Maybe I’m a little careful about the word ‘cult’, since my church of origin copped a lot of the cult talk. To me, the practices and doctrines of my church were normal and not cultish. Yet my dear old normal church, with its gold bible and temple ceremonies, topped the list of cults in book after book. Christianity was a Jewish cult in the early days — and I don’t mean to be pejorative when I say that it remains sort of a death cult even today, its central image a tortured man nailed to a cross.
I’m still looking for a good definition of ‘cult’. Here are the most common I’m aware of:
1. A cult is a religion that is weird.
That is, it has beliefs or practices that lie outside the mainstream. But every religion is weird to someone. This very afternoon, Youngest Boy and I saw a rather large number of Evangelical Christians singing loud songs in the city. Hands raised, and so on. Substitute “Hare Hare” etc, and it wouldn’t have sounded any different. Yet the Hare Krishnas are a cult and the Christians aren’t? for no one denounces cults like those Christians.
2. A cult is a religion that uses coercive, manipulative, or deceptive tactics to retain its membership.
Cults tend to isolate their members, get them dependent on the approval of the group, and restrict their access to family. But every religion has its bag of tricks: tell people if they don’t do what god wants, they’ll go to hell or otherwise be ineligible for heaven; use communal reinforcement to keep people tied into the values of the group; start them when they’re young and dependent. And in extreme cases, threaten apostates with ostracism.
3. A cult is a religion that focuses on adoration of an individual.
Like Jesus? Next.
4. A cult is a religion that hasn’t become well-established yet.
Getting closer. If Catholicism had a hundred followers, its followers would seem darned peculiar. Population and history have a way of lending legitimacy. But Hinduism and Buddhism, with their many millions, were considered cults when they arrived in the West.
5. A cult is a religion that we don’t like.
That’s about as close as we’re going to come.
I’ve never seen a definition for a cult that doesn’t also implicate all other religions. My religion is a religion; yours is a cult.
2 October 2007 at 6:38 am
Oh my, the blur between a cult and a religion. When I was writing that last comment I have to admit previous experience did lead me to question whether there really is a distinct difference between the two.
When my mother left her church, not the religion mind you, they told her that she was no longer under their protection and basically told her that it’s a big bad world out there and she’ll come running back.
Of course, this pissed me off beyond belief! And what was the first thing I said to mum? “Sounds like a cult to me.”
So maybe its more about the people running the place than it is about the actual ‘religion’ that makes it a ‘cult’. So I’d say that that particular place of worship has a cult mentality, which is more political than anything else, which is all related back to them wanting submissive patrons who pay them money, which seems entirely against their actual ‘religion’ which they would know if they actually read their bible.
In conclusion, haha, I guess what I’m getting at is that you can’t really label an entire ‘religion’ as a cult. Because, it all depends on who is in charge and what their motivations are in each group. An individual can practice a religion without being part of either definition/group and still be religious. A cult has to be led, there has to be someone in charge.
Feel free to give me an example of where any of this is untrue so that I can better my thinking.
4 October 2007 at 8:57 pm
I think cults are basically small, rather defensive, religious groups. They tend to thrive on portraying their path as somehow privileged, more true than others – and therefore foster an elitist perspective. There is almost always some kind of revelatory ‘secret’ at the centre and rings or levels of revelation that initiates can attain if only they’re good enough (code for sleep with the guru or keep the secret that it’s really all about free sex or whatever) There is, I think, a distinctive knowledge/power relationship.
I don’t think Christianity is a cult per se – the central message of Christ is that you should go through him and no one else – if people actually followed that they wouldn’t listen to priests who parade themselves as God’s representatives – they are no more than a human power organisation whose ‘front’ is a church. The similarity in tactics of the Mafia (protectionism) and the Church are no accident. So Felicity I would say the Church didn’t sound like a cult, it sounded like the Mafia.
5 October 2007 at 12:49 pm
Hey Snowqueen,
Nothing to argue with there except the definition of Christian perhaps. For example Pentecostal Christians have no priest and they can pray to God themselves without going through a human. They just have some guy on a Sunday talk to them about something in the bible. But that’s just one form of Christianity.
Kinda bothers me that people think Christian=Catholic.
So yeah, what I was trying to say was that if you practice the religion alone, without going through another human or praying within a group or anything involving someone else you can’t be considered part of a cult even if your faith is. I think that makes sense.
7 October 2007 at 12:21 am
I don’t think Christian = Catholic. Priests, vicars, pastors whatever – you just got to wonder why! I like Quakers.
7 October 2007 at 3:31 am
Haha, why quakers? coz of the name?
7 October 2007 at 1:06 pm
lol – no. Because they are pacifists and they are into sitting still and being equal. When I was at boarding school I had to go to a religious service every Sunday even though I wasn’t Christian (my father was muslim) and I went round all the churches and ended up sticking with them because I liked the meetings. Later I became a Buddhist which seemed like a natural progression. I went to a quaker wedding once – it was a truly moving affair. They are generally pretty humble and compassionate people.