Every year in the run up to 31st October, christian priests will appear in newspapers & on TV railing against the dangers of the occult. Yet according to dictionaries, this term simply means 'hidden knowledge', or refers to supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena, or things beyond human understanding, and things only available to an initiate.

Well, I contend that Islam & Christianity fall within the realms of the Occult. Should we really allow children to get involved with this sort of thing?

A person already with a feeble mind, this kind of crap can be dangerous, it can affect their already fragile minds.
Next thing you know, they are trying seances, witchcraft and that sort of stuff because they think it's cool. The next step up could be a child victim who is murdered like the Bulger case.
Not that any religion is much better to a gullible mind like a child's. In that, I agree with RD, it's child abuse.

Hmm. Not sure there was any occult involvement in the Bulger killing.

No. on reflection, that was just pure delusional evil. And that perpetrator is in trouble again with the rumor mill saying it's drugs and porn.
A cold blooded killer cannot be rehabilitated, that's a fact. I wish the do-gooders would realize that.

The term "occult" is imprecise - as is "cult."

In its early stages, Christianity was deemed an occult (and a cult) by the mainstream religions.

You could now say that the big mainstream religions are actually cults who practice the occult - who have simply expanded beyond their small original confines. In my opinion, in an expanded cult which goes mainstream, the tight control is decentralized into the smallest group.

i agree with rohm, religion is an outdated mainstream cult that hopefully will one day get the disdain that any small cult of crazies (e.g waco/guyana suicidals) gets these days.

its acceptable becuase its mainstream, like alchohol and tobacco.
a small cult known to the media is like methadrone or wotever its called, its onlly killed a couple of people but it will be looked down upon as dangerous and needs outlawing. whereas alchohol and tobbacco (christianity/muslims) are widespread and good tax money for the government, despite killing 1000's every year but its allowed and accepted because its mainstream.

chairman bill wrote:Should we really allow children to get involved with this sort of thing?

Absolutely not. After all, we've seen what happens to them when they get involved in the Roman Catholic Church (sex abuse), Islam (bomb belts, killing people for scratching a few lines on a piece of paper) and the Westboro Baptist Church (hate, hate, hate... oh, and also hate).

Aren't all religions ''cults''?

angelo wrote:Aren't all religions ''cults''?

Agree.

The high level of undue psychological influence and control by a religious leader (i.e, the trademark element of a small cult) may be demonstrated in the rigid dogma of the organization as a whole - or in the smallest unit - the parish, church, bible cell group, informal social groupings/friendships, cliques, etc.

chairman bill wrote:Every year in the run up to 31st October, christian priests will appear in newspapers & on TV railing against the dangers of the occult. Yet according to dictionaries, this term simply means 'hidden knowledge', or refers to supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena, or things beyond human understanding, and things only available to an initiate.

Well, I contend that Islam & Christianity fall within the realms of the Occult. Should we really allow children to get involved with this sort of thing?

I have always considered religion to be the same as the Occult.

Occult is just a label used to slander rival types of spiritualism, although specifically, the study of hidden knowledge (from the Latin occultus, apparently). Like fortune telling, or use of a ouija board, tho' these don't seem to hidden. (Why the Prince of Lies, Darkness, and Gridlock in a morning troubles himself with a 19th century children's game, I'm none too sure.) It's motivated, I suspect, because occultists bypass the intermediary of organized religion. It's about control, and safeguarding a monopoly of access to spirituality.

The occult arts, like witchcraft, spiritualism, and paganism which is still around today as is Zoroastrianism. are all placed in the one basket. I would add all the worlds religions in this basket as well.

angelo wrote:The occult arts, like witchcraft, spiritualism, and paganism which is still around today as is Zoroastrianism. are all placed in the one basket. I would add all the worlds religions in this basket as well.

Agree.

All religions and spiritual practices are occultish arts.

Mainstream religions are simply occultish arts gone global.

Rohm wrote:All religions and spiritual practices are occultish arts.

In one sense, yeah, as all promise the believer special knowledge. But in a narrower sense, "occult" is bypassing religion and going to the source. It's why orthodox Christianity persecuted the bejesus out of gnosticism: belief in God is fine, but belief in the church is essential.

Byron wrote:

Rohm wrote:All religions and spiritual practices are occultish arts.

In one sense, yeah, as all promise the believer special knowledge. But in a narrower sense, "occult" is bypassing religion and going to the source. It's why orthodox Christianity persecuted the bejesus out of gnosticism: belief in God is fine, but belief in the church is essential.

And what's the difference? The christ myth started as an occult belief.

When I was a kid my mom always used to warn us about "the occult" and all of our toys and kid TV shows were of the devil and all sorts of nasties. I couldn't participate in Halloween or watch any shows that she deemed inappropriate because they used magic or her definition of occult. She would listen to Pat Robertson, Jack Chick, William Schneobolen, Dave Hunt and other crazy writers. She was a big fan of "Turmoil in the Toy Box" and other such nonsense.

Ironically enough now that I am an adult, I have become more interested in the things that she would deem occultic than I ever have been. It's like when you are told not to do something it makes it more enticing. Now I have dragon statues and other "occultic" symbolism all over my house, I play role playing games like World of Darkness and Dungeons and Dragons, and am back to being infatuated with Ghostbusters and other things that she deemed "occultic" when I was a kid.

Much like the Christians who are sheltered all of their lives and wind up being more rebellious and crazy than Secular/Non believers when they move out on their own. It just goes to show that moderation can go such a long way in people's childhood and into their adult lives. Balance is not a Christian's friend. It's always one of the extremes.