07-14-2019, 05:31 PM
What is the difference between a religion and a cult? Are there any differences?
I think this is too dynamic a question to have one answer, but I’ll come up with one anyway 😝
The answer is, it’s all up to the individual on a case by case basis if religion is the same as a cult. It’s how the person reacts and how they use it is what determines that…
If you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim (or whatever), and it gives you peace in your heart and you live your life by a code for a positive life, then that is indeed your correct religion, regardless of what it is.
Christians who live in either fear or out of obligation may as well consider their religion a cult. I don’t think it’s the religion itself, but how it’s applied. That’s what can confuse religions with cults.
Cults are in and of themselves, evil. They are non-inclusive, secretive, where there is one guy at the top pretending to have all power, preying on the other’s weak will power and desire for something to believe in. They won’t let you question it and they won’t let you out. Scientology is more of an overall cult than a religion, in my opinion, but there are those who wholeheartedly believe in it so who am I to decide what gives people peace? I guess in the time of Christ, Christianity was a cult too. Priests raping kids is a cultish action, so the defining line in the sand has to come from the individual…
But under the guise of promising good things under a bad premise, religious cults can be born… Like David Koresh, the hale-bop spaceship guy, and Jim Jones shows the fine line between something people need if they are looking for something and being manipulated. The Jonestown tapes are eerie, to say the least.
So I guess the difference is the purpose… Can it be questioned? Is it used for a better way of life or a self-serving manipulative thing to control… I personally have no organized religion, but I believe a bit of the good stuff… Realize it has its purpose for others, while cults are useless.. Other than that, it’s one's opinion to determine what a cult or religion is…
What are your thoughts?
I think this is too dynamic a question to have one answer, but I’ll come up with one anyway 😝
The answer is, it’s all up to the individual on a case by case basis if religion is the same as a cult. It’s how the person reacts and how they use it is what determines that…
If you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim (or whatever), and it gives you peace in your heart and you live your life by a code for a positive life, then that is indeed your correct religion, regardless of what it is.
Christians who live in either fear or out of obligation may as well consider their religion a cult. I don’t think it’s the religion itself, but how it’s applied. That’s what can confuse religions with cults.
Cults are in and of themselves, evil. They are non-inclusive, secretive, where there is one guy at the top pretending to have all power, preying on the other’s weak will power and desire for something to believe in. They won’t let you question it and they won’t let you out. Scientology is more of an overall cult than a religion, in my opinion, but there are those who wholeheartedly believe in it so who am I to decide what gives people peace? I guess in the time of Christ, Christianity was a cult too. Priests raping kids is a cultish action, so the defining line in the sand has to come from the individual…
But under the guise of promising good things under a bad premise, religious cults can be born… Like David Koresh, the hale-bop spaceship guy, and Jim Jones shows the fine line between something people need if they are looking for something and being manipulated. The Jonestown tapes are eerie, to say the least.
So I guess the difference is the purpose… Can it be questioned? Is it used for a better way of life or a self-serving manipulative thing to control… I personally have no organized religion, but I believe a bit of the good stuff… Realize it has its purpose for others, while cults are useless.. Other than that, it’s one's opinion to determine what a cult or religion is…
What are your thoughts?
(This post was last modified: 07-14-2019, 05:48 PM by LZA.)