When I hear comments such as ‘respect my religion’, I ask myself ‘why should I!?’
These are some of the considerations and questions I have before respect and support can be given:
Does the ‘religion’ encourage truth? Does it contribute to personal, individual, inner freedom? Does it promulgate love and compassion? Does it encompass critical self-reflection and discernment of spirit? Do all these attributes reflect dominant biographical traits and exemplified qualities of its founder?
If so, indeed I can indeed develop respect for the movement in question and, furthermore, should it also lead towards a spiritual connectedness, consider it a religion. And for this reason I highly respect Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism (and a small host of far-lesser common religions).
Popularity, however, is definitely not a criterion, and thus, and though numerous individuals within negative religious movements are themselves good (in spite of the ‘religion’ they find themselves in), there are a number of movements which I can only describe as ‘shadow-religions’ including, from this perspective, naziïsm, islam, scientology and mormonism.