Recently I learned that I belonged to the Cult of Satan. Right on.
Cool, I've never been in a cult before. I feel all special now. I mean, I never thought of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a cult. We don't do 'culty' things, I don't think. Let's Wikipedia it, shall we? My response in bold.
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary lists five different definitions of the word "cult."[15]
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- 1. Formal religious veneration-
- Um, like...a religion? Like, Baptists, Catholics, Protestants, yes, Mormons???
- 2. A system of religious beliefs and ritual; also: its body of adherents;-
- -Like any organized religion???
- 3. A religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also: its body of adherents;
- -Okay, I'll concede this one, I mean, we do believe that God hasn't stopped speaking to his beloved children. Crazy thought...
- 4. A system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator;
- -Someone's going to have to explain that one to me, I have no idea what it means. Like, faith healing? Because we don't roll with that. We like doctors and pills, or at least I do.
- 5. Great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book).
- -Great devotion...like...to God, for example?
Okay, so I'll give you this...I only took the first definition off of the Wiki page for that, but I didn't want this article to drag. - Looks like I AM in a cult! Cool!!!
But wait, I'm not very special, because according to that, so is everyone else. Oh, man! That sucks. Let's look up some more stuff.
Potential harm to members
In the opinion of Benjamin Zablocki, a professor of Sociology at Rutgers University,
groups that have been characterized as cults are at high risk of
becoming abusive to members. He states that this is in part due to
members' adulation of charismatic
leaders contributing to the leaders becoming corrupted by power.
Zablocki defines a cult here as an ideological organization held
together by charismatic relationships and that demands total commitment.
--We are asked to commit to our Father in Heaven's plan for us, but we are always given the agency to make decisions for ourselves. If someone leaves, we mourn for them, but we'll never force anyone to do anything.--
According to Barrett, the most common accusation made against groups referred to as cults is sexual abuse. See some allegations made by former members. According to Kranenborg, some groups are risky when they advise their members not to use regular medical care.[59] Barker, Barrett, and Steven Hassan
all advise seeking information from various sources about a certain
group before getting deeply involved, though these three differ in the
urgency they suggest.
Sexual Abuse??? Like Catholic priests preying on small boys?? Huh.
Looks like I'm not the only one.
I may be in a cult, but that's my right. Just like it's yours to not join my "Cult of Satan."
That's the great thing about America. I can join whatever religion I want, and you can't stop me.
Not that people didn't try, back when it was first founded. Massacres, murders, driving Mormons all the way out of the States and into a desert wasteland...freedom of religion, huh?
Thank you to our resident "hater" for the inspiration for this article.