Quote:
Originally posted by Not Me
Can someone tell me how to tell when a group is a cult, like apparently NotFromHere thinks the First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignity is, and when it is a religion? Does it have to do with the total number of people who belong to the group or is there some other way to tell?
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http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/essay_cult.htm
"Rutgers University professor Benjamin Zablocki (1997) says that sociologists often distinguish "cult" from "church," "sect," and "denomination." Cults are innovative, fervent groups. If they become accepted into the mainstream, cults, in his view, lose their fervor and become more organized and integrated into the community; they become churches. When people within churches become dissatisfied and break off into fervent splinter groups, the new groups are called sects. As sects become more stolid and integrated into the community, they become denominations. Zablocki defines a cult as "an ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment." According to Zablocki, cults are at high risk of becoming abusive to members, in part because members' adulation of charismatic leaders contributes to their becoming corrupted by the power they seek and are accorded."
I report, you decide. I lay no claim to the above-linked work nor do I profess to believe it. In other words, it came up first when I googled.
Can we talk about alcohol again?
