You know you're in a cult when...

[Hagoth]

(Just acting on Red Ryder's musings in another thread)

...your mother cries every day, and your neighbors are scowling at you, because your underwear doesn't have secret masonic markings.

...You are asked if you have enough faith to NOT be healed by a guy who claims to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.

[2bizE]

….when you believe a man placed a rock in a top hat and actually saw words appear on the rock…

[Red Ryder]

I believe credit for the idea goes to Stuck...

You know you’re in a cult when LulaRoe models their business practice after your religion.

[Palerider]

You know you're in a cult when:

1. Your TBM son comes elk hunting with you but restricts the conversation to only hunting. No talking about the "church".

2: The "church" attempts to tamp down the reading of material outside of the correlated literature.

3. "Church" leadership claim to be the one and only conduit between man and God. Except for the members' personal prayers and revelation. Which if they happen to disagree with leaderships' revelation are Satan inspired.

4. Paying 10% of members' income is mandatory to obtain exaltation through exclusive cultic temple ordinances.

5. Claims of a purely unpaid clergy are misrepresented in that leadership in the upper echelons are well paid.

6. Criticism of leadership is not permitted even when it is true or constructive. (Poor babies )

[Red Ryder]

You know you’re in a cult when:

1. The founder starts having sex with members of the congregation.

2. The founder relies on revelations to hide it.

[jfro18]

...you're told that you'll be separated from your family forever for drinking a cup of coffee

...you are told that your countenance has changed when you question the teachings of the church's scriptures or leaders

[wtfluff]

...You're on first-name basis with EVERYONE else in the Cult... Because there are only two appropriate first-names: Brother or Sister.

[blazerb]

. . . you're afraid to speak up about why a worldwide flood 4000 to 6000 years ago does not make sense.

[stuck]

Everyone stands in church to sing Praise to the man--and you get this sick feeling inside because you know that this man was a convicted con man and sex predator.

[Mormorrisey]

I don't know what you doubters are talking about. I'm not in a cult. In fact, just recently, I had a lovely sit down meeting with a local accountant who is a member of the church and he just wanted to ask me a series of interesting questions.

He wanted to know my most deeply held beliefs about God. I must admit, it did veer at some into some probing questions about my sex life, sexual thoughts, my underwear habits, and what I put into my body. He also wanted to know if I obeyed with exactness my church leaders in private and in public, if I paid 10% of my income to said church leaders, and if I badmouthed them to anybody. And he wanted to know what I did every Sunday.

All this for the privilege of sitting through a crappy power point presentation that lasts waaay too long.

Oh my God. I'm in a cult.

[Red Ryder]

Holy crap....

I had the same conversation with my dentist a few years ago.

Anyone watch the LuLaRich documentary on Amazon Prime video? Those people were in a cult too.

[Spicy McHaggis]

You know it's a cult when the only ticket to heaven is punched in a temple that you have to pay a lot of money to enter.

[wtfluff]

All this for the privilege of sitting through a crappy power point presentation that lasts waaay too long.

Oh, and playing dress-up during that power-point presentation isn't culty at all !

[Hagoth]

Oh, and playing dress-up during that power-point presentation isn't culty at all !

Not since they gave you permission to keep the robe on the same shoulder for the whole session.

Question: looking back to when I used to be required to symbolically slit my own throat to demonstrate my willingness to keep secrets it really seems like I was in a cult. Now that I don't have to do that is it less of a cult?

Seems like there should be some kind of universally accepted sliding value indicator, like "my religion used to be an 8 on the cultogrametric scale. Now it's only a 6. I'm looking forward to the day it is only a 4 so I can stop wearing this tinfoil hat."

[Red Ryder]

Hagoth, take the time foil hat off my side. It’s already at 3 on the sliding scale.

No more polygamous marriages -2
No more weird temple naked initiatory -2
No more third hour -1
No more use of the nickname “Mormon” -1
No more Elder Packer -1

[alas]

Oh, and playing dress-up during that power-point presentation isn't culty at all !

Not since they gave you permission to keep the robe on the same shoulder for the whole session.

Question: looking back to when I used to be required to symbolically slit my own throat to demonstrate my willingness to keep secrets it really seems like I was in a cult. Now that I don't have to do that is it less of a cult?

Seems like there should be some kind of universally accepted sliding value indicator, like "my religion used to be an 8 on the cultogrametric scale. Now it's only a 6. I'm looking forward to the day it is only a 4 so I can stop wearing this tinfoil hat."

I think there is a sort of sliding scale, and Mormon missions were right up there about 90 out of 100, but just membership was down in the 60 to 80s depending on where you lived, your experiences and how upset you got at being told what to do. We discussed this, probably on the old NOM board several years ago, but I consider every religion on the cult scale or they simple don’t survive as a religion, so I didn’t pay very much attention. But there was a book or something that gave traits of cults and some kind of scoring chart you could apply to you own religion.