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I guess i'll have to get this one going with an antagonistic statement: The Mormon religion is nothing more than a cult!

We got any rules goverening this discussion before someone opens a big can of whoop ass?

Not mormon, but cautious....

EVERY organized religion is nothing more than a cult.

Enough said.

EVERY organized religion is nothing more than a cult.

More or less true.

I don't believe many religious scholars consider the Mormons to be a cult, not in the way Jehovah's Witnesses are considered a cult anyway.

But it's true most religions at least started as a cult, and will often be referred to as such when discussing their origins.

I attend church services, though infrequently. I much more enjoy a more personal, individual style of spirtuality that I'm not sure my wife completely understands.

All depends on the definition that you try to use for cult.


http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

Main Entry: cult
Pronunciation: 'k<
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate -- more at WHEEL
Date: 1617
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

lukpac wrote:EVERY organized religion is nothing more than a cult.

Enough said.

Agreed! I was just trying to stir up the pot a bit.

If you really want someone to open a can of whup ass, start a forum on race! May as well get ALL of those taboo, impolite subjects in there that can't be discussed most other places!

I think the definition of "cult" above puts it all in a nutshell. But we haven't heard from the J.C. Cult yet, any Christians onboard here?

lukpac wrote:EVERY organized religion is nothing more than a cult.

You are a godless pinko, right?

I'm generally friendly to everyone, but if I see you coming down my driveway with the intent of saving me or sharing your faith you're most likely going to be met at gunpoint. There is a good reason why the sign out by the road at the end of my driveway says "No Trespassing".

Too many sheep and too few shepherds.

Best, Ed

Ed wrote:Too many sheep and too few shepherds.

Best, Ed

Amen Brother Ed!

Patrick M wrote:You are a godless pinko, right?

Yes.

britre wrote:I think the definition of "cult" above puts it all in a nutshell. But we haven't heard from the J.C. Cult yet, any Christians onboard here?

I am, but the christians aren't organized. We're all over the map.

...the christians aren't organized. We're all over the map.

Very true to a great extent.

I'm Christian. My wife is Christian. But she's Catholic, I'm Protestant. More specifically, I'm Lutheran, more specifically, ELCA.

Christianity is all over the map. There are some common beliefs, otherwise they wouldn't all be Christian. From that point, doctrine seems to run a broad spectrum. Luckily, there are enough similarities between Catholicism and Lutheranism that it hasn't been a major sticking point between Maryanne and myself, but I could forsee far greater problems if I were a different denomination.

I'll admit I have difficulties understanding the doctrines and practices of other Christian denominations, and even wonder why they do things as they do based on my understanding of scripture. I sometimes question their practices, but for the most part won't stop them.

On the other hand, it bothers me to see what some people will do in the name of Christianity (e.g., the Crusades). I, personally, have a hard time subscribing entirely to the passively pacifistic ideas in the New Testement, which in some ways seem to be at odds with some of the ideas in the Old Testament. It can be tough to reconcile these ideas, and unfortunately it often shows up in the way of such things as the Crusades or the Holocaust.

If you examine Christianity, or most religions, as an organized, systematic set of doctrine and ritual, it sometimes falls apart under such scrutiny. If you look at it as some guidelines for people to treat one another well, it works a little better.

Amen, brother!

For the record, I am anti-religious, meaning that I don't believe in any organized religious dogmas. But I am also not a fundamentalist (or I wouldn't be here!).

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnn.. You guys don't really think religious threads will amount to anything? The collectors I know are political animals, if anything; religion may be part of their lives but they rarely if ever openly discuss it. That's usually because their main religion is music, with politics a close second... Politics is where the action is!

ED