Irvine511 said:
i think many of the questions in here have less to do with the defense of Sociology, and more to do with the relative arbitrariness of what is and what is not a cult. i'm sure in the 1st century Christianity was considered a cult. it is now not a cult, though we could argue that certain denominations, certain beliefs, certain practices, surely have cultish behaviors.
i think what things like Scientology do is call into question all of our assumptions about religions, and it's interesting to see those who self-define by their religions getting both nervous and a bit nasty.
i think Scientology is kind of bonkers. but so is Southern Baptism. one might rely on a more coherent, tradition-based theology, but in practice, i fail to see how Scientology's coercive techniques are any worse than the psychic abuse very credible churches inflict on some of their most vulnerable members.
heck, we have a presidential candidate who sounds every bit as crazy as Tom Cruise when he talks about the godly subservience of women or how allowing two men to get married is the same thing as allowing a man to marry a dog.
Irvine, I completely respect your ability to thoughtfully see an issue from many points of view.
You're right, "cult" is kind of a fuzzy term. Who's to say one belief system is a cult, and another is not?
Definition.com, based on Random House Unabridged Dictionary, has this definition:
cult:
1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. the object of such devotion.
4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
7. the members of such a religion or sect.
8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.
Scientology fits the usage of 6-8.
Nathan1977's definition, which said cults are "coercive in nature, abusive in practice, controlling in the extreme, and mentally, emotionally, and spiritually crippling" cites many other charactersistics of a cult. I added "secretive" to the mix.
Scientology fits that list, too.
Yes, in its infancy, Christianity would've fit much of No. 6 to the people of the day. However, it quickly came to be seen as a faith centered around truth and rooted in history. It's still seen as that today. It, along with Judaism and Islam come from the same historical root. Scientology is based on aliens and was started by a science fiction writer.
And yes, there are certain other faiths, even Christian denominations or churches that have some of the charactersistics Nathan1977 mentioned, however, none of those characteristics are Biblical, so the term cult, or "cultish," should just be given to that entity on its own, not the faith as a whole. I personally, know of "Christian" churches that are cultish. My in-laws attend one. It's a bit secretive, it's select, it's emotionally, mentally and spiritually crippling, and controlling, etc. They're definitely out there, but again, it's not Biblical.
You mentioned people getting "nervous" and "nasty" when it comes to cults. I hope I don't come across as "nasty," and wouldn't say I'm nervous. I do enjoy the discussion though and think it's important.
