Cult, Religion, Tomato, Tomato

Is there a difference between cults and religions?

Cults in the Wild | I was watching, “How to with John Wilson,”  a really weird show about New Yorkers, and guess who was mentioned? Keith Raniere. If you have not been keeping up with cult/pop culture news you may not know that Raniere is the convicted leader of an alleged sex cult, DOS, part of the NXIVM brand. In the episode, Wilson talks about feuding with Raniere at a college a capella competition hosted by a NXIVM offshoot, 10C. He talks about how weird Raniere was with the undergrads and how he even asked for some people’s social security numbers at one point. You can read the details about their feud in Wilson’s interview with Esquire. 

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The Big Post | Every so often someone leaves a comment under one of my videos that says something like “all religions are cults.” I then get a flurry of notifications from people who either strongly agree or disagree with the comment. 

Occasionally someone will ask me to chime in and I will redirect them to this video.  For all the wonders of social media, a 2-minute video is not the most effective tool for explaining something as complex as what differentiates a cult from a religion.  And so, we are gathered here to dive into the difference between religions and cults. 

First things first, all religions are not cults and all cults are not religious in nature: cult and religion are not synonymous.

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Raëlism is an example of a cult that is not actually religious in nature. This group is actually atheistic and believes that extraterrestrials, called The Elohim, created all life on Earth. Ricky Roehr, North American Raelian Movement leader, argues that “all gods are myths, just as there's no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny.” Raelians see religion as a tool to inspire fear in its adherents. Their priority is preparing for the return of the Elohim and their science and technology which will improve our world.

You can watch the rest of my series on Raëlism here: Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4”