In light of the Rapture hoax, what exactly is the line between respectable religion and dangerous

[yurbud]

cults?

I'm not even being facetious here. We give a lot of established religions a certain amount of respect that we don't feel as obligated to give the more newly minted ones.

This reminds me of why I think the old ones should be treated like the new ones rather than vice versa.

[leftstreet]

1. I think DU should respectfully place all religion posts in the Religion forum

respectfully

[Joe the Revelator]

8. Respectfully, I think you should use the hide thread function.

[edhopper]

21. Could you define "respect"

Is it that religious ideas can be challenged but without mocking or belittling language.
Or that we should accept what people say and not ask them to defend their statements?

[mr blur]

2. They're ALL dangerous. (nt)

[PDJane]

6. Thank you. Precisely.

Anytime you have any force that encourages you to believe in things that aren't even logical, that encourage belief ahead of thought, it becomes dangerous. God will not save us from another great flood, contrary to John Shimcus(R-IL)who stood up and proclaimed so. He can't save us from our own stupidity.

Time to forget about religion and bank on thought.

[Joe the Revelator]

7. +100

[catabryna]

3. This really belongs in the R/T forum...

as a side note... your avatar is gone. Was it raptured? :evilgrin:

[quinnox]

4. some religions have tons of weird rituals

and they have to eat food that is labeled as pure or something. Its just bizarre, but some religions are more respected than others, because I know it wouldn't be tolerated on DU to make fun of a certain religion.

[Tesha]

9. Christianity's central ritual is a form of imaginary cannibalism.

That's pretty weird, isn't it?

Tesha

[quinnox]

10. Yea, so is having to eat particular food

labeled as "OK by God" to eat, or having some elaborate ritual to go through when you turn a certain age.

I find that stuff laughable to be honest.

[Tesha]

12. You can actually understand some of the dietary laws.

Shellfish, unless very fresh, can be bacteriologically
dangerous.

During Red Tides, shellfish can be toxic, period.

Pigs carry Trichinosis.

Perhaps someone noticed that dairy products could be
cross-contaminated from meats.

Kosher/Halal ritual butchering was probably the most-
humane way of dispatching animals known at the time.
And warm blood spoils easily, hence the whole "draining
out" thing.

Then, of course, all this reasonably-good sense got
wrapped up in mythology. And over the years, the
mythology piled deep.

Tesha

[txlibdem]

14. Agreed and Kosher also minimizes the chance of Salmonella

As I understand it, it is not Kosher to eat the "rear half" of the animal...

Clams, oysters and mollusks are nature's filtering units: they take in all the pollutants at the bottom of the bay which accumulate inside their meat. I'm over 50, not a member of any "organized" religion and have never eaten any of those creatures... by choice and by using logic.

[Kurska]

5. There isn't one n/t

[xchrom]

11. Unless we change history - you probably wouldn't be able form a lot of subversive cute thoughts

Without old school liturgical religion.

[frogmarch]

13. I wonder how many people will take

advantage of the chance to off their spouses and claim they were sucked into heaven.

If America was a theocracy run by Christian fundamentalist wackos, including Rapturists, would law enforcement investigate such rapture claims as missing person cases, and if the missing person, or his/her body, or evidence of foul play couldn't be found, would law enforcement be compelled by law to accept that the missing spouses had been raptured?

[Jack Sprat]

15. The line was crossed a little over 3 decades ago.

The 700 club and evangelicals turned churches into political arms of the GOP, just like FauxNews is today. Suddenly, Christ was portrayed as businessman loving money and greed instead of the polar opposite teacher of the Beatitudes. I even recall hearing a Presbyterian pastor urging the members to invest in stocks in the 90s, so they might have more to contribute to the church. I'm sure they disgusted thousands or millions who had at one time trusted the mainstream churches.

[Mz Pip]

16. This crackpot Camping

got his $72 million dollars for someplace - probably from people he fleeced with his nonsense. I wouldn't be surprise if there were people who donated their life savings to him to help him spread the word with those damn billboards.

He doesn't deserve any respect IMHO.

[cleanhippie]

17. What makes Camping a crackpot, but not the Pope or any other priest?

[provis99]

18. they're all crooks and con artists.

Camping is simply more famous and richer than most.

[Mz Pip]

19. Won't make excuses

for the Pope or for Franklin Graham or Pat Robertson or anyone else who uses people to fill their coffers.

[cleanhippie]

20. It wasn't a hoax. The belief in the Rapture is JUST as legitimate as any other religious claim.

Including resurrection, transubstantiation, divinity, heaven, hell, etc.


If you think one is a hoax, then they are ALL a hoax.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

22. Check this out:

The Advanced Bonewitz Cult Danger Evaluation Frame:

http://neopagan.net/ABCDEF.html

[struggle4progress]

23. where is the line between respectable person and dangerous wacko?

[laconicsax]

24. Congregation size. n/t

[MountainLaurel]

25. Mr Laurel and I were discussing this yesterday at dinner

I look forward to seeing others' opinions.

[struggle4progress]

26. where is the line between respectable science and dangerous wackoism?

Ivy-Mike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7vyKDcSTaE

Castle Bravo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5_9Gi7w19Y

Tsar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfoQsZa8F1c

[Deep13]

27. Dangerous cults have outlandish claims and prejudices that are not widely accepted.

The practical upshot to that is that widely accepted beliefs cannot be so antithetical to reality as to prevent the belief system from enduring. For instance, reading the New Testament, one might be persuaded to give up all possessions and eek out a barely sustainable existance in the desert preaching and eating bugs while waiting for Jesus to return. Well, some of the 1st generation Christians did just that. When they were gone, there was no second generation to take over. It's kind of like how societies who don't maintain some kind of marshal ethos end up being taken over by more aggressive societies.

While I think even mainstream religious claims are still pretty disfunctional, they are not so antithetical to society as to be suicidal. A serious belief that the world is about to end and that allowing it end is a good thing is.