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Cults - who is in - who is out? |
Is the Church of Reality a cult? Are you in a cult? These are interesting questions. One thing that's common about all cult members is that they are all sure that they are NOT in a cult. So - if you are sure you are not in a cult then take this test.
The question about if you are in a cult is not a black and white issue. There are organizations that are clearly cults and others that are cultish depending on your perspective. And most all groups of people have some cult like properties. Obviously if you are a member of a group that is contemplating mass suicide, then you are in a cult. But what about people who believe in Armageddon, are they cult members? Especially if you think the world will end in your life time. Or, if you are looking forward to the end of the world. If you think we are in the "end times" and you are fantasizing about God destroying the world, you are in a cult.
A cult is every other religion other than the one that you believe in.
So what is a cult? The simple definition is every religion except your religion is a cult. I think we can all agree, no matter who you are, that there are a lot of people out there who are seriously being misled and have a lot of weird and dangerous beliefs. Some of you might think the Church of Reality is a dangerous cult. After all, we do undermine faith. But how do you know - for sure - that of all the thousands of religions out there, that you somehow found the right one. Or perhaps happened to be born into the right one. Are you really that lucky - or - do people believe what they are taught as children. Clearly people believe what they are taught as children. So if you are in the religion you were raised in - that makes you suspect.
Relativism plays an important role in what is a cult. If you are a Muslim, then stoning women to death for sexual events might seem normal to you. Many ancient cultures had Gods that demanded animal and human sacrifice. If you believe in God, then anything that is "God's will" is considered to be normal, no matter how bizarre God might get. For example, the Bible tells us that God killed the first born male of all the Egyptians. People who believe the Bible accept God's behavior as "normal". However - if you are not familiar with the Biblical story of Moses and someone told you there was a deity who mass murdered innocent children, what deity would do this? You might guess it was the work of Satan. And you would be wrong. That's because "normal" to a realist is that mass killing children is wrong.
The question is, who is right? Is there an absolute objective perspective as to who is in a cult and who is not? After all - if what we consider to be a cult is right, then they are on the true path and we are the misled. What we consider freedom might be the work of demons that control us through the illusion of free thinking. Many cults will tell you that thinking is the work of the Devil and that only through your ability to suspend all reason and logic are you saved.
We in the Church of Reality have chosen reality itself to be our frame of reference from which we perceive the world. Somehow the idea is that if you have to pick a point of reference that reality seems to be the logical choice. So from our perspective, cultness is judged in relation to reality.
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