Ken, I think you're quite right on your points, and I'll elaborate a bit more, probably offending someone in the process While the founders of cults and certain false religions were either delusional or knowing frauds, the followers are generally ignorant people who are victims. I have a best friend who's a devout Mormon, and when I questioned him about the false prophesies and lying testimonies of his religious founder, Joseph Smith, he wasn't even aware of such history. I also had a recent discussion with some JW's at the door who wouldn't even concede that Charles Russel was the founder of their religion, yet alone defend the numerous false prophesies of their Watchtower Society. The Mormons and JW's have gotten two things right that lead to their worldwide success. First, they both provide exceptionally tight family and community relationships - something we all need and seek. Second, as you explain, they're both aggressive with their evangelizing requirements for members. I've gotta give them credit for their passion, even if it is misguided. It's too bad that such passion and commitment is not equally demonstrated by most Christians. I believe that a majority of religious people are surprisingly ignorant of their faith. The followers of cults and false religions need to be I suppose in order to believe and accept their church's false teachings. But the ignorance or rejection of basic doctrines, Bible scriptures, and innate moral values by Christians and Catholics is pathetic. If the 70+% of Americans professing to be Christians accepted their faith seriously (like the Mormons and JW's do), our country would return to what the founding fathers created for us - a nation based upon Christian principles. That would entail electing public officials that acknowledged God and supported Christian morality as the two most important foundations of our country. Such demonstration of faith would inevitably eliminate the liberal agenda of secularism and immorality being forced upon us now in the name of political correctness and cultural diversity. Yes, if Christians would live their faith even half seriously, the country would not be in its present state of moral decline and cultural problems. I'm afraid that the ignorance and inaction of passive Christians and the downward trend of this country will only continue. As long as we teach each new generation the theory of evolution and the principle of separation of church and state, our country will never function as it was designed to do. Without the foundations of Christianity, no republic can stand.
Although many atheists will disagree, I think there is an innate compulsion to believe in something, which is perhaps why so many atheists are such fervent nonbelievers, in effect making a religion of their disbelief. With a compulsion or at least an inclination, to believe in something, those who are unhappy with whatever they grew up with tend to make up their own religions, whether formally or in their own minds. It doesn't help that the vast majority of people who identify as Christians have never read the Bible through even once, and many have read only a small portion of the New Testament. While they may - or may not - attend church, those who attend church couldn't tell you what the sermon was about a half-hour after the services were over, and I have often found that to be true of myself. Plus, the demand for entertainment and the emphasis on fellowship has led to 10-15 minute sermons being the norm in most churches, so even if you were paying attention, it doesn't take the place of actually reading the Bible. The result, for those who are raised by parents who identify as Christians, is that they don't really have a basis upon which to base their belief system. This is why, perhaps, a large percentage of Christians don't believe that Satan is real or that there is an actual hell. Can you come by that intellectually, using the Scriptures as your basis? Perhaps, but most people don't. Rather, they don't believe that Satan is real because they've seen all the movies and it didn't seem real to them, and they don't believe in hell because no one wants to believe that their loved ones, who have passed away in nonbelief, are in hell. This is why, at every funeral, regardless of the nature of the deceased's soul, people tell one another that he or she is in a better place. A prominent member of a church that I was once a member of quit believing in hell after her son died without accepting Christ. She would walk out of the sanctuary if the preacher began preaching about hell, so he quit preaching about hell. I don't think Satan really cares if you believe in hell. An easy way to deal with the problem of hell is to make it go away. As long as you don't believe in hell, no one can go there. People have done that with other issues, as well. A prominent television evangelist, who once preached against homosexuality, decided that homosexuality was acceptable to God after his son came out as gay. Reinventing god is even easier when you don't have a baseline to start with, but it can still be done.
I think that it is what in in a person’s heart that is important to God; rather than what church they go to , or the doctrine they believe in. I was a Mormon for many years of my adult life, and I know that I still loved Jesus and tried my best to follow His teachings just as much then , as I do now. When I was young, I went to the SDA christian School up until 5th grade, and the people that I knew from there were truly doing their best to follow the Bible, as they understood it. I have not been a JW, but we have had some over the years who come to visit, and I believe that thy have commitment to God as they understand him. So, when we get to heaven, I really don’t think that God is going to look at things like whether we ate pork and shrimp, what we wore to church, or even what day we went. I think that God wants us to be committed to Him, regardless of where we go to church (or do not go to church). I also don’t think that we are supposed to be the judge of other people. If someone we are related to, or is a friend, I do not think it is my place to disown or hate that person, and usually preaching to someone about how wrong they are doesn’t help either (just like telling them that they are going to hell doesn’t bring someone closer to Christ). I think that what we should do is be praying for those people, not condemning them.
I expect and hope that God will make allowances for honest mistakes, and I have no doubt that heaven isn't going to be populated only by people of the one denomination or sect that got it all right. My sense is that we will be held to how willing we were to adhere to our true understanding of God's Word. But ignoring something that is in God's Word before you disagree with it is not an honest understanding. Yet I doubt that the idea will be that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe it sincerely because we are told that Jesus is the only path to heaven, and we are admonished to study to show ourselves approved, and to rightly divide the Word of God. If it didn't matter what we believe as long as we believe it sincerely, the Bible would be unnecessary. At the same time, most of the things that separate the denominations are probably not salvational. As for who gets into heaven and who doesn't, that won't be for me to decide. I do look at some of the things that people believe and have a hard time considering them Christian, but I don't think I'll get to vote.