All Religions Are Cults…?
Apparently some people felt the need to explain the psychology behind religion. While I think saying that all religions are “cults” and that all religions “brainwash” people is a little extreme, I agree on the whole.
Ahh, religion.
What Is Religion?
Average Joe can easily answer this question: religion is the belief in some supreme being(s) that may intercede on your behalf to make life better, and usually involve some form of an afterlife or reincarnation. Now, as the article so deftly put it, cults are ” cohesive social group[s] devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream”. Do you see the very minuscule difference? Religion is a widely accepted set of beliefs, a cult is a set of beliefs outside of the norm.
Humanity
It has been suggested (Google it) that humanity may be naturally drawn to religion and the ideas of a higher power, because of either some genetic trait or a function of the brain. It actually would make sense, given that we’ve worshiped some form of gods or goddesses as far back as science can dig. If you look at any form of religion, and the ideas behind them, without any bias, you should come up with a simple conclusion: how can one religion’s ideas be correct, and all the others ‘wrong’?
Origins
All forms of religion have been created/founded/”discovered” at one time or another by humans, everything from Hinduism to Islam to Mormons to Catholicism. Trace down the history, and you find that it’s true. Now, compare that with the roots of “cults”: can their origins, however brief, be also traced to humans’ involvement? What makes the cults any worse than the religions? Why is a religion like Catholicism acceptable, but any involvement in a so-called cult is not?
Even cavemen believed in rudimentary ‘gods’.
All Religions Are Cults
I truly believe that not only are all religions cults, but that given humanity’s need for a higher power throughout all Time, I think they are all created by man himself, invalidating them. It remains to be seen whether or not there is any “true” religion or belief system, if they all are the same, or if they’re all wrong…
But it’s enough to make you wonder if the people that devote themselves to religion are wasting their lives. Science has shown time and time again the validity of evolution, and yet religious organizations continue to claim blasphemy, while insisting on Divine Creation. That seems a little …unintelligent… to me.
Hmm… do the statistics on scientists and engineers (some of the most intelligent people on Earth) having a lack of faith have any bearing on this? I think so…
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