Do most sects think they're number one?

[annotatedbom]

Raylan mentioned that he likes to ask firm believers how they know their church is true, and it sparked my curiosity. I started to post on that thread, but then I realized it was too much of a tangent, so I deleted to not derail. So, here's what I was thinking.

I like to ask really firm believers (someone like the Chaplain) how they know their church/belief is true (ala. Anthony Magnabosco). I try to be sincere and really listen, it is always interesting to hear the different responses I get.

I grew up in a different religion. By the time I was a young teenager, I didn't see value in it, and then as an older teenager became agnostic. (Yeah, crazy, right? Protestant, to agnostic, to LDS, all as a teen.) My point is that the religion I grew up in didn't seem to preach "We're the only ones with the whole truth needed." Maybe that was just the approach of that particular congregation or minister, but it leaves me curious. Of the denominations out there, do most believe they have the one true religion approved of or authorized by God?

I get that the more fundamental groups (JWs, Moonies, official Catholicism, etc.) tend to see themselves as God's chosen/authorized, but is it actually the more common approach among sects?

And, if it is common among sects, do the members of these sects tend to agree with the official teachings of their sects regarding this?

[RubinHighlander]

Reminds me of this video with testimonies from mormons, their break offs and other religions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJMSU8Qj6Go

Wait until you get to about 10 minutes in: "The Book of Hagoth is true!"

It would be interesting to get all these people together in the same room and see how successful any of them would be to convince others that their special feelings about their finding their truth, is somehow invalid. I'd predict zero success. The human need for acceptance is woven into our DNA, to belong to a tribe, to be validated, to be directed, to have answers to questions about life and death, to worship those that say they have those answers, to feel more special that other tribes. These tribal emotions trump logic and reason and facts and truth; they filter out anything that does not agree with the indoctrinated view. They cause the person to do mental gymnastics to make it work or put cogdis on the shelf; some will break, some will hold up for the entire life of the individual.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

I think people are more attracted to religions that take a more solid stand on truth claims over the more wishy washy universalistic ones. It likely feeds our tribal instincts and reward systems. One example is how fast growing islam is comparatively as well as the dying CoC/RLDS faction versus the slowly less growing but still growing mainstream LDS.

[Corsair]

This is the problem:

“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
― Bertrand Russell