Religions > Bible > Re: Communist Countries and SMM my he changes his tune
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Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"Steve Dufour" |
| Date: |
24 Jun 2005 10:34:23 AM |
| Object: |
Re: Communist Countries and SMM my he changes his tune |
a number of
Protestant churches in Korea said that the ceremonies, which have brought
the church $1.3 billion throughout the years, are just a way for the church
to make money. (Source: 9/25/95, Christian News, p. 14.)
Then these "Protestant churches" are cults, according to the
theological definition of "cult".
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| User: "H, William Esque" |
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| Title: Re: Communist Countries and SMM my he changes his tune |
10 Sep 2005 01:59:53 PM |
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"Steve Dufour" <stevejdufour@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1119627263.466986.82760@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
a number of
Protestant churches in Korea said that the ceremonies, which have brought
the church $1.3 billion throughout the years, are just a way for the
church
to make money. (Source: 9/25/95, Christian News, p. 14.)
Then these "Protestant churches" are cults, according to the
theological definition of "cult".
A cult is man centered faith. IE faith in a man or woman who
makes claims about himself. IE a prophet, a savior a IE a human being.
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| User: "Steve Dufour" |
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| Title: Re: Communist Countries and SMM my he changes his tune |
10 Sep 2005 11:45:47 PM |
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H, William Esque wrote:
"Steve Dufour" <stevejdufour@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1119627263.466986.82760@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
a number of
Protestant churches in Korea said that the ceremonies, which have brought
the church $1.3 billion throughout the years, are just a way for the
church
to make money. (Source: 9/25/95, Christian News, p. 14.)
Then these "Protestant churches" are cults, according to the
theological definition of "cult".
A cult is man centered faith. IE faith in a man or woman who
makes claims about himself. IE a prophet, a savior a IE a human being.
Yes. If it is true that "a number of Protestant churches in Korea" are
saying things about other people then these churches are not following
the teachings of Jesus.
.
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| User: "Just Wondering" |
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| Title: Re: Communist Countries and SMM my he changes his tune |
11 Sep 2005 03:37:04 AM |
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Steve Dufour wrote:
H, William Esque wrote:
"Steve Dufour" <stevejdufour@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1119627263.466986.82760@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
a number of
Protestant churches in Korea said that the ceremonies, which have brought
the church $1.3 billion throughout the years, are just a way for the
church
to make money. (Source: 9/25/95, Christian News, p. 14.)
Then these "Protestant churches" are cults, according to the
theological definition of "cult".
A cult is man centered faith. IE faith in a man or woman who
makes claims about himself. IE a prophet, a savior a IE a human being.
Yes. If it is true that "a number of Protestant churches in Korea" are
saying things about other people then these churches are not following
the teachings of Jesus.
It's pretty difficult to get any common agreement on the meaning of "cult."
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/cult
Cult
Noun
1. Adherents of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices.
2. An interest followed with exaggerated zeal: "he always follows the
latest fads"; "it was all the rage that season".
3. A system of religious beliefs and rituals.
Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All
rights reserved.
Date "cult" was first used in popular English literature: sometime
before 1550. (references)
Specialty Definition: Cult
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
This article discusses abusive or destructive cults. See also:
cult film, cult television, cult radio.
The literal and traditional meaning of the word cult, from the
Latin cultus, meaning "care" or "adoration", is "a system of religious
belief or ritual; or: the body of adherents to same." In formal use, and
in non-English European terms, the cognates of the English word "cult"
are neutral, and refer mainly to divisions within a single faith, a
purpose to which "sect" is put in English. Hence, Catholic, Eastern
Orthodox and Protestant are cults within Christianity.
Since the 1960s, in English-speaking countries, especially in North
America, most English speakers have adopted the term in a pejorative
sense to denote groups, many of them with religious themes, that exploit
their members psychologically and financially using group-based
persuasion techniques (sometimes called "mind control"). Unlike
legitimate religious movements, cults are characterized by high levels
of dependency, exploitation, and compliance with demands of leadership
that are unrelated to religion.
The term cult has a technical meaning in the sociology of
religions, referring to a religious group with novel beliefs and with a
high degree of tension with the surrounding society. This meaning is
purely neutral.
90% or more of cult members ultimately leave their group. [2,3]
Definitions of the term "cult," and alternative language
Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically
and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leadership’s
demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly
called mind control, and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious
dependency on the group and its leaders [1]
Cult: A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive
devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing
unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control . . .
designed to advance the goals of the group’s leaders to the actual or
possible detriment of members, their families, or the community. [7]
The best characterisation of use of the term cult is that it
remains controversial.
Some critics have tried to apply the cult label to legitimate
religious movements in an effort to discredit them. Some conservative
Christian writers have been particularly quick to call any religious
movement that they disagree with a cult. There are also some spiritually
abusive churches that have many cultlike characteristics, but are not
cults. The largest cults are well-financed and have active, ongoing
public relations efforts. A major goal of these efforts is to load the
language (see below) by broadening the popular definition of a cult to
the point where the term becomes meaningless.
Such groups often defend their position by comparing themselves to
more established, mainstream religious groups such as Catholicism and
Judaism. The argument offered in this case can usually be simplified as,
"Christianity and Judaism can also be defined as cults under some
definitions of the term, therefore the term cult is superfluous and
useless."
Some serious researchers of religion and sociology prefer to use
terms such as new religious movement in their research on cults. Such
usage may lead to confusion because there do exist fringe religious
movements that are not abusive, and some groups appear non-religious or
deny similiarities to religion.
Psychologists and other mental health professionals use the terms
cult, abusive cult, or destructive cult. These are also the most common
terms in the popular press.
In their defense, groups labeled as cults often see themselves as
persecuted by the anti-cult movement, which (they claim) consists of a
number of groups working together to suppress their religious beliefs.
Critics of these groups counter with the claim that the popularization
of the term "anti-cult groups" is an attempt to construct an elaborate
conspiracy theory aimed at fostering pity and support for alleged cult
groups.
In French, culte just means "worship"; an association cultuelle is
just an association whose goal is to organize worship (and is eligible
for tax exemption). The word for "cult" is secte. See false friend.
Important Word Usage Consideration
There is often a marked difference between a word's definition and
a word's usage. The definition of the word "cult" applies to all
religions; the usage of the word (since the 1960s) applies to a sub-set
of religions and groups - those that engage in abusive or criminal
behavior, and/or deny their members civil and human rights.
For scholars and professional commentators, the usage of the word
"cult" applies to maleficent behavior, and not to belief. For members of
competing religions, use of the word is pejorative and applies primarily
to rival beliefs (see memes), and only incidentally to behavior. This
has caused some religious scholars to prefix the word "abusive" in front
of the word "cult" when they write or speak about abusive religious groups.
Historical Examples
Some extreme examples of destructive cults follow:
* In 1978, 914 followers of Jim Jones died in a mass
murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. 274 of the dead were children.
* On April 19, 1993, over 70 Branch Davidians, followers of
David Koresh, died in a fire in Waco, Texas following a lengthy siege by
United States federal law enforcement officials.
* In 1997, 39 followers of the Heaven's Gate cult died in a
mass suicide. Male members of the cult underwent castration in
preparation for the suicide
* Between 1995 and 1997 74 members of a cult called the Order
of the Solar Temple died in mass murder/suicides.
* Aum Shinri Kyo murdered 12 subway passengers with sarin gas
in a Tokyo subway. Over 5000 others sufferred injury. The group still
operates and has over 7,000 members, though it has changed its name to
"Aleph".
Prevalence
As of 1995, between 3,000 and 5,000 cults existed in the United
States. [5] The majority of these groups vigorously protest the label
"cult" and refuse to be classified as such, but the more well-known and
influential of these groups are often viewed as "cults" by the public at
large. These groups often expend large amounts of energy and money
engaging in public relations campaigns to rid themselves of the
association with the term "cult." A number of these groups appear in the
Wikipedia list of purported cults.
Shared Practices
While the religious, philosophical, and spiritual beliefs vary
widely from one cult to the next, the actions of cults show striking
similarities. Many published checklists of cult behavior have appeared,
and sources differ in the terminology they use and how they group the
behaviors together. [1,3,5] Some common items that set abusive cults
apart from other organizations include:
* Milieu control – Cults seek to control members' sources of
information and social interaction. They encourage members to sever
communication and relationships with friends and family members.
* Infallibility, or “The Sacred Science” – Cults teach that the
chosen philosophy or experiential panacea forms the only possible path
to salvation. Cults discourage critical and rational thinking. Persons
who question or challenge what the cult offers are denied access or exiled.
* Mystical Manipulation – Cults ascribe events to supernatural
influences even where such influences do not exist.
* Demand for purity – Cults have unreachably high standards for
the behavior of their members.
* Confession – Even trivial violations of the group’s demand
for purity must be confessed immediately and thoroughly, often to a
large group.
* Loading the language – Cults redefine common words and use
glib thought-terminating catchphrases as an answer to questions.
Additionally, many cults have the following characteristics, though
they are not as unique to cults as the ones listed above:
* Authoritarianism -- Control of the organization stems from an
absolute leader or a small circle of elite commanders. Often the cult's
leadership is glorified with a vast personality cult. The leader may be
recognized as divine, or even as God.
* Secret doctrines - certain "secret" (esoteric) teachings that
must not ever be revealed to the outside world
* Promised Ones - members of the cult are encouraged to believe
they were chosen, or made their choice to join the cult, because they
are special or superior
* Fire and Brimstone - leaving the cult, or failing at one's
endeavor to complete the requirements to achieve its panacea, will
result in consequences greater than if one had never joined the cult in
the first place.
* Shunning -- members who leave may not contact members who remain.
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| User: "Steve Dufour" |
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| Title: Re: Communist Countries and SMM my he changes his tune |
11 Sep 2005 12:55:18 PM |
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Some extreme examples of destructive cults follow:
* In 1978, 914 followers of Jim Jones died in a mass
murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. 274 of the dead were children.
* On April 19, 1993, over 70 Branch Davidians, followers of
David Koresh, died in a fire in Waco, Texas following a lengthy siege by
United States federal law enforcement officials.
* In 1997, 39 followers of the Heaven's Gate cult died in a
mass suicide. Male members of the cult underwent castration in
preparation for the suicide
* Between 1995 and 1997 74 members of a cult called the Order
of the Solar Temple died in mass murder/suicides.
* Aum Shinri Kyo murdered 12 subway passengers with sarin gas
in a Tokyo subway. Over 5000 others sufferred injury. The group still
operates and has over 7,000 members, though it has changed its name to
"Aleph".
Prevalence
As of 1995, between 3,000 and 5,000 cults existed in the United
States.
So out of 3,000 to 5,000 3 groups in the USA commited murder and/or
suicide. I wonder how this compares to the population in general.
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| User: "DanInsane&Mad Danny@no-spam" |
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| Title: Re: Communist Countries and SMM my he changes his tune |
03 Jul 2005 03:20:31 PM |
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"Steve Dufour">
a number of
Protestant churches in Korea said that the ceremonies, which have
brought
the church $1.3 billion throughout the years, are just a way for
the church
to make money. (Source: 9/25/95, Christian News, p. 14.)
Then these "Protestant churches" are cults, according to the
theological definition of "cult".
No they don't fit the description of a Cult. In later years, if the
UC is still going, it too will not fit the definition of a Cult. The
biggest problem the UC has is its predictions of providential
timeline. And being able to fulfill the goals necessary to make these
times a success. But then when I was a member, he would tell us we
needed 50 million something and we would fail, so then he would say, "
I have made up the difference, it is a success!" Every time, every
prediction.
Danny
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