So what is the difference between a cult and a religion?

>>3079448
Popularity

>>3079448
Okay this one sold me on this meme.

>>3079448
Abuse and control of its members.

>>3079448
acceptance in society

Time

It has to do with it's approach to outsiders and people leaving the religion.

A religion is not hostile to non-members and is does not present threats to those that want to leave. A cult is.

So different branches of Christianity could be considered cults.

post your favourite cults

>the children of god / family international
>aum shinrikyo /aleph

Cults tend to be insular and hostile to mainstream society, they target the mentally ill and try to drag them deeper into extremism.

Religions are generally open and target normal people.

>>3079448
Structure. A cult is a religion based around the veneration of a living leader

If the leader dies and has no successor that is treated in the same or similar way to the original leader, its no longer a cult and becomes a standard religion

Most religions start of as cults

>>3079448
A cult is a social group with a certain ideology or belief, it most likely is organized and has its leaders with some being religious and others not and having varying degrees of demanding absolute closeness ie varying from having all members living together in one area and being brainwashed to being regular people with minimal devotion to the groups cause. All groups today would fall into the definition of a "cult" with the sinister ones which gather people to live around in one area and brainwashing them and committing mass murder/suicide carrying the stigma and actually being branded as cults. Militant Atheists often meme modern religions as cults to advance their ideology and cult on social media.

>>3079508
So Islam is a cult?

File: aspergers.jpg (163KB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

163KB, 1920x1080px

>>3079448
religions are large enough to contain cults

The divide is a protestant meme. They are one and the same. Atheists cannot understand this because they are functionally nonexistent.

Nice reddit image.

>>3079536
>the children of god / family international

What have they done?

>>3079448
Size

>>3079448
religions are the tame sellout versions

>>3079571
Yes.

>>3079590

they made a really good music video

>>3079448
This is the most Californian thing I have ever seen.

One hundred years.