I think scientology is more or less a bit wacky... really nothing more.

I am not a fan of any organized "religion"... I basically think they were all conceived with the intent of controlling people...

That said, someone being a Christian,or a Scientologist or a Satanist, does not make them a bad person... someone imposing their beliefs on others does.

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some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant

http://www.marchforbabies.com/chuck725 ... helping babies born prematurely and with birth defects

What makes it more fraudulent than ANY other religion?

__________________
some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant

http://www.marchforbabies.com/chuck725 ... helping babies born prematurely and with birth defects

Cults are centered around charismatic leaders who lead a group that has separated itself from society, relies on extreme forms of group-think with punishment for apostasy, have pyrimidal command structures, promotes dependance on the group, and uses deception in order to ensnare new members.

Religions can exhibit some of these qualities in their extreme forms, but are not defined as such. It would take a rather extreme stretch of the imagiation to describe mainstream lutherinism as conforming to any of these definitions, however, so the two terms are not interchangeable.

Your first paragraph is a pretty good summary of the Catholic church, LL, at the VERY least, my personal experience with it.

No, the terms are not interchangeable, but they are much more similar than most people are willing to admit.

The pope is not a cult leader since he does not lead by weight of his personality nor make up the various rules as he goes. He may intrepret established doctrine in various ways, but he is an administrator rather than a charismatic leader.

Catholics are part of the greater society rather than a small, sequestered group.

The large number of ex-Catholics as well as Catholics who do not follow strict doctrine display that the rules for apostasy are not such as to present any real impediment to disbelief.

The command structure is pyrimidal, I'll give you that.

There may also be some generalized dependence.

As to deception, how could any religion so well documents rely on deception? They are quite the known commodity.

Perhaps you have had unpleasant experiences with the Catholic church, but I think it better to distinguish betweeen shades of grey than lump too many things together under the same umbrella.

Uhhh...the fact that its founder himself stated it was nothing more than a scheme to make money? It's not like you have to pay to be a Christian or a Muslim or a Jew.

Ummm...not quite, sparky. In looking at the whole definition given, be mindful that Christianity is not considered unorthodox.

Next time you decide to be a smartass about something, perhaps you should take a look at what your reference says in its entirety instead of cherry picking the parts convenient to you.

Have a nice Day

Ok, so he admitted it and the others don't.

Also, Christians are actually told to tithe(sounds like giving up ten percent of your income is paying).
Jews are told to sacrifice(which is a payment to their lord)
And Muslims are told to be servants to their lord(again, spirtual payment)...

so what was that difference...

__________________
some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant

http://www.marchforbabies.com/chuck725 ... helping babies born prematurely and with birth defects

Ok first... using the first definition, I was correct. That is one complete definition.Without using ANY other part of the definition, I have properly defined the word.
Second, when Christianity was founded, it was considered unorthodox. So does something become a religion instead of a cult because of popular opinion? Nothing else changes, just opinion... means it is now religion. Wow.

I guess I can't call you something worse than a smartass because you are a moderator... oh well... I guess I will just have to leave it at showing that I was right and let you dwell on it

OH, and just as a sidenote... I love that you say I can't cherry pick but I bet no "Christian" you know follows the bible to the word... I bet they all "cherry pick"

__________________
some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant

http://www.marchforbabies.com/chuck725 ... helping babies born prematurely and with birth defects

The difference is that there is no forced tithing. With scientology, that's not the case.

Look, if your issue is that you despise religion or something, that's fine and you are entitled to feel that way. Let's just at least be honest in our portrayal of different religions here, ok?