“Without contraries there is no progression”, stated by the poet, painter, and printmaker, William Blake. One must say, the founding of Christianity and Mormonism was likely to be considered a cult during their time period. Not only did these two religions face prosecution from their societies for having different ideals, but also they both had two charismatic leaders that believed that were encountered by God to spread His word, at two very different time periods. In this paper, one will see what it means to label something as a cult, how Jesus of Nazareth and Joseph Smith encountered God, how their particular societies felt about their new revelations, the reasons on exactly why they were prosecuted by their society and what makes these
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For instance, Lutheran is a sect off of Christianity, just like the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints) is a radical sect that broke off of mainstream Mormonism. Whereas a cult is a little bit more complex than a sect, due to the various criteria that may be met to define a religious group as a cult. The Webster Dictionary defines a cult as,
“A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.”
To add, a healthy religious affiliation must confirm an individual’s freedom, by allowing one to explore and question the current religion that they reside with (Halperin xx). However, that concept of self-freedom is lost within a cult. By extension, some of the criteria that can be described as “destructive” can be told by, the author David A. Halpern in his book Psychodynamic Perspectives on Religion Sects and Cults,
1. A leader claims divinity or special relationship with God.
2. A leader who is the sole judge of a member’s actions or faith.
3. Totalitarian
For instance, Lutheran is a sect off of Christianity, just like the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints) is a radical sect that broke off of mainstream Mormonism. Whereas a cult is a little bit more complex than a sect, due to the various criteria that may be met to define a religious group as a cult. The Webster Dictionary defines a cult as,
“A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.”
To add, a healthy religious affiliation must confirm an individual’s freedom, by allowing one to explore and question the current religion that they reside with (Halperin xx). However, that concept of self-freedom is lost within a cult. By extension, some of the criteria that can be described as “destructive” can be told by, the author David A. Halpern in his book Psychodynamic Perspectives on Religion Sects and Cults,
1. A leader claims divinity or special relationship with God.
2. A leader who is the sole judge of a member’s actions or faith.
3. Totalitarian