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Scientology, a harmless but strange religion?

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Tiger_shark

I know I recently posted a video on the craziness of scientology followers but some further research has thoroughly disgusted me and I thought I would share some of what I have found, feel free to come to your own conclusions. It's a bit of a lenghty read.
http://www.lermanet.com/LRonHubbard5.htm
21 January 2007 Italian Media report on a 47 year old lady, who may have been one of their highest OT8's, being held in a room by 3 Scientologists, who have been imprisoned for kidnapping, after she dropped notes out her window asking for help."the police suspect the Scientologists wanted her money." Do you think so?
St. Petersburg declared Scientology center illegal. St. Petersburg. The Supreme Court of Russia has reaffirmed a judgement of the St. Petersburg City Court made summer, and now the Scientology organization in is Petersburg is prohibited. St. Petersburg is the third location in Russia where the sect identified as Scientology must officially cease activities. The ban applies to St Petersburg as well as Bashkortostan and Khabarovsk.
In 1997 a former member of the Church of Scientology, unhappy with courses she had taken, tried to get a refund of 700,000 Belgian francs - about $17,000. Authorities began looking into the church's finances and interviewing people. Now, 10 years and 76 cartons of documents later, prosecutors say the evidence points to one conclusion: The Church of Scientology in Belgium is a "criminal organization" that has used fraud and extortion to separate members from their money.
4 September 2007 - Belgium Judiciary bring formal criminal charges against Scientology
Scientology as an organization has a previous conviction in Canada for "Breach of the Public Trust"
France Convicted L Ron Hubbard of Criminal Fraud 1978 and French scientology leaders were convicted of Fraud in 1999
http://www.lermanet.com/cos/spain.html
Spain - Criminal Indictment 1993
the commencement of the oral trial and to consider this
criminal lawsuit to be founded on the felonies of illicit association,
threats, coercion, usurpation of functions, false accusation, simulation of a
felony, illegal arrest, crimes against the Tax Administration, crimes against
freedom and safety in the workplace, intrusion, crimes against the public
health, injuries, damages, abuse, slander and inducement to suicide
http://www.lermanet.com/cos/italy.html
Italian Scientologists Jailed
DATELINE: MILAN, Italy, Jan 18 1997
A Milan appeal court has sentenced 29 members of the Church of Scientology to between nine and 20 months' jail for criminal association, the Corriere della Serra reported Saturday.
http://www.lisamcpherson.org/cos/ftp/stipul01.txt
300 page document describing Criminal conviction of Scientology's highest leaders
http://www.hellas.org/news/archives/scient-1.htm
A para-religious cult of shivering activities throughout the world, has spreaded in Greece. It is the notorious "Church of Scientology" which operates in Greece as "Center of Applied Philosophy of Greece" (KEFE). The cult has already caused the interest of our country's judicial authorities, that were moved after may accusations from parents whose children have fallen into its networks ... May of them have run away from their homes and work there with no pay, while others are sent to work abroad, in unknown tasks so far. The members are going through a "clearing" process, during which they receive pharmaceutical substances, unknown so far. Before this process the members are obliged to sign a binding statement, that they will no raise any claim against KEFE, in case of injury to them !
a) Files are maintained for certain people (members or not), the contents of which are kept secret and classified, even by those interested and concerned members.
b) Many people are asked to sign the Statement of Law 1599/86 (also known as Law 104) that KEFE has no responsibility in case they committ suicide.
c) The so called "Clearing" process is applied, during which various pharmaceutical substances are given to the participant. Most importantly, the person is signining (before he/she enters the process) a statement that he/she, as well as the heirs, will not raise any claims, or sue, or attack KEFE in case a damage or injury is caused during the clearing process.
d) The Center is maintaining Ethics Officers and Ethics Courts, to punish those who violate its Ethics Code.
e) The family life of the members is recorded, for unknown reasons and orders are issued for their "handling".
f) The criminal or unethical actions of the members are recorded for unknown reasons, without precluding the possibility of blackmailing.
g) The members are praised, in writting, for conducting unethical or criminal actions.
h) The members are attracted to the Center with deceptive ways.
i) The members sign statements about offering free labour usually for a five year period.
http://www.lermanet.com/cos/bavaria1.html
Measures undertaken by the Government
of the State of Bavaria against Scientolog
Nationwide surveillance of the Scientology Organization by the authorities
in charge of the protection of the constitution
Beckstein welcomes the unequivocal stand by the Ministers of the Interior
http://www.scientology-kills.org/
Many people have died from malnutrition or suicide while serving scientology
http://www.xenu.net/archive/leaflet/xenuleaf.htm
Who is Xenu?
I'm going to tell you a story. Are you sitting comfortably? Right, then I'll begin.
Once upon a time (75 million years ago to be more precise) there was an alien galactic ruler named Xenu. Xenu was in charge of all the planets in this part of the galaxy including our own planet Earth, except in those days it was called Teegeeack.
Now Xenu had a problem. All of the 76 planets he controlled were overpopulated. Each planet had on average 178 billion people. He wanted to get rid of all the overpopulation so he had a plan.
Xenu took over complete control with the help of renegades to defeat the good people and the Loyal Officers. Then with the help of psychiatrists he called in billions of people for income tax inspections where they were instead given injections of alcohol and glycol mixed to paralyse them. Then they were put into space planes that looked exactly like DC8s (except they had rocket motors instead of propellers). These DC8 space planes then flew to planet Earth where the paralysed people were stacked around the bases of volcanoes in their hundreds of billions. When they had finished stacking them around then H-bombs were lowered into the volcanoes. Xenu then detonated all the H-bombs at the same time and everyone was killed.
The story doesn't end there though. Since everyone has a soul (called a "thetan" in this story) then you have to trick souls into not coming back again. So while the hundreds of billions of souls were being blown around by the nuclear winds he had special electronic traps that caught all the souls in electronic beams (the electronic beams were sticky like fly-paper).
After he had captured all these souls he had them packed into boxes and taken to a few huge cinemas. There all the souls had to spend days watching special 3D motion pictures that told them what life should be like and many confusing things. In this film they were shown false pictures and told they were God, The Devil and Christ. In the story this process is called "implanting".
When the films ended and the souls left the cinema these souls started to stick together because since they had all seen the same film they thought they were the same people. They clustered in groups of a few thousand. Now because there were only a few living bodies left they stayed as clusters and inhabited these bodies.
As for Xenu, the Loyal Officers finally overthrew him and they locked him away in a mountain on one of the planets. He is kept in by a force-field powered by an eternal battery and Xenu is still alive today.
That is the end of the story. And so today everyone is full of these clusters of souls called "body thetans". And if we are to be a free soul then we have to remove all these "body thetans" and pay lots of money to do so. And the only reason people believe in God and Christ was because it was in the film their body thetans saw 75 million years ago.
Well what did you think of that story?
What? You thought it was a stupid story?
Well so do we. However, this story is the core belief in the religion known as Scientology.* If people knew about this story then most people would never get involved in it. This story is told to you when you reach one of their secret levels called OT III. After that you are supposed to telepathically communicate with these body thetans to make them go away. You have to pay a lot of money to get to this level and do this (or you have to work very hard for the organisation on extremely low pay for many years).
We are telling you this story as a warning. If you become involved with Scientology then we would like you to do so with your eyes open and fully aware of the sort of material it contains.
reach the secret "upper" levels of Scientology. It may take them many years before they reach this level if they ever do. The ones who do know it are forced to keep it a secret and not tell it to those people who are joining Scientology.
Now you have read this you know their big secret. Don't let us put you off joining though.
I know I recently posted a video on the craziness of scientology followers but some further research has thoroughly disgusted me and I thought I would share some of what I have found, feel free to come to your own conclusions. It's a bit of a lenghty read. http://www.lermanet.com/LRonHubbard5.htm 21 January 2007 Italian Media report on a 47 year old lady, who may have been one of their highest OT8's, being held in a room by 3 Scientologists, who have been imprisoned for kidnapping, after she dropped notes out her window asking for help."the police suspect the Scientologists wanted her money." Do you think so? St. Petersburg declared Scientology center illegal. St. Petersburg. The Supreme Court of Russia has reaffirmed a judgement of the St. Petersburg City Court made summer, and now the Scientology organization in is Petersburg is prohibited. St. Petersburg is the third location in Russia where the sect identified as Scientology must officially cease activities. The ban applies to St Petersburg as well as Bashkortostan and Khabarovsk. In 1997 a former member of the Church of Scientology, unhappy with courses she had taken, tried to get a refund of 700,000 Belgian francs - about $17,000. Authorities began looking into the church's finances and interviewing people. Now, 10 years and 76 cartons of documents later, prosecutors say the evidence points to one conclusion: The Church of Scientology in Belgium is a "criminal organization" that has used fraud and extortion to separate members from their money. 4 September 2007 - Belgium Judiciary bring formal criminal charges against Scientology Scientology as an organization has a previous conviction in Canada for "Breach of the Public Trust" France Convicted L Ron Hubbard of Criminal Fraud 1978 and French scientology leaders were convicted of Fraud in 1999 http://www.lermanet.com/cos/spain.html Spain - Criminal Indictment 1993 the commencement of the oral trial and to consider this criminal lawsuit to be founded on the felonies of illicit association, threats, coercion, usurpation of functions, false accusation, simulation of a felony, illegal arrest, crimes against the Tax Administration, crimes against freedom and safety in the workplace, intrusion, crimes against the public health, injuries, damages, abuse, slander and inducement to suicide http://www.lermanet.com/cos/italy.html Italian Scientologists Jailed DATELINE: MILAN, Italy, Jan 18 1997 A Milan appeal court has sentenced 29 members of the Church of Scientology to between nine and 20 months' jail for criminal association, the Corriere della Serra reported Saturday. http://www.lisamcpherson.org/cos/ftp/stipul01.txt 300 page document describing Criminal conviction of Scientology's highest leaders http://www.hellas.org/news/archives/scient-1.htm A para-religious cult of shivering activities throughout the world, has spreaded in Greece. It is the notorious "Church of Scientology" which operates in Greece as "Center of Applied Philosophy of Greece" (KEFE). The cult has already caused the interest of our country's judicial authorities, that were moved after may accusations from parents whose children have fallen into its networks ... May of them have run away from their homes and work there with no pay, while others are sent to work abroad, in unknown tasks so far. The members are going through a "clearing" process, during which they receive pharmaceutical substances, unknown so far. Before this process the members are obliged to sign a binding statement, that they will no raise any claim against KEFE, in case of injury to them ! a) Files are maintained for certain people (members or not), the contents of which are kept secret and classified, even by those interested and concerned members. b) Many people are asked to sign the Statement of Law 1599/86 (also known as Law 104) that KEFE has no responsibility in case they committ suicide. c) The so called "Clearing" process is applied, during which various pharmaceutical substances are given to the participant. Most importantly, the person is signining (before he/she enters the process) a statement that he/she, as well as the heirs, will not raise any claims, or sue, or attack KEFE in case a damage or injury is caused during the clearing process. d) The Center is maintaining Ethics Officers and Ethics Courts, to punish those who violate its Ethics Code. e) The family life of the members is recorded, for unknown reasons and orders are issued for their "handling". f) The criminal or unethical actions of the members are recorded for unknown reasons, without precluding the possibility of blackmailing. g) The members are praised, in writting, for conducting unethical or criminal actions. h) The members are attracted to the Center with deceptive ways. i) The members sign statements about offering free labour usually for a five year period. http://www.lermanet.com/cos/bavaria1.html Measures undertaken by the Government of the State of Bavaria against Scientolog Nationwide surveillance of the Scientology Organization by the authorities in charge of the protection of the constitution Beckstein welcomes the unequivocal stand by the Ministers of the Interior http://www.scientology-kills.org/ Many people have died from malnutrition or suicide while serving scientology http://www.xenu.net/archive/leaflet/xenuleaf.htm Who is Xenu? I'm going to tell you a story. Are you sitting comfortably? Right, then I'll begin. Once upon a time (75 million years ago to be more precise) there was an alien galactic ruler named Xenu. Xenu was in charge of all the planets in this part of the galaxy including our own planet Earth, except in those days it was called Teegeeack. Now Xenu had a problem. All of the 76 planets he controlled were overpopulated. Each planet had on average 178 billion people. He wanted to get rid of all the overpopulation so he had a plan. Xenu took over complete control with the help of renegades to defeat the good people and the Loyal Officers. Then with the help of psychiatrists he called in billions of people for income tax inspections where they were instead given injections of alcohol and glycol mixed to paralyse them. Then they were put into space planes that looked exactly like DC8s (except they had rocket motors instead of propellers). These DC8 space planes then flew to planet Earth where the paralysed people were stacked around the bases of volcanoes in their hundreds of billions. When they had finished stacking them around then H-bombs were lowered into the volcanoes. Xenu then detonated all the H-bombs at the same time and everyone was killed. The story doesn't end there though. Since everyone has a soul (called a "thetan" in this story) then you have to trick souls into not coming back again. So while the hundreds of billions of souls were being blown around by the nuclear winds he had special electronic traps that caught all the souls in electronic beams (the electronic beams were sticky like fly-paper). After he had captured all these souls he had them packed into boxes and taken to a few huge cinemas. There all the souls had to spend days watching special 3D motion pictures that told them what life should be like and many confusing things. In this film they were shown false pictures and told they were God, The Devil and Christ. In the story this process is called "implanting". When the films ended and the souls left the cinema these souls started to stick together because since they had all seen the same film they thought they were the same people. They clustered in groups of a few thousand. Now because there were only a few living bodies left they stayed as clusters and inhabited these bodies. As for Xenu, the Loyal Officers finally overthrew him and they locked him away in a mountain on one of the planets. He is kept in by a force-field powered by an eternal battery and Xenu is still alive today. That is the end of the story. And so today everyone is full of these clusters of souls called "body thetans". And if we are to be a free soul then we have to remove all these "body thetans" and pay lots of money to do so. And the only reason people believe in God and Christ was because it was in the film their body thetans saw 75 million years ago. Well what did you think of that story? What? You thought it was a stupid story? Well so do we. However, this story is the core belief in the religion known as Scientology.* If people knew about this story then most people would never get involved in it. This story is told to you when you reach one of their secret levels called OT III. After that you are supposed to telepathically communicate with these body thetans to make them go away. You have to pay a lot of money to get to this level and do this (or you have to work very hard for the organisation on extremely low pay for many years). We are telling you this story as a warning. If you become involved with Scientology then we would like you to do so with your eyes open and fully aware of the sort of material it contains. reach the secret "upper" levels of Scientology. It may take them many years before they reach this level if they ever do. The ones who do know it are forced to keep it a secret and not tell it to those people who are joining Scientology. Now you have read this you know their big secret. Don't let us put you off joining though.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

PotentiaL

I think the Xenu stuff is absolutely hilarious, did you ever see the episodes of South Park about Scientology? Cracks me up.
I think the Xenu stuff is absolutely hilarious, did you ever see the episodes of South Park about Scientology? Cracks me up.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Tsumaru

I want to tell you a story as well. You see, once upon a time, there was the world that we live in. But there was this magical entity who lived on another dimension who looked at the world and said "I don't like how it's become." It turns out that this magical entity created the world, and now he decided that it wasn't going as he had planned. So he telepathically communicated with a man on Earth, and gave that man orders.
So this man set out to build a giant boat. On this boat he put two of every animal (which remarkably would include saltwater and freshwater fish - which need to be kept separate of course - as well as predators and prey), and took his wife, his sons, and the wives of his sons as well. He also took food for all the animals. Suddenly rains started and the entire world was flooded. Every single area was covered in water, except for this bigass boat with two of every animal. It rained for 40 days. Then after 150 days finally they found some land from a mountaintop. But it wasn't for another few weeks before the waters had really receded. Then they all finally leave, and the magical entity on another dimension is pleased with how it all went and promises never to do that again.
This is one of many similarly ridiculous stories we hear in the book known as "the Bible" for that most rubbishy of religions known as "Christianity". There are other nonsensical stories, such as a virgin woman giving birth to a child, as well. Preposterous!
That out of the way, I'd just like to say that I personally think Scientology is rubbish. There is plenty of evidence of criminal activities, there are a number of scandals which point if not to outright criminalism than at least a significant display of dangerous cultism, and the history of L Ron Hubbard and Scientology as a whole makes it all sound like a big hoax.
But personally I think that saying it must be fake, or giving it ridicule, based on the Xenu story is rather ironic. It's just as easy to ridicule the Judeo-Christian stories as absurd. In fact, Hinduism often gets mockery in the Western world, and that has about a billion followers in the world. Even though we laugh at the image of an elephant-headed multi-limbed (Ganesha is said to have anywhere from 2 to 16 arms) God - doesn't mean that there are people who seriously believe it. Consequently, although the idea of Xenu and DC8s sounds absolutely ridiculous, some people might actually think it's true. I, personally, think just about every religion has ridiculous stories in them. I prefer to attack Scientology for its dangerous history rather than it's particular beliefs.
I want to tell you a story as well. You see, once upon a time, there was the world that we live in. But there was this magical entity who lived on another dimension who looked at the world and said "I don't like how it's become." It turns out that this magical entity created the world, and now he decided that it wasn't going as he had planned. So he telepathically communicated with a man on Earth, and gave that man orders. So this man set out to build a giant boat. On this boat he put two of every animal (which remarkably would include saltwater and freshwater fish - which need to be kept separate of course - as well as predators and prey), and took his wife, his sons, and the wives of his sons as well. He also took food for all the animals. Suddenly rains started and the entire world was flooded. Every single area was covered in water, except for this bigass boat with two of every animal. It rained for 40 days. Then after 150 days finally they found some land from a mountaintop. But it wasn't for another few weeks before the waters had really receded. Then they all finally leave, and the magical entity on another dimension is pleased with how it all went and promises never to do that again. This is one of many similarly ridiculous stories we hear in the book known as "the Bible" for that most rubbishy of religions known as "Christianity". There are other nonsensical stories, such as a virgin woman giving birth to a child, as well. Preposterous! That out of the way, I'd just like to say that I personally think Scientology is rubbish. There is plenty of evidence of criminal activities, there are a number of scandals which point if not to outright criminalism than at least a significant display of dangerous cultism, and the history of L Ron Hubbard and Scientology as a whole makes it all sound like a big hoax. But personally I think that saying it must be fake, or giving it ridicule, based on the Xenu story is rather ironic. It's just as easy to ridicule the Judeo-Christian stories as absurd. In fact, Hinduism often gets mockery in the Western world, and that has about a billion followers in the world. Even though we laugh at the image of an elephant-headed multi-limbed (Ganesha is said to have anywhere from 2 to 16 arms) God - doesn't mean that there are people who seriously believe it. Consequently, although the idea of Xenu and DC8s sounds absolutely ridiculous, some people might actually think it's true. I, personally, think just about every religion has ridiculous stories in them. I prefer to attack Scientology for its dangerous history rather than it's particular beliefs.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Tiger_shark

I think it's safe to ridicule them on thier beleifs when most lower level scientologists don't even know what Xenu is.. They are being put through hell and giving all of thier money to this organization without even knowing what it's based on (most of which probably would have thought the religion was rediculous initially if they were informed on it). The point of my post was simply to show how dangerous they are as the fastest growing religion at the moment.
I think it's safe to ridicule them on thier beleifs when most lower level scientologists don't even know what Xenu is.. They are being put through hell and giving all of thier money to this organization without even knowing what it's based on (most of which probably would have thought the religion was rediculous initially if they were informed on it). The point of my post was simply to show how dangerous they are as the fastest growing religion at the moment.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Dash

a large cult.. is still a cult..
as we've seen, all they do is pay money to follow the orders of someone that promises them answers to lifes questions..
sounds like a cult to me..
... does that make me a hater? >.>
a large cult.. is still a cult.. as we've seen, all they do is pay money to follow the orders of someone that promises them answers to lifes questions.. sounds like a cult to me.. ... does that make me a hater? >.>

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

dominator691

I would like to turn you're attention to such videos as these which deal with the recent waging of "war" by a group known as Anonymous and the Church of Scientology. The war is called Project Chanology (www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology). 'Anonymous' has staged world wide protests against the Church of Scientology (not their beliefs mind you,but by their cruel treatment of members (and members families) and censorship of the internet). The first one was on February 10th where over 7,000 people staged protests in cities worldwide. www.youtube.com/church0fscientology has the original declaration of war by anonymous, and to pertain to the church itself this video pretty much explains it: theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com (WARNING! this video contains graphic images watch at your own discretion). To learn more all one needs to do is google information.
I would like to turn you're attention to such videos as these which deal with the recent waging of "war" by a group known as Anonymous and the Church of Scientology. The war is called Project Chanology (www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology). 'Anonymous' has staged world wide protests against the Church of Scientology (not their beliefs mind you,but by their cruel treatment of members (and members families) and censorship of the internet). The first one was on February 10th where over 7,000 people staged protests in cities worldwide. www.youtube.com/church0fscientology has the original declaration of war by anonymous, and to pertain to the church itself this video pretty much explains it: theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com (WARNING! this video contains graphic images watch at your own discretion). To learn more all one needs to do is google information.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Anonymous Dark

Heh...Anonymous. They should stick to DDoSing websites and keep out of the real world, where they really aren't as potent as they'd like to believe. :-/
Heh...Anonymous. They should stick to DDoSing websites and keep out of the real world, where they really aren't as potent as they'd like to believe. :-/

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Sean

The beliefs of Scientology seem just as bizarre as any other religion...
The actions of their members are definitely cultish though.
Plus Tom Cruise is bat shit insane.
And things like this are just plain creepy:
The beliefs of Scientology seem just as bizarre as any other religion... The actions of their members are definitely cultish though. Plus Tom Cruise is bat shit insane. And things like this are just plain creepy: [img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/15/68235807_8fa47a92f7.jpg[/img]

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Antisankari

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6p-AZ_axbUU
Yep.. Tomboy has lost it.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6p-AZ_axbUU Yep.. Tomboy has lost it.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

antec-rex

Scientology annoys the hell out of me, and I will be attending the next local protest on the 15th.
Scientology annoys the hell out of me, and I will be attending the next local protest on the 15th.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Dash

if you really want to give a crushing blow to scientology,
study up on it..
pull a zeitgeist..
.. id do it myself, but a small part of me thinks people will come to their senses..
... yeah.. i know.. over hopeful..
if you really want to give a crushing blow to scientology, study up on it.. pull a zeitgeist.. .. id do it myself, but a small part of me thinks people will come to their senses.. ... yeah.. i know.. over hopeful..

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

kiepmad

I'm so lucky there is no scientology here in my country. They really disgust me.
I'm so lucky there is no scientology here in my country. They really disgust me.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Tsumaru

Which country is that, kiepmad?
Which country is that, kiepmad?

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

kiepmad

Luxembourg, 450 thousand citizens, between France, Belgium and Germany. ;) In the middle of Europe. :)
Luxembourg, 450 thousand citizens, between France, Belgium and Germany. ;) In the middle of Europe. :)

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Jusseppe

I think you might find this funny. It's an episode from The Jamie Kennedy Experiment where I find a very comic similarity with Scientology!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNXdJMV_MBk
I think you might find this funny. It's an episode from The Jamie Kennedy Experiment where I find a very comic similarity with Scientology! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNXdJMV_MBk

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Runtest

Leave religion to the God that created all living things not a living thing itsself.
Leave religion to the God that created all living things not a living thing itsself.

Posted 4 years, 10 months ago

Jusseppe

Huh?
Huh?

Posted 4 years, 9 months ago

Takkun

Psshh, who need Scientology when we have Psientology? =p
Psshh, who need Scientology when we have Psientology? =p

Posted 4 years, 6 months ago

Akio

Top Answer out of 33
by Astaroth19 on Apr 9, 2004 at 2:38 pm Permalink
Avatar
This answer was last edited on: Apr 12, 2004
A cult is usually defined as a "a religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader", is also often considered as a "obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing". It is also characterized for being "young in years of existence" and having usually "only relatively few followers".
A religion in change is defined as a "personal or institutionalized system grounded in the belief, worship and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe". It also has a "set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader". Religions are usually "ancient or very old in years" and have "millions of followers".
Therefore, a religion is not necessarily a cult, but a cult is always a religion. Being a cult a religion usually characterized by radicalism, oddness, obsession, short number of years, small number of followers and guidance by a founder who almost all the times tend to be authoritarian. Another particularity is that in cults, you found that in many cases the cult-followers worship the founder as God himself.
About the comments (with bad ratings) :( I don't know why some people think that Jehova's Witnesses and Mormons are cults. They comply with every requisite to be religions and not to be considered cults. Besides, I used the words "usually" and "relatively" referrering to the small number of followers. You can't put in the same category the "Mormon Church" and the "Cult of the Followers of the Purple Rose"!
Taken from Answerbag...
Yep... sounds Like a cult to me ^_^
of course, no more a cult than that of psions...
This goes down to the basic Idea of normality...
Reality defines normality, so nothing can really be a cult
because religeon cannot be true, or because nothing is radical?
just food for thought...
Top Answer out of 33 by Astaroth19 on Apr 9, 2004 at 2:38 pm Permalink Avatar This answer was last edited on: Apr 12, 2004 A cult is usually defined as a "a religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader", is also often considered as a "obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing". It is also characterized for being "young in years of existence" and having usually "only relatively few followers". A religion in change is defined as a "personal or institutionalized system grounded in the belief, worship and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe". It also has a "set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader". Religions are usually "ancient or very old in years" and have "millions of followers". Therefore, a religion is not necessarily a cult, but a cult is always a religion. Being a cult a religion usually characterized by radicalism, oddness, obsession, short number of years, small number of followers and guidance by a founder who almost all the times tend to be authoritarian. Another particularity is that in cults, you found that in many cases the cult-followers worship the founder as God himself. About the comments (with bad ratings) :( I don't know why some people think that Jehova's Witnesses and Mormons are cults. They comply with every requisite to be religions and not to be considered cults. Besides, I used the words "usually" and "relatively" referrering to the small number of followers. You can't put in the same category the "Mormon Church" and the "Cult of the Followers of the Purple Rose"! Taken from Answerbag... Yep... sounds Like a cult to me ^_^ of course, no more a cult than that of psions... This goes down to the basic Idea of normality... Reality defines normality, so nothing can really be a cult because religeon cannot be true, or because nothing is radical? just food for thought...

Last edited by Akio, 4 years, 5 months ago
Posted 4 years, 5 months ago

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