What’s The Difference In Cult and Religion
So the Catholic Church took Pagan practice (Which the illiterate European people practiced thousands of years, mixed Jesus (a blood sacrifice), and mother Mary (goddess parallel) and some good old fashion mysticism (fear of a boogeyman) and wala - you got the most powerful control machine in history! Can anyone convince me that this is not anything more than a Billion member cult?!
Comments (25)
Here's the definition of "cult" I think is the most applicable to this discussion - "A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister."
Clearly, the Catholic Church does not meet that definition.
It's not an open and shut case that religion is wrong. Suppose it is wrong! A cult is wronger than wrong!
Conversely, a cult is just an unpopular, shunned religion.
As an example, a paramedic should be nonjudgmental when doing his or her job, so similar patients in similar circumstances should be treated with a similar standard of care . . . and I think every reasonable person would agree with this.
So, I was transporting a Wiccan to the hospital, and her priestess (a member of the "Sacred Well Coven" . . . whatever that is) asked to ride along.
We have protocols that allow for clergy, so I said "No problem, welcome to my ambulance," as I showed her where to sit, and belted her in.
Well, this didn't sit well with the clergy at the religious hospital (a Baptist hospital dedicated to extending the healing ministry of Christ), and I was excoriated for treating the Wiccan priestess like a "real" clergy person. I was written up and sanctioned for my "lack of common sense" in not recognizing that a "Satanic cult" is different from a "real" clergy person, like a minister or a rabbi.
It was suggested that I endangered other people in the emergency room, because if patients saw the pentagram on the Wiccan's religious materials, then some patients might leave before treatment--out of fear for their spiritual well-being--which could cost lives.
I told my boss that he was being stupid, when he then asked me how I would feel if I needed the services of the emergency room, and arrived to see Nazi swastikas mounted on the wall.
I didn't have an answer to this, as I would be uncomfortable receiving medical treatment from a neo-Nazi, and would probably go somewhere else--and, perhaps, die from lack of treatment--so what's the difference between my Jewish distaste and discomfort with the Nazi swastika, and the Baptist's discomfort with the pentagram and other Wiccan religious materials?
How do I--in a practical sense--resolve this hypocrasy within myself, yet still adhere to my principle of being nonjudgmental when I work as a medic?
Any input would be deeply appreciated.
Thank you for reading my lengthy post.
P.S. I do have Asperger's Syndrome (a kind of high-functioning autism), so I have very little social insight. So, please help if you can give me any ideas. I don't like thinking of myself as a two-faced hypocrite.
Wiccans are not comparable to Nazi’s. Your boss IS being stupid. Someones wrong, ignorant idea of what a Wiccan is or the different meanings of a pentagram is not the same as someone actually having some heinous, genocidal ideology. The uppity catholics are offended by their own misconception and ignorance rather than something real, while in the case of the Neo Nazi a person would be offended for very real reasons, very real evils.
So you hold contradiction, no two faces, no hypocrisy.
Religious hospitals are a source of a lot of non-emergency transports (and a lot of money) to the ambulace companies, so these transport agencies often side with the hospital over their own employees when it comes to these kind of conflicts. I put a link below where a congressman named Bob Barr (not to be confused with Attorney General Bill Barr) was trying to push legislation to make it illegal for Wiccans in the military to practice their religion. In fact, he's called for all Christian people to refuse to enlist in the armed services--and leave the country defenseless--until Wiccanism is made illegal. See below:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-06-16-9906160031-story.html
I also ran into very similar conflicts involving gay people, as religious hospitals got bent out of shape when I treated the gay life partner like a spouse. Below, see how a hospital refused to allow a lesbian to visit her dying partner (of 18 years) because Florida is an "anti-gay state" , and only a spouse and family member should be allowed to connect with a dying person, and a lesbian partner isn't the same thing. See below:
https://www.workers.org/2009/us/lisa_pond_1015/
So, I was suspended and turned down for promotions because I treated gay people by the same standards as straight people, because I "lack common sense" when it comes to working with religious hospitals.
While these kind of conflicts may seen stupid on the surface . . . I should point out that reasonable people can become super religious when they're having severe health problems ("No Atheists in foxholes."), so these issues can become very important very suddenly.
A part of these issues may be my fault, as I have Asperger's, and am very inept and clumsy when it comes to relating with people socially, as I have "social blindness". I often commit social blunders because of this.
In addition, symbols on something a non-affiliated person brought into the hospital for private use aren't comparable to symbols mounted on the hospital wall.
Thank you. I actually agree with that, so this gives me an "out" to dodge the claim that I'm a hypocrite.
Thank you again.
Toll i packed my backpack and ran away when i was 21ur old and so i don't have a very good understanding of standard religion but from how I see it I would say that standard religion would be something people half ass and casually do where in a cult they live and breathe that religion 24/7 with severe repercussions if not doing so.
Thank you.
If people question my interpretation of these events, then I ask you to consider how the Roman Catholic Church wants to deny President Biden communion because he won't use the office of the President of the United States to further an anti-abortion, pro-life agenda.
You were persecuted for doing the right thing. Religions do that, sanctimoniously. The answer is to remove religion from health care facilities.
Quoting Kevin Levites
Actually, your Asperger's has allowed you to see the issues more clearly than do your fellows. Your boss is engaging in [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/special-pleading]special pleading[/url]. The story that patients will leave if they see a pentagram is an example of "invent ways to cling to old beliefs".
Quoting Kevin Levites
Not sure I really understand the question - people are entitled to an appropriate medical response - that's your role, regardless of whether they are Nazi's or Quakers. If you treat all people with respect (as I'm sure you do) you can leave the judgments and fears to the others.
Likely the number of people involved.
I think this is generally correct, the way the word is usually used is to refer to religious ideas that are not in the mainstream of a society or culture. However, people tend to use it to disparage any religious belief they disagree with, which doesn't seem to be in keeping with how the word should be used. One could argue about what is mainstream, so I suppose there is room to maneuver.
https://aeon.co/essays/theres-no-sharp-distinction-between-cult-and-regular-religion
Using language incorrectly out of laziness or ignorance or for emphasis, makes our language less powerful and less clear. There are plenty of good ways to express your disdain for religion without messing things up. It makes you look lazy and ignorant.
Judaism might be a cult under that definition.
At some level, "cult" is a subjective term, suggesting it's bad versus "religion" which doesn't carry the same connotation.
I regard a cult as an organization that affords special godlike powers to a single individual who abusively controls his followers, usually by extracting money, limiting contact with family members and close friends who are not followers, demanding free labor, requiring complete allegiance regarding all requests, and often involving requiring sex from anyone within the cult, sometimes with minors.
My problem with the Catholic Church was (and it probably still is occurring) the systemic pedophilia within the Church and the Church knowingly concealing it and allowing it to continue. I don't think that makes the Catholic Church a cult, but I do think it makes it an organization that actively rapes children and protects child rapists. In short, whether one wishes to consider it predominately a religion or a criminal enterprise is a subjective judgment based upon what you consider its most significant activity, but I'll give it a pass as to the cult allegation.
The Catholics actually started off as a sect, not a cult.
I think that's a fair assessment.
Technically it's not a sect, it's the original church, to my understanding. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Agreed.