - pentacostals definitely separate themselves from mainstream culture and their charismatic leader is jesus.

according to eartha its a cult (unless its mine)
thanks for arguing my point