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The cult of Islam - Page 1/38

Subject: The cult of Islam
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urvoice1 21.04.14 - 07:10pm
I came across this and felt it worth sharing. Today we will start to examine the claim that Islam is a cult using the objective criteria established by Janja Lalich, Ph.D.and Michael D. Langone, Ph.D. in their famous article Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups. For now I'll just let you digest the article... * +

urvoice1 21.04.14 - 07:10pm
Compare these patterns to the situation you were in (or in which you, a family member, or friend is currently involved). This list may help you determine if there is cause for concern. Bear in mind that this list is not meant to be a cult scale or a definitive checklist to determine if a specific group is a cult. This is not so much a diagnostic instrument as it is an analytical tool. * +

urvoice1 21.04.14 - 07:10pm
1. The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law. 2. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished. 3. Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s) * +

urvoice1 21.04.14 - 07:11pm
4. The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth). 5. The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar or the group an * +

urvoice1 21.04.14 - 07:11pm
5. The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity) 6. The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society. * +

urvoice1 21.04.14 - 07:11pm
7. The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations) 8. The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting mon * +

urvoice1 21.04.14 - 07:12pm
group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities). * +

urvoice1 21.04.14 - 07:13pm
9. The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion. 9. Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.... Two items numbered 9. Let's call the second one 9a * +

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