Are all cults 'bad'?

[Moon_Beam]

I was discussing this with a friend and she believes that all so called 'cults' are bad, wrong and every attempt should be made to help someone get away from tht environment. The way I see it is that yes there bad cults that do take advantage of people when they are most vulnerable and are only in it for personal gain, but then there are also cults (whether or not thats the right word I don't klnow) that do help people out when they need it most, perhaps for personal, social or whatever reason. Just because something is labelled a cult and the mind and the media automatically assume brain washing, is it always that bad? If someone is struggling with religion or what to believe in and a 'cult' helps them find inner peace so to speak, and it doesn't harm them or anyone else - is it bad??

What do you guys think?

[Reverend_Loki]

www.subgenius.com

you'll pay to know what you really think.
"Bob" gaurantees it.

[soaringeagle]

cults es are bad, but some things are labeled as cults that really ent cults.
cults themselves though, real cults are all about the overinflated ego's of the cult leaders..the religiosaspects distorted & twisted in order to gain control of the followers..they prey on confusion..ive known a few people who have been in cults, or grew up in cults & i've never heard of 1 who was helped in any way by them

while in a cult though it is possible to believe that its helping you, that without the cult youd be lost, but thatsa result of having been lost before joining the cult, being told that all the answers you saught were to be found there..but isnt that just brainwashing?
ofcourse theres not alot of difference between cults & most organized religions, except in most cults the cult leader elevates himself to godlike status.

Ofcourse someof the things that the cult database (yes theresasuch thing) list as cults but bear nothing in common with any cults except a spiritual aspect can be very good indeed.
but anytime theres an over glorified leader, then its an actual cult, & i dont think theresever been one that really was good.

[Chris Jury]

Yes...;)

[Duck]

even though I think this is too gray for a straight answer, I think it would be safe to lean towards yes

but I do agree that sometimes they can be good for the individual

it depends on so many things from how you define a cult to how you define bad or beneficial

[Chris Jury]

Could someone give an example of an organization that has been called a "cult" that one might suggest is either beneficial or at least not harmful to an individual? I've tossed it around in my head, and I can't think of anything...

[themnax]

are all cults bad? of course not, but a lot of things that arn't usually though of as cults, or called cults, really do amount to cults, and the not so wonderful kind at that.

=^^=
.../\...

[Meggles]

All cults aren't bad. Christianity started out as a cult, Judaism started out as a cult, Islam started out as a cult, Hinduism started out as a cult, Bhuddism started out as a cult. I learned in school that a cult is a religion with a very small following, and it causes the members to live outside the conventional way.

[stev90]

If all religions started as cults, then all religions are cults.
More wars have been started because of religion, therefore, we need less cults, and less religion, not more.

[Okiefreak]

All cults aren't bad. Christianity started out as a cult, Judaism started out as a cult, Islam started out as a cult, Hinduism started out as a cult, Bhuddism started out as a cult. I learned in school that a cult is a religion with a very small following, and it causes the members to live outside the conventional way.But another essential characteristic is mind control. Your definition fits groups that are sects, but cults include mind control.

[Okiefreak]

Could someone give an example of an organization that has been called a "cult" that one might suggest is either beneficial or at least not harmful to an individual? I've tossed it around in my head, and I can't think of anything...AA?

[NorCaliGreenFiend]

So, you think the Church doesnt practice mind control? tell me why millions of Africans die every year from AIDS when the only organization with the power to stop the spread refuses to distribute condoms, because they are unholy?

[Stillravenmad]

But another essential characteristic is mind control. Your definition fits groups that are sects, but cults include mind control.Some cults include mind control.

A cult is a minority religion. That's it. There are negative connotations given to the word cult, but that doesn't mean they're accurate. Not all cults are distructive and they don't all use mind control.

[Stillravenmad]

Could someone give an example of an organization that has been called a "cult" that one might suggest is either beneficial or at least not harmful to an individual? I've tossed it around in my head, and I can't think of anything...Wicca and most New Age religions are considered to be cults by a lot of people (and those people include sociologists, so you can unknot your panties), Hare Krishna, and Voodoo (and by that I mean the REAL Voodoo religion).

[Hryhorii]

So, you think the Church doesnt practice mind control? tell me why millions of Africans die every year from AIDS when the only organization with the power to stop the spread refuses to distribute condoms, because they are unholy?
Technically that isn't mind control. The people are told that if they have AIDS to not have sex.

[Hryhorii]

Some cults include mind control.

A cult is a minority religion. That's it. There are negative connotations given to the word cult, but that doesn't mean they're accurate. Not all cults are distructive and they don't all use mind control.
Well actually a cult isn't even a minority religion. Cult comes from the Latin cultus meaning care or adoration. That is why you have the Cult of Mary in the Roman Church. It isn't that those people are a minority religion within a religion, they just have a special Adoration of Mary. Same goes for the cults of St Christopher, Anthony, Catherine of Sienna, etc.

I just pwn'd you BTW. Cult in the modern sense, and in the sense being used in the context of this thread and forum generally refers to those religious and para-religious organizations that are viewed as spurious and have questionable practices (read "fraud") and questionable recruitment techniques (read "brainwashing meaning denial of food and water, and emotional battering that leads the person open to suggestion").

[themnax]

If all religions started as cults, then all religions are cults.
More wars have been started because of religion, therefore, we need less cults, and less religion, not more.all religeons that make their revealer an object of worship are certaily cults and that certainly includes christianity.

but it isn't actually religeons that wars are STARTED over, they just make warfare possible. or rather, misunderstandings about them do, which are then used to recruit the gullible and justify conflict to them.

=^^=
.../\...

[Pennyroyal_Tea]

So, you think the Church doesnt practice mind control? tell me why millions of Africans die every year from AIDS when the only organization with the power to stop the spread refuses to distribute condoms, because they are unholy?

That's the Catholic church, not the millions of other mainstream and independent churches around the world... Condoms aren't unholy to me... To me, if you're not ready to be a father, you wear a damned rubber and you damn well better not whine about it. If you're not ready to be a father and you don't wear a rubber and chance it, you're an idiot.

I'm a Christian, and I just put that the most blunt and brutal way I can.

[tigerchild]

If all religions started as cults, then all religions are cults.
More wars have been started because of religion, therefore, we need less cults, and less religion, not more.
me and a friend were arguing about this the other day, they said that as religion has caused so much hurt we should get rid of all religion, especially as we can substitute all the good its given us with another motivation. however i said that even if that happened people would start asking the same eternal questions. then the answer was to just have one cult / religion, but we all know that what works for one person doesn't neccessarily work for another so therefore we need a broard range of religions and we get to where we are today because they fight.

[Passionate1]

That would be an yes bob for 100,0000.00 please

[CannbisSouL]

I think cults have just accumulated a bad name over time,
Due to the cults that commit mass-suicide and crimes. I'll bet that there are cults that do no harm to anyone;

[Puffis]

Could someone give an example of an organization that has been called a "cult" that one might suggest is either beneficial or at least not harmful to an individual? I've tossed it around in my head, and I can't think of anything...
Rastafari is considered a "cult"

[SelfControl]

I was discussing this with a friend and she believes that all so called 'cults' are bad, wrong and every attempt should be made to help someone get away from tht environment. The way I see it is that yes there bad cults that do take advantage of people when they are most vulnerable and are only in it for personal gain, but then there are also cults (whether or not thats the right word I don't klnow) that do help people out when they need it most, perhaps for personal, social or whatever reason. Just because something is labelled a cult and the mind and the media automatically assume brain washing, is it always that bad? If someone is struggling with religion or what to believe in and a 'cult' helps them find inner peace so to speak, and it doesn't harm them or anyone else - is it bad??

What do you guys think?

A lot of what coincidentally comes with cults is bad, but that can be said of most religions or non-religious organisations to some degree.

However, in terms of how we define a cult as separate from religion, the bad thing, for me and most people, is the requirement of a strict code that is not open to interpretation, and doesn't allow discrete degrees of adherence the way a religion does. Of course, it is likely that not all cults are like this, or that it's something all religions go through and are eventually forced to "grow out of" as they become more popular - they must either evolve to fit newer generations of members, or else face extinction.

In general though, I dislike this idea. I believe that the good thing about religion is that it generally keeps punishment ethereal and distant, in Hell rather than in the immediate now. While there are flaws in this, it does at least leave it up to a person's conscience to punish them, rather than some cult elder.

I'm interested to know how people feel about this though. I'm of the firm belief that merely being considered a cult should not be seen as inherently negative; rather, that a cult is potentially an emerging religion. They should be judged individually based on what they do and don't do. A cult is very often no different from a commune, and if a belief that they share is harmless then that can be a very positive thing, a means of resistance to homogeny and hegemony in society.

[SelfControl]

So, you think the Church doesnt practice mind control? tell me why millions of Africans die every year from AIDS when the only organization with the power to stop the spread refuses to distribute condoms, because they are unholy?

So you don't see any difference between lying to someone and "mind control"? Would you know what a virus was, or whether a condom worked, if no-one had ever told you? There's a lack of education in Africa about what AIDS is, to the extent where people believed (no joke) that they could catch it via text message. Yes, I believe that the church's preaching in Africa is irresponsible, just as I believe that the US's aid programmes concerning sexual health are irresponsible. But to suggest that there is some kind of brain washing involved is a severe exaggeration.

[themnax]

i'd be more inclined to ask:"are all cults good?".

with the exception of a few major religeons, most of them, it seems to me, are.

(and there are certianly lies about what a lack of education is)

=^^=
.../\...

[OmNomNom]

First thing you have to do when asking question like this is to define the word 'cult'. It has many different interpretations and over time it became something different what it meant originaly. I think the original meaning was really to adore something, to worship for example leader or some object/idea which isn't that bad in itself but as most cults exploited its members, had harmful and dangerous practices it gained negative charge and that is how the word is used today.

Some definitions can be found here: http://www.google.sk/search?hl=sk&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&hs=y1D&defl=en&q=define:cult&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

In this section of this forum and certainly when people are talking about Scientology being a cult they have this definition in mind:


"A cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g. isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of [consequences of] leaving it, etc) designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community."


This is the definition most people have in mind when talking about some group being a 'cult'. Members of such cults defend themselves (at least Scientology) by throwing another definition at you and telling you that you don't know what you're talking about ignoring the actual definition you have in mind. In my view that's another sign of brainwashing ... they ignore what you're trying to say and substitute it with what they've been told instead, they defend themselves by ignorance.

[OmNomNom]

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