Is the Church of Religious Science a Cult?
Date: August 17, 2006 06:30AM
I am only persisting in this argument so that you can lighten up and not worry about your friend so much.
Presbyterians, people who belong to kite flying clubs, Amway salesmen, people who are fanatical about Star Trek, etc. ad nauseum-- ALL invite non members to social functions (ie. picnics) in order to maybe attract new members--this is not necessarily a menacing thing. Go to the picnic, have fun--and be sure to grill everyone you meet there about the "science" that they claim to believe.
That entertainment alone would be worth attendance.
You obviously do not need to believe in the unproven--but, your friend, in this point of her life, might.
The worst outcome I ever saw anyone experience in going to the church (myself included) was the feeling of disillusionment when realized it wasn't the end all of belief systems. So what? I personally believe that some strong doses of disillusionment never hurt anyone.
I reiterate--the RS church is not a cult. This is not my opinion, this is fact based on their not meeting the criteria for being a cult.
ANYTHING has the potential for being harmful.
Believing that driving to work is a safe and effective way to get to work does not make driving safe, nor always effective. But, I'm sure you've never considered questioning that, right? I'd say that this assumption people make is generally MUCH more harmful than assumptions that lead people to become a religious scientist--and I am thinking that you are not making great arguments about fallacious assumptions about car safety on vehicle discussion boards?
I do agree with you on one point--The RS church is not truly science-based in that it doesn't conduct scientific studies. The name is a misnomer.
Science is science and religion will never be science. But, for that matter, science will never be religion and history has proven through the millenia that humans want religion.
Bottom line--there are MANY dangerous religions that your friend could have gotten caught up in--and RS is really not one of them. Be happy that she will never tell you that you are going to hell, never say that there is only one right way to look at things. She may, however, try to tell you to lighten up--and that maybe more good things might happen to you if you did :) No guarantees, of course... :wink: