# cult vs. religion vs. corporate america

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-vs-religion-vs-corporate-america/30114>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [August 21, 2000, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-vs-religion-vs-corporate-america/30114 "2000-08-21T02:18:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![esuz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/49beb7/32.png) [@esuz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/esuz)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-vs-religion-vs-corporate-america/30114/1 "2000-08-21T02:18:09Z")

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I’d been wondering about the differences between cults and religion - okay, that was answered pretty easily. Which gave me the next conundrum; how is a cult or religion any different than a ‘committed’ group of individuals, led by a charasmatic leader, working towards common goals? (the average company or corporate self-definition du jour)

What is the difference between a joining a cult and working for most corporate america?

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-vs-religion-vs-corporate-america/30114/2 "2000-08-21T02:50:07Z")

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So how long have you been working for Ross Perot?

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-vs-religion-vs-corporate-america/30114/3 "2000-08-21T02:51:29Z")

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The huge corproation I work for does espouse a “culture”, complete with their own set of moral imperatives and a dedication to the common good. Managers learn “soft skills”.  
Seems kinda religious to me. God being the stockholders as a group.  
Peace,  
mnageorge (non-believer)

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**Author:** ![dal\_timgar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@dal\_timgar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dal_timgar)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-vs-religion-vs-corporate-america/30114/4 "2000-08-21T14:17:58Z")

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as an ex-IBMer i’ll have to agree with your perspective.

the corporate culture has the hypocrisy of religion. you can’t evaluate computers without doing benchmarks but i never saw the word in any documentation. they introduced a machine that was slower then the one it replaced when i tested it with my own benchmarks. yet on 2 occasions at branch meetings the branch manager talked about what an “ethical” company IBM was. reminded me of the catholic church. LOL!

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                                             Dal Timgar
```

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**Author:** ![Mr.Zambezi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mr.Zambezi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Zambezi)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2000, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cult-vs-religion-vs-corporate-america/30114/5 "2000-08-21T14:50:51Z")

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well, members pay a cult, employees get paid by a corp. CUlt members think only their cult is correct. employees will move from corp to corp with ease. Cults want spiritual attainment. Corps want money.

True, some corps have a gung ho culture that requires complete buy-in by the employees. But for the most part, they only care what you do at work. Your religion, sexual orientation, marrital status, dress away from work, are pretty much ignored.

I don’t think anyone believes that a corp will give them eternal bliss. They just expect money (and/or power) in return for work.