Is Your Religion a Cult?

Have you ever challenged someone about their religious beliefs and they got extremely angry or really defensive? This may not be their fault. Most religions out there prefer that questions not be asked and for the person to just believe. There are other religions that not only prefer you not ask question but threaten you with excommunication if you do continue to ask, or as they put it doubt.

The definition of a cult is 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. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cult

The first part of this definition is a religion or sect generally considered to be extremist or false.  religions that extremely restrict the way you live can be considered a cult. for example, if they forbid you to associate with people outside  the religious group. They may discourage you from being a part of the outside world. This would include keeping children away from other children at school not letting them play sports, but focusing only on keeping their "faith". The only thing they are allowed to do is study the bible. They may say that everyone that is not part of the religion is wrong or wicked. This is the perfect way to isolate someone from the ideas or reasoning of other people that may influence the person to ask question and maybe eventually leave the organization. It is also the perfect way to hide deep seated corruption.

How can you tell if a religion is false, especially if you are already a part of it? This part is easy, just look at what they believe. Has your religion made prophesies that have never come true? It could be the coming of Christ on a certain date or even the end of the world. Maybe they keep changing the facts or dates around to suit those within the group. These are big red flags.

Now lets look at the second part of the definition: its followers may be living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. Whenever we see the news about cults some of us assume that its a small crazy group with maybe a couple of hundred leaders or less. Maybe the one leader has several wives and commits incest. What if this organization is a very large group, under an unquestioned group of leaders, and there are no reports of polygamy? Does this still count? Regardless of how big a group is, if they are operating under one leader or an extremely small group of leaders, that will not tolerate being questioned, this is another big red flag.

People involved in these groups are often preyed upon by charismatic people that promise the impossible. They are focused upon taking away your freedoms and keeping you within the group regardless of the cost. http://www.nvcc.edu/home/lshulman/cults.htm

Is Monogamy Natural?

After reading an article about the psychology of monogamy, I started thinking if humans really are naturally monogamous. The article stated that it is unnatural for humans to be monogamous. Because of our natural instincts to procreate and seek out championship, it is normal for people to go out and want to have an affair, or have multiple partners in life. This does show in our society with divorce being a all time high and fewer and fewer people getting married.

So I got to thinking, in our society having more than one partner is frowned upon because of one thing, the bible. The bible was written stating that it is wrong to sleep or even think about cheating on your wife or husband, as a matter of fact marriage is a bible based tradition. What would happen if the bible was never written? How would are society view monogamy, if the social standard was different? 

We as humans are products of both nature and nurture, so if people as a society were brought up believing that it is normal to have multiple partners, their would be a totally different mood about the subject. Then I thought, how much would it hurt if the partner you chose in this different type of world, decided that they were done with you and wanted to move on. Would it hurt as much as it does now? Would it have a natural feeling, or would it be easier to let go of the person that you are with at that time and find someone else? Being animals of both nature and nurture this concept would go over much easier than someone today would think. The natural part of us is already non monogamous so if growing up we were brought up to believe that this is natural, there would be a lot less pain and dishonesty in relationships.

On the other hand though, we do live in a society where, people are extremely religious and believe what the bible says word for word, so the most important thing is to be open and honest with your partner with your wants and needs, and a lot of the misunderstandings and miscommunications will be avoided. I believe in our society this is the biggest problem, people don't know what they want and when they do figure out what it is they need they are afraid to say so, in fear of being stigmatized or looked down upon. Everyone though is a individual, we all have different wants and needs that need to be expressed and understood. Every human has the right to fulfill the happiest state possible that they can posses. That is the spice of life, without it, what would we have?