A dearth of sincerity in admin is looking crucial to me.
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
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Religion vs Cult - What are the differences?
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THOSE people belong to a cult.
WE belong to a religion. I think that's the difference, in a nutshell.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould 
Cults have a controling inner circle of adherents, either a group or single person, that have a different set of doctrines than those in the outer circle.
 (February 4, 2015 at 9:48 am)ChadWooters Wrote: Cults have a controling inner circle of adherents, either a group or single person, that have a different set of doctrines than those in the outer circle. Heh, would that make the Catholic Church a cult?
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson  (February 3, 2015 at 10:05 pm)IanHulett Wrote: Are there any real differences between a religion and a cult? Thanks a bunch. It depends on what sources you're citing and whether you're using a religious definition of a cult, or a secular one, and how you determine which of the many religious/secular definitions you choose to employ. As a very broad-brush general definition, a cult is a group that shows religious veneration or devotion to a particular person or object. In that sense, almost every religion could justifiably be a cult (every religion I can think of, anyway). A religious definition will distinguish Us from Them by defining cults as a religious group that is unorthodox, spurious, or denies one or more of the basic tenants of the parent religion. In that sense, mainstream Christianity wouldn't be a cult, but Mormonism would be because they deny basic tenants of the Christian faith, such as the doctrine of the trinity. And to Mormons, they're not a cult, but the FLDS would be because the FLDS doesn't accept the mainstream LDS prophet (Monson) as the Prophet of God. A secular definition of a cult would be a group that "manipulate, exploit, and control its members. Specific factors in cult behavior are said to include manipulative and authoritarian mind control over members, communal and totalistic organization, aggressive proselytizing, systematic programs of indoctrination, and perpetuation in middle-class communities."[source] They often trick members into joining under false pretenses, introduce the "real" doctrine only after the member has joined and is "proven worthy" and make leaving an arduously difficult task. While the links below do not list the criteria to be a cult, they provide information about techniques that cults heavily rely on: mind control and thought reform. If the group you're thinking of joining or the one you're investigating meets the criteria on these lists you might be looking at a dangerous or destructive cult: Steve Hassan's BITE Model of cult mind control https://www.freedomofmind.com/Info/BITE/bitemodel.php Here's a link to Robert Lifton's 8 Criteria of Thought Reform http://www.exitsupportnetwork.com/artcls...lifton.htm Margaret Singer's 6 Conditions for Thought Reform http://www.csj.org/studyindex/studymindc...singer.htm (February 3, 2015 at 11:06 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: It's clear by what is and isn't available for historical review in the Mormon archives that the church hierarchy is aware they are sitting on a huge pile of incriminating bull shit. In terms of cultish behavior, Scientology is skewed WAY more toward the obviously destructive side since they have the structures in place to isolate people from wider society much more so than the mainstream LDS church has now, but the LDS church does exhibit a lot of very disturbing behavior that is indicative of the behavior of cults.
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
 ![[Image: cult_to_religion.png]](https://triangulations.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/cult_to_religion.png)
"The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one." - George Bernard Shaw
 (February 4, 2015 at 10:59 am)Clueless Morgan Wrote: In terms of cultish behavior, Scientology is skewed WAY more toward the obviously destructive side since they have the structures in place to isolate people from wider society much more so than the mainstream LDS church has now, but the LDS church does exhibit a lot of very disturbing behavior that is indicative of the behavior of cults. Appreciate bringing that up, I didn't emphasize the financial success of Mormonism dwarfs the heap of filthy lucre Scientology has managed to loot as the crux of Scientology being envious of LDS. It's all about the money. Money ! It's a hit !! Don't give me that godie godie bullshit !!! 
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
A cult is every religion but your own.
(February 4, 2015 at 11:45 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: Appreciate bringing that up, I didn't emphasize the financial success of Mormonism dwarfs the heap of filthy lucre Scientology has managed to loot as the crux of Scientology being envious of LDS. It's eery how similar Scientology and Mormonism are when you compare them side-by-side. And I find it very fascinating that Mormons don't recognize that their entrance into heaven is basically held hostage to their tithing every month and what a scam that is. C.U.L.T.
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
 RE: Religion vs Cult - What are the differences?
February 5, 2015 at 12:44 am
(This post was last modified: February 5, 2015 at 12:45 am by Mudhammam.)
A cult can still be fun and hip. When it starts going all commercial and is something you would take your mother or children with you to do, it's religion.
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza
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