enframed wrote:Clyde wrote:For example, while most Christian denominations are not cultsSure they are, they are the accepted cults, currently. All religions are cults, an all began as what we consider cults these days.I find a lot of atheists or the anti-religious hold this sentiment. There is a much larger conversation to be had but let me explain briefly why I don't agree.Firstly, I don't think anybody knows or can know how all religions began. Perhaps we can looks at relatively young religions not generally regarded as cults like Mormonism or Rastafari and find cultic roots. It wouldn't surprise me a bit, honestly, although I don't know enough about either to have an opinion on the matter. But even if they (or even religions) started as cults, it doesn't follow that they all remain cults. What defines a cult is not a belief in supernatural beliefs and not all cults are religious. A few key differences between a cult and a non-cultic religion.-Cults are basically long term scams. They use deceptive recruiting to get people involved. If you're interested in converting to Judaism, for example, you could go to a rabbi or a practitioner and ask her what the tenets of the religion are, the practices, the costs, the expectations etc. Cults will not do this. They are vague about the beliefs or even outright lie. They may try to literally seduce somebody into joining (Children of God's flirty fishing, for example). Once you do get involved you discover there are different levels, which you are pressured to attain by spending a lot of money. -There are no altruistic cults. I'm not saying all religions are altruistic. There are obviously plenty of hucksters and self-serving despicable people. But there can be no cult version of Martin Luther's reformation or Martin Luther King's civil-rights advocacy. Anything a cult does is only to further the cult. An imperfect analogy might be compare non-cultic religions to slot machines which may be a rip-off and may be destructive are more-or-less above the board whereas cults are a game of thee card monte, something you can never win, no matter how much you try.

Has anybody seen the Synanon film? phpBB [media]

Three pages and no mention of Heaven's Gate?

Redline wrote:oswaldwen wrote:Manson did some shit before the murders that was incredibly ballsy...And not-so-ballsy...phpBB [media]Still better than Koresh's albumphpBB [media]

biscuitdough wrote:oswaldwen wrote:Your probably correct on this. Ive always been fascinated by the minds of cult leaders. Alot of followers of cult leaders are just normal people being abused and exploited. But there something different about the mind of a cult leader. Like Manson did some shit before the murders that was incredibly ballsy.Like pimping out teenage girls?Not really thats just usual scumbag behavior. I was more referring to an incident were a father of one of Mansons followers put a shotgun to him told him he was about to die only for Manson to invite him to shoot. Manson then proceeded to talk to the guy about love and persuaded him to take LSD and accept the situation.

oswaldwen wrote:Manson did some shit before the murders that was incredibly ballsy...And not-so-ballsy...phpBB [media]

Clyde wrote:enframed wrote:Clyde wrote:For example, while most Christian denominations are not cultsSure they are, they are the accepted cults, currently. All religions are cults, an all began as what we consider "cults" these days.I find a lot of atheists or the anti-religious hold this sentiment. There is a much larger conversation to be had but let me explain briefly why I don't agree.Firstly, I don't think anybody knows or can know how all religions began. Perhaps we can looks at relatively young religions not generally regarded as cults like Mormonism or Rastafari and find cultic roots. It wouldn't surprise me a bit, honestly, although I don't know enough about either to have an opinion on the matter. But even if they (or even religions) started as cults, it doesn't follow that they all remain cults. What defines a cult is not a belief in supernatural beliefs and not all cults are religious. A few key differences between a cult and a non-cultic religion.-Cults are basically long term scams. They use deceptive recruiting to get people involved. If you're interested in converting to Judaism, for example, you could go to a rabbi or a practitioner and ask her what the tenets of the religion are, the practices, the costs, the expectations etc. Cults will not do this. They are vague about the beliefs or even outright lie. They may try to literally seduce somebody into joining (Children of God's "flirty fishing, for example). Once you do get involved you discover there are different levels, which you are pressured to attain by spending a lot of money. -There are no altruistic cults. I'm not saying all religions are altruistic. There are obviously plenty of hucksters and self-serving despicable people. But there can be no cult version of Martin Luther's reformation or Martin Luther King's civil-rights advocacy. Anything a cult does is only to further the cult. An imperfect analogy might be compare non-cultic religions to slot machines which may be a rip-off and may be destructive are more-or-less above the board whereas cults are a game of thee card monte, something you can never win, no matter how much you try.well said. you all got some scary stories. i'm in love w/ this thread.

Still better than Koresh's albumI didn't even know that existed.

People Unlimited founders Charles Paul Brown, his wife BernaDeane Brown and James Russell Strole (or CBJ as they liked to be called) figured out how to live forever. Well,maybe Charles forgot about that because he died and CBJ is now just BJ. Oops!They will helpfully explain why they are not a cult in ways that don't actually explain why they are not a cult: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10665075.htm

Clyde wrote:"Lift everything but the eyes, Doc. Thanks."Actually, I can't tell if it was a lift, Botox, or both with that guy.