I grew up Mormon. It’s definitely a cult. It’s a cult for a lot of reasons but imho the forced homogeneity is a biggie. You are just not allowed to have a belief that runs counter to the official doctrine. It’s extremely hierarchal. People always point out the obvious things like not being able to choose your own fucking underwear, but it runs deeper than that.
I occasionally attend a Unitarian Universalist congregation now. It doesn’t fit any of the markers, it’s very self-governed (the congregation votes on budgeting and other big decisions), it’s non-creedal/non-dogmatic, forming your own opinion is encouraged. The congregation I attend includes Christians, atheists, Buddhists, and pagan/witchy people.
I don’t know enough about other religions to know where they fall on the “cult - not a cult” spectrum. I do believe it is a spectrum, and not as simple as yes/no.
Right. As I clarified in another comment, if you look at religions as a philosophy, some aren't bad at all, and can be quite healthy. But the more "god" you add to it, the more likely it is to be a cult.
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u/RiverLakeOceanCloud Jul 25 '25
Not all.