My friend, Doc, (http://drstephencw.blogspot.com/) today details his involvement in the Rama cult (he didn't jump the rails, but his former guru, Rama, did). [1] He also wrote a couple other interesting pieces on Rama earlier in the week. Rama sounds a little like Marjo Gortner, Jimmy Swaggart, or any other charlatan with a good rap. He was prodigiously good at extracting cash from the flock. Interestingly, he hooked in a lot of software developers just at the moment when many software businesses were cranking up their acts and starting to make boatloads of money.
Thinking about cults reminded me of my Baptist roots. We were American Baptists. I'm not sure about the other Protestant sects, but our church had definite opinions on the other churches. The Jewish faith was well-regarded, since it was the cornerstone of the Protestant religions. I didn't hear much about the Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Churches of Christ, Grace Fellowship, Reformed Protestant, United Brethren, First Christian Church, Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal, or even the Menonite, Quaker, Episcopal, Amish, Shaker, or Evangelical Covenant churches.
The Catholic Church was regularly and savagely excoriated. I remember preachers railing against "The Cult of Mary." "THEY FORSAKE OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR HIS VIRGIN MOTHER AND CONDEMN THEMSELVES TO PERISH IN THE FIRES OF THE GREAT DECEIVER!" In our church, the crucifix was empty, but in the Catholic Church, Jesus eternally suffered, nailed to the cross. "THEY CELEBRATE THE AGONY AND MURDER OF OUR LORD IN THEIR STATIONS OF THE CROSS!! THIS CHURCH CELEBRATES THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST TO HEAVEN."
"THEY DO NOT EVEN READ THE BIBLE! THEY IGNORE THE GOOD BOOK! THE NEW TESTAMENT OF CHRIST OUR LORD IS IGNORED!" Confession was an excuse to sin even more--a free pass to perdition! Our ministers ranted against The Priests, The Nuns, The Brothers, The Bishops, and Cardinals. Most of all, they railed about the devil incarnate: His Holiness, The Pope, in his gilded palace, The Vatican.
The Reverend bemoaned "THE ABOMINATION OF THE EUCHARIST," the foul and damning Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and its perversion of what was clearly intended by Our Lord to be symbolic.
"THE CATHOLICS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OUTRAGES OF THE SAINT BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY MASSACRE IN WHICH FIFTY THOUSAND OF GOD'S PRECIOUS CHILDREN WERE MURDERED! THE CATHOLICS RAN THE INQUISITION!"
There were, of course, also degrees of weirdness within our own denomination. The Southern Baptists with their prohibitions against makeup and dancing among other things, were considered a hopeless bunch of joyless prunes (even in our church, that went so far as to use Welch's Grape Juice for communion). Looked even further down upon were the Immersion Baptists--who took you to the river for baptisms, even in January. We did that only in the summer, but it was more ceremonial that doctrinaire. Still further down the line were the Foot Washing Baptists. At last you come to the Snake Handling Baptists, who were so out there that they did indeed feel like a cult. There is probably another splinter sect of Baptists somewhere, performing even wackier acts in the name of religion.
When does a cult become mainstream? When does a cult jump on the rail and become a church, or religion? I'm not really sure. Clearly, the Church of Latter Day Saints has transcended cult status and gone on to become the fastest growing church in the world (I think Orthodox Judaism is the second fastest growing).
[1] check out the links in the articles there--one to Wired and one to a whole (free) book on the Project Gutenberg site).
/jack
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Just because you mention the Church of Jesus Christ, I thought I would post an article by Geoff's dad which obviously leans to the Mormon side but makes a good point about the cult status of the Church. My grandfather was always one to point out how the Church was a "cult" and growing up in Utah Im one to know how this can be used there. But anyways..Check out the read, it's not too bad.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.beliefnet.com/story/49/story_4906_1.html
That's a good article by Orson Scott Card. I basically agree with him. It's interesting, 'though, that dividing line where a cult becomes mainstream. He makes some great points about that...
ReplyDeleteI think it is a cult when it is starting to create a guidline outside of an indivduals faith. If they are telling you what to wear and what to eat, drink, what literature to read etc..And DEMAND that as the way to live, removing all free will and taking away any sense of redemption, unless their laws stictly followed.
ReplyDeleteAlmost any religion when looked at has element that people can point at and call cult-ish. But religion/spirituality is something that must be practiced and progressed by an individual with the church providing the guidance ( not rule ) as to your religious path.
Churches are a man-made system..Sadly, that means that it is tragically flawed, it is corrupt and has politics and in some cases those individual ideals overshadow the core of any religion. Jesus preached on mountains and on sidewalks he then left it up to the individuals who heard his teachings decide how they wanted to practice it.
-Ted
Ted - you make some good points. You mention that it would be a cult if they told you what to drink or eat, which means that Judaism, the Moslem faith, The LDS/Mormons, Southern Baptists, and many other churhes, all cults.
ReplyDeleteI think a "cult" is any religion with brand name tie in's.
ReplyDeleteNike footwear:That one cult insisted they wear Nike sneeks to meet up with the mothership behind the comet.
Kool-Aid: The true drink of any cultist
Tony
You are all in the computer cult of narcissism. All people, afraid to meet other people, typing away in their rooms, writing to other people you will never know.
ReplyDeleteEvery single church and religion has cult aspects. Including the catholics, baptists, mormons, jews and protestants.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how your church was so anti-catholic. I grew up catholic, but never heard anyone ever mention other churches because it was like other churches didn't even exist.
Ed Fahling
I was raised a Christian Scientist. Wait until you hear about that!
ReplyDelete-- Stephen