What is the difference between a cult and a religion?

P.CeeJ-Ay with the AK: What is the difference between a cult and a religion?
First of all I do not want to offend anyone however I would like to know. For example people say Scientology is both or just one.

Some of you may say religion is true however there are many religions.
Some of you may say religion has a deity but some religions don’t.
Some may say the age but there are some cults older than religions.
Many cults are old and the creators are long dead

Answers and Views:

Answer by Sheep w/ Shotguns
a cult has fewer followers and isn’t widely accepted by the majority. that is about it.
cult is simply a “derogatory” synonym for religion.

Answer by Roberto
Funding.

Answer by Crockoduck Hunter
”the only difference between a religion and a cult is the amount of real estate they own” – Frank Zappa

Answer by Tishi
I think a cult usually has a founder who is still alive and the members tend to isolate themselves from the rest of society, but i’m not sure what makes a religion a religion.

Answer by John
cults = brainwashed

religions = confusion

Answer by Feathered Serpent
A religion gets tax benefits and a cult does not.

Also cults usually don’t have tv shows and crappy nick nacks for sale on the shopping channel.

Answer by Everard G
“What is the difference between a cult and a religion?”
The Numbers and Time.
~

Answer by Jon Doe
There is no difference. To belittle other religions, the major ones call the smaller ones “cults”. It’s all one in the same. They all congregate and worship something. Anyone who says there’s a difference is completely naive.

Answer by Mike the Mighty Atheist
•Three ideas seem essential to the concept of a cult. One is thinking in terms of us versus them with total alienation from “them.” The second is the intense, though often subtle, indoctrination techniques used to recruit and hold members. The third is the charismatic cult leader. Cultism usually involves some sort of belief that outside the cult all is evil and threatening; inside the cult is the special path to salvation through the cult leader and his teachings.

The indoctrination techniques include:
Subjection to stress and fatigue;
Social disruption, isolation and pressure;
Self criticism and humiliation;
Fear, anxiety, and paranoia;
Control of information;
Escalating commitment;
Use of auto-hypnosis to induce “peak” experiences.

•Cults are absent of the betterment of the individual person but rather than leader only. Cults try to subvert the human will with total and complete obedience to the leader of a group or sect.

•As taken from the Dictionary Application that came with my Apple Computer, the definitions of the word cult and the word religion are as follows:
cult |kəlt|

noun

a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object : the cult of St. Olaf.

• a relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister : a network of Satan-worshiping cults.

• a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing : a cult of personality surrounding the leaders.

religion |riˈlijən|

noun

the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods : ideas about the relationship between science and religion.

• details of belief as taught or discussed : when the school first opened they taught only religion, Italian, and mathematics.

• a particular system of faith and worship : the world’s great religions.

• a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance : consumerism is the new religion.

Answer by rorybuns
They way the members are treated. Cults exploit, religion uplifts. It’s a fine line though – scientology for example (which is a cult – they charge people to learn, so only the rich get to learn as much as they want to).

Answer by luvrats
A cult is usually run by one person who requires his followers to have total dedication to him. Followers must give all their worldly possessions to him too. They live in a compound and are not allowed to see family or friends. Their beliefs are usually extreme and not acceptable to most ‘normal’ people. It’s very hard to imagine how much power some men can have over other people — Rev. Jones convinced hundreds of his followers to drink poison, even force their children to drink poison!

Answer by Timelady
I say its a cult when you either can’t leave because harm will come to you or they purposely cut you off from friends and family that are not in the cult and use psychological techniques to keep you in.

Answer by the contumacious atheist
longevity

Answer by –
a cult leads people away from the bible. catholics, mormons, Jehovah’s witness all have something in common. They teach people to be dependent upon others for salvation. The bible does not teach people to be dependent upon people but rather to learn how to have faith with God independently. The bible says who can ascend to heaven to bring Christ down or who can go down in the deep to bring Christ up but the WORD is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart. This Word of FAITH that we preach..that WHOSOEVER believes with their heart and confesses with their mouth that God raised Jesus from the dead shall be saved. The Bible is all about empowering others’ faith in God.

i love catholic, mormon and JW people but I HATE LIES.

Answer by SilverLynx
The answer is very simple:

Does the religion cause mental or physical harm to its practitioners? Does it drain the person of emotional, financial or familial resources in order to become the only source of information in that person’s life? Does it demand adherence even to the point of death?

If the answer is yes, then you’re looking at a cult.

Scientology in its current form IS a cult. There are non-cult versions of Scientology that are trying to make it into a peaceful, helpful religion, but the concepts of Scientology are designed to separate its practitioners from anyone or anything that would help them see through the lies, and then catch them up and demand everything from them, even to the point of physical and emotional torture, and even death.

Some more cynical minds on Y!A might say that all religions are cults, but few religions will hunt you down, kidnap you and torture you if you try to leave. Scientology goes leaps and bounds beyond any normal religion.

Answer by Prof
Rorybuns said it.

The difference lies in the treatment of the followers.

Answer by onelm0
All belief systems are cults. It has only been in modern times that the word “cult” has been used as a means of someone in a large group looking down their nose at a small group.

Answer by bongnate
Tehcnically speaking ( without bias), a cult is an organization seemingly professing a supernatural faith BUT DO NOT have by-laws and articles of existence that can be registered in a society to have equal privileges similar to a corporate organization.
Examples: organization that does not respect association with the community
org that does not have written/agreed rules on governance and practices
org that does not have unmembership procedure

Answer by Rai A
I’ve always been partial with the suggestion is “Political Power”.

Read the anti-Cult comments written by Plinny the Younger. What was considered a cult then is now a recognised multi-sect Faith.

Anyone wanna guess which one?
.

Answer by Michael
In cults, all the followers are brainwashed by the cult itself. In religions, they are only half to three fifths brainwashed by the religion. The balance is their own delusion.

Jesus is Lord!

Answer by Cindy C
A cult is anything or anyone who take the diety from Jesus Christ. Just because someone said it does not make it true, trust God’s Word.

Answer by Pj’s
RELIGION: based on revelation.
CULT: not necessarily divinely inspired.

RELIGION: should be based on logic.
CULT: Thrive on ‘higher than reason’

RELIGION: a service to a power higher then man
CULT: servicing oneself

Peace and love!

Answer by apator123
What Is a Cult?

The term “cult” is used loosely by many who may not be fully aware of its connotations. To prevent confusion, some theologians actually avoid using the term.

The World Book Encyclopedia explains that “traditionally, the term cult referred to any form of worship or ritual observance.” By that criterion, all religious organizations could be classified as cults. However, in general usage today, the word “cult” has a different meaning. The same encyclopedia notes that “since the mid-1900’s, publicity about cults has altered the meaning of the term. Today, the term is applied to groups that follow a living leader who promotes new and unorthodox doctrines and practices.”

Endorsing the popular usage of the term, Newsweek magazine explains that cults “are normally small, fringe groups whose members derive their identity and purpose from a single, charismatic individual.” Similarly, Asiaweek magazine notes that “the term [cult] itself is vague, but it usually denotes a new religious creed built around a charismatic leader, who often proclaims himself to be the personification of God.”

The language used in a joint resolution of the 100th Congress of the State of Maryland, U.S.A., also conveys the derogatory connotation of the term cult. The resolution states that “a cult is a group or movement exhibiting excessive devotion to a person or idea and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control to advance the goals of its leaders.”

Clearly, cults are generally understood to be religious groups with radical views and practices that clash with what is accepted today as normal social behavior. Usually they conduct their religious activities in secrecy. Many of these cultic groups actually isolate themselves in communes. Their devotion to a self-proclaimed human leader is likely to be unconditional and exclusive. Often these leaders boast of having been divinely chosen or even of being themselves divine in nature.

Answer by Krysten S
A cult is the “beginning” step of forming a religion.
At first, like sheep said, it tends to be smaller and doesn’t have many followers. But over time it grows into a practice (religion).
My sociology teacher explained it as so: someone didn’t wake up one day and say “hey, i wont to be a christian” and all of a sudden there were 2 billion other people affiliated with christianity.
It starts as a cult and develops into something more when/if it finds other believers.