Originally published May 2015 and republished this week by Zen Gardner.
Zen Gardner – It’s funny how people get all self righteous about not being religious or belonging to some group and condemn anyone who they think is or has been. Naturally most people attempt to be careful about what they align themselves with, but do we really see what all of society is made up of and what we’ve each unwittingly participated in to varying degrees?
Religions don’t have a corner on the market. Perhaps all of us have been cult-ivated in some way.
Cult-ure is called just that for a reason. It’s pretty blatant nomenclature. Merriam-Webster defines culture as the following:
– the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time
– a particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.
– a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in a place or organization (such as a business)
That just about includes every societal behavior or activity. So-called cults, the word derived from the Latin colere meaning to cultivate, are mere start-ups of new and old ideas of group conformity for some objective. In the 60’s these were everywhere as groups and individuals attempted to harvest the spiritual awakening and longings of an entire generation looking for alternatives to the mad military industrial complex-bound world around them. Some were labeled cults by the orthodox minded, but these included a wide range of groups, organizations, alternative learning centers, spiritual fellowships, institutes, break away churches or other so-called “new religious movements” as they preferred to be called.
Continue reading →