Definition of cult
1: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious (see spurious 2); also : its body of adherents 

• the voodoo cult
  

• a satanic cult
  

2a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (such as a film or book) 

• criticizing how the media promotes the cult of celebrity
  

; especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad
: the object of such devotion
c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion 

• the singer's cult of fans
  

• The film has a cult following.
  

3: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents 

• the cult of Apollo
  

4: formal religious veneration : worship
5: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator 

• healthcults
  

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When I was in my early 20's I remember telling this gentlemen I worked with (who liked to talk about the Christian religious retreats he went to, and to disparage other religions) that Christianity is a cult. Back then, I still considered myself nominally Christian, but I recognized it's cult status.  Mostly, these people tend to think of deffinition number 1, and ignore the rest. He was extremely angry that I would label it this way because of the often derogatory nature of the way he tended to use the term.

It seems to me, looking at the definition, that all religions are indeed cults.
As a side note, devoted Trump voters are clearly part of a cult of personality. 

By these definitions, I would admit to being part of a few cults.  For instance, I am greatly devoted to Star Wars.  Enough that I watch youtube videos, read novels, and collect memorabilia surrounding it.  Mostly people tend to use the words fan or superfan (or fangirl or fanboy) now, but cult still works and I would not deny it if someone accused me of belonging to a cult for Star Wars. Potterhead is the same, it is just a colloquialisms for "cult of Harry Potter", and I'm probably this as well.  I'm a minor fan of other things but nothing close to cult status (sorry GoT!).

I would wager that most Christians will argue that they are not part of a cult, and that Christianity (or Islam if any of those folks care to respond), are not cults.
If this is the case, I have a few questions.

1. How do you define cult?
2. Was your religion ever a cult? For instance, would other people have perhaps defined it as such in the first 50 or 100 years after it's founding?  If so, how come it is no longer a cult?
3. For everyone, what other cults do you belong to?

Quote:cult
[kuhlt]

noun

a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.

an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers:

Religion is just a cult with more followers.

My brother has joined a cult now, although he denies that it is a cult. IIRC he says that a cult is devoted to a single person. It's called The Last Reformation. But a lot of Xtians refer to his group as a cult. It does not have established churches but tries to get back to the initial days of Xtianity when there were no religious hierarchies and structures.

He has changed as a result of joining it. I used to be able to have good conversations with him if we stayed away fro religion. Now he has become even more zealous and the only thing he thinks and talks about is religion.

I think there are now too many definitions for cult. Look at this one "great devotion to an idea" - Does charity become a cult? LGBT+ a cult? Is democracy a cult? Is human rights a cult?

Is atheism itself a cult?

I am sticking to definition 1 of what a cult is. Makes it easier.

I think that distinction between cult and religion is the size of its followers. Cults are small while religions are big. Although I take that religious people think that difference is that cults are "fake" and that cult leaders are crazy.

Now there is also the play with words - you know there is a cult and there is a "cult"; as well as there is a religion and "religion". Meaning just what Aurora wrote that some film has a cult following: it's not a cult in a real sense of a word cult, but rather what people say affectionately about some movie or singer. Just like some people like to say with religion, that they religiously follow some singer. Or like some people say that they are "dead" they don't mean dead as in clinically dead but rather tired or in trouble.

It's a bit like the distinction between a fascist and an authoritarian government. The latter has been in power for long enough that it becomes normal.

(September 13, 2018 at 4:19 am)Mathilda Wrote: My brother has joined a cult now, although he denies that it is a cult. IIRC he says that a cult is devoted to a single person. It's called The Last Reformation. But a lot of Xtians refer to his group as a cult. It does not have established churches but tries to get back to the initial days of Xtianity when there were no religious hierarchies and structures.

He has changed as a result of joining it. I used to be able to have good conversations with him if we stayed away fro religion. Now he has become even more zealous and the only thing he thinks and talks about is religion.

That's really terrible!  I'm truly sorry to hear that.  That level of brainwashing and indoctrination is scary to see in a loved one.  I hope he finds his way out, someday.

A religion is a cult with real estate.

Boru

I don't necessarily know the correct distinction to make. Many argue the distinction is simply a matter of size of following. Others suggest that the divergence from mainstream religious opinions and practices characterizes a cult. Regardless, I think that an important distinction needs to be made between a group of religious followers whose faith and devotion is invested in a doctrine or a belief, and those who are invested in the personality and utterances of a person or small group of people. Thus, the Ananda Marga religion which Little Rik follows would, while P.R. Sarkar was alive, likely have tended more toward a cult than a religion. It also allows one to make meaningful distinctions in non-religious areas as well. China's gang of four would then be considered a cult. And Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, regardless of their religious claims, would have been considered cult leaders. The question becomes somewhat tricky when it comes to the Judeo-Christian religions. Judaism is largely a belief in doctrines and a supreme God rather than a leader or person. Christianity can go either way. Christianity has a large investiture in doctrines and beliefs, yet it is also centered on the worship of their founder, Jesus Christ, and slavish adherence to his opinions. Likewise, Islam exhibits a strong doctrinal component, yet is slavishly devoted to its founder. It's a matter of judgement, I suppose, as all religions typically come from the sayings or writings of a small few or single person. I think that as long as the followers remain focused on worship and reverence and obedience toward a leader or charismatic figure, rather than devotion to the ideas expressed by that person, then they are more of a cult than less of one. It then becomes a matter of degree, rather than an all or nothing attribute.

Consider the Cult of My Morning Shit That Makes The Sun Rise.  There are, maybe..a dozen or so members of this cult (including my dog) and I have a personal relationship with each member.  When we die, it's unlikely that the cult will persist.  Most cults don't survive the passing of their founding members and/or authority figure.

Christianity, otoh, has a sophisticated global outreach program capable of drawing in members wholly unaffiliated to each other otherwise or beforehand and across generational time.

Process and perseverance. 

(it's noted that plenty of religious ideology is completely indistinguishable from a cult, that most current religions began as a cult, even - ultimately, methods of recruitment and the success of recruitment might be the only broad difference between the two)