Cults

[Rival]

Have any of you ever been in a religious sect you thought is essentially a cult? How was it?

If you're part of a religion as a whole, would you say it contains a sect or some which could be counted as a cult or cults? Why?

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

Have any of you ever been in a religious sect you thought is essentially a cult? How was it?

A family member started visiting a Seventh Day Adventist church. I should elaborate that most Seventh Day Adventists are probably okay. But this group was the type to pretty much worship Ellen White, as well as practice a form of idolism. In two weeks time, they got my family member believing that there would be immediate as well as in the future consequences from God for eating pork. And it wasn't enough that he didn't want to eat it - he started preaching what amounted to anti-pork sermons himself, to family, as well as becoming highly superstitious, pretty much the stuff you see kids do, with things similar to "break a mirror, get 7 years of bad luck", but different. I'd say his experience affects him to this day despite not being as superstitious now. What finally happened is that the people from the church ended up making him think they were going too far when they started wanting to all hang out with him outside church, asking to come to his house, etc. After that, he kind of broke away.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Misread the thread title, thought this was going to be about Boris Johnson's new cabinet.

 

[Fool]

Have any of you ever been in a religious sect you thought is essentially a cult? How was it?

If you're part of a religion as a whole, would you say it contains a sect or some which could be counted as a cult or cults? Why?

christianity is a cult of personality. the person being jesus.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Have any of you ever been in a religious sect you thought is essentially a cult? How was it?

Not anything that calls itself a religion per se, but my ex-wife's friends tried to get her and me into a "personal mastery" program that ended up being essentially a cult.

It was... disturbing. We went to a weekend event, called a workshop. During the event, they tried very hard to break down the attendees, then "love bomb" them. All the while they were pushing additional "workshops" at high cost (trying to sell them by saying things like "you think you can't afford it? Once you achieve personal mastery, the money will just come") and priming us to recruit family and friends.

 

[Vinayaka]

Have any of you ever been in a religious sect you thought is essentially a cult? How was it?

If you're part of a religion as a whole, would you say it contains a sect or some which could be counted as a cult or cults? Why?

'Cult' is a pejorative word these days, and one person's cult is another's mainstream normal. Some folks figure I'm in a cult, but generally it's because they know nothing about it. OTOH, I consider lots of faiths that pop out sock-puppets as cults. It's like one guy speaking from 50 personalities.

 

[1213]

Have any of you ever been in a religious sect you thought is essentially a cult? How was it?

I think modern western world is a developing doomsday cult, which has many different threats that are at any moment going to destroy everything, unless we obey the leaders. Different opinions are banned from main stream media, questioning is restricted, freedom of speech is limited...

…a cult is a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs, or by its common interest… … Doomsday cult is an expression which is used to describe groups that believe in Apocalypticism and Millenarianism, and it can also be used to refer both to groups that predict disaster… … Groups which some writers have termed "political cults", mostly advocating far-left or far-right agendas…
Cult - Wikipedia

I think this definition fits quite well for example to the “democratic” party and Biden:

… So what are the danger signs?... …There will be a public face of the leadership, and that person will unfailingly present the nice, glossy and polished face of the organization. The public face will be squeaky clean and wonderful… … A third trait of a cult is that complete loyalty is demanded of the followers. Dissent and criticism are not permitted… … A fourth characteristic of a group that has become a cult or is behaving in a cult-like manner is that there will be a persecution complex. A group of outside forces will be identified who are “the enemy”. A little fortress will be built in which all those on the inside are the “faithful ones” while all those on the outside will increasingly be demonized and feared.
4 Danger Signs of Cult-Like Behavior, and 4 Antidotes

I think the modern “liberal” cult that leads western world is evil and bad. Luckily, it has not yet fully grown and is not as bad as it could be.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Have any of you ever been in a religious sect you thought is essentially a cult? How was it?

If you're part of a religion as a whole, would you say it contains a sect or some which could be counted as a cult or cults? Why?

I visited one once, about 15 years ago. It advertised itself as an Orthodox Church in America, and I was simply very curious -- I had attended a wedding at a Greek Orthodox church, and I wondered how an American Orthodox church would differ. It turned out that this church had formerly been a pentecostal church, and had converted to Eastern Orthodoxy en masse, under the leadership of their priest. Well, subsequently, this priest had written a book of his own, and (since they still had their pentecostal beliefs on prophecy) they considered this book to be a new revelation of God, on par with the Bible. This man also controlled his church with an iron hand -- dissent was not permitted. It was really one of the most creepy experiences I've ever had.

 

[Rival]

I visited one once, about 15 years ago. It advertised itself as an Orthodox Church in America, and I was simply very curious -- I had attended a wedding at a Greek Orthodox church, and I wondered how an American Orthodox church would differ. It turned out that this church had formerly been a pentecostal church, and had converted to Eastern Orthodoxy en masse, under the leadership of their priest. Well, subsequently, this priest had written a book of his own, and (since they still had their pentecostal beliefs on prophecy) they considered this book to be a new revelation of God, on par with the Bible. This man also controlled his church with an iron hand -- dissent was not permitted. It was really one of the most creepy experiences I've ever had.

Wow, that sounds creepy indeed. I wonder what became of them.