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Are Mormons a cult ?


mfrmboy

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints .. the Mormons are they a cult as are the Jehova's Witnesses? I was taught this growing up in church ( Southern Baptist ).

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Eh, aren't they all? Depends on perspective -

cult

[kuhlt]

1.

a particular system of religious worship,especially with reference to its rites andceremonies.

2.

an instance of great veneration of a person,ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by abody of admirers: the physical fitness cult.3.

the object of such devotion.

4.

a group or sect bound together byveneration of the same thing, person, ideal,etc.

5.

Sociology . a group having a sacred ideologyand a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

Nibs

Edited by HerNibs
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All religions are cults, doesn't mean if its unheard of or rare does not mean its a cult

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So, all religions are cults. Awesome! Cult sounds way cooler then religion anyway. 'So what religion are you?' 'I'm of the Catholic cult.'

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The word cult is virtually meaningless unless you pre-define it.

In some christian circles, LDS, JW's, Unitarians, and sometimes Quakers are labeled as "Christian Cults" but it isn't suppose to carry the negative connotation that most people associate with the word. They get called Christian Cults for the simple fact that they aren't Trinitarians.

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Religions are organized,and should worship a deity of some kind ,without personal liberties being exploited.

Monies are donated .

Cults usually have a human leader ,who designates who does what,and limits members freedoms.

Money is requested ,not donated . ie scientology or EST .

Some cults worship some sort of idol ,but there is always a human at the helm ,who controls it all.

And please don't akin the Pope to this kind of figure head.

Popes are appointed by a jury of peers.

Cult heads are self appointed .

These are very key differences in my opinion .

Mormons believe in god and heaven ,and do no harm .

Edited by Simbi Laveau
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The head of the Mormon church, with the title of president, is also elected by peers.

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Thanks for your replies ! I was thinking along the lines of the Moonies or the Jim Jones followers.

So by definition all religious organizations are cults.

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Never thought of my Grandfather and friends as mambers of a cult .....The Masons.

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Hi Simbi,

I'm a cantankerous disabled old *******, please see the humour, i'm getting near the point that i'm going on a journey, but i can still be active in debate sometimes, ha ha!

U.S History, you have had 4 Presidents assassinated, two who assassinated had associations with Oneida Community, being Charles Guiteau, and Leon Czolgosz, why wasn't that observed in Detective work, why should i be Sam Spade, obviously i'm a Cantankerous old *******! I will not be available for much longer!

Note this under "Legacy" on link below, you know i won't end it there, at least one will show connection to Sirius or Alnilam...oops, I'm cantankerous old ******** ha ha!

http://en.wikipedia....neida_Community

Edited by monk 56
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To me a cult would be an organization where its all about the leader, you handing over all your money and your mind to do whatever this figure wants illegal or not. Don't question anything this person says, you believe what they want you to believe and its usually believe in them.

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I don't think so, because they are not insular or secretive. Some of their tenets might be strange, but they are open and mainstream. If you ask a Mormon about their beliefs they will probably tell you everything there is to know.

Edited by Vein Capital
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Thanks for your replies ! I was thinking along the lines of the Moonies or the Jim Jones followers.

So by definition all religious organizations are cults.

The FLDS is a cult. The children are brought up on communes. They are taught that their duty is to have as many children as possible which will raise them higher in heaven. They will 'marry' any man 'The Prophet' tells them to, even if it means that they change husbands several times because hteir husband has fallen out of favour with the prophet. The communes are VERY isolated and in the past the parameters were patrolled by young boys with guns. It is quite a scary thing to think in this day and age that things like this are still happening. :no:

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Never thought of my Grandfather and friends as mambers of a cult .....The Masons.

i'm not sure why you're referring to the masons as a cult. it's a lodge; a fraternity; an old boy's club.

they have an open bible at their meetings and make some references to 'the master architect' but it is by no means a religion, never mind a cult

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By definition, cult is a meaningless word, or a word with a lot of meanings. The Chicago Manual of Style (often used by the media, universities, and other professional writers) suggest that the word "cult" should not be used unless it's predefined. And even then they warn that the word may be unnecessary to illustrate the point.

For example, The Branch Davidians were rarely just called a "cult" they were most frequently refered to as a "Dangerous Doomsday Cult". Implying that they were stock piliing weapons etc... no one called them just a "cult" because that would have had little to no meaning.

It's a dumb word to be honest that's really never had any specific meaning. In fact, the most recent article I read regarding a bizarre little christian church in my area didn't refer to them as cultists, but instead called them an "unaffiliated christian organization" and then went on to describe their strange practices LOL. There's actaully a lot more information in that neutral title than there would be if they'd called them a "cult"

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Hi Simbi,

I'm a cantankerous disabled old *******, please see the humour, i'm getting near the point that i'm going on a journey, but i can still be active in debate sometimes, ha ha!

U.S History, you have had 4 Presidents assassinated, two who assassinated had associations with Oneida Community, being Charles Guiteau, and Leon Czolgosz, why wasn't that observed in Detective work, why should i be Sam Spade, obviously i'm a Cantankerous old *******! I will not be available for much longer!

Note this under "Legacy" on link below, you know i won't end it there, at least one will show connection to Sirius or Alnilam...oops, I'm cantankerous old ******** ha ha!

http://en.wikipedia....neida_Community

What the?

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The FLDS is a cult. The children are brought up on communes. They are taught that their duty is to have as many children as possible which will raise them higher in heaven. They will 'marry' any man 'The Prophet' tells them to, even if it means that they change husbands several times because hteir husband has fallen out of favour with the prophet. The communes are VERY isolated and in the past the parameters were patrolled by young boys with guns. It is quite a scary thing to think in this day and age that things like this are still happening. :no:

I think you are picking the worst case scenario though. Most Mormons are more like Napoleon Dynamite.

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i'm not sure why you're referring to the masons as a cult. it's a lodge; a fraternity; an old boy's club.

they have an open bible at their meetings and make some references to 'the master architect' but it is by no means a religion, never mind a cult

It is a religious organization with alot of secrets and rituals. So would'nt it be considered a cult.....A Masonic Cult ?

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All religions are cults, doesn't mean if its unheard of or rare does not mean its a cult

The word cult is virtually meaningless unless you pre-define it.

In some christian circles, LDS, JW's, Unitarians, and sometimes Quakers are labeled as "Christian Cults" but it isn't suppose to carry the negative connotation that most people associate with the word. They get called Christian Cults for the simple fact that they aren't Trinitarians.

Any groups that carries "magic underwear" against Native American arrows belong to a cult.

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It is a religious organization with alot of secrets and rituals. So would'nt it be considered a cult.....A Masonic Cult ?

it is not a religious organization. and they have no secrets other than those they create themselves by being secretive. their rituals are not what you seem to think they are.

i was married to a mason for over twenty years,

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I think you are picking the worst case scenario though. Most Mormons are more like Napoleon Dynamite.

that is why I said FLDS not LDS. And if you had grown up near one of the communes you'd understand.

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that is why I said FLDS not LDS. And if you had grown up near one of the communes you'd understand.

They are also not representative of the Moron religion, they are a fringe group. There are less than 10000 members compared to 14 million LDS.

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They are also not representative of the Moron religion, they are a fringe group. There are less than 10000 members compared to 14 million LDS.

I know that. The OP asked about religion and cults. I was saying yes there is one I know about. I grew up in a town thay had both 'real' mormons and the ones who like yo claim they are mormons.

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Mormons may have started out cult like so did all of Christianity, but I don't think they fall into that category now.

I have had lots of Mormon clients and friends over the years. Very nice and very spiritual people I do like them.

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The basic concept of Cult can be differentiated by the object of worship... wheras sects may have differing beliefs, but objectively worship God himself, Cults would favour the worship of a person in the place of God.

Is Joseph Smith just a Prophet, or is he something more than that, what is his special relationship to God contrasted with all others? Does he place God and Jesus in the correct light?

God is in the still small voice. In all these affidavits, indictments, it is all of the devil--all corruption. Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.

History of the Church, Vol. 6, pp. 408-409

Address of the Prophet - His Testimony Against the Dissenters at Nauvoo.

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