What is the difference between a religion and a cult?

What is the difference between a religion and a cult?

By Warren Kramer

Only the ill-informed are gullible enough to believe there is no difference between a legitimate religion and a cult. There are in fact, quantifiable differences.

A religion at one time or another may exhibit some of the traits of a cult, but then so does any organization, including rotary clubs, golf teams, fraternities and veterans organizations. That does not make them cults. A clear picture of a cult appears when you apply several of the characteristics listed below.

Cults not only break laws, but also offend religions and give anti-theists without the discernment to tell the difference ammunition to continue stereotyping actual people of faith.

The 11 commandments of cults vs. religions.

1) CULT: Single, unquestioned leader who makes all the rules, with no accountability to peers, a presbytery, a chapter, or co-leaders.

RELIGION: Plurality and hierarchy of leadership, accountable to one another with a charter or church constitution including a mechanism in place to remove leaders who abuse their power.

2) CULT: Cohabitation. Members often live in a group or commune, often with the leader.

RELIGION: Members have their own lives and homes and come together to worship or socialize, then go back to family homes.

3) CULT: Isolation. Members are often not allowed to interact/socialize with outsiders, and frequently are required to separate from their friends and families.

RELIGION: Respect the friends and family of their adherents, almost always encouraging family relationships, even with family members not part of the religion.

4) CULT: Coercion. Coercive recruitment methods, often including sleep deprivation, withholding of food or bathroom breaks, locking the initiate in a room with a succession of people hammering in the group's ideas. Essentially, these are classic brainwashing techniques.

RELIGION: Members, including new members, are free to come and go as they please.

It does not take a genius to see the difference here. Atheists often claim that all religions "brainwash" others, especially their children. If brainwash means teaching your kids what you believe, then everyone does it, not just people of faith.

It is often claimed that because most people of faith grew up with that faith, that is evidence of "indoctrination." Not by the definition of how cults do this. Furthermore, most Democrats grew up in Democratic families, and Republicans in conservative families. No one accuses political parties of "indoctrination" or "brainwashing." This is just anti-religious rhetoric and has nothing to do with real brainwashing.(Note: I did not grow up with the faith I now hold)

5) CULT: Repetition. Members are told what to believe on a daily basis, with intense, though often subtle, indoctrination techniques used to hold members. The few items that distinguish that cult are repeated endlessly.

RELIGION: Teaching and study groups are mutually encouraged with all members free to contribute insights. A variety of subjects are discussed.

6) CULT: Exclusiveness. Initiates are often told that only "select" members of the cult will reach the ultimate goal. This is incentive to stay and to be more dedicated to the cult.

RELIGION: All have the same requirements and opportunities for advancement, leadership positions and participation.

7) CULT: Bread trails. The dogma is fed to the initiate in small pieces, and gaining more knowledge about the dogma requires a greater commitment to the organization.

RELIGION: Typically all beliefs are publicly available with no effort made to keep some beliefs secret.

8) CULT: Alienation. Adherents are encouraged or even bullied into thinking in terms of "us versus them" with total alienation from "them."

RELIGION: Members are encouraged to quietly show themselves as exemplary among their peers in secular workplaces and in public. Yes, okay, some are not very good at this, and those are usually the ones you notice. Still, it's a far cry from the above.

9) CULT: Seclusion. Members are often not allowed to leave the cult or even the cult compound. Even temporary excursions among outsiders are done in pairs or in groups with a trusted member always present.

RELIGION: Gatherings are held at regular intervals with members free to come or skip as they please.

10) CULT: Totalitarian. Cults ask significantly more time and money from their adherents, often asking for a person's life savings to progress in the organization. They are usually totalitarian and demand that the individual give themselves up to the organization or theology.

RELIGION: The tithe (10% of income) is a good example of what a religion may ask of its adherents, and rarely will anyone check up on members to make sure they are doing this. In pretty much all churches, this is strictly voluntary.

11) CULT: Secretive about the workings, the leadership, and the finances. No one but the leader and perhaps a trusted member are aware of where the money goes.

RELIGION: Respect individual freedom and ask for a commitment typically less than a person devotes to their work and family. There is no secrecy over the leader's activities, typically these are very transparent, with the congregation knowing the salary their tithes pay the clergy members, the amount going to building upkeep, and how much goes into helping the needy, community charity, etc. Financial statements are typically available to church members.

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Have any of you been a member of a cult.

Do let us know your experiences.

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JB COMMENTS:

The worlds biggest cults are well known to us all -

The Catholic Church

Islam

Judaism

Besides organisations like the Scientologists and the Moonies ( remember them...)

Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science) ; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) ; Fundamentalist or polygamy-practicing Mormon groups ; The "I AM" religious activity -- The Identity Movement ; Jehovah's Witnesses ; Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Rosicrucian's - are all considered in modern times, to be cults - religious cults.

The church has been brain washing the people for more than a thousand years, that their way is the only way and that if you defied and went against you could / would be either burned as a witch or at least, ex communicated - so spiritually dead and not allowed into Heaven, which is made up by scared little men / monks / priests to scare the people into submission and so gaining them and the church POWER AND CONTROL ( and choir boys ) over the people and as - centuries ago, the church was the law of the land as there was no formal government - the church had the power over life and death.

This kind of brain washing and spiritual indoctrination and denial of all other truths is - a cult.

It is also the most evil, destruction of the human soul and damaging to the very fabric of self awareness and of the self, but then, centuries ago, there was no thought of having your own self power over your life, as ALL the control over almost every action of your every day life was controlled and monitored by - you guessed it - the church.

The Catholic church has a LOT less control than it had in centuries past but there are other large and powerful religions that DO still hold the course of human interaction, beliefs and even what to wear and how to behave, in their hands and if you falter - hell is brought down upon you and if you do not fit into the mold, then execution is common for LGBT - non conforming non believers and anyone who sees things differently.

As stated in the UK recently -

'When we take over we will go door to door and if you are not Muslim, you will be eliminated.'

So much for a loving peaceful God then - so much for religion. It's just another massive cult.

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