Do Religious Cults and "Secret Societies" Exist in SL?

[Maryanne Solo]

On 6/12/2022 at 12:24 AM, Nalates Urriah said:

@LottaSinclair What kind of religion would you start in SL?

The Divine order of Chocolateism.

[Sammy Huntsman]

1 hour ago, Akane Nacht said:

I don't aspire to be a "know everything person", but you'd get some debate on this definition, again, depending on where you are and who you ask. ☺️ Personally I think of belief systems as "one river, many boats", the one river may or may not be God, but it's certainly the journey we all must take. Hence plural and singular at the same time, if that makes sense.

In short, you'll find as many definitions as there are humans!

I feel my boat drifting way off topic ~~~

I mean I am atheist, so I don't believe any god exists. So you may be taking that journey. But I know I won't. When I die, thats it. That is the end of me. I won't be going to an afterlife. And I am very comfortable with knowing that.

[Gabriele Graves]

To answer the OP, "Yes" and "Perhaps" because if we knew of them then they wouldn't be secret anymore.

I hope that clears everything up for you

[Istelathis]

For me, the term cult is a pretty loose word.  I've seen people who proclaim another group of people is part of a cult, whereas others call those people proclaiming others belonging to a cult, as to belonging to a cult. Seeing how loosely the term is used, and how just about everything can be considered a cult, then sure - SL is filled with cults, and many of the cultists actively try to recruit members to their ranks.

 

I suppose it all comes down to how we define what a cult is though, and for me, when I try to do so I see far too many similarities with a variety of groups to make that call.  For me, a cult simply is not as popular with the majority, and therefore, SL is in of itself, a cult. 

 

Welcome to the Cult, y'all!

 

[Love Zhaoying]

I've unfollowed this thread and won't be responding to any posts in it. Too much hassle and drama! 
*Edit* Clarification: I won't be reading any additional posts in the thread, also. Plenty of other topics in the forum!

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Love Zhaoying

[Akane Nacht]

1 hour ago, Sammy Huntsman said:

I mean I am atheist, so I don't believe any god exists. So you may be taking that journey. But I know I won't. When I die, thats it. That is the end of me. I won't be going to an afterlife. And I am very comfortable with knowing that.

I was referring to the journey of life 🙂

[Garnet Psaltery]

11 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

It all is really.. The book has been tampered with so much and so much lost in translation and words meaning different things over different times than they do now.. So many different people interpret it in their own way..

I'm sorry, I didn't want to carry this on, but this is something that is so often said but is not true.  The writings were faithfully copied over millennia; just read about the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Interpretation is certainly a matter for argument but going back to the source is the best approach.  Too many people simply do not look for themselves.

[Garnet Psaltery]

8 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

There's no sense in debating spiritual beliefs on a forum like this, but in case anyone is interested in comparing ancient Middle Eastern texts, the Epic of Gilgamesh is a good place to start. Translations are pretty easy to read and show some significant similarities to the Old Testament myths. Here are a couple examples from only one website. 

On Eden: https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/places/main-articles/eden

On Gilgamesh and the Bible: https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/places/related-articles/gilgamesh-and-the-bible

There are also strong correlations between the Sumerian myth of the Anunnaki and that of the Watcher Angels in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. My take on these similarities is that the writers of the Hebrew Bible used and reinterpreted older myths they were familiar with to suit their own religious beliefs and customs. I absolutely do not subscribe to the belief that the Anunnaki were aliens. I think they were merely an older pantheon that got absorbed by the myths of later migrations of people into the Tigris-Euphrates valley. 

Oh dear, again I'm replying.  I'll try to cut this short, and say similarity does not mean equivalence, and there are very significant differences.  Of course, ancient writers would use pictures that people of the time would understand, but these don't provide the bedrock of the story they are writing.  Forgive the strange metaphorical use of the the words 'pictures' and 'bedrock'.  

[Ceka Cianci]

21 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

I'm sorry, I didn't want to carry this on, but this is something that is so often said but is not true.  The writings were faithfully copied over millennia; just read about the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Interpretation is certainly a matter for argument but going back to the source is the best approach.  Too many people simply do not look for themselves.

Ok

 

 

[Drake1 Nightfire]

3 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

I'm sorry, I didn't want to carry this on, but this is something that is so often said but is not true.  The writings were faithfully copied over millennia; just read about the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Interpretation is certainly a matter for argument but going back to the source is the best approach.  Too many people simply do not look for themselves.

The writings were written by men hundreds of years after the events they wrote about. They wrote them to control the masses of sheep. Look at the wording, the phrases used, the outright lies.

"Thou shalt not kill." Unless we decide there is a group of people who dont follow our teachings that must be eradicated or converted by the sword.

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods" but they better give us a fair share of those goods or they will be left behind when the second coming happens.

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife" but we can covet his young son. 

"Thou shalt have no other Gods but me!" Because the other religions are wrong and even though they are thousands of years older we know we are right and they must be converted in any way or killed as blasphemers. 

"Thou shalt keep the Sabbath Day holy!" Do no work aside from worshipping and tithing. We need that money to goldify the churches and line our pockets. 

"Thou shalt honor father and mother!" Because they will indoctrinate you into the faith, and we need that money.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor!" unless we tell you to because they have a mind and are using it to challenge the good books teachings. In which case shout to the rafters that you saw them doing witchcraft. We need that money!

"Thou shalt not steal!" we dont want you stealing our money. 

"Thou shalt not commit adultery!" If we cant do it, no one can. 

"Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain!" Common sense, dont crap on our money maker. 

[Silent Mistwalker]

38 minutes ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

The writings were written by men hundreds of years after the events they wrote about. They wrote them to control the masses of sheep. Look at the wording, the phrases used, the outright lies.

"Thou shalt not kill." Unless we decide there is a group of people who dont follow our teachings that must be eradicated or converted by the sword.

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods" but they better give us a fair share of those goods or they will be left behind when the second coming happens.

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife" but we can covet his young son. 

"Thou shalt have no other Gods but me!" Because the other religions are wrong and even though they are thousands of years older we know we are right and they must be converted in any way or killed as blasphemers. 

"Thou shalt keep the Sabbath Day holy!" Do no work aside from worshipping and tithing. We need that money to goldify the churches and line our pockets. 

"Thou shalt honor father and mother!" Because they will indoctrinate you into the faith, and we need that money.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor!" unless we tell you to because they have a mind and are using it to challenge the good books teachings. In which case shout to the rafters that you saw them doing witchcraft. We need that money!

"Thou shalt not steal!" we dont want you stealing our money. 

"Thou shalt not commit adultery!" If we cant do it, no one can. 

"Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain!" Common sense, dont crap on our money maker. 

As I recall that was the second set of tablets. Which makes one wonder just what was on the first set of tablets. 

And why was the "Golden Rule" never one of the commandments? Who forgot to include it?

IF there is a god, he's one sick twisted bastard.

[Ceka Cianci]

It's my fault and I'm sorry for  going there at all now..

I should have picked different subject matter for my post and should have  known not to touch Christianity, unless i was ready to really get back into discussing Christianity..

I should have kept it short and sweet rather than lazily grazing over my own personal experiences.

 

Hopefully things get back on track..

I apologize to everyone in the thread for the  derailing of it..

If the mods do anything, hopefully it's just removing the ruckus I've created.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Ceka Cianci

[Silent Mistwalker]

10 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

It's my fault and I'm sorry for  going there at all now..

I should have picked different subject matter for my post and should have  known not to touch Christianity, unless i was ready to really get back into discussing Christianity..

I should have kept it short and sweet rather than lazily grazing over my own personal experiences.

 

Hopefully things get back on track..

I apologize to everyone in the thread for the  derailing of it..

If the mods do anything, hopefully it's just removing the ruckus I've created.

 

 

 

 

You have no control over other people's actions or reactions. 🤗

[Ceka Cianci]

1 minute ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

You have no control over other people's actions or reactions. 🤗

Other than getting holy water all over everyone in the room.. hehehehehe

[Orwar]

2 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

And why was the "Golden Rule" never one of the commandments? Who forgot to include it?

   The 'Golden Rule' is not of Abrahamic origin - the Egyptians recorded a version of it some 3,600 years ago, predating the earliest scriptures of the old testament by some four centuries. It is included, albeit worded differently, in the Torah; "Thy shall love thou neighbour as thy love thyself". (Leviticus 19:18), not as a commandment, but as Yahweh's spoken instructions to Moses. The sentiment is also present in several other religions, such as Hinduism, Hellenic philosophy, and Zoroastrianism.

Just now, Ceka Cianci said:

Other than getting holy water all over everyone in the room.. hehehehehe

   .. .. Wet T-shirt contest? 

[Garnet Psaltery]

16 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

It's my fault and I'm sorry for  going there at all now..

I should have picked different subject matter for my post and should have  known not to touch Christianity, unless i was ready to really get back into discussing Christianity..

I should have kept it short and sweet rather than lazily grazing over my own personal experiences.

 

Hopefully things get back on track..

I apologize to everyone in the thread for the  derailing of it..

If the mods do anything, hopefully it's just removing the ruckus I've created.

You were civil.  There isn't a Hug emoticon or I'd have used it.  

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 hour ago, Orwar said:

   The 'Golden Rule' is not of Abrahamic origin - the Egyptians recorded a version of it some 3,600 years ago, predating the earliest scriptures of the old testament by some four centuries. It is included, albeit worded differently, in the Torah; "Thy shall love thou neighbour as thy love thyself". (Leviticus 19:18), not as a commandment, but as Yahweh's spoken instructions to Moses. The sentiment is also present in several other religions, such as Hinduism, Hellenic philosophy, and Zoroastrianism.

 

Dude...

I cued laughter not lecture. 😋

[Orwar]

31 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

I cued laughter not lecture. 😋

   Fair do's.

   How does Moses prepare his tea?

   Hebrews it!

[Persephone Emerald]

11 hours ago, Akane Nacht said:

I was referring to the journey of life 🙂

The difference is that Sammy thinks the river is leading to a waterfall off the edge of the world. 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Persephone Emerald

[Marianne McCann]

The only inworld cult I ascribe to is the cult of Mt. G'al. 

You can learn more at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mahulu/111/109/139

[HSHPrincessofCarlisne]

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all your replies; I appreciate your discussion and some welcome elaboration on certain points. 

Yes, I would say the main idea behind this thread was to get a feel for the topic at hand, discuss and establish the nature of cults and "secret societies" in SL; how they exist, why they exist and if they exist at all, what they (may) look like and how they may operate. We also discussed what are considered cults, why they are considered cults and the definitions of a cult. Naturally there is some overlap between these, and there have been some good examples provided of "cults" in SL, to the point where most of us can say to some of these examples, "that's definitely a cult, wow." or "that's pretty darn cultish" without too much disagreement. I mentioned religious cults in particular because I felt like that was the most familiar, relevant and common example of cults. But political cults and roleplay cults are also relevant, as are cult-like elements of the social realm in SL and other groups, to a lesser extent.

I alluded to the permissibility of certain groups and activities in SL and the history, the nature and extent of the tolerance of controversial groups and communities because I felt that gave some idea of the above and sets a framework for the nature of cults, "cultish" activities, groups considered to have cult-like elements and other similar things in SL; the nature of the environment in which they exist can say some things about how and why these groups or communities exist, and I believe discussing why things are that way and how it came to be also in turn helps to explain why these groups exist, and how they exist. 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by LottaSinclair

[Akane Nacht]

9 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

a waterfall off the edge of the world. 

flat earther spotted! 😜

[Drake1 Nightfire]

1 hour ago, LottaSinclair said:

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all your replies; I appreciate your discussion and some welcome elaboration on certain points. 

Yes, I would say the main idea behind this thread was to get a feel for the topic at hand, discuss and establish the nature of cults and "secret societies" in SL; how they exist, why they exist and if they exist at all, what they (may) look like and how they may operate. We also discussed what are considered cults, why they are considered cults and the definitions of a cult. Naturally there is some overlap between these, and there have been some good examples provided of "cults" in SL, to the point where most of us can say to some of these examples, "that's definitely a cult, wow." or "that's pretty darn cultish" without too much disagreement. I mentioned religious cults in particular because I felt like that was the most familiar, relevant and common example of cults. But political cults and roleplay cults are also relevant, as are cult-like elements of the social realm in SL and other groups, to a lesser extent.

I alluded to the permissibility of certain groups and activities in SL and the history, the nature and extent of the tolerance of controversial groups and communities because I felt that gave some idea of the above and sets a framework for the nature of cults, "cultish" activities, groups considered to have cult-like elements and other similar things in SL; the nature of the environment in which they exist can say some things about how and why these groups or communities exist, and I believe discussing why things are that way and how it came to be also in turn helps to explain why these groups exist, and how they exist. 

/me squints... 

[Krystina Ferraris]

2 hours ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

/me squints... 

Autumn session at this stage 😃

[Krystina Ferraris]

There’s only one acceptable cult…

Cthulhu 👾

… ok,

and Herbalife 🤣