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In Reply to: Is The Family a cult? posted by Acheick on July 26, 2004 at 13:05:05:
From a Christian Website, I tend to agree it matches TF to a T.
Marks of a Cult:
Authoritarian: There is almost always a central, charismatic, living human leader who commands total loyalty and allegiance.
Oppositional: Their beliefs, practices and values are counter to those of the dominant culture.
Exclusivistic: They are the only group that possesses the "truth."
Legalistic: Rules and regulations abound governing spiritual matters and the details of everyday living.
Subjective: They emphasize the experiential, the feelings and the emotions. This is usually accompanied by an anti- intellectualism.
Persecution-conscious: The groups feel they are being singled out by mainstream Christians, the press, parents, and the government.
Sanction-oriented: They require conformity in practice and belief, and exercise sanctions against the wayward.
Esoteric: They promote a religion of secrecy and concealment. Truth is taught on two levels, inner truth and outer truth.
Anti-sacerdotal: There are no paid clergy or professional religious functionaries.
You would have to stretch your immagination to put big business in this category. I'm all for big business, rather work for a rich man than a poor man, but I'll stop here before I get into the P word.
