Religion vs Cult

[CopticChristian]

What is the difference between a cult and a religion?

I heard people at work say this and I really did not know how to respond, but being somebody who wants to be a good Catholic apologist I really wanted to say something. Becaue my office has no lack of atheists hanging around here.

How could I address the difference between a true religious faith such as Christianity and some fake loony cultish philosphy whether big (Islam), medium (scientology) or small (Westboro Church)?

I suggest you and everyone study General Semantics, NLP and Neurosemantics.

The most important apologetic tool for use in any situation is to ask…for instance when someone uses the word cult…don’t assume anything. You have no idea what they mean by use of the word…ask the following…

In reference to the word cult…what do you mean?

Once you know how they define it then understand that there are several ways of using the word…usually you will find those that use the word in a negative sense have some notion as to what they have been taught a cult is…and the only way to know if they see it as a cup 1/2 empty or a cup 1/2 full is to ask…

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
5a : 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 : the object of such devotion c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

Next, once you know if they see it as a cup 1/2 empty, as is usual, you need to educate them as to the various meanings…so that you can generate new neuropathways in their head to help their thinking and question what they have been taught…

Reacting to what they say gets you nowhere. Explaining that it has various meanings defuses their presumed power of understanding and as is usual you will be helping them in understanding and widening their narrow focus…

I suggest you read “Virus of the Mind”…and understand that what they probably learned is a “meme” that uses the word “cult” associated with other notions of understanding. Once you defuse this thinking it disrupts the patterns of thinking that will make you a more effective apologist.

In NLP this is called “pattern interrupt”…it works quite well…and can be used for successful change in thinking and that is the goal of apologetics.

worldofnlp.com/nlp-definitions-pattern-interrupt/

A pattern interrupt is an interruption in a specific flow or sequence. The main aim is to prevent any obvious linkage and thereby neurological conditioning. The other purpose is to weaken the old strategy and prevent it from having the same level of intensity as before.

If you knew that looking at the color blue would make your client feel fear, all you need to do is to interrupt the pattern before the fear kicks in. Display the stimulus, then interrupt the pattern. This can make the stimulus lose the original effect.

Recall that we are called to “repent”…which means “change your mind” and we are called to evangelize and that includes helping people repent or change their minds…

 

[couponfit]

What is the difference between a cult and a religion?

I heard people at work say this and I really did not know how to respond, but being somebody who wants to be a good Catholic apologist I really wanted to say something. Becaue my office has no lack of atheists hanging around here.

How could I address the difference between a true religious faith such as Christianity and some fake loony cultish philosphy whether big (Islam), medium (scientology) or small (Westboro Church)?

To some defining something as a cult is a way to dismiss it, disavow it, or simply attack it.

To others it is used by definition to describe religious behavior or beliefs which are not mainstream. As such it is very relative to the person using the term. Sort of like driving on a highway and referring to slower drivers as morons and faster drivers as maniacs.

I tend to look for signs of endangerment, such as physical endangerment and forms of isolationism from family, school, or the world. Typically occults are characterized as centralized around a single person who directly knows all the members of the groups and places direct personal pressure and persuasion to influence their behavior. Such leaders operate without rules and would be abusive to members. It’s not unusual in a cult to have a open living canon and to have a living prophet or God proclaiming himself to the congregation directly. Further the most dangerous cults tend to have communal living centered on site with the leader. Some cults though can develop beyond the cult and become established religions or denominations over time and through expansion.

Another point to make is a cult can form within an organized religious body. Although it may be identified by the main body over time. And a cult may form independent of a religious body and form into a denomination.