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To: Abd al-Rahiim
OK......how about calling it a cult.

Islam sure fits the definitions.

310 posted on 08/27/2006 7:24:25 PM PDT by Thumper1960 (Politicians are like diapers. They need changed often, and for the same reasons.)
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To: Thumper1960
Dictionary.com is my favorite online dictionary, especially when used with Firefox.
  1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies. Islam satisfies this. Since religion is used in the definition, so does Christianity, Judaism, Baha'i, etc.
  2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult. Muslims submit to God. Christians place their faith in the Son.
  3. the object of such devotion. I guess this is used for cult of personality.
  4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc. Sure, see my comments on definition two.
  5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols. See comment two.
  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. Some people here view Islam as such. Except, Muhammad has been dead for over a millenium now and there is no one leader.
  7. the members of such a religion or sect. If you want to call it one...
  8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific. No.

Under some definitions, Islam could be considered a cult. By the same token, so would Christianity.

362 posted on 08/28/2006 5:56:30 AM PDT by Abd al-Rahiim
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