dianaiad wrote:

Oscar_Lives wrote:

Most Christians who critique the Mormon view of God do so from
a strictly biblical perspective. Christian apologists have
correctly pointed out that Mormon theology conflicts with biblical
doctrine in a number of important areas, including the nature of
God, the plan of salvation, and the nature of man.[1]


snip rest of autobot reposting of something this complete and utter
idiot has posted in its entirety several times, often within the SAME
THREAD, and that I, to my utter shame, actually answered once, point by
point. Man, I will NEVER learn not to feed the trolls

Regarding the title of this thread: Mormon is/was a man, or, if you
don't believe that he existed, a fictional character in a book. Either
way, he can't be a cult. Mormon ISM can be.

In fact, it is a cult. So, by the way, is Catholicism, every single
sect of Protestantism, and every other 'ism' there is out there. You
might try looking up the definition of a word before you pull something
this utterly brainless: cult: a system of community of religious
worship and ritual. Another definition of 'cult' that is nonreligious
is " obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a
person, principle, or thing."

Of course, I like the following definitions much better:
bullet

"...if you believe in it, it is a religion or perhaps 'the' religion;
and if you do not care one way or another about it, it is a sect;
but if you fear and hate it, it is a cult." Leo Pfeffer. A humorous
quotation, but one that is uncomfortably close to reality.
bullet

"Cults are claimed to be deceitful. They are claimed to be harmful to
their members. They are claimed to be undermining American values.
Cults are claimed to be just about every bad thing in the book these
days, and with the pervasive images of Manson and Jim Jones hanging
over us, any group that is called a cult is immediately associated with
those two people." J. Gordon Melton.
bullet

"My working definition of a cult is a group that you don't like, and I
say that somewhat facetiously, but at the same time, in fact, that is
my working definition of a cult. It is a group that somebody doesn't
like. It is a derogatory term, and I have never seen it redeemed from
the derogatory connotations that it picked up in the sociological
literature in the 1930s." J. Gordon Melton.

From http://www.religioustolerance.org/cults.htm

In other words, you blithering idiot, "cult" is simply you being
childish and letting us know that you don't like the Mormons. We get
that already.

So I have a suggestion for you; go fix somebody's airconditioner.
Hopefully not mine; I wouldn't let you within fifty feet of my swamp
cooler and I SURE wouldn't allow you anywhere near a pipe that carried
natural gas. You would overload the system.

Diana

It was indeed wasted verbiage. I could have summed it up thusly:
Mormon's are cultist morons.
OTOH, you should rethink your definition of cult. You aren't even wrong.
You can't simply make up your own definition of a well defined term just
because you think you have an enlightening twist, and nor can those that
you quoted.

cult

cult (kùlt) noun
1.a. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist
or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner
under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. b. The
followers of such a religion or sect.
2.A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3.The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony
and ritual.
4.A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to
have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5.a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a
person, principle, or thing. b. The object of such devotion.
6.An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or
intellectual interest.

noun, attributive
Often used to modify another noun: a cult figure; cult films.

[Latin cultus, worship, from past participle of colere, to cultivate.]
- cul´tic or cult´ish adjective
- cult´ism noun
- cult´ist noun

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English
Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic
version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and
distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States.
All rights reserved.
_____________________________________________

In short, a cult consists of a group of schizophrenic individuals
hanging upon every word of yet another schizophrenic and/or psychopathic
individual, who is in turn usually the so-called founder and/or leader.

You're damn right its a derogatory term, and well deserved by those who
are members of said cults. Now take this religious crap somewhere else,
such as perhaps alt.****ing.lunatic

hvacrmedic