From: Craig Presson (fcp@Traveller.COM)
Date: Sun Apr 26 1998 - 03:23:58 MDT
On 25 Apr 1998, "Erik Moeller" <flagg@oberberg-online.de> wrote:
> Natasha:
>
> >>You see, just that Extropy is a cult
>
> >Frankly, Eric, I find your use of cult in describing extropy rather
> >annoying.
>
>
> This is obvious. Most Scientologists would probably also be annoyed
> when Scientology was called a cult by others.
>
> IAN: [current usage of "cult"]
> Let's clear the definitions first.
> [Dictionary definitions]
Erik,
I go on alert whenever anyone quotes a dictionary in this kind of
context. Dictionaries are always behind -- they cannot capture all
usages and they cannot be kept current. Words have connotations, and
those connotations can not be ignored when convenient.
Like it or not, "cult" is now a pejorative. If you don't want anyone
to hear a pejorative tone, you will have to choose another word.
If you meant to characterize extropianism as a secular religion, you
could just say that. Perhaps for some people, extro-trans-humanism is
a low-fat religious substitute (Religion Lite(tm)).
This belongs in the FAQ if it's not there already, it's a hardy
perennial. My take is that non-religious people use a lot of memes to
fill the niches vacated by traditional religion, and there's nothing
wrong with it, especially if they see it for what it is. There is of
course a trap to fall into, of bringing over blind faith, misplaced
zealotry, and other baggage from religious conditioning.
-- fcp@traveller.com (Freeman Craig Presson)
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