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Religions or cults.

Usually, the freedom to leave the organization.

Cults typically make it very difficult for members to leave. They apply various types of coercion, mental and physical, to ensure no one leaves. In many cases, they use similar techniques to construct a cult of personality around the leader.

The problem with applying this across the board is that there are many situations where a normal religion or denomination has similar power, but without cult-like properties. E.g. if you live in a small town, it may be very difficult for you to stop being a Baptist and take up Jainism. Your family and peers may apply pressure, you may be ostracized, you may have issues at work. However, I'd still say it doesn't make sense to say that "Baptism is a cult."
So that pretty much could include many religions not seen as cults. Which is my point.
 
So that pretty much could include many religions not seen as cults. Which is my point.
Despite the issues of logically fuzzy definitions, I still don't think it makes much sense to refer to all Christian sects as cults.
 
Catholicism might believe Protestants are a cult. And vice versa. What then?
 
Despite the issues of logically fuzzy definitions, I still don't think it makes much sense to refer to all Christian sects as cults.
In your case it doesn't. But are people wrong to say that because it doesn't make much sense to you.
 
Usually, the freedom to leave the organization.

Cults typically make it very difficult for members to leave. They apply various types of coercion, mental and physical, to ensure no one leaves. In many cases, they use similar techniques to construct a cult of personality around the leader.

The problem with applying this across the board is that there are many situations where a normal religion or denomination has similar power, but without cult-like properties. E.g. if you live in a small town, it may be very difficult for you to stop being a Baptist and take up Jainism. Your family and peers may apply pressure, you may be ostracized, you may have issues at work. However, I'd still say it doesn't make sense to say that "Baptism is a cult."
I beg to differ on that notion.

Westboro Baptist Church Home Page
 
In your case it doesn't. But are people wrong to say that because it doesn't make much sense to you.
...and then we are back to a definition of "cult" that is not very useful, because almost any religion/denomination/sect can accuse any other of being a "cult."

Sometimes, you just gotta settle for "I know it when I see it."
 
WBC is a very small organization. They might be a cult, but might not -- they may just be a small group of people with extreme views. It makes no sense whatsoever to say that "because I thin WBC is a cult, all forms of Baptism are also cults."
I did not say or imply all. Perhaps a church group isnt a all out cult with all the bells and whistles, but a group that is close to being a cult is bad enough. I used to think of all religions of being cults, I realized I was wrong. Cults are just one type of bad, a religion does not need to be a cult to be bad.

https://www.facebook.com/independentfundamentalistsurvivors/info
 
...and then we are back to a definition of "cult" that is not very useful, because almost any religion/denomination/sect can accuse any other of being a "cult."

Sometimes, you just gotta settle for "I know it when I see it."
That is really quite an individual thing.
 
cult noun, often attributive
: a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous (Merriam-Webster)





Along the context of this topic, generally-speaking, a cult is a group that claims to be part of a religion yet it denies one or more fundamental teachings of that religion.

A Christian cult is a group that claims to be a Christian religion yet denies one or more of the fundamental Biblical teachings. It teaches something that will cause a person to remain unsaved if he believes that group's teachings.

The two most common teachings of cults is that Jesus is not God, and/or salvation is not by faith alone.

Actually, that last is the 'cult' concept. There are more Catholics in the world than the rest of Christianity combined, and they do not accept that doctrine which was introduced by Martin Luther.
 
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