Cultish

This is good sometimes. The episodes on ICC were good. I like the way that they can point out how high control churches use same tactics as cults but in such a subtle way that you could hardly put your finger on it. The church that I grew up in was like this. You could never have said that they shunned people for leaving. And yet…and yet when someone DID leave, suddenly no one really had time for a friendship with them anymore. It was very, very subtle but very, very real. The part I take issue with is that some of the guests speak as if their own theological understanding is “biblical” and no one else’s is. That’s kind of ironic when they’re trying to call out cultish churches.

Your episode on the Baha’i Faith has so many easily refuted inaccuracies and distortions! The guest misconstrued basic concepts and insinuated that the Baha’is have a nefarious scheme for some authoritarian global takeover, but Baha’i writings clearly uphold the integrity of all major religions and Baha’is have a long history of promoting interfaith dialogue and fellowship which is a matter of well-established public record. He flippantly calls it a sect of Islam, and scoffs that they call themselves a world religion, however the Baha’i Faith is recognized as an independent religion in over 200 countries and territories, is global in scope, and Islamic authorities overwhelmingly recognize the Baha’i Faith as a separate religion, NOT a sect of Islam. It’s the Baha’is distinct belief in a new Messenger of God that makes them a target for ongoing persecution in many Muslim majority countries. Why not use some intellectual rigor (and honesty) to research the Baha’i Faith and present it accurately, and then do your cult take-down? It also wasn’t clear what criteria your guest was using to establish a cult: was it Hassan’s BITE model? Or something else? I was very curious to hear how you would construct your argument that the Baha’i Faith as a cult, but if your “expert” can’t even get basic facts straight, the whole effort seems either intellectually lazy or willfully disingenuous.

Trent Horn and Jimmy Akin did a phenomenal job dismantling James White on Sola Scriptura and Justification. I’ve never seen White look so confused/angry as he did during Akin’s cross examination of him.

I used to really like this show but recent episodes have me questioning continuing to listen. In listening to the ICC series, I was interested in understanding their history and doctrine that don’t follow the Bible. However, it felt more like the guest was there to bash the founder of the denomination and make fun of the people more than anything else. I really think they could’ve gotten away with 2 episodes in that series than 3 (I had to stop the last episode with 20 minutes left because I felt the guest was making fun of the people in the church. If this church is a cult than those people are victims of the cult and should be treated with grace.) I think episodes and guests like this one along with other guests who have led the hosts to believe they are “experts” regarding these groups are reasons why they aren’t getting the listener support they need to continue the show. If they are going to continue, and receive support, I think they should do the following: 1) more research on the cults and the “experts” they use, and 2) actually find people who used to be in these groups/cults and interview them. Maybe that means they have “seasons” or “series” where they can deep dive these groups but it also means that they post 10 or so episodes and GET IT RIGHT then post something and have to take it down because it comes out that their “expert” isn’t such an authority on what they say they are.