All religions are cults.

The person who wrote the yt description needs to learn to go easy on the exclamation marks, the abuse of which tends to decrease credibility.
/nitpicking


@honkeytonk73 sums up my sentiment nicely.

>> ^honkeytonk73:

All religions are cults.


There are sets of criteria which define what is a cult and what is a religion, I understand that most people feel the need to share their personal beliefs whenever the subject of belief arises but lumping the two together is inaccurate.

>> ^moodonia:

>> ^honkeytonk73:
All religions are cults.

There are sets of criteria which define what is a cult and what is a religion, I understand that most people feel the need to share their personal beliefs whenever the subject of belief arises but lumping the two together is inaccurate.


I see where you are coming from.. however:

According to most mainstream English dictionary definitions of the word "cult", all religions fall into said category. The concept of a religion being non-standard (unorthodox), not mainstream, or not 'right' rests solely as the opinion of the individual perceiving said religion in question. It is a matter of perspective. My declaration that all religions are cults puts them all on equal ground without a preference to the religion of my familial ancestry. Calling one's own religion a 'true religion', and all others cults, comes from a false/biased perspective. That makes it one's own definition, not a standardized definition.

While a roman catholic might consider themselves a member of a 'true religion', they just might consider a southern baptist group in Oklahoma to be a cult. Meanwhile the baptists mentioned would consider the roman catholics 'cult-like' with their insistence of ritual and pomp and circumstance surrounding their traditions... most of which are not even in the Bible, and were mostly developed for it's 'oooh ahh' factor with colorful shiny costumes and incense.

Were the Greeks, Romans or Egyptians.. all members of 'cults'? Their religion most certainly was mainstream and heavily followed during their age. Could they be labeled as cults today? Most certainly. Just because a religion is main-stream, or followed by a majority does not make it any less a cult.

Merriam-Webster: "a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents"
Wikipedia: "A system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object."
Dictionary.com: "a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc. "
thefreedictionary.com: "A system or community of religious worship and ritual."
Oxford: "a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object"
Websters: "Followers of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices."