Zoroastrianism is a religion based on the teachings of Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) and was  probably founded around the 10th Century BC.  It was once the state religion of Persia.  Followers believe that “people’s good works are seen as gradually transforming the world towards its heavenly ideal” and that if one’s “good thoughts, words and deeds outweigh the bad, then the soul is taken into Heaven.”  If your neighbor told you he was a Zoroastrian, would you think he was a member of a cult?

Calvinist Christianity, based on writings John Calvin published in 1536, “teaches that fallen people are morally and spiritually unable to follow God” or escape his condemnation.  This tenet of Calvinism is referred to as Total Depravity: “The heart, emotions, will, mind, and body are all affected by sin.  We are completely sinful.  We are not as sinful as we could be, but we are completely affected by sin.”  If your neighbor told you she was a Calvinist, would you think she was a member of a cult?

Mormons (or Latter Day Saints) trace their origins to Western New York in the 1820’s.  The LDS website claims “The Lord has laid a mandate upon the people of this Church that they should learn by study and by faith, that they should seek not only after spiritual knowledge, which is most important, but that they should seek after secular knowledge.”  They also believe the United States Constitution was divinely inspired.  If your favorite Republican presidential candidate told you he was a Mormon, would you think he was a member of a cult?

Christopher Hitchens, the acerbic author, journalist and atheist, now living with cancer, argues that “free expression and scientific discovery should replace religion as a means of teaching ethics and defining human civilization,” and says of the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, that “he wanted not to be Jesus of Nazareth but … to be the Mohammed of North America.”  If your neighbor told you he was Christopher Hitchens, would you think he was a member of a cult?  Or would you invite him to dinner?