Is Mormonism a cult?

[_Tarski]

I once asked Michael Shermer his opinion on this.
He said the mainstream LDS church is not a cult but that it was when it started.

[_SatanWasSetUp]

Early Mormonism would fit our definition of a cult, but the modern church isn't so much. It is more of a do-it-yourself cult. The church provides all the elements necessary for it to be a cult, but it is not stricly enforced. I have met Mormons who are not cult members and some who are. Those who are do it to themselves, taking everything the church teaches literally and putting the prophets and leaders on a divine pedestal.

[_barrelomonkeys]

Yanno.. seems within any ideology there will be those that take it to an extreme. Republicans freaking out about chads?

[_truth dancer]

Definition of a cult: new small religion

Definition of a religion: old large cult

:-)

[_Polygamy Porter]

Here is a fun little video that was posted over at FLAK

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mnNSe5XYp6E

OMG

Minus the overt cult references that is just like Mormon missionary training videos

[_Bond...James Bond]

Definition of a cult: new small religion

Definition of a religion: old large cult

:-)

This is basically my view.....although not all cults are equal.

[_KimberlyAnn]

I wanted to add this:

When I was a missionary, I remember defending the idea of a cult. We were not offended by being grouped in with the cults because Christianity itself could be seen as one large cult with Jesus at its helm. I remember making this claim to many evangelical christians. The big deal for us (at the time) was differentiating between cult and occult. Many of the people we talked with seemed to confuse the two terms. A few years after my mission I read Quinn's Early Mormonism and the Magic World View. I found that many of the folk magic elements of the early LDS church could today be described as occult.

This is a very good point, Silentkid. I live in the Bible Belt and we have a lot of people who mistake cult for occult. Of course, early Mormonism could easily be described as both a cult and occult. Not so much today, though.

KA

[_silentkid]

This is a question for those who view the early LDS church as a cult, but not the modern LDS church. How has the mainstreaming of the church made it less cultish? Do you consider any other "mainstream" modern religions to be cults (i.e. Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Catholicism, Islam, etc.)? Is it really the just the number of members and how long the religion has been around that defines its cult status?

TD: I love your definition.

Tarski: Do you know what Shermer's working definition of a cult is? I'm going to dig through some books, but if you have access to it, would you mind posting it?

[_wenglund]

If Kimberlyann needs to label the LDS Church as a "cult" in order to feel better about her current Christian faith, then I suppose there is little harm in that.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[_The Nehor]

OMG

Minus the overt cult references that is just like Mormon missionary training videos

Ummmm........no.