Petal Alderin
Resident Rusharound
Registered: 01-2008
Posts: 968
Karma: 19 (+22/-3)
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Re: Cults
Thanks for that Mo - very interesting. I think these people are actually deranged.
I wonder if they would recognize themselves if they read that description or whether they're so blinded by their irrationality that they wouldn't realise how crazy they really are.
They certainly aren't normal. It's a pity that the rational well-balanced decent religious people out there can't make them see the light because the authorities do zip.
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10/28/2008, 1:18 pm
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Petal Alderin
Resident Rusharound
Registered: 01-2008
Posts: 968
Karma: 19 (+22/-3)
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Re: Cults
Rick wrote:
quote:
I'll have to come back to this one, probably Saturday, so I can give a proper response.
When you have a chance Rick I'd value your thoughts on this upsetting subject. Not nagging, no ways - just reminding you!!
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10/28/2008, 1:30 pm
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Pastor Rick
Administrator
Registered: 07-2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 1900
Karma: 29 (+42/-13)
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Re: Cults
According to ReligousTolerance.Org there are 10 signs (or traits) exhibited by destructive cults which are:* Apocalyptic Beliefs:
o The leader's preaching concentrates heavily on the impending end of the world, often at a great battle (e.g. War of Armageddon). In addition (as in the case of the Solar Temple and Heaven's Gate groups) the leader preaches that through group suicide at a particular instant, they will all be transported to a wonderful place and escape the devastation that is about to come to the earth.
o The group is expected to play a major, elite role at the end time.
* Charismatic Leadership
o They are led by a single male charismatic leader.
o The leader dominates the membership, closely controlling them physically, sexually and emotionally.
* Social Encapsulation
o They are a small religious group, not an established denomination.
o The group (or at least the core members) lives together in an intentional community which is isolated from the rest of society.
o There is often extreme paranoia within the group; they believe that they are in danger and that they are being closely monitored and heavily persecuted by governments or people outside the group. People on "the outside" are demonized.
o Information and contacts from outside the cult are severely curtailed.
* Other Factors
o The group leadership assembles an impressive array of guns, rifles, other murder weapons, poison, or weapons of mass destruction. They may prepare defensive structures.
o They follow a form of Christian theology (or a blend of Christianity with another religion), with major and unique deviations from traditional beliefs in the area of end-time prophecy.
While the Federal Government reports on the Branch Davidians makes the claim that they exhibited all but one of these traits I think a case can be made that they only exhibited 7 of the above traits. Regardless of how you count it though any group that exhibits more than half the traits listed is potentially dangerous and destructive in its make-up and should be avoided imho.
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11/3/2008, 11:10 am
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Morwen Oronor
Resident Scholar
Registered: 01-2008
Location: South Africa
Posts: 1743
Karma: 15 (+28/-13)
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Re: Cults
I agree with you on that Rick and those definitions put it very succinctly. I think that any society, whether it is religious or not, that requires that you give up your family, friends and possessions to be a member and that demands that you conform to a standard set by them and that 'brainwashes' you into thinking that they are 'above' other people, expecting a high level of obedience and that dishes out extreme punishment for disobedience or for leaving the organisation without permission, has the makings of a cult.
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11/11/2008, 10:59 pm
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