| 4500+ Great Links | How Does Islam Operate Like A Cult? |
| Copyright © 2006-2007 by Zack Smith. All rights reserved. IntroductionThere's a question that deserves asking but which the mainstream media, because of its pro-religion and pro-petroleum industry bias, refuses to ask. Namely, does Islam operate like a cult by common definitions of what a cult is? Could it be the largest cult in existence, or are just parts of the Islamic world cult-like?Usually when people think of a cult, they think of a small group. No one wants to believe that an oppressive, brainwashing religion could grow to a large size. But what defines a cult are its means of controlling people. And Islam shows that it does some of the same things that small cults do. Some atheists would say singling out Islam is unnecessary, because of course all religions resemble cults to some extent or another. Alas, at present I don't have the free time to examine the cult-like aspects of more religions, even though that is a worthy cause. For now, I think the analysis of whether Islam is more like a cult than other mainstream religions is especially useful because public perceptions of religions are determined in part because of the conglomerated US media, and as we know, the mainstream US media is profoundly and systematically dishonest especially regarding the primary religion of major oil-producing countries. One must ask, if we are going to be responsible members of society, shall we individuals be complicit in the media whitewashing of Islam? Would we give the same kid-glove treatment to Scientology or Catholicism? Working through various definitions of a cultWe all know that Scientology is a cult, and Jim Jones was operating a cult, and probably early Christianity was a cult as nutty as the rest. So, how about Islam? I will work through several defintions of a cult (as time allows) to assess the situation.1. American Family FoundationThe AFF defines a cult using 14 characteristics, as follows. These 14 statements are of course copyrighted by them.The group fixates on a living leader to whom members exhibit or express excessively zealous unquestioning commitment.
No. Mohammed is dead.
However there is clearly a fixation on him via the Hadiths,
which are his ways of living and thinking
that are supposed to be emulated.
The group is expansive insofar as it focuses on bringing in new members.
Yes. Islam's early history is one of military conquests
and forced conversions ("convert or die"),
and even today they are
sending out missionaries to places like South America
to convert rural, uneducated people.
The group is power-hungry insofar as it obsesses with making money.
Yes and no.
The oil-rich countries' leaders are certainly money-obsessed, and in Western countries rich Muslims are very conspicuous, although if you ask a non-Muslim where the rich Muslim's money comes from, they typically have no idea. Additionally, regarding money, the Koran specifically says in chapter 9 that non-Muslims should be taxed as a penalty for not being Muslim.
"Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished. "
Yes. Very much so, and this is very conspicuous.
"Mind-numbing techniques (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, debilitating work routines) are used to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s)."
Yes. All of these are heavily practiced by some Muslims.
Note however, there are also more secular Muslims who
don't want
religion interfering with their lives.
"The leadership dictates sometimes in great detail how members should think, act, and feel (for example: members must get permission from leaders to date, change jobs, get married; leaders may prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, how to discipline children, and so forth)."
Yes. That's what the Hadiths are all about.
Every last detail about how Mohammed lived and acted
is supposed to be emulated, in some cases on pain
of punishment.
Of course there are secular Muslims who ignore all of that,
but they're told they're bad Muslims by the "faithful".
"The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and members (for example: the leader is considered the Messiah or an avatar; the group and/or the leader has a special mission to save humanity)."
Yes. This is also true of devout Jews, of course,
but Muslims do seem to feel their status is higher
than all others and their way is the only
right way. For instance in Muslim countries,
lawyers are by definition theologians because only
holy law is considered the only valid law.
This is of course
ridiculous but you can't have totalitarianism
without breaking the will.
"The group has an us-versus-them mentality that may cause conflict between it and host societies or with the world."
Yes. It does rather seems so.
Additionally Muslims have a
collective inferiority complex as regards Jews,
despite 98% of the Koran being copied from the Torah.
This is explained extensively in the book
Why I Am Not a Muslim
by Ibn Warraq.
"The group's leader is not accountable to any authorities (as are, for example, military commanders and ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream denominations)."
Yes.
Mohammed was a child-molester and murderer,
and that's either consider OK by Muslims
or they ignore his crimes and pretend he was morally upstanding!
"The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify means that members would have considered unethical before joining the group (for example: collecting money for bogus charities)."
Yes. Seemingly so.
One means that is justified is over-procreation
i.e. having more children than one can afford as a means
of creating more Muslims.
"The leadership induces guilt feelings in members in order to control them. "
Yes. It is apparent that leaders do this.
"Members' subservience to the group causes them to cut ties with family and friends, and to give up personal goals and activities that were of interest before joining the group."
Yes. Clearly devout muslims are discouraged from
interacting with even friendly, open-minded non-Muslims.
You can see this for instance in Germany, where
Germans bend over backwards to be welcoming,
only to have Turks treat them like they were leppers.
"Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group."
Maybe. Clearly the 5 prayers a day could bring the group
together, although one can pray alone, too.
To answer this question, we need to take a poll.
"Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members."
Yes. Clearly this is a characteristic of devout Muslims,
of Hasidic Jews, of Old Order Amish, of many groups.
Conclusion? Based on this set of criteria it seems that Islam is, for some, very nearly a cult. For other more secular Muslims, Islam is only a risk factor. 2. Basic question: Does it permit independent thinking?From a University of Southern California Muslim Student Association (USC MSA) page about Islam, we learn that
"Always remember that Islam is a complete way of life
from the Creator, and that Muslims are people
who claim to follow that way of life."
Of course, they are referring to the Hadith, which define the ways of the prophet. Anyone can witness how cults typically offer this complete package, invading all aspects of life, relieving the followers of the need to think for themselves, drawing them away from different people by defining different ways of dressing and acting, and trapping them in a world where all the questions and answers are known, and the answers must never be questioned. If the USC MSA is correct, then Islam is about mind control. 3. Basic question: Does it permit freedom of speech?Much has been made in recent times of how cartoons of the prophet Mohammed are blasphemy and how Islam requires that anyone who makes or publishes them must be killed.How could such an insane punishment be required? According to Rashid, the host of an Arabic-language television program "Taking Off the Mask" [of Islam] says that in Islam you cannot criticize:
This would certainly explain why any slight against Mohammed must result in murder: And this is precisely what you also have in totalitarian dictatorships.
LinksGhoulish news stories from Muslim countries
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