Which Cult or Sect is Most Dangerous?

Akots said:
A cult should be defined as a religion with non-divine origins.
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Sorry Akots. I can't really buy this definition. Buddhism (at least large parts of it) have non-divine origins. I would hesitate to call it a cult. Perhaps B'hai too, but I honestly don't know enough about B'hai to say for sure.
 
Tricky said:

Sorry Akots. I can't really buy this definition. Buddhism (at least large parts of it) have non-divine origins. I would hesitate to call it a cult. Perhaps B'hai too, but I honestly don't know enough about B'hai to say for sure.
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Well, i can't keep quiet now, can i...

The Bahá'í faith has what it believes to be divine origins. Founded by Bahá'u'lláh only a few decades ago, it holds it's leader as a "manifestation of God", and consider their teachings to be of divine origin. They have a rather unconventional viewpoint on their doctrines, which give guidelines and morals on just about every modern issue available. It is not an offshoot of islam, but bears some superficial resemblances, such as prayer, chastity before marriage, and abstinance from alcohol.

The three most important teachings they maintain are:
1) Although God has many names and aspects, there is only one God, and no one name is any more appropriate than another.
2) Despite all physical, mental or social differences, all mankind is equal. No gender, age, or race is inherantly superior to any other, despite our social or political differences.
3) The major religions are sequential, with each religion's teachings tailored to a specific age of human development.

It is from this last teaching that my previous defenition emerged; that many faiths are not truly supplied by a manifestation of God. To say that they are any less spiritually enriching to their followers would be false, and to say their prayers are ignored for this reason is extremely hippocritical of me. I didn't mean to imply that.

I do submit that my first decleration was quite flawed... any form of faith that supports the betterment of mankind shouldn't be reffered to as a cult. I never said it would hold water.

The proof is really in the pudding; the actions and behavior of the members itself, on both a global and community scale, should be the deciding factor as to wether the faith is destructive or constructive.

Considering I do feel a certain pain when my faith is reffered to as a cult, i have no right to start tossing around a word myself. :o

(And yes, dammit... I DID have to copy/paste the accents over Bahá'í and Bahá'u'lláh... i am not yet so enlightened as to be able to find the symbols on my keyboard at a whim. :p)
 
Tricky said:
Before we go getting all political here, I think we should address the "what is a cult" issue (yeah, I know it's been done before).
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That is why I included sects.
 
Re: Re: Which Cult or Sect is Most Dangerous?

Whodini said:



I think the intolerant people, in general are the most serious problem facing any society.
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That includes people intolerent of atheists, right?
 
Re: Re: Re: Which Cult or Sect is Most Dangerous?

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Scientology, for example, teaches it's members to be as intolerant of scientists and rational thinkers as possible.
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....Scientology because it was NEVER intended to benefit anyone, other than a handful of it's own preists, living in the lap of luxury while their disciples suffer mental and physical hardship.
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Can you find Scientology literature where those things are listed? Name of source, date, and page #, please.

Thanks.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Which Cult or Sect is Most Dangerous?

Whodini said:

Can you find Scientology literature where those things are listed? Name of source, date, and page #, please.

Thanks.
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Kinda hard to do when Scientology sues to keep their "religion" from public scrutiny. Evidence of its bad practices abound on the internet. Why do you choose to defend this? It seems like you're doing this just to be contrary.

On to the original topic: How do we define dangerous?

There's a few ways:
1. Violence towards its members.
2. Violence to people outside the cult.
3. Psychological harm to its members.
4. Exterting undue influence on political systems.

Anything else?
 
Re: Re: Re: Which Cult or Sect is Most Dangerous?

Akots said:

There are many religions I think that were beneficial in their inception, but succumbed to corruption over the decades. I vote Scientology because it was NEVER intended to benefit anyone, other than a handful of it's own preists, living in the lap of luxury while their disciples suffer mental and physical hardship.
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I've always wondered about this part of the anti-Scientology argument. I mean, there are people that have gotten REALLY high up into the Scientology ranks before they got the sense knocked into them, right? I mean, Sea Org level people, if i remember correctly. And all they ever did was pay, pay, pay.

How come nobody who ever defected from Scientology was ever in the "receive, receive, receive" level? Didn't anyone that high up ever have a crisis of conscience? Or maybe there is NO "receive, receive, receive" level. Where's all this incredible amount of money going?

I'm not defending Scientology. It just seems like it's got an incredible income with absolutely no visible outgo.
 
Akots said:

Well, i can't keep quiet now, can i...
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Thanks for the info, Akots. I feel much better informed now. I find that I agree much with the philosophy of the Bahá'í faith, but not the mythology. Same thing for Paganism. Same thing, to some extent, for Christianity. I think that most religions are founded on good principles, but that humans corrupt those principles. If they could stick to the philosophy and forget the dogma, they would be much better off.

Akots said:
Considering I do feel a certain pain when my faith is reffered to as a cult, i have no right to start tossing around a word myself.
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I do not think that many people consider the Bahá'í to be a cult. My experience with Bahá'íans (or whatever you call them) is that they are them most gentle and peaceful of souls. They could not in any sense be called predatory. Heck, you practically have to tie them down and feed them sodium penathol to get them to talk about their religion.

If you feel like starting a thread to discuss this, I would be very interested.

P.S.
Sorry to blow your cover.:(
 
Re: Re: Re: Which Cult or Sect is Most Dangerous?

DanSTC said:


That includes people intolerent of atheists, right?
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Most definitely DanSTC.
 
Upchurch said:

From what I've read of them, I'd have to agree. Scientology is pure capitalism with little interest in helping its followers.
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Unless you are very rich, and are completely full of yourself... I can't see anyone be a part of that. Isn't is basic principles like forms of Satanism. What does science have to do iwht that belief... oh it convinces the morons that it is basic on "fact". Please... I wish people were smarter.

But aren't all forms of religion harmfull in some way?

BTW: Isn't John Travolta and Tom Cruise scientlogy believers?
 
Fundamentalist Xianity is more of an immediate threat, though.

Yahzi... realizing that you still have me on ignore, I'm probably wasting my time. But I'd love for you to demonstrate how fundi Christians are more of an immediate threat than fundi Islamic peeps.

Remember, Fundi Christians comprise about 8% of the US population. That's roughly 22 million people. If there were 22 million fudamentalist Muslims in this country, we'd see incredible levels of death and brutality.

Flick
 
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If you had to pick a cult or sect that poses the largest threat to american or world society, who would you pick and why?

Examples:
Scientology
Latter Day Saints
Nation of Islam

What do you think?
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Corplinx,

I don't even agree with your examples. I don't consider any of those "cults", and I certainly don't consider any of those threats.

I probably know several people from each of the groups.
 
Re: Re: Which Cult or Sect is Most Dangerous?

Whodini said:
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If you had to pick a cult or sect that poses the largest threat to american or world society, who would you pick and why?

Examples:
Scientology
Latter Day Saints
Nation of Islam

What do you think?
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Corplinx,

I don't even agree with your examples. I don't consider any of those "cults", and I certainly don't consider any of those threats.

I probably know several people from each of the groups.
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What groups, organizations, etc., do you consider to be examples of cults?
 
I don't see major problems unless we had another outright evil man take the reigns with enough bishops and cardinals supporting him to get his agenda through.
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I see a Cardinal in Nicaruga trying to put a nine-year old girl in jail for having an abortion after she was raped.

If $cientologists tried to do that, people would raise bloody hell. Instead, we have a few hundred million people basically agreeing that nine year old girls should be forced to carry their rapist's baby.

I think that qualifies as a lot more dangerous than anything the $cientologists have managed to date.

BTW: Isn't John Travolta and Tom Cruise scientlogy believers?
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Yes. Deeply so. But remember, the $cientology they practice has little or nothing to do with what the people on the street get. They are still flaming a**holes for being $cientologists, though.

Didn't anyone that high up ever have a crisis of conscience?
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Over what? Recieving too much power and money?

The money flows to the top, where it is squandered on stupid stuff. Like, for instance, that wretched movie.

Whodini
Still defending your $cientology, eh? You suck worse than I ever would have believed possible.

For all of you interested, here is a great link:

http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/bfm/bfmconte.htm
 
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