Help with writing a religious 'cult'

[Mari]

Most atheists aren't like that, most of us just let everyone believe in whatever they want to, and expect people to give that respect to us too. But of course the most vocal ones are the judgemental assholes, just like with christianity or islam or basically any religion or opinion really.

I do harbor some distaste towards the crusades and especially late classism for destroying a lot of culturally significant art & sites of worship though, but that's not here or there in the subject of modern faith.

[LordVincent]

I have atheist friends, atheist relatives and used to call myself atheist too so i know that. (Now i call myself agnostic with spiritual leaning)

The problem is that these kinds of atheists are very common and vocal online, and they affect youth today. I find it just as scary as the spread of racism or religious extremism. Any cultlike "us vs them and if you're not exactly like us you're better off dead" type of movement is inherently destructive, and on top of that makes the ideas they hold look really bad. The westboro baptist church makes christians look bad, militant internet atheists make atheists look bad, misandrist tumblrinas make feminists look bad... the list goes on.

Basically i will respect most political and spiritual beliefs as long as they are not destructive or extremist. I have no respect whatsoever for disrespectful, irrational and plain dangerous assholes.

[Mari]

I can understand that, and you already made your point in your previous reply, but this is completely offtopic from what I was asking about. This thread was for experiences with religious sects, and this is really derailing the conversation. It's unfortunate that you've had a bad experience with vocal atheists, but I feel like you should make your own thread if you want to discuss the future of the youth & politics.

[LordVincent]

I would consider them an online cult honestly. But if you are looking to write stories about religious cults i would suggest looking into verbal/mental abuse methods that abusers in intimate or family relationships use, because a lot of those are used in cults. My ex gf's family are part of a nearly cultlike branch of the christian faith. Her dad could be extremely verbal and shouty about things he hated, and her mum used guilting methods in combination with the religion. They also used isolation. It was a tightknit family with everyone living in the same neighbourhood; she couldn't have escaped without a good excuse and without lying because before she would have gotten far she could have been caught by a family member. Her mother kept her paperwork to herself so that she couldn't get a passport and almost wouldn't allow her to get one even when she made up a really good excuse. Mind you, this girl was in her 20s. So she was not underage. But she was treated like she wasn't an adult with her own will.

Forcing your child, relative or partner into a cult or a cultlike situation is abuse.