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Define Cult.... Define Religion.... Describe the differences:

Seeker3CO 8 Aug 8
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36 comments

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8

I know I loathe both equally.
The Manson cult killed up to 40 people, truth be told.
Early Christian cult did the same. Remember Hypatia of Alexandria?

Cult: small unpopular religion. Religion: large popular cult.

7

I'll bite... There's an old saying:

'At the center of every cult there is at least one person that has firsthand knowledge that the whole thing is a lie and a scam. In a religion, that person is dead.'

I wish I could consider that saying a joke. But when I look at the origin of every 'religion' I know -- Mormonism, Scientology, Christianity, Islam, whatever. It rings just too true.

Harlan Ellison was there the day Scientology was invented.

Ellison died a couple years back.

That’s a fair assessment. A sect is an off shoot of a religion that disagrees with some tenets of the main branch.

A cult is centred around a person or idea which does not have to be related to a religious idea.

This all gets mixed up by thinking that the idea of religion was a seperate entity from society before The Enlightenment

6

"My beliefs are religion, your beliefs are a cult"

6

If the founder is alive, then it’s a cult. After that it’s a religion.

6

There are no differences.
Religions ARE cults.

6

The two are very close. In some cases, they are the same.

5

Same thing to me. All is just nonsense.

5

There is no difference except how widely they are accepted as being valid.

4

Cult : a small group of people sharing the same crazy ideas.
Religion : a large group of people sharing the same crazy ideas

4

Cult: a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.

Religion: the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

I don't see any difference, technically, except that the object of worship in a cult is not necessarily superhuman. But in practice, people (especially religious people) use the term "cult" to refer to religions that are, in their eyes, really weird. It is, in their view, an insult.

But I, an atheist, see all religions as really weird, so I see little difference between the two words. For me, all religions are cults. (But not all cults are necessarily religions.)

@Seeker3CO It is appearant you hate religion. I am an anti-theist, that is I am agaist all theism not the victims of theism. We must be careful to hate only the religion that poisons the minds of those infected by religion an not the infected.
It is also very important to be very well aware of how the poison works. We can not simply group them all together like using a racial slur. These are individual human beings we are speaking of, that need our help. Ignorance begetting ignorance is not helpful.

@Seeker3CO important to remember that in the beginning the crusades were also a way of distracting the wayward sons of nobleman from pillaging the locals. It gave them something to do and a long way away!

It was more a baronial distraction than a response to the call to arms.

@Geoffrey51 The first Crusade was kind of an accident started by over zelous peasents, soon the "whole church" or Catholic Church realized that it was great for bringing money and more power to the church. It did not actually matter if the Muslams were defeated, that would have been simply iceing on the cake. The Catholic Church was more motivated by power than by bringing Christianity to the world as crazy as that may seem.

@DavidLaDeau Exactly.

4

Religions are comprised of large amounts of gullible weak minded sheep and cults are comprised of small amounts of gullible weak minded sheep.

There are dangers to dehumanizing people with different opinions than the group you identify with. The mindful need to be aware of how language effects those it touches. Whether strong or weak minded gullible or skeptical, suffering and conflict fester without compassion for others. Sheep are bred to be shorn and slaughtered. I hope you don’t believe that any person should be reduced to that.

The smartest most intelligent of people can be indoctrinated into cults. Please consider giving them more study. Some cults specifically seek out strong intelligent, strong minded people. Many indoctrinate children. The gullible are those who know how to seek answers but simply refuse to explore the facts, as they think they know the answers without further investigation.

@LucasfromGR "From Bartles and James, Thank you for your support."

3

To me, the difference is how long it’s been around and how many members it claims. New religions with few members are cults. Old religions with lots of members are pedophile factories.

Any time there is a powerful leader they can abuse it. It has been proven that those who do have power often have an unusually strong sex drive, they also often abuse those around them, it is not due to religion. Religion just hapoens to be one of the manifestatiins of power that is used to abuse people sexually.

3

The difference between a cult and a religion - in a cult there is AT LEAST ONE who knows it's bullshit.

Other than that, the only real difference is that the term 'cult' is assumed to be not normal while 'religion' is assumed normal.

3

There is no difference. Religion equals cult. PERIOD.

3

Cult = a belief system centred around a 'deified' figure, prophet, etc,
Religion = the system of belief engendered by the same 'deified' figure, prophet, etc,
Both, imho, are completely baseless, founded solely upon presumptions, assumptions, etc, and imaginings with the added bonuses to the Founder/s/ Purveyors of a steady and reliable source of financial income.

3

a religion is an armed cult

3

Why???

They both are overtly controlling and demeaning!

3

A religion is a cult that survived long enough to be called a religion.

Frank Constanza: "Wait. Is this the group that goes around mutilating squirrels?"

George Costanza: "No, it's a regular religion."

3

Size! Size does matter. At one time every recognized religion started as a cult.

Not necessarily true. For instance animistic religions. Also see the work of Clifford Geertz and Emile Durkheim.

@Geoffrey51 It doesn't matter what you call yourself as a religious organization. It is whether everyone else recognizes you as a cult or religion. No one calls themselves a cult. Society will determine that. Size is everything. When Martin Mull was asked what it meant to have a cult following, he said, "limited success". That says it all.

@Sticks48 Fair enough but it’s not an academic description, more populist

@Geoffrey51 Some people overthink and complicate when it isn't needed. Some people can complicate a hammer. I guess it makes them feel smart. Personally, I think all religions are cults. 🙂

3

Dang, I’m back in school. 😂

Would you like to go to the prom?

@Sticks48 Yes! We could be so styling together. 😂

@Apunzelle Wow! We are a cute couple! You got my hair back! It's a miracle! How did you do that? 🙂

2

I like some of the definitions here.

Decades ago, a guy told me cults don't own real estate and religions do.

2

"In most human beings the desire to belong is greater than the desire to understand. Hence, the popularity of cults and religion and the lack of the role of reason in human affairs." Thomas Szasz

2

BS, BS, no differences

@Seeker3CO Glad to see we are on the same page !!! 👍👍👍

@IamNobody You mean... You and You?

@St-Sinner No and no...next question....wait, wait, you have a point. I'll fix my previous comment... Done

1

A Cult becomes a religion when it progresses from killing its members to killing non-members.

1

The difference would be openness. Religions publish their beliefs openly ( Bible, Koran, Bhagavadgita, etc) and seek to persuade the public of their truth. Anyone who accepts these beliefs and rituals is recognized as a member of the religion. So, religions seek a mass following. Cults, however, rely on secret or special knowledge which is revealed only to initiates by the cult's founder. Their beliefs aren't normally published. Everything depends on a personal relationship between the founder and followers, who are usually required to separate themselves from the rest of the world.

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