Mormonism: is it a cult?

[giblets]

.

[Egbert]

Yes, I'm an ignorant ****head

ignorance

But where is the banana option

[giblets]

I wonder how many mormons sincerely believe that the native americans are a lost tribe of israelites?

[Asher]

Someone please tell me how an organization who requires young men to spend two years converting others, one that bans caffeine for the most ridiculous reasons imaginable, one that has their own magic underwear to literally protect you from the evils of the world, is built upon the gospel of a "prophet", Joseph Smith...is not a cult?

Seriously, it's cult. There's no arguing it.

As a side note, the mormon families I know give 10% of their income to the church. I don't know if this is mandated, but it's ****ing common and even more cultlike.

[Aeson]

Poly is a cult... of cults. We have Deities here and they are worshiped by posters (generally themselves). We have rituals such as chanting "****", "pedo", and "jackass"... The location of these activites are a well kept secret and few if any outsiders venture here (due to ranking poorly in Google).

[Hauldren Collider]

That doesn't sound terribly different from Catholicism. Can't eat meat on Fridays for basically no reason. Go into a confessional and tell a priest you masturbate and you'll go to heaven. They aren't a cult.

Or Judaism--wear a special hat on your head, don't eat bacon or shrimp, do a community service project and have a bar mitzvah. Temple can cost hundreds of dollars. Not a cult.

xpost

[Asher]

That doesn't sound terribly different from Catholicism. Can't eat meat on Fridays for basically no reason. Go into a confessional and tell a priest you masturbate and you'll go to heaven. They aren't a cult.

Or Judaism--wear a special hat on your head, don't eat bacon or shrimp, do a community service project and have a bar mitzvah. Not a cult.

xpost

Mormons are more extreme than most religionites.

But I'm of the opinion that any organized religion is a cult. People just don't want to admit it. Catholics openly mock Scientologists for their absurd beliefs, yet don't reconcile their own. It's retarded.

The brainwashed not knowing they're brainwashed and mocking other people for being brainwashed. Cults, cults, cults...

You want to seem to twist cult to mean obscure religion, when that's not how it's defined. See the definition of cult I quoted -- every religion qualifies. Sorry to ruin your day.

[Asher]

cult
–noun
1. a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. the object of such devotion.
4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5. Sociology . a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

All religions are cults. Own up to this fact and admit it.

/me holds his rosary beads and crosses his heart

[Tupac Shakur]

Someone please tell me how an organization who requires young men to spend two years converting others, one that bans caffeine for the most ridiculous reasons imaginable, one that has their own magic underwear to literally protect you from the evils of the world, is built upon the gospel of a "prophet", Joseph Smith...is not a cult?

Doesn't sound any stupider than other religions...

[Asher]

Indeed. Which doesn't mean Mormonism isn't a cult, it means the others are cults as well.

[Asher]

People excommunicated from the LDS church are not to have any contact with members of the LDS, including family.

Anyone want to claim this is not cultlike?

[Hauldren Collider]

That's kind of like the catholics aren't allowed to get divorces rule, i.e., no one cares about it.

[Asher]

IIRC Mormonism got its start when Joseph Smith saw some stones, in which he "saw" words from God that no one else could see, then "transcribed" these into a manifesto manuscript that became the Book of Mormon. Jesus Christ himself appeared to him.

Once he assembled a large group of followers, he fled to the remote areas of Utah where he could exert more control and have less outside influence over his followers.

Does this kind of MO sound familiar?

[Asher]

That's kind of like the catholics aren't allowed to get divorces rule, i.e., no one cares about it.

Yeah! Except, it's not.

The rule is designed to stop people from leaving the church because it means leaving your family. It's textbook cult manipulation.

[Hauldren Collider]

It's not manipulative if no one cares about or follows the rule.