Someone in the Republican party being insensitive toward Islam? Not exactly a shocker. But, many in the media and elsewhere seem to be getting all riled up about this. Let’s go to the video:
The problem most people have with Ramsey is that he is in some way denigrating Islam by referring to it as merely a “cult” and not giving it the status it properly deserves as a religion with a worldwide adherence of 1.4 BILLION people. I guess you could get all upset about that. Or, you could be reminded that essentially, all religions are cults. No. Really. They are.
What is the different between a cult and a “mainstream religion?” Usually, the number of people who believe it.
Does graduating from “cult” to “mainstream religion” have anything to do with the validity of the claims of those religions? Nope. Does it have to do with anything being “proven” about a specific religion’s teachings? Nope. The difference between cults and religions has nothing to do with “truth.” Let’s think about these things for a second.
It’s pretty much just as likely that Jesus was the Son of God as it is that Allah had any contact with Mohammad. It’s just as likely that the Jews spent 40 years wandering around the desert as it is that Joseph Smith actually discovered gifts from God in the ground. It’s just as likely that Nirvana or Karma exist as… I think you get the point. All religions, from Sunni Islam, Episcopalian Christianity, and Wahhabism to Orthodox Judaism, Jainism, and Taoism are on equal ground when it comes to actual evidence. Each of them, however, believes the others to be false or incomplete. They may have millions of followers, but in terms of evidence, they are no more true than the claims of David Koresh, Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite, or L. Ron Hubbard.
In an effort to be somewhat conciliatory, they may be true; it’s just that no one can prove that they are true. Who knows? Maybe Koresh was right, and we killed Jesus. Again.
So, the next time you think your religion is right and true, or the next time you’re offended that someone has denigrated your ideas about the supernatural, realize that no one believes what you believe outside of your cult. As a matter of fact, the people who are outside of your cult probably think, in the best case scenario, that you’re wrong and misguided. In the worst case scenario, they probably want to kill you.
The only thing that separates you from being widely regarded as “in a cult” is the sheer size of your group. So, when people in mainstream religions call other beliefs about the supernatural “cults,” it’s the logical equivalent of saying, “Even though we’re equally correct in terms of evidence, more people believe what I believe, so we win.” Good luck with that. Odds are, you’re both also equally wrong.
