The other common definition used for a “cult” is:

a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.

Now, let’s consider this definition point by point to really understand it and then we’ll look at does this apply to 1) the Mormon religion and 2) Christianity in general

 

“a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist”

1) Mormonism – It’s safe to assume that most people outside the Mormon faith believe that it is in fact false.  If they believed it to be true, they would likely be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!  Similarly, some of those not of our faith may believe that our beliefs are unorthodox because they don’t line up perfectly with what they believe. Now how about extremist?  Honestly, I think it would be hard to come up with any justification to call Mormons extremist. 

2) Christianity - There are roughly 2 billion Christians in the world, which means that ~2/3 of the world population would likely declare Christianity to be false.  Again, I suspect that many in that majority would call its beliefs unorthodox.  After all, we believe that the Son of God came down to earth, took upon Himself the sins of all mankind, was killed and then came back to life.  Therefore, to unbelievers, the very premise of our faith is unorthodox.  While I’m sure that some individual Christians could be considered extremist, I again do not think there are reasonable arguments to conclude that Christianity should be considered extremist.

 

“with members often living outside of conventional society”

1) Mormonism - This does not apply to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  There are approximately 14 million members in the world, spread in almost every nation in the world.  We’re your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.  (While there are a few very small sects that broke off from Mormonism many years ago who may live outside of conventional society, these groups are not in any way a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or “Mormons.”)

2) Christianity – Similarly, there are Christians in every nation of the world who live in normal society.

 

“under the direction of a charismatic leader”

1) Mormonism – Today, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Thomas S. Monson.  While I personally love listening to the counsel and teachings of President Monson, I would not classify him as particularly charismatic.  At nearly 85 years old, however, he certainly has a lot of energy!

Some people may suggest that while President Monson may be not incredibly charismatic, Joseph Smith was.  First-hand accounts would suggest that Joseph was indeed a talented speaker, but consider how this same argument applies to general Christianity below.

2) Christianity – There is no ‘leader’ of all Christianity on the earth today.  However, think about Jesus’ mortal ministry.  He captured the hearts of thousands in a very short period of time, enough that Christianity would eventually spread to become the leading world religion.  Charismatic?  Yes.

 

CONCLUSION

I’ll let you make your own conclusions based on the information above.  My recommendation though is to try to take a non-biased view of your own belief system.  If one is being honest, all of Christianity would have to be classified as a “cult” if Mormonism was classified as one using this definition.

 

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