question about religion

[SsilverR]

not trying to start anything .. i just never got a clear answer for this question and there seem to be some really smart ppl here

my question is .. what's the difference between a religion and a cult? and what qualifies something as a religion??

right now the only things i could think of for religion is that they got a head start, were there first and laid the ground work ... then anything that came along after that got the heretic treatment

PLZ try to keep things civil

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Something to do with numbers and social status, I believe.

 

[Jedoro]

They're the same thing fundamentally, but a religion always focuses on some kind of metaphysical principle, i.e. God, Allah, Shiva, etc.

A cult can focus on the metaphysical, but can also focus on the physical, i.e. Fight Club, Harry Potter, etc.

All religions are cults, but not all cults are religions.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Cult is usually a spin off sect. But formal deffinition below

CULT
1: formal religious veneration : worship
2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual ; also : its body of adherents
3: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious ; also : its body of adherents
4: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator
5 a: great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book) ; especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b: the object of such devotion c: a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

 

[Skeleon]

It's interesting to point out that Christianity started out as a Jewish cult and grew into a strong religions in less than 500 years.
We don't have any clue at this point as to what kinds of big churches there'll be in a thousand years or so.

 

[Sipo]

religion is a socially accepted cult. a cult is a religion that is frowned upon by society, same thing. depends on your perspective of it.