Well, let's talk about
being a part of a cult
now whether or not you believe
that Mormons belong to a cult, when you tell them that they do it kind of comes
across as a four-letter word and it
makes it seem like you're just ruling off their beliefs without wanting to discuss what
they are or anything like that so
Mormons don't believe that they're part of a cult, and here's why. And I took some
notes to make sure that
I get everything down.
If you compile all of the dictionary definitions together about what a
cult is, it has
has these particular
elements in common and they are, and I'll list these:
Relatively small group,
excessive devotion to a person or idea,
unethical techniques,
controlled by threats and isolation,
powerful group pressures, fear of consequences for leaving,
abnormal dependency on the group,
and strange beliefs. So let's look at all of these different elements that are
part of the definition of being in a cult and see how
Mormons fit into them.
The first one: Relatively small group.
Mormons actually have fourteen million members in a hundred and thirty two
countries
and in America there are more mormons and there are Presbyterians
or even than there are Jews, so it's definitely not a relatively small group.
Chances are you probably know a Mormon whether you know it or not.
Okay, the next one is excessive devotion
to a person or idea.
Well, Mormons are very devoted and pride themselves on being devoted to the
Savior
and they want to follow Him and His teachings, so in that way, they are
very devoted to a being,
but in a way that they feel,
or that we feel, would be acceptable to Him, so
I guess you could weigh that one either way depending on how you look at it.
The next is unethical techniques.
I can't think of a single one. I've been a part of this church for a long time and
and there just aren't unethical techniques because if you follow the
Savior, then
it rules out doing anything unethical. You should be ethical. Now,
people in the church of course aren't perfect but we definitely strive for
ethics, so I don't think that one qualifies.
Uh, the next one is control by threats
and by isolation, and this is another one where there just isn't any evidence.
In fact, Mormons are taught to love everybody and to not isolate people.
Uh... if anybody feels isolated by Mormons, then those Mormons are making
mistakes and they don't understand
what the LDS Church is about in that regard, so we are taught to love
everybody. So if people are actually following Mormon doctrine,
then they won't use any kind of control
by threats or by isolation.
The next is powerful group pressures.
Um, I guess if you consider charity, love, and kindness to be and kindness to be
powerful group pressures
then...
maybe they qualify, but I don't think that's what these dictionary definitions
are referring to.
The next is fear of
consequences for leaving, and this is an interesting one because
other than the eternal consequences that would follow
uh... somebody who leaves the church,
when that person is leaving the church, they don't believe in those eternal
consequences anyway so it means nothing to them, and that's really the only
consequence that happens when somebody leaves the LDS Church is that their names are
removed
from the record books of the church, and
that's it. We are still taught to love people who leave the Church.
We may not agree with everything that they do or say, but we're not supposed isolate them.
We should love them and
there really shouldn't be any fear of consequence for leaving,
other than the eternal ones which
that person wouldn't believe in anyway, so tah dah!
The next one is abnormal dependency
on the group, and
the LDS Church actually teaches the opposite. Self-reliance and independence
are very important in LDS Church teachings
which is why education
and emergency preparedness and avoiding addiction and staying out of debt are common
subjects that are discussed
through the LDS Church and our leaders.
And then the final one is strange beliefs.
Uh... I guess we're busted there. We do believe in the Book of Mormon, we
believe in angels, but we also believe that Moses parted the Red Sea and that
Christ walked on water and all of the miracles that happened in the New Testament
times so
maybe were not the only one ones on this Earth with strange beliefs. And
finally, when you think of a member of a cult, you probably don't think of somebody who is
down to earth
and can function in normal society with no issues,
and this is how Mormons tend to live their lives.
A lot of people I know, and the most down-to-earth people I know are members
of the LDS Church.
And, I mean, c'mon, if you think about the Mormons you know, do they really seem
like somebody who would
mindlessly follow a leader
off a cliff into
boiling hot lava? No.