The difference between religion and cults is tax exemption. Agree or disagree?
3
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16 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.A gross oversimplification. It has to to with leadership and power differentails as structured by the group. There are cults that are now several generations old (I’d include the Unification Church and Scientology), and cults that are not “religious” in nature (some “self-help,” new age, and even political groups).
The-Krzyz
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
1
I totally agree.
Cults are simply religions that are too young, small, and/or uninfluential to have captured a fair bit of the popular imagination.
Some would consider, e.g., the JWs to be a cult, but they are tax exempt.
I could set up a religious tax exempt corporation today if I wished, and it could be based around myself as god's sole representative on earth, and I could set up a Jim Jones style compound that members must move to, etc. This would be the very definition of a cult in most people's minds, yet tax exempt.
The US government at least does not have a doctrinal or ideological litmus test or certain disqualifiers, all you have to do is claim to have a religious purpose to be tax exempt.
mordant
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
1
It's the definitions of the groups that determine the tax protection, not the other way around. It's not clear that religions deserve a tax break but any group could call themselves a religion just to get a tax break. There is a legal test to determine if something is a religion vs just a cult.
lerlo
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
1
Agree. It's a level of acceptance that can be indicated by tax exemption status.
Stephanie99
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
0
I consider religions just aged and popular cults.
AustinSkepticus
Level 7
Dec 6, 2018
1
disagree. many people belong to a religion but it doesn't run their lives. in a cult, there is a charismatic leader, isolation of the members from nonmembers, including and sometimes especially family, and the cult's control of every aspect of their lives. religion CAN be like that, but mostly it isn't.
g
genessa
Level 8
Dec 6, 2018
1
Another difference is what happens if/when you want to leave
tinebean
Level 7
Dec 6, 2018
2
I think this is a big aspect of what qualifies a modern religious group as a cult. Disfellowshiping, blackmail and even threats of violence to discourage members from leaving or speaking out about the group. In the past, I think the term had a wider variety of uses but this is one of the key distinctions that warrants usage of the word in modern times.
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