Wikipedia - Cult
In English-speaking countries since about the
1960s, especially in
North America, the term
cult has taken on a pejorative and sometimes offensive connotation. This largely originated with highly publicized cults which were widely believed to exploit their members psychologically and financially, or which were accused of group-based
persuasion and
conversion techniques.
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The literal and traditional meanings of the word
cult, which are more fully explored at the entry
Cult (religion), derive from the
Latin cultus, meaning "care" or "adoration," as "a system of religious belief or
ritual; or: the body of adherents to same."
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In formal English use, and in non-English European terms, the cognates of the English word "cult" are neutral, and refer mainly to divisions within a single faith, a case where English speakers might use the word "
sect". Hence
Roman Catholicism,
Eastern Orthodoxy and
Protestantism are
cults within Christianity. In English, it remains perfectly neutral to refer to the "cult of
Artemis at
Ephesus" and the "cult figures" that accompanied it, or to "the importance of the
Ave Maria in the cult of the
Virgin."
However, in common usage, "cult" has a very negative connotation, and is generally applied to a group in order to criticize it.
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Definition of "cult" by the anti-cult movement
Although anti-cult activists and scholars did not agree on precise criteria that new religions should meet to be considered "cults," two of the definitions formulated by anti-cult activists are:
Cults are groups that often exploit members psychologically and/or financially, typically by making members comply with leadership's demands through certain types of psychological manipulation, popularly called mind control, and through the inculcation of deep-seated anxious dependency on the group and its leaders [1]
Cult: A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control . . . designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community. [8]