The information posted here is a reformulation of exactly the type of material at Christian apologetics sites.
I don’t read Christian apologetics sites per se, but I have read some cult-related materials published by Christian organizations, and the models they produce are quite different.
Instead of focusing on behavior, their explanations are theological. Their model seems to be rather: “These people worship a wrong god, or worship the right god in a wrong way, and that causes the abusive behavior. To avoid abuse, stay within our officially approved religious organizations.” Even the economical cults are shoehorned into this model, by saying they “worship money” and then explaining why that is a sin.
Sometimes, however, those Christian organizations also quote a behavioral explanation. But if that quote is followed by their own words, they usually put it in the proper context: that all that behavior is a consequence of choosing a wrong theology.
tl;dr—it’s not me quoting them, it’s both of us quoting the same sources; their model is actually different
I don’t read Christian apologetics sites per se, but I have read some cult-related materials published by Christian organizations, and the models they produce are quite different.
Instead of focusing on behavior, their explanations are theological. Their model seems to be rather: “These people worship a wrong god, or worship the right god in a wrong way, and that causes the abusive behavior. To avoid abuse, stay within our officially approved religious organizations.” Even the economical cults are shoehorned into this model, by saying they “worship money” and then explaining why that is a sin.
Sometimes, however, those Christian organizations also quote a behavioral explanation. But if that quote is followed by their own words, they usually put it in the proper context: that all that behavior is a consequence of choosing a wrong theology.
tl;dr—it’s not me quoting them, it’s both of us quoting the same sources; their model is actually different