Definition of cult
1: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious (see spurious 2); also : its body of adherents
: the object of such devotion
c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
5: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
When I was in my early 20's I remember telling this gentlemen I worked with (who liked to talk about the Christian religious retreats he went to, and to disparage other religions) that Christianity is a cult. Back then, I still considered myself nominally Christian, but I recognized it's cult status. Mostly, these people tend to think of deffinition number 1, and ignore the rest. He was extremely angry that I would label it this way because of the often derogatory nature of the way he tended to use the term.
It seems to me, looking at the definition, that all religions are indeed cults.
As a side note, devoted Trump voters are clearly part of a cult of personality.
By these definitions, I would admit to being part of a few cults. For instance, I am greatly devoted to Star Wars. Enough that I watch youtube videos, read novels, and collect memorabilia surrounding it. Mostly people tend to use the words fan or superfan (or fangirl or fanboy) now, but cult still works and I would not deny it if someone accused me of belonging to a cult for Star Wars. Potterhead is the same, it is just a colloquialisms for "cult of Harry Potter", and I'm probably this as well. I'm a minor fan of other things but nothing close to cult status (sorry GoT!).
I would wager that most Christians will argue that they are not part of a cult, and that Christianity (or Islam if any of those folks care to respond), are not cults.
If this is the case, I have a few questions.
1. How do you define cult?
2. Was your religion ever a cult? For instance, would other people have perhaps defined it as such in the first 50 or 100 years after it's founding? If so, how come it is no longer a cult?
3. For everyone, what other cults do you belong to?
1: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious (see spurious 2); also : its body of adherents
- the voodoo cult
- a satanic cult
- criticizing how the media promotes the cult of celebrity
: the object of such devotion
c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
- the singer's cult of fans
- The film has a cult following.
- the cult of Apollo
5: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
- healthcults
When I was in my early 20's I remember telling this gentlemen I worked with (who liked to talk about the Christian religious retreats he went to, and to disparage other religions) that Christianity is a cult. Back then, I still considered myself nominally Christian, but I recognized it's cult status. Mostly, these people tend to think of deffinition number 1, and ignore the rest. He was extremely angry that I would label it this way because of the often derogatory nature of the way he tended to use the term.
It seems to me, looking at the definition, that all religions are indeed cults.
As a side note, devoted Trump voters are clearly part of a cult of personality.
By these definitions, I would admit to being part of a few cults. For instance, I am greatly devoted to Star Wars. Enough that I watch youtube videos, read novels, and collect memorabilia surrounding it. Mostly people tend to use the words fan or superfan (or fangirl or fanboy) now, but cult still works and I would not deny it if someone accused me of belonging to a cult for Star Wars. Potterhead is the same, it is just a colloquialisms for "cult of Harry Potter", and I'm probably this as well. I'm a minor fan of other things but nothing close to cult status (sorry GoT!).
I would wager that most Christians will argue that they are not part of a cult, and that Christianity (or Islam if any of those folks care to respond), are not cults.
If this is the case, I have a few questions.
1. How do you define cult?
2. Was your religion ever a cult? For instance, would other people have perhaps defined it as such in the first 50 or 100 years after it's founding? If so, how come it is no longer a cult?
3. For everyone, what other cults do you belong to?
“Eternity is a terrible thought. I mean, where's it going to end?”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
