The anti-cultists are narrow minded and uninformed to say the least.
You see a lot of this here. It is mostly a cover for irrational hatred. Most religions organized in a way that they expected their members to take their beliefs seriously. The warp & woof of the social fabric consists of an endless variety of -isms all of which are adhered to with a devotion not un-like cults. Identifying cults is about as scientific as identifying RACE. And the purpose of both is to provide an instrument for marginalizing their targets. The recent banning of the Salvation Army by the Russian government because they are a "paramilitary" organization is an example of how low the "haters" will go.
Read Max Webers "The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit Of Capitalism". The main thesis is that the dominant force of our world - CAPITALISM was given birth and nurtured in the emergence of protestantism. Protestantism was the "new" religion of its day. At this point in time 500 years has obscured our view of the innovativeness of protestantism.
Max Weber describes CapitalISM as eventually squeezing out the last drops of humanness from the social order and placing us all in an iron cage he describes as follows:
"Specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart, this nullity imagines that it has attained a level of civilization never before achieved."
Eventually the rationalization would engulf everyone in a pervasive "disenchantment" with the life that characterizes "modernization". Weber felt that perhaps some "cult" may emerge such as "protestantism" that would redefine the vision of what it means to be human.
The subcultures created by youthful religous communities are perfect laboratories within which to experiment with new forms of social organization. Members of such groups are open to this kind of experimentation for two reasons: First, they are frequently adverse to at least some features of modern society. Second, they are often inclined to accept the insights of their religion's leadership as being on par with- and sometimes more legitimate than the norms of the surrounding social order. New religions promote an environment within which alternative ideals and social arrangements can be practiced. Once these ideas have been established they have the potential for breaking free and influencing the larger society.
This is exactly how evolution was possible. Isolate a population -usually by geological events. In isolation the population forms new characteristics. When the barrier drops this "new" organism competes and sometimes finds that its' new characteristics are over powering.
Those who would like to stop the activities of cults may be doing great damage to the world in which their children and their descendents live. Social-diversity is every bit as important as bio-diversity.