A few of my friends seem to insist that it is.
Is Islam a cult?
- Thread starter Betrayer0fHope
- Start date
No more or less than any other religion I would say.
but the official definition of a cult is:
"Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. ..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult)
So according to that definition, no it isnt really a cult... unless of course you consider the entire world the "surrounding culture". Which goes back to what I said to start. No more or less than any other religion.
but the official definition of a cult is:
"Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. ..." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult)
So according to that definition, no it isnt really a cult... unless of course you consider the entire world the "surrounding culture". Which goes back to what I said to start. No more or less than any other religion.
I think that the radical fundamentalist Islam might be considered a cult. But the problem really lies in people perception of "cult". Most people use the term somewhat incorrectly, so a clear definition is warranted.
Baron Max
Anything I don't believe but others do is a cult.
Leo Volont
Registered Senior Member
Well, Islam is the first to admit that Mohamed was not the First Prophet of an Entire New Tradition, but the Last Prophet of an Older Tradition, one which recognized the legimacy of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures and Oral Traditions.
Oh... few people realize that the Story about the Fallen Angels, Satan, and all that, is Oral Tradition... written about in Modern Times, but not really in anybody's written Bible.
Anyway, in regards to Islam setting up its own Practices, instead of maintaining the Earlier Institutions from the Book and Scriptures, which they insisted that they Recognized, well, it signifies that indeed they deliberately set themselves up as a Cult apart from, or perhaps in addition to, the True Religion of all the Former Prophets, which they never exactly renounced.
But in this sense, Christianity is also a Cult.
Some Scholarship admits that no trace of the Hebrew Bible can be found dating prior to the Jewish Experience of Babylon... and exposure to Zoroastrian Influence then emanating from Persia. So, what we know of Judaism was probably only a Cult of Zoroastrianism. Why do we not know more of Zoroastrianism? Well, History treated them horribly. In the Centers of Zoroastrian Scholarship, first the Muslims from the local area were difficult, but then in the 12th and then in the 14th Centuries the influx of Crazy Barbarians Monguls, who killed and burned everbody and everything, largely destroyed any Scholarship or Historic Record. Indeed, there is a great misunderstanding regarding the Crusades. The Christian Forces came as much to defend the Established Islamic Powers from the Invading Mongols. This is why it took Centuries for the Islamic World to form any cohesive resistance to the Christian Forces... it had taken that long before the Mongols from Asia could assert themselves convincingly as being any better than the Christians. But then, when Christian Knights were finally sent on their way, it spelt out the Death Knell for the Golden Age of Islam, as it gave a Clear Field for the Turkish Invasion ... the next wave of Barbariams from Mongolia. The entire region has been in the Grip of Retarded Barbarians ever since.
s
Oh... few people realize that the Story about the Fallen Angels, Satan, and all that, is Oral Tradition... written about in Modern Times, but not really in anybody's written Bible.
Anyway, in regards to Islam setting up its own Practices, instead of maintaining the Earlier Institutions from the Book and Scriptures, which they insisted that they Recognized, well, it signifies that indeed they deliberately set themselves up as a Cult apart from, or perhaps in addition to, the True Religion of all the Former Prophets, which they never exactly renounced.
But in this sense, Christianity is also a Cult.
Some Scholarship admits that no trace of the Hebrew Bible can be found dating prior to the Jewish Experience of Babylon... and exposure to Zoroastrian Influence then emanating from Persia. So, what we know of Judaism was probably only a Cult of Zoroastrianism. Why do we not know more of Zoroastrianism? Well, History treated them horribly. In the Centers of Zoroastrian Scholarship, first the Muslims from the local area were difficult, but then in the 12th and then in the 14th Centuries the influx of Crazy Barbarians Monguls, who killed and burned everbody and everything, largely destroyed any Scholarship or Historic Record. Indeed, there is a great misunderstanding regarding the Crusades. The Christian Forces came as much to defend the Established Islamic Powers from the Invading Mongols. This is why it took Centuries for the Islamic World to form any cohesive resistance to the Christian Forces... it had taken that long before the Mongols from Asia could assert themselves convincingly as being any better than the Christians. But then, when Christian Knights were finally sent on their way, it spelt out the Death Knell for the Golden Age of Islam, as it gave a Clear Field for the Turkish Invasion ... the next wave of Barbariams from Mongolia. The entire region has been in the Grip of Retarded Barbarians ever since.
s
cult - n. A particular form or system of religious worship; esp. in reference to its external rites and ceremonies. -Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. 1989
What does 'external rites and ceremonies' mean in that context?
Things like making the sign of the cross, witnessing to believers and non-believers, symbolic representation, introducing cult practices in secular spaces (i.e. imposing cult doctrine in secular laws, policies, etc.), prayer at circles at football games, and so on.
There doesn't need to be any external rites or ceremonies to be a cult. A football team can have rites and ceremonies but of course the team is not a cult.
Atheism can also be cult-like. Atheists also force their beliefs on society. Atheism is also a delusion because if you firmly believe in something you cannot possibly know then that is a delusion.
Is there anything wrong with delusion? How can there be? If the delusion is mild then i would say absolutely not. A certain degree of delusion exists in everyone. But coercing others to follow a belief is wrong.
A: "There is no God"
B: "How do you know"
A: "I just know"
First we have not defined "God".
Is this delusion?
A: "There is another civilization on another planet similar to ours"
B: "How do you know?"
A: "Because i said so"
Atheism can also be cult-like. Atheists also force their beliefs on society. Atheism is also a delusion because if you firmly believe in something you cannot possibly know then that is a delusion.
Is there anything wrong with delusion? How can there be? If the delusion is mild then i would say absolutely not. A certain degree of delusion exists in everyone. But coercing others to follow a belief is wrong.
A: "There is no God"
B: "How do you know"
A: "I just know"
First we have not defined "God".
Is this delusion?
A: "There is another civilization on another planet similar to ours"
B: "How do you know?"
A: "Because i said so"
kite_runner02
Registered Member
Well, if we're speaking on delusions how, Psychologists have asserted that conscious, mentally healthy people are slightly deluded in their sense of reality, whereas the depressed have a more clear sense of the reality of their surroundings.
I guess this makes depressed people the most real.
I also agree with the notion of defining God in the context of speaking on Religion, or even the concept of a higher power. One person may interpret God differently from another; so to apply a broad generalization would mean there is a fundamental difference in understanding of the notion of God. and if that's the case , how can you philosophically come to terms?
With that said, Islam is not a cult.
I guess this makes depressed people the most real.
I also agree with the notion of defining God in the context of speaking on Religion, or even the concept of a higher power. One person may interpret God differently from another; so to apply a broad generalization would mean there is a fundamental difference in understanding of the notion of God. and if that's the case , how can you philosophically come to terms?
With that said, Islam is not a cult.
No. No delusion in me.
Don't waste your time saying yes there is. There is not.
You don't know me, you have no way of knowing & you have absolutely no evidence.
Don't waste your time saying yes there is. There is not.
You don't know me, you have no way of knowing & you have absolutely no evidence.
Right. It also needs to be religious.
Once again, you are asserting that atheism is strictly the belief that a god does not exist. Most people here would disagree with you. And even if it was, you mistakenly compare and contrast atheism to religion, rather than faith; in reality, atheism is the counter-point of faith, not religion, and certainly not a cult. Why? Because it is the absence of faith.
And again, how in the hell do atheists force their beliefs on society? How can you say that with a straight face?
I agree with that 100%. But remember that you are a believer most likely because you were coerced into believing. Religion has the market cornered on that.
How about...
A: "There is a God"
B: "How do you know?"
A: "I just know"
That has more to do with probabilities than faith. We are here, and we know there are organic compounds all over space, and when we combine that knowledge with how many stars there are, it is a safe bet that life has occurred elsewhere in the universe. It's got to be next to a statistical impossibility that it hasn't.
Is that true? There are cults for music, writing, art as well.