And worst of all, they all seek to control.
A Higher Power Gave Me This
Posted on 02/27/2011 8:35:02 AM PST by Colofornian
America has probably supplied the world with more new religions than any other nation...the country's atmosphere of religious experimentation has produced dozens of movements, from Mormonism to a wide range of nature-based practices grouped under the name Wicca.
...how do we tell when a religious movement ceases to be novel or unusual and becomes a cult?
...Hollywood writer-director Paul Haggis...left the Church of Scientology and has accused it of abusive practices, including demands that members disconnect from their families...
In the early 19th century, the "Burned-over District" of central New York state—so named for the religious passions of those who settled there following the Revolutionary War—gave rise to a wave of new movements, including Mormonism, Seventh-Day Adventism and Spiritualism (or talking to the dead). It was an era, as historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom wrote, when "Farmers became theologians, offbeat village youths became bishops, odd girls became prophets."
SNIP
Many academics and observers of cult phenomena, such as psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo of Stanford, agree on four criteria to define a cult. The first is behavior control...monitoring of where you go and what you do. The second is information control, such as discouraging members from reading criticism of the group. The third is thought control, placing sharp limits on doctrinal questioning. The fourth is emotional control—using humiliation or guilt...I would add two more categories: financial control and extreme leadership.
Financial control translates into levying ruinous dues or fees...
Yet every coercive religious group harbors one telltale trait: untoward secrecy. As opposed to a cult, a religious culture ought to be as simple to enter or exit...the group's finances should be reasonably transparent. Its doctrine need not be conventional—but it should be knowable to outsiders. Absent those qualities, an unorthodox religion can descend into something darker.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
And worst of all, they all seek to control.
A Higher Power Gave Me This
FYI ping
The answer is simple and obvious.
Any religion that claims salvation can only be achieved by joining said religion is by definition a cult.
Bolded, Underlined,
Large Format Fonts,
with heavy use of CAPITALIZATION
Any logical argument should be made without shouting
At least the poster didn't resort to COLORS
Back to my coloring books...
The first is behavior control...monitoring of where you go and what you do.
The second is information control, such as discouraging members from reading criticism of the group.
The third is thought control, placing sharp limits on doctrinal questioning.
The fourth is emotional control—using humiliation or guilt...
I would add two more categories:
financial control
extreme leadership.
Financial control translates into levying ruinous dues or fees...
untoward secrecy.
Sounds more like our Obama and the current Administration, or Libya, or Egypt or Iran, or.....
I will say that a religion becomes a cult if you are not freely allowed to leave it. Period.
“To be honest, Radical Islam is a bigger threat than the LDS..”
It depends what type of threat you are talking about for your statement to be true. Radical Islam does have a goal of violently spreading their religion around the world and is a threat to our American way of life. However, Mormonism is a false religion that masquarades as just another true, Christian denomination. The threat of Mormonism is the spirtual deceit of undiscerning people who buy into their lies.
I believe the potential negative impact of Mormonism may be greater then Islam, because Mormonism deceives otherwise decent people and leads them down a path to Hell. Islam certainly leads its adherhants down a path to Hell also, but I’m not as concerned about the political threats of Islam because the destination of eternal souls is more important than our American way of life.
[Of course, trying to dead dunk all the BILLIONS of souls of the world...not very "obsessive" eh? Or are you consistently inconsistent, two-faced, and hypocritical in not pointing out your "perception" on these kinds of spiritual matters?...you know there's still time...go worship this morning...you can confess that there]
[Of course, I guess this says
['Twas done all to surface the surfacy critics like you]
Amen...
Me I don’t care.. It is none of my business. Thankfully our Constitution has a Freedom of Worship clause..
I’m with you. And as an atheist, I think they’re all cults...
“I believe the potential negative impact of Mormonism may be greater then Islam...”
“I’m not as concerned about the political threats of Islam...”
You’re an idiot.
Remember 9-11?
I want respect!!!!
/S
To be honest I’m not a fan of the LDS, however, I respect other people’s beliefs. I’m the not type of person who tells people how to live or how they worship..
>>>I’m with you. And as an atheist, I think they’re all cults...
Atheism is a cult too.
” I believe the potential negative impact of Mormonism may be greater then Islam”
Perhaps the dumbest statement ever uttered.
1) Roman Catholicism
2) Mormonism
3) Jehovah Witnesses
4) Rich Warren-ism
See Galatians 1:8-9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we [Paul] have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man [or organization] preach any OTHER gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
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