wademan, since you are LDS, maybe you can answer this for me.
How do Mormons view the Jehovah’s Witnesses?
We view them as we view any other religion. We treat all religions with respect. There is no reason why we should treat JWs any different.
Would a Mormon identify the JW religion as a “cult”?
The short answer is no. “Cult” is a derogatory term used (by Evangelicals mainly) to attack and insult any religion they don’t agree with—which means pretty much everybody except themselves. We are not into attacking or insulting other religions. We treat all religions with respect.
If not the JWs, are there ANY religions which a Mormon might identify as a “cult”?
It all depends on how you use the word cult. In the (derogatory) sense in which you are using it, the answer is no, we do not consider any religion a cult. We respect all mankind’s religious beliefs, and we treat their religions with deference. We do not seek to insult any man with regard to his personal convictions.
The word cult has at least two different meanings. One use is, as described, a purely derogatory term to attack any religion that “I don’t agree with”. The other meaning is in the secular realm in which it is it is just another word like any other, and has no derogatory connotations. In that sense of the term, it is more often used in a non-religious sense than a religious one. I did a Google search using the search term “cult of” (including the quotation marks), and came up with this result. As you can see, the word cult is used in common speech for just about anything, including a religion. Here is the result:
google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22cult+of%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
In this sense of the term of course we use the word “cult” like any other normal English speaker would, who does not have an “axe to grind”.
I also did a dictionary search for the word cult, and came up with a couple of interesting results. Here is the first one (emphasis added):
- adherents of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices
- fad: an interest followed with exaggerated zeal; “he always follows the latest fads”; “it was all the rage that season”
- a system of religious beliefs and rituals; "devoted to the cultus of the Blessed Virgin"
From:
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=cult
The first definition can be applied to any religion. Every religion is “exclusive” in its own way, therefore all religions according to this definition are cults. The second definition is not religious at all. And in the third definition it gives the Catholic practice of worshipping or supplicating Mary as an example of a “cultic” practice; but it does not appear to be deliberately intended to be disrespectful towards the Catholic Church.
The next quote is particularly interesting. It appears to be a formal definition approved in Catholic usage. Maybe I have misunderstood it. If so, you guys can tell me. If this is right, then some Catholic practices are definitely classified as cults:
- Veneration (or honoring) of a saint expressed in public acts, local or universal, and formally approved by the Pope.
From:
ichrusa.com/saintsalive/glossary.htm
If they are officially called cults in the Catholic Church, then we would of course respect that, and we would also call them cults.
zerinus
