Religion or Cult - is there any difference?

[I]f you pound people hard enough with certainty when they're feeling vulnerable under the pressures of life; if you offer them instant family when their lives are poor in friendship; if you offer them a message which makes meaning of life, when their lives are confused and problematical; if you offer them a special task - to spread the group's gospel when their work is dull or meaningless, or they can find no work to do; if you offer them clear leadership when they can find no-one to admire or believe in or follow in their world or church; if you offer all this, together with intoxicating, mind numbing worship - then you're offering a powerful package which many people will buy.

The passage above, spoken on air only yesterday, is a comprehensive exposition of the mind-wrecking aspects of religion. But this wasn't some so-called New Atheist ranting against the evils of faith, this was The Rt Rev. Tom Butler, whom you can hear delivering his Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4 here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/realmedia/thought/t20081118.ram

You can read the whole thing for yourself here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/thought/documents/t20081118.shtml