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Is the Order of Nazorean Essenes A Cult? |
Such depends upon how one uses the term "cult".
The word "cult" is not necessarily a negative term. Used authentically,
it refers to a grouping of people for some religious purpose; it can also
refer to specific ceremonial, liturgical, and prayer activities carried
out within a particular group. Vatican II, for example, refers to the "cult
of the saints," meaning the honor and devotion Christians show to Christians
who are now reigning with Christ in heaven. Used this way, "cult" carries
no pejorative connotations and we are comfortable applying it to the Order
of Nazorean Essenes.
In the last few decades, however, an
unfortunatue phenomenon has sprung up, primarily among Evangelical Protestants
who have appropriated the word and used it to categorize religious groups
with whom they disagree or fear. Nazoreans and Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses
have all become "cultists," in their eyes and their religions are branded
as "cults." In popular pop jargon "cult" implies more than just a religion
with odd tenets. It carries the implication that the group has a hidden
agenda, uses deception and mind control techniques to keep its members
in line, and may be satanic in origin and perverted in its sexual expressions.
Calling someone a "cultist" has become a handy weapon to weild against
members of minority religions. Some Fundamentalists even call the Catholic
Church a cult. The Order of Nazorean Essenes is a positive and uplifting
influence in the world, promoting compassion, kindness, and mental alertness
and personal responibility. No matter what it is called, or what derogatory
term is applied to it, Gnostic Nazirutha is a beautiful and illuminating
movement that rejects all unholy Orders and their
ways.
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