Quote:
Originally Posted by Pokerlogist
From common sense and reading what experts have to say. Doesn't it make sense that if the leaders of a supposed religion do not sincerely believe their own proclamations that it is likely to be a pseudoreligion?
With the slight nit-pick that "pseudoreligion" might not be the best word, in the spirit of the thread, I'd certainly agree that if a religion's leaders don't believe their own message, it's all the more reason to reject it as "crazy."
However, "journalistic reports" haven't established that the leaders of either Mormonism or Scientology didn't believe their own messages. A number of early leaders the LDS church (I think the number is 11) went to their graves attesting to seeing and/or handling the mythical golden plates of Mormonism, despite having long ago been excommunicated from the group--they not only had nothing to gain by continuing their claims, but seemed to have a motive to discredit the group, yet didn't. Likewise, Hubbard seemed to be obsessed with cleansing himself of harmful engrams, ordering an engineer on his staff to build a super-duper engram-killing machine because he was extra infected. He certainly seemed to believe what he was peddling.
Quote:
Pseudoreligions have similar characteristics to cults that distinguish them from real religions. They tend to be insincere, dangerous to members , exploitative, secretive, and closed.
"Real" religions like Christianity and Islam have many of the same characteristics. The difference is which characteristics, and to what degree, but that isn't very helpful, as outsiders of the faiths will assess them differently than insiders. Non-Christians would likely say Christianity exhibits most of the traits you list, while I'm sure you would say it exhibits zero, and likewise for Muslims, etc.
What struck me was your second criteria--charity. That seems awfully no-true-Scotsman-y. It seems convenient to pick a characteristic of your favored religion and make that a requirement. Is a belief system that doesn't have a component of charity a pseudoreligion?