Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
view the rest of the comments
How would you define a cult?
A cult is devotion no matter what. Religions are cults.
Even the people who revere God but not "no matter what"?
If you disregard a belief because it is detrimental to yourself or others, then you are not in a religion, you are not in a cult, you just believe in what makes you comfortable and that is okay. Religion is fine, until it causes detriment to other people, which is what it has done in all of history.
Believe in what you like, just don't impose that on others. Live and let live.
One could say I believe in what amounts to a few simultaneously (it's "complicated"), and they all imply rules that adherents shouldn't impose. I have a friend who identifies as a Baha'i (and another who has a history of Scientology in his family if not also identifying as a Buddhist) and they impose more than I do.