You're not wrong but I would argue that "normal" religions like Evangelical Christianity are every bit as fucked up as JWs or Scientology, if not moreso.
Most evangelical Christians support the idea of eternal, conscious torment for unbelievers. When I was a Christian I internalized this belief to the point I had a bit of a mental breakdown. I'd argue though that I actually was the totally sane one. I just bothered to spend more than a few seconds dwelling on what eternal torment actually implied. Personally I believe that teaching kids that unbelievers are tormented forever in a lake of fire to be child abuse. At least the JWs believe in annihilation of unbelievers and reject eternal torment, for one.
I'm also speaking from the perspective of a US American and I get that our religions here are not in the same situation as those in other countries.
Edit: ah, I see you're talking more about organizational structures than beliefs.
To a Finnish person whose experience of religion has been the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, American Evangelical Christianity is anything but normal
You're not wrong but I would argue that "normal" religions like Evangelical Christianity are every bit as fucked up as JWs or Scientology, if not moreso.
Most evangelical Christians support the idea of eternal, conscious torment for unbelievers. When I was a Christian I internalized this belief to the point I had a bit of a mental breakdown. I'd argue though that I actually was the totally sane one. I just bothered to spend more than a few seconds dwelling on what eternal torment actually implied. Personally I believe that teaching kids that unbelievers are tormented forever in a lake of fire to be child abuse. At least the JWs believe in annihilation of unbelievers and reject eternal torment, for one.
I'm also speaking from the perspective of a US American and I get that our religions here are not in the same situation as those in other countries.
Edit: ah, I see you're talking more about organizational structures than beliefs.
To a Finnish person whose experience of religion has been the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, American Evangelical Christianity is anything but normal