Cult vs Religion

By our definition in class most if not all cults count as religion. They have systems of symbols creating lasting beliefs and work to explain the world. Most cults obviously have symbols and create beliefs and most likely have a back story of origin. So does it work the other way around? Do all religions count as cults?

Wikipedia has a nice article on cults. Including a collection of dictionary definitions. The definitions include a system of religious beliefs and ritual, A religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader leader, or a small religious group with excessive control over members.

So depending on which definition you pick either all religions are cults, all are cults expect a few major religions, or very few cults exist. In my personal opinion I consider cults to be the groups who seclude themselves from society, either in complexes, monasteries, or some other form of isolation. I only have problems with cults if they brainwash people into joining or have dangerous or destructive beliefs. From what I understand there are very few cults out there that actually brainwash or are destructive, but they do exist.

Nobody should be forced into believing anything. Sometimes when I talk to my religious friends I feel like they have been brain washed into believing in Christianity, and some of the more far fetched parts of the bible. I just can't seem to understand why people are so willing to believe that communion can be considered to literally be the body and blood of christ. My cousin was an alter boy. He showed me the giant package of "Communion Waffers" the ingredients list did not actually contain Jesus. When I listen to people who try to convince me they are eating Jesus, I can't help but get the feeling that all religions are brainwashing people.

Either way, I still consider a cult to the creepy little secluded groups of people, but major religions brainwash people too, just more openly.

New religion

What goes into making a new religion? Is it a fast or slow process? How important is a founder?

One of the key elements of creating a new religion is some sort of social tension. Be it a racial conflict between groups, core disagreements amongst peoples of a religion such as the Lutheran Catholicism schism, or some sort of other major issue. Racial tension was one of the reasons for the creation of the Bahai. Conflict between the Kurds and the Shi'i along with some of the other groups provide ample disagreements to break off from one another entirely.

Fast or slow is a question of perspective. It could take the better part of a person's lifetime to get a religion started at all, and chances are it wouldn't really get going until after the death of the founder. Religion is a constantly evolving and changing beast. Rapid changes are possible, but most changes are slow taking place over hundreds of year. The Lutheran schism is an example of a rapid change, while the gradual evolution of Catholicism has taken place over thousand of years.

A strong founder is crucial to the success of a religion. Without a founder there will be no set direction for the religion to evolve. People need someone to unite under, a figure they can relate to. Without a figure head there is no easy way to interact with other religions or political leaders. The Catholic pope while not a founder is an obvious leader. He controls which way the church evolves and maintains the beliefs of the founder. Many founders are considered prophets and ultimately hold a special place in the mythology of the religion.

Christian Rock

When most people think of christian rock, they think soft rock with overt christian messages. However there are lots of bands that have been breaking out of that mold to get their message out. Lots of them have gotten some heavy radio play. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has less obvious christian undertones but they are still there.

Christian rock has been breaking into all sorts of different genres. Screemo bands are one of the

newest mediums to spread the message of god. It can be difficult to understand them and pull

any meaning or words from it but the under the screaming and electric guitar the message is still

christian. One example of a christian screemo band is The Devil Wears Prada.

Rastafari music in my mind still counts as christian music. It spreads a religous message through music and Rastafari is more christian than anything

else. Granted the messages are of a very different nature than the average christian rock band. While christian rock focuses on how God is good,

and will help you out, Rastafari music spreads the word about the Rastas and encourages people to rebel against the western power structure and to get in touch with African roots.

What was once a very narrow and niche genre of music has spread into all sorts of genres.

Many people listen to the music our of catchiness or popularity and are oblivious to the strong

messages and undertones that lie beneath the music. I can't help but wonder when another major

religion will break into the American music scene. Buddhist rock could be interesting.

Rastafari take two

I watched this video today and learned about a very different group of Rastafaris than I have

learned about so far. These Rastas still share the Dreadlocks, the colors red green and yellow,

the flag, and many of the same views. The biggest distinction I found were the differences in

attitudes toward "Babylon." Both the book Rastafari and Bob Marley have very strong feelings

white culture, and the west as a whole. They spread messages of how bad it is and how evil

Babylon is. The Rastas from the video don't appear to nearly as violent towards Babylon. They

just want to go back to Africa, and live simple lives filled with prayer in an effort to save up the

means to return. The turban and the regimented praying are two differences that are easy to spot.

While Marley spreads messages of rebellion, the simple Rastas awake early in the morning

to pray. I have a much easier time relating to the peaceful Rastas. Being a part of Babylon I

can't help but feel like some of the Rasta's hatred toward Babylon includes me, and everyone I

know. The peaceful Rastas do not seem to share the same hatred of Babylon, they just want to

go to Ethiopia. Its much easier to get along with people when neither side openly expresses

dislike of the other. I think the Marley Rastas would more easily further their cause if the message

wasn't quiet so anti Babylon. Granted that is a big part of their identity.

Rastafari

I have started reading the book Rastafari by Ennis Edmonds, and after two chapters in I still have no idea what Rastafari is about. I gathered that it orginated in Jamaica and that Haile Sellassie is the both the leader of the movement and possibly the second coming of christ, but other than that I don't anything about what they actually believe. The media has associated Rasta culture with smoking marijuana, and doing drugs.

I spent a little bit of time digging around the web to find out a little more. The Rastas believe that Haile Sellassie is a manifestation of god, and that they will be returned to the promised land of Ethiopa. Some still believe that Haile is still alive and his death was a hoax. Many Rastas believe that the white people are to blame for most everything and refers to them as Babylonians. The smoking of "ganja" is a means to cleanse the spirit and to heal the world.

There is still much I do not know or understand. I hope that the book on Rastafari moves away from long winded speeches on charisma and focuses on what the religion actually is. I want to understand the religion, not some dudes theory on how charismatic people and events change the world.

Solomon and Sheba

This week I read a small part of the Kebra Negast. It is a story about King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. It tells of how they met and the child that came from their meeting. This child then goes on to rule Ethiopia. This story adds some pretty significant back story to Ethiopian royalty. Having ties to prominent Jewish and Christian figures does nothing but increase the power of the kings and queens. In an a prominently christian and Jewish society, have a biblical back story helps reinforce the identity of the nation and gives a rich and important history. Regardless of the truth behind the story, just having it exist can bring a sense of pride and religious significance to the country. This story could affect politics when working with Jewish or Muslim leaders. Jewish leaders may be more inclined to work with people supposedly descended from important biblical Jews, while Muslims may even be offended and be more difficult to work with. This could work the other way around too. Either way, a back story that gives royalty special significance could greatly affect the lives the royalty.

I found out that there was a movie made about Solomon and the queen of Sheba. The whole movie is on youtube, but they don't seem to allow any sort of embedding so if you care to take a look just search Solomon and Sheba on youtube.com.

Conceptual Blending

Today I read an article called the Analogical Mind. It talks about metaphors and conceptual blending. After a bit of thinking I have decided that one of the main parts of religious studies is using conceptual blending to compare two or more things. We compare things from different parts of the same text, between books, between religions, and between completely different things. My discussion of rowing as a religion, is a half decent example of conceptual blending. Looking at two things and finding similarities and differences in a combined frame of reference. It would be very difficult to compare two religions without conceptual blending. While many are similar, being able to line up the similarities in order to better show the differences is crucial in understanding them. Comparing the different sects of Christianity would be very difficult for someone who has never been exposed to them before without being able to blend and differentiate them. Either way conceptual blending is an important tool that we use more often then we think.

Do religion parodies count as religion?

Last year I first heard about the Invisible Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM). It was created as a parody in order to prove a point about teaching creationism is school. However a large number of people, mostly atheists and agnostics 'believe' in the FSM. This people are often refered to as Pastafarians or Spagnostics. Even though this religion was created out of parody, more people are starting claim association and are begining to practice the very loose dogma that was set forth by the creator Bobby Henderson.

So does this constitute a real religion? At the moment people do not worship together in large groups, but there is a diffinitve set of symbols and full blown structure and belief system. Bobby has created a complete 'bible' and a full creationist story. This technically fullfills Greers definition by having a set of symbols that lead to lasting beliefs. Does the knowledge that the beliefs themselves are supposed to be a joke actually make the beliefs any less valid? I don't know but I am curious if the FSM is still aorund in 50 years. I wouldn't really be surprized if it doesn't.

Here is a video or two explaining how and why the FSM was created.