being a part of a cult

now whether or not you believe

that Mormons belong to a cult, when you tell them that they do it kind of comes

across as a four-letter word and it

makes it seem like you're just ruling off their beliefs without wanting to discuss what

they are or anything like that so

Mormons don't believe that they're part of a cult, and here's why. And I took some

notes to make sure that

I get everything down.

If you compile all of the dictionary definitions together about what a

cult is, it has

has these particular

elements in common and they are, and I'll list these:

Relatively small group,

excessive devotion to a person or idea,

unethical techniques,

controlled by threats and isolation,

powerful group pressures, fear of consequences for leaving,

abnormal dependency on the group,

and strange beliefs. So let's look at all of these different elements that are

part of the definition of being in a cult and see how

Mormons fit into them.

The first one: Relatively small group.

Mormons actually have fourteen million members in a hundred and thirty two

countries

and in America there are more mormons and there are Presbyterians

or even than there are Jews, so it's definitely not a relatively small group.

Chances are you probably know a Mormon whether you know it or not.

Okay, the next one is excessive devotion

to a person or idea.

Well, Mormons are very devoted and pride themselves on being devoted to the

Savior

and they want to follow Him and His teachings, so in that way, they are

very devoted to a being,

but in a way that they feel,

or that we feel, would be acceptable to Him, so

I guess you could weigh that one either way depending on how you look at it.

The next is unethical techniques.

I can't think of a single one. I've been a part of this church for a long time and

and there just aren't unethical techniques because if you follow the

Savior, then

it rules out doing anything unethical. You should be ethical. Now,

people in the church of course aren't perfect but we definitely strive for

ethics, so I don't think that one qualifies.

Uh, the next one is control by threats

and by isolation, and this is another one where there just isn't any evidence.

In fact, Mormons are taught to love everybody and to not isolate people.

Uh... if anybody feels isolated by Mormons, then those Mormons are making

mistakes and they don't understand

what the LDS Church is about in that regard, so we are taught to love

everybody. So if people are actually following Mormon doctrine,

then they won't use any kind of control

by threats or by isolation.

The next is powerful group pressures.

Um, I guess if you consider charity, love, and kindness to be and kindness to be

powerful group pressures

then...

maybe they qualify, but I don't think that's what these dictionary definitions

are referring to.

The next is fear of

consequences for leaving, and this is an interesting one because

other than the eternal consequences that would follow

uh... somebody who leaves the church,

when that person is leaving the church, they don't believe in those eternal

consequences anyway so it means nothing to them, and that's really the only

consequence that happens when somebody leaves the LDS Church is that their names are

removed

from the record books of the church, and

that's it. We are still taught to love people who leave the Church.

We may not agree with everything that they do or say, but we're not supposed isolate them.

We should love them and

there really shouldn't be any fear of consequence for leaving,

other than the eternal ones which

that person wouldn't believe in anyway, so tah dah!

The next one is abnormal dependency

on the group, and

the LDS Church actually teaches the opposite. Self-reliance and independence

are very important in LDS Church teachings

which is why education

and emergency preparedness and avoiding addiction and staying out of debt are common

subjects that are discussed

through the LDS Church and our leaders.

And then the final one is strange beliefs.

Uh... I guess we're busted there. We do believe in the Book of Mormon, we

believe in angels, but we also believe that Moses parted the Red Sea and that

Christ walked on water and all of the miracles that happened in the New Testament

times so

maybe were not the only one ones on this Earth with strange beliefs. And

finally, when you think of a member of a cult, you probably don't think of somebody who is

down to earth

and can function in normal society with no issues,

and this is how Mormons tend to live their lives.

A lot of people I know, and the most down-to-earth people I know are members

of the LDS Church.

And, I mean, c'mon, if you think about the Mormons you know, do they really seem

like somebody who would

mindlessly follow a leader

off a cliff into

boiling hot lava? No.