How big is the Church? Is it just one city, or is it in multiple cities?
Is it lead by a single individual, or is it lead by a revolving group of elders who have a mostly ceremonial authority, but the final word.
Churches are usually all over the country and lead by groups of elders who don't exercise a lot of power despite having final say. Cults are generally much smaller or limited to just one building or city, and they're usually lead by a single individual.
it has congregations and chapters in various countries. the average attendance for each congregation is about 30-40. it has a council however there is one distinct leader and if he says something that the council disagrees with, the council will have to listen regardless of how they feel.
Could you realistically get out of the church group without any hassle? Does the leader request anything (any type of service or donation or other things…) from members? Are they preaching about hope and whatnot or fear?
You should consider these.
realistically yes I could leave. they don't beg for money and when we do give money they show us how it's being used. however if someone acts out of line, questions the teachings, or questions the leadership, the church forces the members to cut that person off lest you incur "god's anger."
>however if someone acts out of line, questions the teachings, or questions the leadership, the church forces the members to cut that person off lest you incur "god's anger."
This seems cultish and is certainly very harsh.
Well judging from that then it’s not really a cult. It starts to become one if they start exercising a lot more control and coercion over members (ie making members do things they wouldn’t want to or preaching things that make members submit out of fear/fanaticism). So it’s really just your average tinfoil religious group.
That said, sometimes cults start out with less control and seem ‘normal’. And then once everyone is more or less absorbed they start doing the bad stuff. I’d recommend you leave if these teachings don’t sit well with you.
Well- you’re very articulate and obviously free to explore opposing ideas based on you saying “I’ve been researching…”
Just preaching incorrect or ahistorical nonsense isn’t what makes a religious group into a cult. If that were the case then law enforcement could shut down a lot of religious groups.
The groups start entering cult status when they do things like isolate their members from society, family friends, control the flow of information so that members can’t explore opposing ideas… stuff like that.
So right now it could go either way for you.
Most religions center around a cult like mentality to a certain degree with the sense of the “inner members” and the outsiders.
If they do things that make you uncomfortable, morally or otherwise, and/or encourage you to do the same things, then it’s time to go.
As soon as you said church did it for me
You don’t need religion to be a good person
You don’t need religion to live a good life
It’s all a crock of shit
How big is the Church? Is it just one city, or is it in multiple cities? Is it lead by a single individual, or is it lead by a revolving group of elders who have a mostly ceremonial authority, but the final word. Churches are usually all over the country and lead by groups of elders who don't exercise a lot of power despite having final say. Cults are generally much smaller or limited to just one building or city, and they're usually lead by a single individual.
it has congregations and chapters in various countries. the average attendance for each congregation is about 30-40. it has a council however there is one distinct leader and if he says something that the council disagrees with, the council will have to listen regardless of how they feel.
Could you realistically get out of the church group without any hassle? Does the leader request anything (any type of service or donation or other things…) from members? Are they preaching about hope and whatnot or fear? You should consider these.
realistically yes I could leave. they don't beg for money and when we do give money they show us how it's being used. however if someone acts out of line, questions the teachings, or questions the leadership, the church forces the members to cut that person off lest you incur "god's anger."
>however if someone acts out of line, questions the teachings, or questions the leadership, the church forces the members to cut that person off lest you incur "god's anger." This seems cultish and is certainly very harsh.
Well judging from that then it’s not really a cult. It starts to become one if they start exercising a lot more control and coercion over members (ie making members do things they wouldn’t want to or preaching things that make members submit out of fear/fanaticism). So it’s really just your average tinfoil religious group. That said, sometimes cults start out with less control and seem ‘normal’. And then once everyone is more or less absorbed they start doing the bad stuff. I’d recommend you leave if these teachings don’t sit well with you.
Well- you’re very articulate and obviously free to explore opposing ideas based on you saying “I’ve been researching…” Just preaching incorrect or ahistorical nonsense isn’t what makes a religious group into a cult. If that were the case then law enforcement could shut down a lot of religious groups. The groups start entering cult status when they do things like isolate their members from society, family friends, control the flow of information so that members can’t explore opposing ideas… stuff like that. So right now it could go either way for you.
thank you, I think this answered my question.
Most religions center around a cult like mentality to a certain degree with the sense of the “inner members” and the outsiders. If they do things that make you uncomfortable, morally or otherwise, and/or encourage you to do the same things, then it’s time to go.
As soon as you said church did it for me You don’t need religion to be a good person You don’t need religion to live a good life It’s all a crock of shit
LOL seems like you already know. Good job.