“First off, I’ve been in a cult. The theology would line up for the most part with that of the hosts. I’ve checked the website, the episode titles, but I can’t find where they explain their qualifications for speaking on cults or what their definition of a cult is. Judging from their subtitle they are basing it on the popular Christian book The Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin which does not define cults by their practice (as every expert authority on cults does), but by their beliefs and some extreme practices. Yeah, that’s what I learned growing up in Fundamentalism too. I ended up in a Fundamentalist cult.
They interview Jinger Duggar Vuolo who, yes, left the Gothard cult (no, it wasn’t “cult-like” but they wimp out on actually calling it a cult because of the foundational theological similarities), but she is in a cult NOW - John MacArthur’s “church.” ANY church can be a cult - because it’s not about your soteriology or eschatology; it’s about practice. Also, where is an episode interviewing Steven Hassan, a leading cult expert today? I haven’t listened to every episode, but I’ve heard enough and there are so many red flags simply in the episode titles, terminology, guests, etc. You can be in an evangelical cult and happily listen to this podcast without having your thinking challenged.”
Finding Normal via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
03/14/24