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[–] 126 points 3 years ago (22 children)

I worked as a pastor and professor for a global, evangelical television ministry/college. They knowingly conceal scholarship on the Bible and punish their pastors for asking any questions that undermine their most closely held traditions (including anti-evolution, mental illness is supernatural, etc.). They tell their US viewers that they can't call themselves Christians if they don't vote Republican, while still enjoying tax-exempt status. They use pseudohistorians to inspire Christian Nationalism over their network, and are one of the largest propaganda networks for the Religious Right. A U.S. Capitol police commander told me his men were fighting people who were wearing the network's brand.

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  • [–] 15 points 3 years ago (11 children)

    Sounds like you escaped a violent theocratic cult.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (9 children)

    No, cults are small religions, this is a big religion

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (8 children)

    I feel like there are minimum two definitions of cult, that being a high controll group like say jones town and to a lesser but still damaging extent seventh day adventists for example and just a smaller religious grouping.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago* (7 children)

    This place would 100% meet the BITE standard of cult classification.

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  • [–] -2 points 3 years ago (5 children)

    The BITE classification was invented in order to justify hatred of small religions, by taking a word that already had a meaning (cult) and attaching a second, pejorative meaning to it. It's like if I write a fantasy novel with a species of evil creatures called jews. Jew is already a word, and it's a horrific act of religious persecution to take a pre-existing word for marginalised religions and spin it into an unrelated negative.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    Yes, because controlling a group's behavior, information access, thoughts, and emotions is completely acceptable. Autonomy be damned.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    I didn't justify the abusive behaviours described by the BITE model. In fact I was very clear that I disliked those behaviours, and their association with an important religious term. You should work on your reading comprehension so you can stop seeing enemies everywhere.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (2 children)

    I apologize for misunderstanding. Can you provide a source or reasoning why you think the BITE classification itself was intended to make "cult" a bad word?

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    Mental illness is supernatural? What does that mean?

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