Comments on: More fun with Scientology http://www.seanpaune.com/2007/07/04/more-fun-with-scientology/ Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:28:11 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Luis http://www.seanpaune.com/2007/07/04/more-fun-with-scientology/comment-page-1/#comment-19067 Luis Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:57:26 +0000 http://seanpaune.com/2007/07/04/more-fun-with-scientology/#comment-19067 IMO, the difference between a "religion" and a "cult" lies in dates and acculturation--that is, the religion adopting to the local culture (like Christianity did with paganism) and people in the culture becoming used to the new cult. Mormonism is a good example of a cult in the later stages of just such a transition. Cults that fail to make this transition die out. All religions start as cults. Almost all religions have at one point or another included all kinds of weird crap, much of it destructive--including Christianity today. Look at abstinence programs, as one example, or resistance against contraceptive solutions. The established religions are simply a lot more practiced, a lot slicker with these mumbo-jumbo rebrandings of theology as medicine or science, and they have the established force of influence to make their harmful "remedies" more accepted. IMO, the difference between a “religion” and a “cult” lies in dates and acculturation–that is, the religion adopting to the local culture (like Christianity did with paganism) and people in the culture becoming used to the new cult. Mormonism is a good example of a cult in the later stages of just such a transition. Cults that fail to make this transition die out. All religions start as cults. Almost all religions have at one point or another included all kinds of weird crap, much of it destructive–including Christianity today. Look at abstinence programs, as one example, or resistance against contraceptive solutions. The established religions are simply a lot more practiced, a lot slicker with these mumbo-jumbo rebrandings of theology as medicine or science, and they have the established force of influence to make their harmful “remedies” more accepted.

]]>