Can anyone convince me that this is not anything more than a Billion member cult?! — Trey

Here's the definition of "cult" I think is the most applicable to this discussion - "A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister."

Clearly, the Catholic Church does not meet that definition.

My two cents.

It's not an open and shut case that religion is wrong. Suppose it is wrong! A cult is wronger than wrong!

A religion is just an official – socially institutionalized – cult.

:100:

Conversely, a cult is just an unpopular, shunned religion.

I have had to deal with the real-world consequences of this question while working as a paramedic . . . and in some instances, I've been sanctioned over issues of cults vs. religion.

As an example, a paramedic should be nonjudgmental when doing his or her job, so similar patients in similar circumstances should be treated with a similar standard of care . . . and I think every reasonable person would agree with this.

So, I was transporting a Wiccan to the hospital, and her priestess (a member of the "Sacred Well Coven" . . . whatever that is) asked to ride along.

We have protocols that allow for clergy, so I said "No problem, welcome to my ambulance," as I showed her where to sit, and belted her in.

Well, this didn't sit well with the clergy at the religious hospital (a Baptist hospital dedicated to extending the healing ministry of Christ), and I was excoriated for treating the Wiccan priestess like a "real" clergy person. I was written up and sanctioned for my "lack of common sense" in not recognizing that a "Satanic cult" is different from a "real" clergy person, like a minister or a rabbi.

It was suggested that I endangered other people in the emergency room, because if patients saw the pentagram on the Wiccan's religious materials, then some patients might leave before treatment--out of fear for their spiritual well-being--which could cost lives.

I told my boss that he was being stupid, when he then asked me how I would feel if I needed the services of the emergency room, and arrived to see Nazi swastikas mounted on the wall.

I didn't have an answer to this, as I would be uncomfortable receiving medical treatment from a neo-Nazi, and would probably go somewhere else--and, perhaps, die from lack of treatment--so what's the difference between my Jewish distaste and discomfort with the Nazi swastika, and the Baptist's discomfort with the pentagram and other Wiccan religious materials?

How do I--in a practical sense--resolve this hypocrasy within myself, yet still adhere to my principle of being nonjudgmental when I work as a medic?

Any input would be deeply appreciated.

Thank you for reading my lengthy post.

P.S. I do have Asperger's Syndrome (a kind of high-functioning autism), so I have very little social insight. So, please help if you can give me any ideas. I don't like thinking of myself as a two-faced hypocrite.

Wiccans are not comparable to Nazi’s. Your boss IS being stupid. Someones wrong, ignorant idea of what a Wiccan is or the different meanings of a pentagram is not the same as someone actually having some heinous, genocidal ideology. The uppity catholics are offended by their own misconception and ignorance rather than something real, while in the case of the Neo Nazi a person would be offended for very real reasons, very real evils.
So you hold contradiction, no two faces, no hypocrisy.

Thank you very much for responding.

Religious hospitals are a source of a lot of non-emergency transports (and a lot of money) to the ambulace companies, so these transport agencies often side with the hospital over their own employees when it comes to these kind of conflicts. I put a link below where a congressman named Bob Barr (not to be confused with Attorney General Bill Barr) was trying to push legislation to make it illegal for Wiccans in the military to practice their religion. In fact, he's called for all Christian people to refuse to enlist in the armed services--and leave the country defenseless--until Wiccanism is made illegal. See below:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-06-16-9906160031-story.html

I also ran into very similar conflicts involving gay people, as religious hospitals got bent out of shape when I treated the gay life partner like a spouse. Below, see how a hospital refused to allow a lesbian to visit her dying partner (of 18 years) because Florida is an "anti-gay state" , and only a spouse and family member should be allowed to connect with a dying person, and a lesbian partner isn't the same thing. See below:

https://www.workers.org/2009/us/lisa_pond_1015/

So, I was suspended and turned down for promotions because I treated gay people by the same standards as straight people, because I "lack common sense" when it comes to working with religious hospitals.

While these kind of conflicts may seen stupid on the surface . . . I should point out that reasonable people can become super religious when they're having severe health problems ("No Atheists in foxholes."), so these issues can become very important very suddenly.

A part of these issues may be my fault, as I have Asperger's, and am very inept and clumsy when it comes to relating with people socially, as I have "social blindness". I often commit social blunders because of this.

Wiccans are not comparable to Nazi’s. — DingoJones

In addition, symbols on something a non-affiliated person brought into the hospital for private use aren't comparable to symbols mounted on the hospital wall.

Thank you. I actually agree with that, so this gives me an "out" to dodge the claim that I'm a hypocrite.

Thank you again.

Well i was raised in a cult that was based off of the charismatic Christian branch of the Christian religion
Toll i packed my backpack and ran away when i was 21ur old and so i don't have a very good understanding of standard religion but from how I see it I would say that standard religion would be something people half ass and casually do where in a cult they live and breathe that religion 24/7 with severe repercussions if not doing so.

Thank you.

If people question my interpretation of these events, then I ask you to consider how the Roman Catholic Church wants to deny President Biden communion because he won't use the office of the President of the United States to further an anti-abortion, pro-life agenda.

Yep. "Cult" is what the official religions call their new competition.

You were persecuted for doing the right thing. Religions do that, sanctimoniously. The answer is to remove religion from health care facilities.

A part of these issues may be my fault, as I have Asperger's, and am very inept and clumsy when it comes to relating with people socially, as I have "social blindness". I often commit social blunders because of this. — Kevin Levites

Actually, your Asperger's has allowed you to see the issues more clearly than do your fellows. Your boss is engaging in [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/special-pleading]special pleading[/url]. The story that patients will leave if they see a pentagram is an example of "invent ways to cling to old beliefs".

There is no real distinction between a cult and religion. When a religion or group is called a cult it is usually because it is smaller, controls the lives of its members more assiduously, is closed to the wider world, and demands total commitment.

How do I--in a practical sense--resolve this hypocrasy within myself, yet still adhere to my principle of being nonjudgmental when I work as a medic? — Kevin Levites

Not sure I really understand the question - people are entitled to an appropriate medical response - that's your role, regardless of whether they are Nazi's or Quakers. If you treat all people with respect (as I'm sure you do) you can leave the judgments and fears to the others.

Likely the number of people involved.

Here's the definition of "cult" I think is the most applicable to this discussion - "A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister."

Clearly, the Catholic Church does not meet that definition. — T Clark

I think this is generally correct, the way the word is usually used is to refer to religious ideas that are not in the mainstream of a society or culture. However, people tend to use it to disparage any religious belief they disagree with, which doesn't seem to be in keeping with how the word should be used. One could argue about what is mainstream, so I suppose there is room to maneuver.

There. the former chasm of difference between the Wiccans and the Nazis. The former do not have the murderous ideology and the genocidal history.

An interesting article:

https://aeon.co/essays/theres-no-sharp-distinction-between-cult-and-regular-religion

Besides, accusations of cultism have been levelled at secular or semi-secular organisations as well as metaphysically inclined ones. Any organisation offering identity-building rituals and a coherent narrative of the world and how to live in it is a target, from Alcoholics Anonymous to the vegan restaurant chain the Loving Hut, founded by the Vietnamese entrepreneur-cum-spiritual leader Ching Hai, to the practice of yoga (itself rife with structural issues of spiritual and sexual abuse), to the modern phenomenon of the popular, paleo-associated sport-exercise programme CrossFit, which a Harvard Divinity School study used as an example of contemporary ‘religious’ identity. If the boundaries between cult and religion are already slippery, those between religion and culture are more porous still.

However, people tend to use it to disparage any religious belief they disagree with, — Sam26

Using language incorrectly out of laziness or ignorance or for emphasis, makes our language less powerful and less clear. There are plenty of good ways to express your disdain for religion without messing things up. It makes you look lazy and ignorant.

I agree, although I'm not religious myself, but I do believe that we survive death based on other reasons.

"A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister." — T Clark

Judaism might be a cult under that definition.

At some level, "cult" is a subjective term, suggesting it's bad versus "religion" which doesn't carry the same connotation.

I regard a cult as an organization that affords special godlike powers to a single individual who abusively controls his followers, usually by extracting money, limiting contact with family members and close friends who are not followers, demanding free labor, requiring complete allegiance regarding all requests, and often involving requiring sex from anyone within the cult, sometimes with minors.

My problem with the Catholic Church was (and it probably still is occurring) the systemic pedophilia within the Church and the Church knowingly concealing it and allowing it to continue. I don't think that makes the Catholic Church a cult, but I do think it makes it an organization that actively rapes children and protects child rapists. In short, whether one wishes to consider it predominately a religion or a criminal enterprise is a subjective judgment based upon what you consider its most significant activity, but I'll give it a pass as to the cult allegation.

Can anyone convince me that this is not anything more than a Billion member cult?! — Trey

The Catholics actually started off as a sect, not a cult.

For me, a cult is characterized by having a leader who ruled his follower by an iron fist and demand a total dedication to 'cause. ,and brain washing is continually applied no diisent is harboured I think about Dvid Koresh and Jones of Guyana. None of today's main religions for this criteria, they all tolerate somemdissent. ISIS coes fit in as did Nazism.

I regard a cult as an organization that affords special godlike powers to a single individual who abusively controls his followers, usually by extracting money, limiting contact with family members and close friends who are not followers, demanding free labor, requiring complete allegiance regarding all requests, and often involving requiring sex from anyone within the cult, sometimes with minors. — Hanover

I think that's a fair assessment.

Technically it's not a sect, it's the original church, to my understanding. Correct me if I'm wrong.

@Hanover

Agreed.