Quote:
Originally Posted by OneToughHerring
But, the new smaller religions and sects, they have to aggressively grow in order to survive. They need new 'paying members' like any club. But unlike a club you can leave these clubs usually take you for life and the majority of their functions is based on a kind of brainwashing-thing etc. making it very difficult to leave, more difficult then say, book of the month - club.
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Nevertheless it can be just as hard to leave an older, "established" tradition than a newer and smaller one. The social and familial pressure is often even greater because the religious practices and beliefs are far more likely to be intertwined with one's existing everyday life and experience, with one's closest and dearest relationships, and with how a person has always self-identified (and been identified by those closest to them) as an individual.
The difference to me is not how old or "mainstream" a spiritual tradition is, it's the amount of personal autonomy the practitioners are required to relinquish in order to be fully "acceptable" to those who are in authority within it and, just as important, the means by which those authorities obtain the support and compliance of their followers.