Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: hall@vice.ico.tek.com (Hal Lillywhite) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: cults Message-ID: Date: 28 Feb 91 22:25:20 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or. Lines: 36 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article geoff@pmafire.inel.gov (Geoff Allen) writes: >Our Over-worked and Under-paid Moderator writes: >>It's hard to be sure >>whether the term "cult" as currently used is simply a geneal term of >>disapproval, or whether it has a specific definition. [lottsa' stuff deleted for brevity] Geoff closes with: >All in all, I think it's a term that should be replaced, because of the >``Jim Jones'' connotations it now has. Anybody have any suitable >replacements? :^) Maybe we should consider if a suitable replacement is even desirable. My experience is that the term "cult" is usually used to pigeonhole people and avoid learning what they really believe. Once a group is so labeled too many of us simply don't take them seriously except to assume they must be stopped. I say this as a member of a church (LDS) often so labeled. It's amazing how many people stop at the label and refuse to listen to what we really believe. I'm confident we are not the only ones in this situation. Also, once a group is labeled "cult" it's easy to spread false ideas about their beliefs. Some even refuse to accept the statements of belief from the group, claiming that since they are a cult they must believe the strange things their enemies say they do. (I find it rather odd when someone claims he knows more about what I believe than I do, but it happens.) I think we would be better off just calling people by whatever name they call themselves (LDS, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.) and trying to learn what they believe and why. Trying to understand somebody by calling them a cult is no more helpful than thinking you know someone because you know they are Black or German or like certain clothes. Replacing the word "cult" with something else will not change this.