Grinds teeth..

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All religion is sick; some is just sicker than the rest.

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What exactly is the definition of a cult?  I find most religions to be considered cult-ish and am just figuring it’s semantics.  Either way, this is sick.

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Katie

You’re exactly right.

Cult and religion are synonyms in terms of their content., but antonyms in terms of their emotional impact.

It’s the equivalent Logos with the opposite Pathos.

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This is just sad! They are murderers. But they are even more. I don’t know if it is a religious delusion or simply a stupidity to pray for a resurrection, but it is sad that every lunatic can have his own religion if he wants to.

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As I see it, a ‘myth’ is a religion that is no longer believed and ‘cult’ that has not reached the threshold of sufficient mainstream belief at a place and time to qualify as a religion.  Qualitatively, outside of time and space, they are equivalent.

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Someone once noted that the difference between a religion and a cult is 100 years.

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I don’t want to read this sort of thing anymore. It just ruins me.

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Mainstream religious types will deplore this incident but what they dont admit is that this type of thing happens all the time. Its not unusual at all.

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@Rigthwingathiest- that’s good

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Cults and religions are fuzzy areas on the same continuum.  In other words, there is no bright line between the two.  However, there are certain characteristics that are typically associated with cults, such as charismatic and dictatorial leaders, isolation of members from the rest of society, an internal set of rules or morality that is very different from society’s, a sense of being under attack or a doomsday prediction that binds believers and lends urgency to their cause, etc.  Sexual relations between the charismatic leader and his followers is almost always present.  Because cults are so extreme, they often burn out quickly when followers become disillusioned.  Those cults that are successful in growing and lasting eventually move down the continuum from cults towards religions as they turn more mainstream.  So there is truth to that “100 years” comment from RightWingAtheist.  Just look at Mormonism—it’s the exact same thing as the Branch Davidian cult… just 100 years later.

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A one year old did not say amen after dinner as instructed to and the infant is denied any food or water thereafter and then dies.

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It might be easy to dismiss this as a fringe occurrence that does not happen in larger and less cultish religion.

But my state, Oregon, is having a battle over how to deal with a very similar strain of religious thought. The Followers of Christ (look them up on Wikipedia) are consistently denying their children urgent medical care because their belief in faith healing.

Even atheist Oregonians like myself are strong advocates of the right to freely practice faith as guaranteed by law. But when does religion end and a crime begin? Can murderers and neglectful parents really hide behind their church?

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@Steven in most states the courts have ruled that if your child inherits a certain amount of money from another relative, it is not assumed that the parents can act in the child’s best interest, and therefore appoint a 3rd party to watch over the asset, yet when it comes to religion it is assumed that the parent has the right to dictate life and death.  This seems backwards to me..

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