A little while ago, I had a conversation with a person who effectively said that religion itself was a root of evil, as it is used to control people and to do what is not in the interest of humanity. I countered that all 3 major western faiths teach the same thing. Then I followed that there is difference between having faith and being in a cult.
I don't see that having a religious faith is bad, especially when a person questions and tests that faith every day. One of the tenets of my faith is to treat others as I would have them treat me under the same circumstances. Given that simple code of behavior, I often fall short of my ideal. I am not perfect, so I have to accept imperfections in others. No one person has "THE" answer to life. My faith tells me that I have "AN" answer to life. I question both my answer and people who claim to have their answers every day, so that I can improve my answer. This allows me to "live and let live" as long as that other person doesn't impinge on my life.
Contrast the above with the beliefs of a cult. People blindly follow the directions of their leaders, not questioning whether those directions go against the official tenets of their belief structure. The ultra orthodox in every religion tend to use extreme rules to control people, to keep them from even forming the questions that would set them on the path to unique personal faiths. In short, this is tyranny hiding behind the label of religious freedom.
Look at the first statement in the image above: The Leader is Always Right. Do Trump's followers ever say he is wrong about anything? I haven't heard any of them say anything like this. Next, look at the lack of criticism of the leader. Isn't it amazing that GOP loyalists never question Trump's statements even when they are provable lies? What about justification? As much as I didn't like Hillary Clinton, I never could justify putting her, or any in the Democratic party in jail for opposing the GOP. I could go on and on through the list, fleshing things out. But the most important thing, as with many ultra orthodox religious followers is that they can't see themselves as part of a cult. They see themselves as possessing the only "truth". Everything else is a lie that must be stamped out.
Right now, we have an important choice to be made in November: Do we want to surrender our freedoms to a minority cult? Or, do we want to preserve our freedoms, and live according to our individual faiths? Hopefully, we will make the right choice in a few months....
