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Comment by erdii

19 days ago

To be honest: This sounds like just another of the many many other yoga/spiritual cults that currently exist all over the western world.

EDIT: typos and slight wording changes

18 comments

erdii

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yoavm  19 days ago

I believe I grew up in a cult myself, and one of the things I've concluded from that experience, and from leaving it, is that everywhere is a cult. Humans have a tendency towards cult-ish life, and if the cult is big enough we just refer to it as "society". People were as afraid (more or less) to leave the cult I was at, as people are around me now when they consider doing anything that is out of the norm.

By no mean am I trying to hint towards some conspiracy, or to say that all cults are equally bad (or good); Just to say that sometimes the word cult simply means "a less popular way of life than the one most people around me live by".

  • bityard  19 days ago

    A "cult" is a rather specific kind of organization. The typical hallmarks are non-mainstream spiritual beliefs, highly controlling and exploitative leadership, and rules against interacting with outsiders. Non-conformity generally results in outsized (sometimes violent) punishment and shame.

    Under this definition, for example, Catholic nuns are decidedly not a cult. They know what they are in for when the join, and may leave the convent any time they wish. Most Amish communities are _probably_ not cults. I am undecided about Mormons but leaning towards maybe.

    I don't know what kind of cult you grew up in (and you have my empathy if it was painful) but "society" by definition cannot be a cult.

    • dspillett  18 days ago

      I think the “[non]mainstream” just changes the word, not the concept. A cult is an organised power-based religion with few members, an organised religion is often cult with many members. Aside from scale, age, and a few superficial differences, I don't see much distinction between, for example, Catholicism and Scientology. Spiritual beliefs don't even have to come into it: some political or sociological movements and even national governments have tended towards a cultish form.

      > Under this definition, for example, Catholic nuns are decidedly not a cult.

      That might not be the case for all convents, and there are subsets of the church where the local community develops in a controlling manner that could be considered cult-like. Within any large organisation (and the Catholic Church can be thought of as a huge organisation) subsets can end up being cult-ish even if other parts, or the whole, do not.

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    • khimaros  19 days ago

      i think you just reaffirmed the parent's point. if a cult can only be "non-mainstream", i think you are just saying cults become societies once they're large/successful enough. i see plenty of examples of your other indicators in mainstream society.

      1 reply →

  • mhss  18 days ago

    My understanding is that the definition of cult requires a common object of devotion. What's that object of devotion for "society"? it's too large and diverse of a group to categorize it as such IMHO. I agree however that sometimes people will categorize anything strongly deviating from the norm as cult-ish.

quesera  19 days ago

There is absolutely nothing in their README to suggest that you are using the word "cult" properly.