On July 29, 2021, I created a post that got some believers triggered
But why would I make such a controversial statement? Of course, I knew it would get most people irked. More importantly, what was the root of that formula?
Let’s start by understanding the difference between a cult and religion.
Cult
In modern English, a cult is a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs, or by its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal.
Characteristics of cults
- Unquestionable commitment to a charismatic leader
- Punishment for questioning/ deviating from cult beliefs
- Mind-altering practices
- Self-exaltation or exaltation of the group’s leader
- Leader is unaccountable to conventional authority
- Persistent conversion
- Exclusionism/ protection from the outside world
- Monetary motivation
Definitions of cults in Christianity
In Christianity, cults can be described as all religious groups claiming to be Christian but falling far away from Christian orthodoxy. The diagram below shows the relationship between the Conventional believes and the introduction of novel beliefs as described by Howard P. Becker.
From the Christian perspective, cults tend to follow an unconventional doctrine that differs from mainstream Christianity.
Some of the presumed cults from the Christian perspective include:
Unity church
- They are the authors of the daily word devotional.
- Involves the practice of positive Christianity.
- The followers are spiritual but not religious.
- The church accepts all the good in people and does not follow a specific ritual.
- They also believe that God is a spiritual energy that is present in all Humankind.
Jehovah witness
They are an apocalypse-focused Christian denomination that believes in the imminent destruction of the current world and the construction of a new world over the old one. They have some distinct beliefs such as rejecting blood transfusions, military service, and trinitary worship. They also believe that Christmas, easter, and birthdays celebrations have strong secular ties and should not be celebrated. In addition, they are involved in shunning practices and door-to-door preaching.
Currently, they have about 8.7 million followers involved in evangelical activities.
Mormon Church
Has over 16 million members, 51,000 missionaries, and over 31,000 congregations worldwide. It was founded during the second great awakenings period. The denomination does not believe in trinitarianism and uses three religious texts including the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and the covenants, and The Pearl of Great price. These doctrinal differences have made orthodox, catholic, and protestant Christians shun them as a Christian denomination. The church conducts humanitarian services as well as engage in affairs of sexual purity, fasting, Sabbath observance, celestial marriage, and polygamy.
Christian science
A Christianity sect that believes that prayer is the only valid form of treating ailments.
Overall, to the layperson a cult can just be defined as a religion I do not like.
Religion
Can be broadly defined as a social-cultural system of beliefs, behaviors, morals, and practices that relate human elements to supernatural elements.
Characteristics of religion
- Supernatural beliefs
- Sacred places and objects
- Moral codes
- Rituals and ceremonies
- Sacred texts and stories
There are over 10,000 religious systems worldwide with over 84% of the world population believing in some form of religion.
So, the key question is: What is the difference between a religion and a Cult?
If a cult encompasses all the elements of religion, does it not qualify to be one?
Most Significant/Extreme Cults
Heaven’s Gate
A 1970’s religious movement that believed that God was an Alien.
However, the beliefs of the movement were dented when their leader died of cancer in 1985 and was not carried to heaven by a UFO. Consequently, they changed their belief patterns and argued that the body was merely a container of the soul.
In march 27 1997, 39 of the group’s followers committed a suicide ceremony. The date of the suicide coincided with the approach of Comet-Hale-Bopp.
Branch Davidians
They were founded in 1955 after their reforms to the SDA doctrine were rejected. The cult came to prominence during the 1993 Waco siege when the ATF bureau raided the facility following sexual abuse and illegal firearm ownership violation claims. The Branch Davidians were able to put a 51-day standoff that saw the death of 4 ATF agents and 76 followers.
Unlike most sects, the group did not have an organized doctrine which led to various squabbles among their leaders.
The family international
The movement was founded in 1968 and recruited people into communes that communicated with their leader, through letters. By 1972, the group had over 130 communes worldwide. However, the group was disbanded in 1978 following massive accounts of misconduct financial mismanagement and sexual abuse.
Later the Group changed its name into the Family of love where it used Flirty Fishing (Sexual converts) to increase fellowship. It is reported that the technique was able to reach over 223,989 people and achieved 100,000 converts.
Key beliefs:
- Spiritual helpers such as the Goddess Aphrodites, Merlin, President Nixon among other celebrities.
- Keys to the Kingdom: A belief that the leader was given ultimate spiritual authority.
- Belief that they are sexually engaged with Jesus
The Peoples Temple
Was founded in 1954 and involves a combination of Christian belief systems and communist ideology. Its left-wing ideology of racial equity helped it gain a wide followship of more than 3000 followers. In 1974, the movement purchased land in Jonestown Guyana to create the ideal Utopian socialist paradise. Also, he held a strong paranoia over a nuclear attack on American soil. Following reports of sexual abuse, their leader, John Jones, conducted a murder-suicide mass that saw the death of 918 people after the consumption of cyanide-laced flavor Aid.
Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
The movement was not as popular as the previous movements. And for obvious reasons, it was an African cult. The cult was found by Joseph Kibweteere in the late 1980s. The movement believed that to avoid eternal damnation, one had to commit to strict adherence to the Ten commandments. The movement had its share of government conflict after reports of children labor and kidnappings.
The leader told members to sell all their property as they wait for doomsday on January 1, 2000. When doomsday did not happen the followers started questioning the leaders. A later date was set on March 17, 2000, where followers were invited to a massive party. Thereafter, the locks of the church were locked and all 530 people in the church burned to death.
Later investigations found 6 bodies in a pit latrine, 153 bodies in a public compound, and 155 and 81 bodies at two of the leader’s farms. The final death Toll of the movement is estimated at 924 people.
Order of the Solar Temple
Of all the common movements, the order of the solar temple must be the absurdist of them all. The movement comprises the elite members of society. Could be because of the Steep Joining fee. Its key beliefs are a combination of Knights Templers ideals and Freemasonry.
Murders:
- The execution of a 3-month-old child over claims that he was the antichrist in October 1994
- Mass suicides of 15 inner circle members in Switzerland in a last supper ritual and the mass murder of 38 other members. The bodies were discovered in underground chapels lined with mirrors and temple symbolism.
- Mass suicide of 16 members in versos France in December 1995
- A 5-person suicide in the Quebec Canada on march 1997
- The date of the mass suicides was observed to coincide with the dates of equinoxes and solstices.
When reading about the 5 movements the human mind clicks a single word; Cult. But why?
The cult analogy is based on how the movements started until their demise. Instances of mass murders suicides and sexual abuse dominate these movements.
But have conventional religious systems been involved with mass murders/suicides?
Actually, there is a great fear of Islamic terrorism globally. Rightly so, as the number of terrorism-based deaths annually at 21,000.
Christian faith-based deaths are hard to account for as conventional Christianity tends to label most new age religions as cults.
When going through history, Christianity has its share of atrocities. A fair share of them. The crusades, the conquest of Africa and the Americas, and even the most memorable justifications for slavery.
Thus, religion cannot be distinguished from cult on moral grounds, But from a social, cultural, and historical perspective.
Take this into consideration, Jews and Romans Labeled Christianity as a cult. Well, until emperor Constantine said they weren’t. Medieval Christians called Islam a cult, but somehow it withstood the test of time. Through the 19th century Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and followers of Scientology were considered to be in a cult. Though the society has accepted them as a religion.
Simply said a cult from an individual’s perspective is that belief system that differs from one’s own.
Is there a difference between a cult and a religion?
Well, there is a very thin line, an extremely thin one that is determined by time. If a belief system can stand the test of time, and gain a following then there is no way it is a cult but a religion. In fact, the term cult is a derogatory term used to describe minority belief systems that do not conform to one’s own beliefs.
The Tjay pod 