Episode #359

[Reverend Kel]

WTN:  It's so regular, it made me think that maybe it's a mechanical heart, perhaps the first Jarvik heart?

[Trinoc]

Could we agree that religions all fall somewhere on the cult spectrum?

if they do, then even our own families when we were growing up fitting "on the spectrum" ...at what point does it cease to be a useful word because the spectrum has made the category too broad?

Traditional belief system with a large number of followers = religion. Recently devised belief system or a small number of followers = cult. Both pernicious, but religions have better access to funding for politicians and blocks of voters than most cults.

[GodSlayer]

Traditional belief system with a large number of followers = religion.

like capitalism?

[seaotter]

At the risk of pissing Steve or others off as this topic has been discussed before, but how are these Hasidic communities not considered cults? They seem to cut people off from the outside world. They use intimidation, withholding education and shunning to keep members in line. Could we agree that religions all fall somewhere on the cult spectrum?

Did they say they weren't a cult? Clearly this branch of judaism has gone down the cult rabbit hole.

[MikeHz]

Of course old people smell odd. Everyone knows that. What I want to know is, do clowns smell funny?

[txhoudini]

At the risk of pissing Steve or others off as this topic has been discussed before, but how are these Hasidic communities not considered cults? They seem to cut people off from the outside world. They use intimidation, withholding education and shunning to keep members in line. Could we agree that religions all fall somewhere on the cult spectrum?

Growing up in a Reform Jewish house we absolutely viewed many of the various Hasidic groups as cults. They are so insular that their beliefs and 'laws' bear little to no resemblance to the basics of Judaism.

[arthwollipot]

What a fascinating interview that was.

[seaotter]

No kidding

[Shadow Of A Doubt]

Steve did seem to imply that our brains may have pressure on them to increase in size due to increased need to process data.

I think that falls into an easy and obvious trap. Brains would only increase in size if there were a reproductive or survival benefit to that bigger brain.

But imagine a world where, on average, people of higher intelligence choose to have fewer offspring and people with lesser intelligence tend to have more. That should lead to decreasing intelligence over time, assuming there's a genetic factor to intelligence.

I think it's a bit out there to postulate that that explains a gradual decrease in brain size over the past 20-000 years.

WRT the retaining juvenile features through self-domestication theory - wouldn't that require a reduction in the average size of the male brain only?

What a fascinating interview that was.

Indeed it was.

[Moloch]

At the risk of pissing Steve or others off as this topic has been discussed before, but how are these Hasidic communities not considered cults? They seem to cut people off from the outside world. They use intimidation, withholding education and shunning to keep members in line. Could we agree that religions all fall somewhere on the cult spectrum?

Did they say they weren't a cult? Clearly this branch of judaism has gone down the cult rabbit hole.

Yeah, I don't think many people are denying that a community like that is extremely cult like.

I think it was an amazing interview, truly great.

[seaotter]

I think it's number 253 where the email question asks novella about the difference between cult and main stream religion. As I recall it's basically characteristics of control, like separating members from family and friends.

[seaotter]

http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm

[GodSlayer]

I think it's number 253 where the email question asks novella about the difference between cult and main stream religion. As I recall it's basically characteristics of control, like separating members from family and friends.

which, when you are in a cult and have children and raise your children in a cult, becomes a little problematic... how many generations before cult become culture?

[seaotter]

I think it's number 253 where the email question asks novella about the difference between cult and main stream religion. As I recall it's basically characteristics of control, like separating members from family and friends.

which, when you are in a cult and have children and raise your children in a cult, becomes a little problematic... how many generations before cult become culture?

I think the rule is that you have to found a country colony state....

[Thorloar]

Could we agree that religions all fall somewhere on the cult spectrum?

if they do, then even our own families when we were growing up fitting "on the spectrum" ...at what point does it cease to be a useful word because the spectrum has made the category too broad?

I don't see how a family would be on a cult spectrum if it is a healthy family but what I'm referring to is the major monotheistic religions themselves, they all, in their foundational books lay out rules that are intended to keep members from questioning and punish and punish severely descent(execution, shunning, stoning, mutilation). I know some people will say not all sects enforce those laws but if another group say of white men, who dislike minorities and have a written doctrine that "all jews, n**ers and s**cks must hang." Wouldn't we still call them a Hate Group even if they didn't act on those written doctrine?