We often use commonly accepted religious terms (i.e. church, religion, etc.) on this blog and apply them to TSCC. This is where the difficulty begins. Mormonism is not a "church" nor a "religion" in the usual sense. Mormonism is a CULT. This can be easily be demonstrated by comparing Mormon practices to those typically found in CULTs rather than religions. For example:

Religions accept questioning by members. CULTs do not.

Religions do not have secret ceremonies that are only available to financially supportive members. CULTs do.

Most religions openly disclose their sources and uses of funds to their members. CULTs never do.

Religions do not require devoting inordinate amounts of time to repetitious activities (endowments for the dead). CULTs do.

The differences between religions and CULTs are extensive, these are just a few. Once members fully understand that they actually belong to a CULT, rather than a religion, a mental breakthrough occurs and Mormon doctrine and practices then make perfect sense.

For example, a recent thread discussed the need for clearly defined rules so members would know what is expected and if local leaders are properly applying them. If Mormonism were a religion, the rules would be clear. However, Mormonism is not a religion. It is a CULT. Failure to fully appreciate this difference creates needless problems and anxiety. The absence of clearly defined rules and confusion as to accepted behavior is A BASIC CULT TECHNIQUE used to control members and would be found in a CULT like Mormonism.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2014 12:08PM by Templar.

But.... but.....


http://news.yahoo.com/mormon-church-says-must-defend-integrity-doctrine-222655513.html

So true. A CULT "must defend integrity of its doctrine".

There is only one immutable doctrine of the "church" and that is to obey. Every other teaching can be changed at anytime as complete authority is vested in the current leader - not in scripture, not in tradition, not even in a personal spiritual relationship with God. It is this claim to complete authority and the demand for total submission that for me brands the organization as a cult.

This has all been said countless times before, but NEVER (to my knowledge) so effectively and succinctly.

I'm printing off several copies of this, and they're headed for a number of different places (like books) and files re: TSCC.

Thank you, MarkJ.

Thank you!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2014 05:53PM by Susan I/S.

Often true (especially in some of the different sub-sets of Christianity--including many of the once cult/cult-like evangelical or fundamentalist groups), plus---possibly!---religions like Shinto, which is inextricably part of the Japanese political/cultural system.

I don't see how it applies to most of the major non-Christian religions, however: Buddhism...Hinduism...Judaism...

Although each of the ones I named HAVE been (and ARE being) used politically in their areas of influence, any momentary political use is, ultimately, always temporary...while the religion itself remains unaffected and continues on, millennium after millennium.

(Real life current example: the way that the extreme right political/religious groups in Israeli Judaism have-- effectively, and as a cooperative group--hijacked much of the Israeli government...despite the fact that the politicians and the political stances which have been hijacked are being promoted and carried out by born Jews who are decidedly NON-religious, and who are often atheists in an automatically reflexive way that is difficult to explain to non-Jews.)

(I'm not trying to school you - I'm sure you know this stuff - it's just my take on it.)

You had a small group of people who were like, "No, no. Polytheism, animism, and all of those other isms are baaaad. Here's why you should worship one god and give up that other stuff." Archeologists have found evidence that when Jews were moving from polytheism to monotheism, some people kept small hidden idols from their old religions tucked away in their homes. Why were they hidden -- they were afraid of the ramifications from religious leaders if they were found.

All religions started off as cults, and over time, those who managed to gain political power in the form of representation through money or political positions, the stuff they believed became less important because...money.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the spiritual leader and political leader are one. Some Buddhists monks beat the tar out of each other. Some forms of Buddhism are truly philosophies and not religions - it's just a way of interpreting the world that does not require blind obedience, accepts the permanency of death and sees reincarnation as one's ability to wake up in a new day and try again.

Once a cult has enough political capital, no one else gives a crap about what they do as long as the money or some sort of benefits keep flowing. Members inside the religion cum cult might face more severe ramifications for non-conformity, but at each religions' beginning, they were a bunch of wackadoodles trying to gain converts and punishing those who strayed. You have to have enough people to get enough money to have a say in how a society is run.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2014 03:29PM by Beth.

Beth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Archeologists have found evidence that when Jews
> were moving from polytheism to monotheism, some
> people kept small hidden idols from their old
> religions tucked away in their homes. Why were
> they hidden -- they were afraid of the
> ramifications from religious leaders if they were
> found.

I agree with most everything you've said, Beth, but I think the CHARACTERIZATION of what you said in the quote above is substantially incorrect (even though it may sometimes have been true in specific circumstances).

They were called "kitchen gods," and this is because they were kept in the "kitchen" area of the house (even if it was a one-room dwelling--like some I was actually in when I was in Israel...and this was one of the highlights of my time there; I was enchanted by the underground "apartment houses," near to the Western Wall, which archaeologists have uncovered).

The kitchen gods weren't "hidden" so much as they were, with great forethought, relegated to the specifically WOMEN's part of the dwelling. (In real life, they were on the hearth, or kept in niches carved out of the "kitchen" walls, much like you see in historically Catholic countries to this day.)

They were called "kitchen gods" because the "worship" (difficult word to define in this context; not exactly WORSHIP, but more acknowledgement, or respect, etc.) of them was the responsibility of the women of Israel. (Worship of "THE" Jewish god was--except for limited circumstances and occasions, and for at least a couple of thousand years--the responsibility of Jewish males in biblical/OT times.) If the jealous, angry, etc. JEWISH god was going to smite the household, it would be the WOMEN who would be responsible and who would then take the punishment!!! ;)

On the other hand, it was a most pragmatic way for the PEOPLE of "Israel" to cover their bases. You just can't have too many blessings (blessings are taken very seriously by Jews), and IF [insert Hebrew letters for the English word "Jehovah" here] wasn't up to the task, then just MAYBE the "kitchen gods"--if they were kept close and in a good mood--would help. (Remember: in large part the ancestors of the Jewish people are the Canaanites, and despite what the writers who wrote the OT put down in their p.r. spin, the PEOPLE of polytheistic ancestry and culture weren't about to give up something they had ancestral faith in just for something that MIGHT be true.)

So, if the fire and brimstone, etc. ever began, the males were free to go with innocent hands to the JEWISH god and blame the WOMEN of "Israel" for any transgressions which may have angered an, after all, self-described "jealous" god.

:D



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2014 08:41PM by tevai.

Really good, Templar...

...and headed for my files imminently!!!

:D :D :D

So true. Thanks for this thread.

When the children and I first left Mormonism, one of our biggest break-throughs into reality, was realizing that Mormonism is a CULT, CULT, CULT.

One of the first questions we asked on RFM was, "Is the Mormon church a cult?"

We need to keep this in mind, as we recover and move forward. It is necessary to know the truth about what we are dealing with, in order to know how to deal with it.

Why am I being shunned?
Why is my wife threatening to divorce me because I don't believe?
Why is there so much social pressure on my 8-year-old to be baptized?
Why must the Primary children memorize dull, repetitive songs and chants?
Why are the children separated from the adults?
Why does this church try to take over the role of parent?
Why does my son believe that because he has the priesthood, that is "authority" usurps mine, as his mother?
Why must we go to church on vacation?
Why do Mormons peer at my underwear?

The thousands of social, political, organizational, and doctriinal questions we had when we left were answered by one statement:

It is a CULT.

Thank you, RFM