Mormons a Cult?
One of the things I heard most frequent from people on my mission as they tried to educate me about my religion (because, according to them I was mislead, under a spell, brainwashed, etc.) was that I belonged to a ... gasp! ... CULT!!!
It reminds me of the time I called my very young brother a dork. "I am not a dork!!" he proclaimed in defense, "...Whats a dork?"
And the question could be asked..."Well, if I belong to a cult ... what is a cult?"
As far as most people know, a cult is a scary word. The first thing that comes to mind upon hearing it is a picture of druids chanting around a fire and sacrificing virgins, basically like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. You don't want to belong to a cult!
So when people told me I belonged to a cult, I would ask them; "Oh really? What is a cult?" I was met with blank stares, or the person would just change the subject.
Being unsatisfied with their lack of answers, I turned to our good friend Webster. He's that short black kid played by Emmanuel Lewis in the 80's show of the same name. I guess he ended up writing a book called the dictionary.
Our friend Webster defines a cult as:
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
So I will take these 1 by 1:
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
By this defintion, we are certainly a cult. But so is every other church on the face of the planet. We're all the big bad scary word. Catholics, Prodestants, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, everyone. So it's not so bad to be in a cult!
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
This is basically the same as the first definition except it includes the word ritual. Ritual, I found, is defined as a "prescribed order of a religious ceremony." So basically any church that prays, celebrates hollidays, has communion/sacrament, or meets every sunday is a cult by this definition. Still not so bad to be in a cult, is it?
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
Now I know what unorthodox means, but I had to look up spurious. It is defined as something "lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine; false."
It seems like everyone thinks their religion is right, and regards every other religion as not wholly right, or flat out false. So to each individual, every other religion is spurious.
To be honest, I really don't get this definition of cult. Who gets to choose how a religion is regarded? If people are following it, then obviously there are people who believe it, and do not regard it as "spurious." So does pop culture define what religions are spurious? Because if so, then every religion is yet again a cult.
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
I guess the mormons do believe in blessing the sick, and we do promulgate the word of wisdom. But nowadays it's kinda a no brainer. Eat your vegetables, stay away from tobacco, don't eat dirt, etc. If anyone who teaches you that belongs to a cult, then I guess we're a cult.
As for blessings, many religions do blessings, and they were done by Jesus himself. If giving blessings makes you a cult, then Jesus is in a cult. And I would rather be in a cult with Jesus then in a nice friendly church that doesn't get called any names with a bunch of anti-mormons.
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
Us Mormons are devoted to one man, and one man alone. His name is Jesus Christ. If this defines us as a cult then every other religion who worships Jesus Christ is a cult, as well as any group that has a common goal. This places all your favorite sports teams, the government, a family, or anyone else in any kind of group as a cult. Wow, I'm proud to be part of so many cults!
----
Okay, picture if you will the God did in fact place a true church on the face of the earth. Where would you look first to find it? Personally, I would look to whatever church all the other churchs are making fun of.
A church that the adversary doesn't bother trying to tear down is a church that is worthless.
You can quote me on that.
So IF God's true church was around somewhere today, surely one of the signs would be that the world reviles against it. This excludes many so-called "christian" religions who try to get along with everyone.
If you are going along with the world, then you are OF the world. Christ didn't go along with the world. He didn't try to kep everyone happy in their ignorant ways. he told them straight up if they were being stupid, and many hated him for it.
I imagine Christ's church would be much the same way.
My conclusion, is that either No, we are not a cult, because the definition o cult is too broad OR that Yes, we are a cult, but so is everyone else.
It reminds me of the time I called my very young brother a dork. "I am not a dork!!" he proclaimed in defense, "...Whats a dork?"
And the question could be asked..."Well, if I belong to a cult ... what is a cult?"
As far as most people know, a cult is a scary word. The first thing that comes to mind upon hearing it is a picture of druids chanting around a fire and sacrificing virgins, basically like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. You don't want to belong to a cult!
So when people told me I belonged to a cult, I would ask them; "Oh really? What is a cult?" I was met with blank stares, or the person would just change the subject.
Being unsatisfied with their lack of answers, I turned to our good friend Webster. He's that short black kid played by Emmanuel Lewis in the 80's show of the same name. I guess he ended up writing a book called the dictionary.
Our friend Webster defines a cult as:
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
So I will take these 1 by 1:
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
By this defintion, we are certainly a cult. But so is every other church on the face of the planet. We're all the big bad scary word. Catholics, Prodestants, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, everyone. So it's not so bad to be in a cult!
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
This is basically the same as the first definition except it includes the word ritual. Ritual, I found, is defined as a "prescribed order of a religious ceremony." So basically any church that prays, celebrates hollidays, has communion/sacrament, or meets every sunday is a cult by this definition. Still not so bad to be in a cult, is it?
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
Now I know what unorthodox means, but I had to look up spurious. It is defined as something "lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine; false."
It seems like everyone thinks their religion is right, and regards every other religion as not wholly right, or flat out false. So to each individual, every other religion is spurious.
To be honest, I really don't get this definition of cult. Who gets to choose how a religion is regarded? If people are following it, then obviously there are people who believe it, and do not regard it as "spurious." So does pop culture define what religions are spurious? Because if so, then every religion is yet again a cult.
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
I guess the mormons do believe in blessing the sick, and we do promulgate the word of wisdom. But nowadays it's kinda a no brainer. Eat your vegetables, stay away from tobacco, don't eat dirt, etc. If anyone who teaches you that belongs to a cult, then I guess we're a cult.
As for blessings, many religions do blessings, and they were done by Jesus himself. If giving blessings makes you a cult, then Jesus is in a cult. And I would rather be in a cult with Jesus then in a nice friendly church that doesn't get called any names with a bunch of anti-mormons.
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion
Us Mormons are devoted to one man, and one man alone. His name is Jesus Christ. If this defines us as a cult then every other religion who worships Jesus Christ is a cult, as well as any group that has a common goal. This places all your favorite sports teams, the government, a family, or anyone else in any kind of group as a cult. Wow, I'm proud to be part of so many cults!
----
Okay, picture if you will the God did in fact place a true church on the face of the earth. Where would you look first to find it? Personally, I would look to whatever church all the other churchs are making fun of.
A church that the adversary doesn't bother trying to tear down is a church that is worthless.
You can quote me on that.
So IF God's true church was around somewhere today, surely one of the signs would be that the world reviles against it. This excludes many so-called "christian" religions who try to get along with everyone.
If you are going along with the world, then you are OF the world. Christ didn't go along with the world. He didn't try to kep everyone happy in their ignorant ways. he told them straight up if they were being stupid, and many hated him for it.
I imagine Christ's church would be much the same way.
My conclusion, is that either No, we are not a cult, because the definition o cult is too broad OR that Yes, we are a cult, but so is everyone else.