Why are you classified as a cult?

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> Please, lets try to use the correct word here.  "Occult" is an
> adjective.  "Cult" is a noun.

"Occult" can also be used as a verb, e.g. "You can see there's a car
there with it's lights out because there's a car-shaped object
occulting the stars at the horizon."  Occult means to obscure the view
of something, to darken.  Hence, the use of "occult" as an adjective
describing "dark" practices.

Occult as an adjective is generally used to describe practices such as
voodoo, witchcraft, demonology, and other activities attributed
directly to devil worship.  It is not usually used to describe a
religious group as a whole.  We might say that "The Mormons are a cult,
and there is evidence they have occultic practices."

We do not say that "The Mormons are an occult."  That's akin to saying
"Pentecostals are a diverse."  It's semantically wrong and means
nothing.

> It does not help our credibiliy to misuse words.

One of my Pet Peeves (tm) that THANKFULLY I haven't seen in a while is
Pentecostals misspelling "Pentecostal" as PentAcostal.  AAAAAAGH!  The
day of PentEcost is fifty days after the passover, not five!

PENTA- is FIVE (as in PENTAgon and PENTAgram), while PENTE- is FIFTY
(as in PENTEcost as in FIFTY days after).

Richard "fan of William Safire" Masoner
richardm@cd.com