TBC

'But, and a big BUT, if you think they are a cult, then where do all the other religions sit?'

My understanding of a cult is an organisation that demands allegiance but prevents people from thinking for themselves. Kind of like the current gw religion where you will be expelled of funding if you question or think. Any religion that does not give people a choice to believe or not is a cult including athiesm.

You also write

'It was Murphy J who said that in recognising the right of everyone to believe in and follow a religion of their choice without state interference that required the acceptance of charlatans and carpetbaggers as an integral part of the deal, and, my God, we certainly have that, don't we runner?'

We do certainly have that. Probably the high priests of the atheist business are am among the most profitable. The likes of Al Gore, Dawkins and others who make millions out of fooling people to be comfortable with their self righteousness in the name of pseudo science.

We also have numerous others who claim to be the way to eternal life when Jesus clearly taught that all who came before Him were thieves and robbers and all who came after Him are thieves and robbers. In other words outside Him no salvation. He could not have made it clearer.

[Deleted for abuse.]

T'WAS EVER THUS

My favourite Christmas present is a little volume, Cures and Curses, by Dorothy Jacob. It's+ full of all kinds of ancient "remedies", many of which involve shocking cruelties to our fellow creatures. (As any visitor to Bangkok's biggest market will see, it's a practice that continues today, despite the wonders of vaccination.)

Owl broth was one of the endless cures for whooping cough. One of the most distressing of the ancient panaceas was Oyle of Swallows, which is mentioned "fairly often" in the professional books. Bulkley says: "Fifteen or twenty young swallows should be beaten up alive - feathers, bones and all the other necessary ingredients."

Another receipt gives as many of 300. The swallow was believed to cure the dim sight of its own young by means of a stone (the "active ingredient") in its body. If it was taken on a Wednesday in August it was claimed to cure epilepsy and blindness in humans; protect them from peril, secure the love of a desired woman; and if placed under the tongue, would induce eloquence.

Eels, in addition to their use in curing a drunken husband, were also one of the many cures for warts. See Schodin (1659): "History of Animals as they are used in Physick and Chirugery."

Quacks, alas, always will be with us, even in the age of vaccination.

Wow! Humphry B (Bear?) has gone.

Runner, you said this, "My understanding of a cult is an organisation that demands allegiance but prevents people from thinking for themselves."

At a base level, that is what all religions do when they demand a 'faith' acceptance of what they claim, so you might want to reflect on your definition of cult a little, and refine it somewhat.

The point about the High Court, the point that Humpy declined to accept, was that, like it or not, they do actually define things here in Australia.

And when it comes to 'what makes a religion a religion', at least for Australia, they did just that with Scientology, and all who come after that tripe.

This is something that Xenophon seems to not understand too, when he insists Scientology is a 'cult'.

I happen to agree with him, but neither of us can ignore the High Court, and neither can you runner.

Scientology IS a religion, and the only one to have been tested and passed.

As I said before, if you think it is a cult, then where do all the other religions sit, given the full support (bar one) of the Full Bench of the High Court?

TBC

'At a base level, that is what all religions do when they demand a 'faith' acceptance of what they claim, '

This is exactly what it takes to believe the big bang joke as well as the gw scam. I actually agree with you that all belief systems involve a degree of faith.

A person can read, study, think about and then decide whether they believe the claims of Christ or not. No one can make them believe. Faith is always the belief of what one can't see otherwise it is not faith. Christianity is more a relationship than a religous system.

Christ's claims are different from all others as He shows clearly that all humans are hopelessly lost without His sacrifice. One can only be forgiven on the basis of His work rather than our own 'goodworks'. One can't be forgiven by joining a particular organisation or going through some ritual.

My limited knowledge of other religions and secular humanisn teach that if you are good enough or do enough good works it will outweigh the bad you have done in life. That means hope is based on self righteousness rather than Christ's sinless perfect nature.

My faith in the High Court of Australia having any spiritual discernment is not very high as you would expect. Most of these men and now women practice secular humanism which has moral relativism as one of their dogmas. They are likely to come out with any perverse rulings with this kind of belief system.

The High Court reasoning his here - see Recommendation 14* at the end

http://www.cdi.gov.au/report/cdi_chap20.htm

This is blog following an article reasoning for vaccination, not an article about religion.

Vaccination being a scientifically- and medically- based process, from the development of vaccines to ongoing studies of their effects ...

.

* "That the definition of religion be based on the principles established in the Scientology case, namely:

"- belief in a supernatural Being, Thing or Principle; and

"- acceptance and observance of canons of conduct in order to give effect to that belief."