Religious Cults / Extremists Factions -

[timetraveller]

What defines a Religious Cult / Extremists ..a threat to society



There Actions ? ,
There Religious Beliefs ,
Or because what they have said has made headlines the media ..?

[pacifist]

What defines a Religious Cult / Extremists ..a threat to society



There Actions ? ,
There Religious Beliefs ,
Or because what they have said has made headlines the media ..?

Any religion that wants to change the society to fit into their religion or tell people who don't share their faith what to do.

[9mmRifle]

What makes them a threat

Usually a combination of bad actions and bad PR

One man's David terrorist Koresh is another man's spiritualist freedom fighter

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/1477/koresh9th.jpg

[Gulag]

Religion poisons the Earth

[Gunpack]

The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English defines "Cult" in a religious context as being:
a system of religious worship directed towards a particular figure or object.
a small religious group regarded as strange or as imposing excessive control over members.It defines a "Sect" as being:
a group of people with different religious beliefs (typically regarded as heretical) from those of a larger group to which they belong.Any such groups do not pose any inherent threat to mainstream societies. The danger comes if they are of the opinion that they have the right to impose their way of life on others. That, of course, is something those from what you might regard as mainstream religious or political taught are also capable of believing.

[Bongopete]

What defines a Religious Cult / Extremists ..a threat to society



There Actions ? ,
There Religious Beliefs ,
Or because what they have said has made headlines the media ..?


I do. Extremists and cults are a threat to any 'status quo'.

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

a small religious group regarded as strange or as imposing excessive control over members.

That is the very essence as how and why all religious start. Christianity was nothing more then a cult in it's early years and now it's the main form of spiritual belief system to the world enjoys.

I've argued this before.

Take the two main minor alternative religions today. Scientology and Satanism.

Now look at the treatment these religions for want of a better word suffer today at the hands of mainstream society, religion and the authorities.

Then take a look at Jesus and early Christianity and the treatment handed to the early followers.

The only difference is that today we have moved on from stringing people up on 2x4.

[2Sheds_Jackson]

If we're going to say that any religion that differs from the status quo is a cult, then I have no problem with the idea that all religions start as a cult.

But then at what point do they stop being a cult? When they get a really nice looking logo?

And how then do we differentiate harmful cults that make their members utterly dependent upon the cult itself, from those who's members are fully functioning members of society? There's a huge difference between a bunch of nice Jewish fellas walking around from town telling stories, and Jim Jones moving his followers into the jungles of Guyana for a Kool-Aid social.

[Lazy Lob]

Does a cult depend on the message or just the almond cordial it serves? Six of one half a dozen of the other. Get two people, an agenda, blind faith, season lightly, two cloves of garlic and bake at 185 C ….et voila!

[rgjbloke]

These people do a lot of work on cults .Have a look here

http://www.icsahome.com/default.htm

[phoebus]

Now look at the treatment these religions for want of a better word suffer today at the hands of mainstream society, religion and the authorities.

Then take a look at Jesus and early Christianity and the treatment handed to the early followers.

The difference is that that the society itself has moved on, so religions need to comply with today's standards, whatever was the case for other religions in the past. I mean in the past people used to get married by hitting the female on the head and live happily ever after. Non-compliant Cults, by 2008 standards need to be banned and cornered if possible, by the relevenant law enforcement authorities.

[OhioSquid]

But then at what point do they stop being a cult? When they get a really nice looking logo?

Cult: A small, unpopular religion.
Religion: A large, popular cult.

[MaDuce]

Cults tend to attract rich stupid Hollywood celebs.

[Aussie Sapper]

Has anybody read a book called "God is NOT Great - How religion poisons everything" by Christopher Hitchens,,, most of your answers are there,

[ed316]

What defines a Religious Cult / Extremists ..a threat to society



There Actions ? ,
There Religious Beliefs ,
Or because what they have said has made headlines the media ..?

According to the pro-Chinese people it's the Dali Lama.

[gaijinsamurai]

If we're going to say that any religion that differs from the status quo is a cult, then I have no problem with the idea that all religions start as a cult.

But then at what point do they stop being a cult? When they get a really nice looking logo?

And how then do we differentiate harmful cults that make their members utterly dependent upon the cult itself, from those who's members are fully functioning members of society? There's a huge difference between a bunch of nice Jewish fellas walking around from town telling stories, and Jim Jones moving his followers into the jungles of Guyana for a Kool-Aid social.

I think the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) are a good example of a group that began as a cult, and has grown to something more like a sect, abiet one that is very different, and will probably never be fully accepted by the mainstream Christian denominations.

[LaoSexMachine]

I think the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) are a good example of a group that began as a cult, and has grown to something more like a sect, abiet one that is very different, and will probably never be fully accepted by the mainstream Christian denominations.

i like mormons. good people from my experience

[gaijinsamurai]

Agree. Just about all the Mormons I've met have been really nice people.

[Hollis]

My thoughts,

Pick up dictionary, look up word, there it is.

A lot people just have a itch to scratch... I think threads like this show that is just the case.


Maybe that is why we have lawyers, they don't say anything really important, they just state the obvious that got over looked.

[Wolfmanjack]

Any religion that wants to change the society to fit into their religion or tell people who don't share their faith what to do.

Nice definition. That encompasses every single organized religion in todays world that i know of. With a few exceptions not listed here.

Scientology Check
Catholics Check..
Christianity Check
Islam CHECK
Judaism CHECK
Etc........ All fit your definition

And if you have not figured it out by now i am Atheist but i don't force my opinions on others or kill others because they don't follow or agree with me.

I respect all religions equally but there are times where you can not help speaking out at the hypocrisy. A good one is Love they neighbor (unless he happens to believe something differently then you then you can kill him) Mehh..

[2Sheds_Jackson]

Cult: A small, unpopular religion.
Religion: A large, popular cult.

Well that almost works for me. But in my eyes, they have to do more than be "unpopular" to be a cult...they have to isolate themselves from society.

Like HOLLiS said - a dictionary can help...and the definition that works for me is: "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. "


Nice definition. That encompasses every single organized religion in todays world that i know of. With a few exceptions not listed here.

Scientology Check
Catholics Check..
Christianity Check
Islam CHECK
Judaism CHECK
Etc........ All fit your definition

And if you have not figured it out by now i am Atheist but i don't force my opinions on others or kill others because they don't follow or agree with me.

...and Atheism check too I think. It can fit quite neatly into that definition as well. It may lack a supernatural being in it's CEO chair, but it's still a religion - a means of explaining our existence. And of course there have been several million in the 20th century alone who've died at the hands of secular humanists loving their neighbor.


. I mean in the past people used to get married by hitting the female on the head and live happily ever after.

I'm pretty sure that only happened in Hanna-Barberra cartoons, but I get what you're saying. :)

[Wolfmanjack]

...and Atheism check too I think. It can fit quite neatly into that definition as well. It may lack a supernatural being in it's CEO chair, but it's still a religion - a means of explaining our existence. And of course there have been several million in the 20th century alone who've died at the hands of secular humanists loving their neighbor.


Your Quite ignorant about what Atheism is all about , It isn't even remotely a religion. Nor do we force our opinions on other people. We don't kill people because they do not agree with or believe what we do.

Atheism, as a philosophical view, is the position that either affirms the nonexistence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existence_of_God#Arguments_against_belief_in_God) of gods (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deity)[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#cite_note-0) or rejects theism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theism).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#cite_note-1) When defined more broadly, atheism is the absence of belief in deities,[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#cite_note-2) alternatively called nontheism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nontheism).[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#cite_note-3) Although atheism is often equated with irreligion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion), some religious philosophies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion), such as secular theology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_theology) and some varieties of Buddhism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism) such as Theravada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada), either do not include belief in a personal god (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_god) as a tenet of the religion, or actively teach nontheism.

Many self-described (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-identity) atheists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_atheists) are skeptical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skepticism) of all supernatural (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural) beings and cite a lack of empirical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism) evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward secular (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism) philosophies such as humanism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#cite_note-4) and naturalism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_%28philosophy%29),[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#cite_note-5) there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere.[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#cite_note-6)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism

"Any religion that wants to change the society to fit into their religion or tell people who don't share their faith what to do." << Does not fit any part whatsoever of Atheism.

[Calanen]

i like mormons. good people from my experience

They are good people - once you manage to set the ground rule that religion is simply off the table for discussion.

[LaoSexMachine]

They are good people - once you manage to set the ground rule that religion is simply off the table for discussion.

when they try to tell me about jesus and the bible i tell them i'm buddhist and they stop. mormons are the only christians that never said i was going to hell because i didn't accept christ in my heart. that doesn't mean i don't respect the other christian sect

[futurepilot2004]

Scientology Check
Catholics Check..
Christianity Check
Islam CHECK
Judaism CHECK



Didn`t know us catholics weren`t christians!!

[Kulwant]

One of the things that defines something as a cult is that it usually starts out as something secret and hidden; something that the mainstream public has no idea exists. Paylo Mayombe is such a cult. Also, look at what the word means- "cult" has been known to mean "the way of being", and you find "cult" in "culture". So, the "occult" often has been used to mean "the hidden way". Why hide a way of being? Various reasons could include because the cult practices things like sacrificing babies (something most people in society would find disgusting)that the general populace would find objectionable and/or because the cult wishes to guard its secrets of power; they don't want their ways to fall into the wrong hands, so to speak.

Regarding the point, "Religion poisons the world." Religion is simply a system of how an individual or group of people wish to relate to the Spiritual or Divine. Perhaps it is not so much that religion poisons the world, but how people oftenly use the excuse of religion to attempt to force others to live in a certain manner. A good example is when the Moghuls invaded India and forced conversion to Islam at the point of a sword. Does this make Islam a bad thing? No, of course not. The Bad Thing was forcing people to change their ways of living using religious belief systems as an excuse. It would have been far more honest, as it were, for the Moghuls to say, "We are conquering this territory, and you will live the way we want you to, or we will kill you. Take your pick." It's not right to use religion as an excuse for taking territory.

On a slightly lighter note of grim humor --If you want territory, go for territory. If you want religion, start your own cult! Trying to mix the two can just get messy, and leads to Hatfields/McCoys conflicts that can last for generations, and it gets really stupid because by the third generation, no one remembers what the heck everyone is fighting about in the first place!

[Andreas]

Definition is as follows: If South Park has made fun of it then it is...

[Ought Six]

There is the dictionary definition, then there are all the connotations of popular useage. I think people tend to view cults as virulently fanatical, extremely insular and controlling, having unorthodox and usually apocalyptic dogma, with the apocalyptic part usually expected to come to pass in the very near future. There is almost always an extremely charismatic leader running the whole thing. They also seem to view themselves as above the laws of man, and obedient only to their own view of "God's Law".

This is religion taken to ridiculous extremes. Mainstream sects usually get along okay in society at large, while cults do not. And you find deprogrammers for cult member, but not for Catholics or Buddhists (well, maybe in North Korea). There are big differences here that set cults apart from other religions.

[szr]

Didn`t know us catholics weren`t christians!!As someone who was twice baptised a Methodist and considers himself culturally Christian but non-denominational and agnostic on matters of faith, I don't understand how, when or why some people decided Catholicism and Christianity were two different religions. I've heard it a lot and always found it odd. I'd like to know where the distinction comes from if anyone has some insight.

If we're going to say that any religion that differs from the status quo is a cult, then I have no problem with the idea that all religions start as a cult.

But then at what point do they stop being a cult? When they get a really nice looking logo?

And how then do we differentiate harmful cults that make their members utterly dependent upon the cult itself, from those who's members are fully functioning members of society? There's a huge difference between a bunch of nice Jewish fellas walking around from town telling stories, and Jim Jones moving his followers into the jungles of Guyana for a Kool-Aid social.Good points. I regard "cult" as just another word for "upstart religion" without the negative connotations with which the word is usally associated. Within this definition there is nothing sinister about a cult in and of itself. "Cults" appear different from "religions" because they are usally highly localized around a spiritual--if not geographical--center of gravity, so much so that they can appear extremely insular to an outsider. The more interesting question, which you alluded to, is when and how are some cults able to make that jump to full-blown religion with all the legitimacy and defference we (society) customarily afford those accepted religions?

It's cool to think about.

As for the question of what differentiates your Heaven's Gate-type cults from other, more benign ones? I think we accept that any religion seeks to have some influence over the lives of its members. There's nothing wrong with that and millions of us invite that guidance into our lives for our own benefit and betterment. Parents, schools, mentors and religions are all cogs in the same wheel that tries to steer us in the right direction. What sets those other cults (the Kool-Aid variety) appart is that they overstep a line in our minds of what we believe is an acceptable amount of influence to be exerting over their members.

[Calanen]

I don't understand how, when or why some people decided Catholicism and Christianity were two different religions. I've heard it a lot and always found it odd. I'd like to know where the distinction comes from if anyone has some insight.

My last girlfriend was a Seventh Day Adventist, and I was brought up a Catholic, although I am of the very lapsed variety. She used to say things about Catholics practising idolatory because they have statues in the Churches, and the Vatican is evil and corrupt etc. I heard variations on the theme from Born Agains when I lived in the states. Although the Catholics and their statues are coming a long way second to jihad and suicide bombings as a concern of the Christian moral majority, so I think Catholics are off the radar a bit now.

[pacifist]

...and Atheism check too I think. It can fit quite neatly into that definition as well. It may lack a supernatural being in it's CEO chair, but it's still a religion

Atheism is a religion as much as not collecting stamps is a hobby.

[Lazy Lob]

Atheism is a religion as much as not collecting stamps is a hobby.

Nice one. Unless you're a proselytizing non stamp collector. Pure jocularity.

[Bongopete]

Atheism is a religion as much as not collecting stamps is a hobby.

Can you expand upon this? How is atheism a religion?

[Gulag]

...and Atheism check too I think. It can fit quite neatly into that definition as well. It may lack a supernatural being in it's CEO chair, but it's still a religion

:cantbeli: Why almost noone can separate philosofy and religion

[Bongopete]

Can you expand upon this? How is atheism a religion?

Sorry, actually meant this to 2sheds.