iv just got talking to a mate about cults and religion, and we came to the conclusion that cults are religion in there infancy. thought id post this here as to not get abused. so whats your opinions? (also need this for a english essay)
Cults / religion imo the ideas are the same. I guess cults tend to be more extreme and aren't as mainstream?
well when the essay is meant to show other ppls views on the topic and there idea's you guys get to help
Yeah both Cults and religion is the same to some extent. They both believe that there is some supernatural almighty that has created and controls the universe but as -H- said, cults are generally considered more extreme.
Well according to some religions, they did not start from a cult, but from the writings of God. So that depends on your point of view. I believe that the Muslim and Jewish religions claim there Koran and the Jewish Bible (whatever that's called?) were written by God (not 100% sure, although my Jewish friend tells me this is the case for his religion). Not sure how your meant to prove that, but I guess that's why they call it faith. I call it the Lemming syndrome myself, and I ain't walking of that cliff edge. EDIT: Also, I am told that Scientology was started as a bet, so this could be classified as a cult (I would think). Apparently the guy that invented it says he did it as a bet, but no one will believe him or something. would have to speak to my friend to get the full low down on that.
The "Jewish Bible" is called the Torah. The Torah is, for all intents and purposes, the Old Testament in the Christian Bible. This from Torah.org will provide a starting point for more in depth background. From what I understand, most Christians and Jews acknowledge that their respective religious texts were written by people. The extent to which God assisted is the subject of debate - some of the more conservative fundamentalists believe that the Bible was written as though God spoke into a microphone and the words were transcribed into the book while other, more liberal people believe the Bible was written with inspiration from God. Finally, there is the group who believe the Bible was conceived and written by people as a guidebook to explain the belief structure outlined in their religion. I honestly don't know much about the Torah and Judaism, and I know even less about the Quran and the Muslim faith, so I'll leave that to someone who knows these things. I think the cult vs religion thing is kind of a gray area, as it all depends on who you ask. I know some smart-ass atheists who will proudly proclaim Christianity as a cult (if for nothing more than to rile up Christians). There may be some truth in it, though. By modern social definitions, Christianity, in its beginnings, closely resembled a cult. It may sound odd coming from a Roman Catholic, but I've always followed a "worship whatever makes you a better person" philosophy of life. -monkey
My thoughts exactly, if a cult were to stick around long enough it would be called a religion, if it were a serious one. But I also agree with -H- cults to tend to be alot more extreme in their beliefs. Then again you could argue that cults dont start having wars with eachother ok star trek and star wars cults may argue over which is better but theres no blood shed.
I personally think that religion is just a cult with a very large following. They are both structured systems of belief that try to answer the major questions of life and how to live it properly.. I don't think how extreme they are determines if they are a cult or not. After all many would consider the Shi'ite Muslims to be extreme in their beliefs and they are the second largest sect of the Islamic religion. Cults may have more esoteric beliefs by comparison to our current standards which came from the major religious beliefs of today, but they're still just beliefs which people have faith in. Of course the mass suicide cults really don't have much longevity so I can understand why none of those turned into a religion... Anyway, the major religions of today were cults when they first started out. For instance Buddhism was definetely a cult back when it was started by Siddhartha Gautama. Shintoism is believed to have originated from many different tribes from different geographical locations, each with their own set of deities and worship rituals. When Japan united these completely seperate religions merged into current day Shintoism. Most every other major religion was started by a small group or person as well.
it all depends who you ask. if you ask a christian theyd say everything else is a cult. muslims would say other religions are a cult. but thats just a petty way that 'religious' people try to insult other religions by calling them a cult. i think by definition a religion is a faith in god(s). but a cult would be where they believe in something other than god, like aliens, or some man from california that says the world will blow up unless you subscribe to his platinum god package. at the end of the day every religion has been called a cult before and its all about opinions so you better keep your essay open or youll offend your teacher (speaking from experience lol)
A cult could really be defined as anything that has a following, even blindly. Becuase the true meaning has really been blurred by today's society. Everyone has their own definition. What was meant as something that had to with pagan customs has now been defined as people that are Trekkies or those that follow a certain movie like Breakfast Club. Religion should be defined as a group of people with faith in something. Faith is the assured expection of things to come, for things hoped for, through evident demonstration. So really anything that people have faith in could be considered a religion, even scientific belief's (theories not proven, yadda yadda). A religion could be defined as a cult if the people within don't understand why they are doing what they are doing. A group of people can certainly be defined as a cult if the people within break laws, plan with ill intent to hurt others and/or are racially divided and racist. A religion should not be defined as a cult if they follow the bible explicitly (no killing, war, sex before marriage, etc.), do not harm anyone, law abiding citizens, are not racially divided and love their neighbor as themselves.
if they dont believe in a god or some sort of higher power (thus playing the role of a badly defined god) then how can they be a religion or cult i dunno if you mean things like aethist but thats not a religion, thats just the lack of one
I think that's a great way to separate the two: religion being the faith or belief structure, cult being the group following said belief. I'd be interested to learn the etymology of the word "cult." At what point did the word come into the English language? Does it share the same root as "occult." That might help to define "cult" and "religion" even more. -monkey
"scientific beliefs" is an oxymoron. There are no scientific "beliefs", but (testable) hypotheses of physical reality. Science is the process of testing those hypotheses and either upholding them as best working models to explain, and thus predict and influence what goes on around us, or rejecting them because they fail to do so. I do not really see how this explains the difference between a cult and a religion. Your distinctions can apply to both. History suggests that many religious groups were regarded as a "cult" until they became mainstream.
How about "natural order"? Ever heard of Taoism or Confusianism? It's a philosophy. Different name, but essentially the same thing.
