My friend and i made one, jsut because we are strange, we tell people we worship grasshoppers and there for hop around on the grass, but really, we dont do anything
I actually started one, called The Cult of the Eight Waving Fingers. Its purpose is to release your Inner Child to come out and play. This is accomplished through the Mantra of the Eight Waving Fingers. To do this, hold both hands before you, palms facing outward, fingers up and thumbs toward each other. Now bring your hands to the sides of your head, stick your thumbs in your ears, wiggle your fingers, and say the mantra "Nyaaah Nya-Nya-Nyaaah Nyaaah".
My cult does not worship anything but the music will be sacred. We will build the Temple of Music. The only ritual is the ingestion of special plants and the playing of musical instruments. The cult will function like a fungus, eating the knowledge of all other religions, sciences and arts. Out it will grow the best music and films ever produced.
many many years ago..think i was 19 at the time we had a party at this house i was staying at..& well i went to answer the door & there were 3 kids there, kinda goofy looking kids & 1 drops to his knees & says u look like a cult leader..i would follow you anywhere..lol well the 3 of them did follow mye around the whole night & it wss kinda odd, but id eatten allotta hash so it didnt bother me too much.. well the next morning they were crashed on the floor downstairs along with this strange punk dude i knew..so me & this punk dude came up with this crazy scheme..we were still pretty stoned..so when the other 3 woke up we took them downtown to this market near the river..sorta a mall wannabe type place..& it was almost always closed it seemed but in the courtyard in 1 of the windows was a monitor with this wavepattern type thing..we explained to these 3 fools that in order to join oyr cult they must sit there staring at this pattern for 3 days chanting over & over all hail mummra (yes from the cartoon..lol) & they were not proven worthy unless they heard mummra speak..lol.. & believe it or not, we went back 3 days later..the only day the mall was open & people there..& they were still sitiing there chanting..i guess they never heard himthough cause i never saw them again i know, it was mean..but it was funny at the time
i knew this guy once who almost sort of started a cult but i think he got bored with the idea and changed his mind about it or something. at any rate he didn't want to talk about it after he had gone on to something else when i mentioned it to him one time. he called it neo zen druids and it was about worshipping trees that weren't there. i take no credit. he made it up. i didn't. i'm not mentioning his name or the title he used because i don't know about now, but i know immediately after he'd gone on to other things he appeared to get really annoyed if i or anyone mentioned it. or at least that's how it seemed to me. but i still thought the idea was kind of a fun thing. well if a cult is where people get addicted to an idea, like they do with christianity, i don't think i'd want to do that to anyone. but there are things, that i think would make better religeons then ones we've got. most of them anyway. trouble is, anything, a few hundred years people get all hung up on the words (who'se meaning will by then have subtly chainged anyway) and really forget or just plain no longer give a dam, what they were origeonaly intended to try and mean. you know i'd like to see aggressiveness ostracized and immagination romantacized and rewarded, but just like anything else, give it a few hundred years and somebody will be selling post toasties with it or telling people to knife each other for the sake of it or some other crap like that. i'd really like to start something that would actualy stop people from robbing each other of their calmness. well actualy i don't care who starts it. just that i'd like to see it happen. and if something that already exists were to actualy do that, well that would be fine too. but everything i've seen claim to. well you know how that goes. i'm not interested in trying to be a big deal or impress anyone. it would be nice to have a little piece of land somewhere to play arround with. but i'm really not interested in anyone giving me rolls royce's or any of that. i mean if it makes em feel good, well ok, but if anyone wants to give me something, let it be something i can enjoy using, you know like high tec tools and clean energy systems to power them and stuff like that. i think little people sized trains instead of cars, and being nice to little furry creatures and the little spirit that lives down by the creek, that would be cool. not using fire for anything other then to cook and heat with. i'm for that one. but i don't see how anyone could call any of those things a cult when the're just plain common sense. even if people aren't commonly very sensable about them just yet. =^^= .../\...
Who else is wary when they hear of newly emerging religions? Would you consider a religion that seeks members and limits the expression of outside viewpoints and censors member's opinions for approval, to be a cult? Just curious.
Not all new religions are cults. Some are, most aren't. But all of todays prospering religions were percieved as cults at one time. And maybe with good reason. Truth is, when any one thing is around long enough, it will eventually be accepted as normal and acceptable. I would consider any religion that purposefully and willingly causes physical or mental suffering to an individual to be a cult. Some religions are stricter than others, but that doesn't make them dangerous. If I were to have my cult, it would be about worshipping that Leprechaun guy from the Lucky Charms commercials, and we'd all sit around campfires taking large doses of acid, in an attempt to see the belevolent Leprechaun. Hahaha...yeah that would be nuts.
A curious question, indeed. Are those actually MEMBERS of that religion being censored or just the outside critics? How could any religion possibly censor any person? There are thousands of outlets where they could express themselves. So I don't see the point of your rhetorical question. I suppose if they had all those members held captive with gags on their mouths, yeah then perhaps that could be considered censorship, and you might then call them a cult, but you'd first call them kidnappers, no? But most religious cults are far more devious than that, and usually use brainwashing and peer pressure to effectively censor their members and keep them in line. Of course, this usually requires they be physically restrained or monitored 24/7, esp. at first, and all outside contact with others is forbiddened or closely monitored. Such a group would never, ever let their people research or discuss other religions, independently. In a cult, members who stray or are deprogrammed are often targeted to be kidnapped again. So it's not just about censoring them, but keeping them too.
Members or critics... would that make a difference? First, why would a religion want to censor its member? Secondly... how could outside critics, be censored? Your right, a religion CANT censor. They would quickly lose members. A CULT on the other hand, can... by first limiting membership/participation to only those individuals who are least likely to ask questions or express viewpoints that dont reflect the views of the leader... then, by prohibiting free expression -usually through fear tactics- to help keep things under control. There doesnt have to be a point, does there? I am just asking a question. ... and I've been in a cult before.
Thats not always true, many religions started long ago, still exist today and are considered by outsiders to be a cult. My own personal experience was Branhamism but I can think of several others that were mentioned on a thread here on HF, "Has anyone ever been in a cult?", I think the thread is called.... Strictness... hmm. Perhaps not dangerous to the eye, but Silence can lead to suffering, too. Any religion where members cant be heard because they cant speak freely for fear of going against the leader... does indeed sound cultish. Lol ... your idea for a cult however, sounds fun
it is not newly emerging religions that i half so wary of, as establised ones, that have, as all do over time, become 'cultified'. not that i would ever trust ANYone who said 'this way is the only way, and it's source is infallable' i do not know if infallability can exist. but i do know i have never observed it. nontangable beings, certainly these can exist, love us, wish us well, be unimaginably powerful, all of that. leaders of beliefs, eat and breathe and shit, they are not gods. and again, it is the connection between priorities and probabilities that has more to do then any belief with the kind of world we all have to live in the one pertinance of belief, is it's influence on actualy lived by priorities. though of course, nontangable friends, are also good to have. =^^= .../\...
Note that she is just targeting groups that may become dangerous. There are many definitions of cults, and not all are bad.
If you want the most popular and effective cult possible, you would take a lesson from history and coop the other pre-existing local philosophies and religions and use them for your own ends. After all, it's all about subjucation and manipulation of others to achieve your personal gain. Maybe it doesn't start out that way, and can still try to live the lie of killing two birds with one stone, but the benefit of the people doesn't end up being the main focus. Maybe you could lie your people into a war for a commodity and tell them that it's actually a righteors war against the forces of evil. Cults are fascinating to watch in action.
totally. Whenever I hear of new religions forming, I think of this. There are usually motives behind the "love and peace" facade they throw up front. The religion (cult) is always about control in the end.
that list would certainly seem to apply to existing and established beliefs with large fallowings, at least certain key points of it would, can and do. =^^= .../\... as for a cult of my own ... whatever else may or may not exist, the denyal of the connection between priorities and probabilities is the only reason we have ever not had universal peace, security, abundance and even gratification =^^= .../\...
My cult would be a mix between ninjas,jediism,shamanism,buddhism,pirate stuff,hippies and treehuggers.
