*rubs temples* I'm a pretty hardcore atheist (though not as hard as M.D.) but I HAVE studied cults enough that equating all religion with it makes me want to fume. Because arguments like that is how cults continue operating!
The religious ones (because cults come in ALL flavors; I know of an atheist transhumanist one) claim that they're just like all other religions, but they're NOT. Cults have a very specific MO: their primary purpose is to enrich their leader/s, either through money, sex, or power. Now, you can argue all you like about whether the Pope is a cult leader, but that doesn't make it true. Whatever my personal feelings on him and his religion, he actually DOES SHIT besides raise money for himself. There is at least some way the Pope could be ousted if he did something horrible enough, murder a kitten on tape or something.
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Date: 2015-06-29 01:28 am (UTC)The religious ones (because cults come in ALL flavors; I know of an atheist transhumanist one) claim that they're just like all other religions, but they're NOT. Cults have a very specific MO: their primary purpose is to enrich their leader/s, either through money, sex, or power. Now, you can argue all you like about whether the Pope is a cult leader, but that doesn't make it true. Whatever my personal feelings on him and his religion, he actually DOES SHIT besides raise money for himself. There is at least some way the Pope could be ousted if he did something horrible enough, murder a kitten on tape or something.
--Rogan