Inspired by recent events here on jwd
What makes a cult a cult and whose definition matters most?
From a google search:
Definitions of cult on the Web:
- adherents of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and practices
- fad: an interest followed with exaggerated zeal; "he always follows the latest fads"; "it was all the rage that season"
- a system of religious beliefs and rituals; "devoted to the cultus of the Blessed Virgin"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn- In religion and sociology, a cult is a group of people (often a new religious movement) devoted to beliefs and goals which may be contradictory to those held by the majority of society. Its marginal status may come about either due to its novel belief system or due to idiosyncratic practices that cause the surrounding culture to regard it as far outside the mainstream.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult- In traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings ("scriptures"), its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. Cult is literally the "care" owed to the god and the shrine. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_(religion)- A religious group that follows a particular theological system. In the context of Christianity, and in particular, CARM, it is a group that uses the Bible but distorts the doctrines that affect salvation sufficiently to cause salvation to be unattainable. A few examples of cults are Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Christadelphians, Unity, Religious Science, The Way International, and the Moonies. (See also Cults)
www.carm.org/dictionary/dic_c-d.htm- (cult) (kult) a system of treating disease based on some special and unscientific theory of disease causation.
www.merckmedicus.com/pp/us/hcp/thcp_dorlands_content.jsp- Veneration ( or honoring ) of a saint expressed in public acts, local or universal, and formally approved by the Pope.
www.ichrusa.com/saintsalive/glossary.htm- A religious group which denies the essential doctrines of Christianity. The term is usually reserved for groups founded after 1750.
www.dtl.org/trinity/misc/glossary.htm- A following of people.
www.britishcouncil.org/ukinfocus-music-glossary.htm- (noun) often attributive [French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate -- more at WHEEL]; First appeared 1617 1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP 2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents 3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents 4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health ~s> 5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object ...
www.contecult.com/glossary.htm