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My daughter just got involved in a very controlling religious community. What defines something as a cult, occult or a community of faith?
Alycia Erikson - Christian
Rev. Alycia Erickson, pastor of Pikes Peak Metropolitan Community Church, has a passion for working with the LGBTQ and straight communities.
I hear your concern for your daughter. Iâll focus my response on defining what a cult is. A cult can form from almost any type of group, not just religious. In her book
Cults in Our Midst, Margaret Thaler Sanger writes that the label âcultâ refers to three factors: the origin of the group and the role of the leader; the power structure or relationship between the leader (or leaders) and the followers; and the use of a coordinated program of persuasion (also called thought reform or brainwashing). It can be deeply painful when someone you love gets involved with a group you fear could be a cult. I encourage you to
Jeff Scholes - Agnostic
Jeffrey Scholes, Ph.D., is an associate professor of philosophy and the director of the Center for Religious Diversity and Public Life at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
This could either mean the practice that is informed and motivated by contemplation or simply the practice of contemplation. I favor the latter. While hopefully avoiding a mind/body dualism, I find that clearing away the mental clutter that entangles, frustrates and unnecessarily complicates our lives is the essential precursor to good practice. Decisions made without the kind of serious contemplation that can give us a clear sense of who we are in relation to the outside world are haphazard and vacuous. From Plato to Jesus to Muhammad, the practice of contemplation permitted and even directed an awareness of reality. When actions outrun the mind, the appearance of the world becomes reality and those actions rarely serve what is best for us.