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• Centers of Light: Cult or Not? •
When critics attack the Centers of Light, cult is often used to immediately conjure up fear and suspicion. If you even hear the word “cult,” it’s likely that you will think negatively about whatever organization is being referred to. Detractors often pair it with another menacing term, brainwashing, to malign the Centers of Light. Cult actually has no clear meaning and is used almost exclusively by those who wish to incite fear of non-traditional religious or political groups. But in fact, psychological and sociological textbooks have no agreed upon definition of the word, and it is now a meaningless tool for sensationalist media.
Websites of several self-proclaimed "experts" who profit off the fear they raise among families of people joining non-traditional spiritual groups have labeled thousands of groups in the U.S. cults, including Alcoholics Anonymous, Amway, and Buddhist meditation centers. Still, it is hard not to be alarmed when you hear the word, and sociologists have generally rejected its use because of the automatic negative associations it generates. When someone says the "Center of Light Cult," it is essentially a slur, painting a negative picture without the support of any facts.
However, there are incidents like Jonestown and other atrocities that lead us to feel certain that some groups are really dangerous. But the question shouldn’t be "Is this a cult?”, instead it should be, “Is this group dangerous?” Fortunately, this is also a much easier question to answer.
The following questions are ones you might want to ask to determine if there is reason to have concerns about a particular spiritual group or organization.
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Quotations About Cults from: ReligiousTolerance.org
"...one person's cult is another's religion; all religions begin life as cults. An alternative definition is that a cult is a religion which you happen to dislike."
Anthony Campbell
"Cult is a word without much use outside the realm of religious mudslinging."
Philip Kennicott
"When someone uses the word 'cult,' it usually says more about them than the group."
J. Gordon Melton
Founder and director of The Institute for the Study of American Religion
"It's easy to tell the difference - a cult is someone else's religion. Corollary: A fanatic is someone who believes something more strongly than you do."
Jim Heldberg
"I have often thought that the difference between a cult and a religion is an IRS ruling."
Ron Barrier
Read the full article: Cults (a.k.a. New Religious Movements) at: ReligiousTolerance.org
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