Schismatics

Schismatics are members of the Church who have become corrupt and are now operating as a hollow institution, maintaining the rituals and power of the Church but without its genuine holiness. Schismatics are dangerous to the Church because they undermine one of its primary sources of power - its standing among the common people. 
Schismatics is just a term and most Schismatics will probably not self-identify with it. Nonetheless, individuals or groups who lose their way are by definition Schismatics.
== Notable Schismatics: ==
-Cathars = The Charism Heresy of late medieval Europe is a definitive example of Schismatics in a political sense. The Cathars, breaking away from the Church and refusing to pay taxes, were branded heretics and schismatics and an entire crusade was launched against them. 
-
== Problems With The Term: ==
One of the biggest problems with the use of the term Schismatic is two-fold: whose to say who is and who is not a legitimate member of the Church, and isn't the entire Church often 'Schismatic?' The Church is frequently corrupt or misguided, why else would so many of religion's heroes be reformers? In that sense, calling one unit of the Church a 'Schismatic' is often misleading and politically charged. 
Category:Church