Anti-Cultists are a cult

by proplog2 32 Replies latest jw friends

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  proplog2

  Abbaddon:

  And do stop with making up arguements that you can refute;

  I am only responding to this comment: (made by someone on another thread)

  The word "cult" is indeed open to a broad range of definitions ranging from "an organization I don't like" to "any religion at all" to "a really wierd group". However, when one clearly defines a set of criteria, such as Steve Hassan does in his books, and when one restricts one's application to those criteria, it is perfectly reasonable to argue that a certain group falls within those criteria and thus is a "cult" in that sense.
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  refiners fire

  There was a time not long ago when I voraciously read books analyzing definitions of cults, all the experts disputing over what a cult is, whether there is such a thing at all.
  I think "cult" is just a label.
  Like all labels, it is innacurate, it doesnt say everything, it is not cut and dried.Carved in stone.
  It doesnt seem, to me, that anything much takes place in "cults' that doesnt take place in everyday life and ordinary relationships.
  People get guilty consciences, and feel impulses to confess or conceal things theyve done, at work, for example.
  People justify their verbal commitments and turn it into action all the time, just look at this board for example.
  The "cultic" manifestations, ala Lifton, Hassan, etc, are, to me, just ordinary social/psychological events that have been taken to an extreme length in an extreme environment.
  I cant help, myself, but think that the deciding factor is what is called the "Totalism", the ultimate belief system.
  Where this is apparent, extreme manifestations will follow.
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  gravedancer

  I Refuse To Have A Battle Of Wits With An Unarmed Person