Posted by Kinsman [TG] on October 24, 1999 at 20:48:19 {f8eW6hUOe2lwOejRQgL6qXkUpQVXdM}:
In Reply to: *Cult or Sect? posted by JanG on October 24, 1999 at 19:55:23:
Greetings,
Thanks for the links. It certainly seems the definitions from, Ronald Enroth's, 'Church's that Abuse', differ substantially from those used by sociologists of religion that formally study such groups as their profession.
But then that's to be expected. When targeting such groups to defame, one's motive would lend one to want to use the most negative term available; and while attempting to objectivity classify such phenomena one would attempt to adhere to more rigorous definitions.
I know many, especially the fundementalist crowd, will not like these definitions used by the professionals; because they clearly classify JW’s as a 'sect' and that just isn’t villain enough for some of our experiences. …eh?
Kind Regards – Kinsman