What's in a cult?

One of the things I find amusing is reading Fundamentalist Christians declaring that "The Catholic Church is a CULT!" or that Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses are cults. IN my opinion, this is nothing more than the pot calling the kettle black.

Let's look at the definition of the word, first of all:

From Dictionary.com
1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. the object of such devotion.
4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
7. the members of such a religion or sect.
8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

So let's look at this in more detail.

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

Now this first definition can apply to pretty much any religious system, and doesn't really distinguish between religion and the modern use of the word, "cult".

2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.

This is sort of closer to how people use the word, but it must be stressed that "great veneration" should be "excessive veneration" to approach how modern people use the word "cult". For example, admiring Elvis is one thing, but worshipping him as a religious object is excessive.

3. the object of such devotion.

Still not close to how we use it.

4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.

Like the first definition, above, this canb apply to any religion.

5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

See #1 and #4.

6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.

Now this is how most modern people use the word "cult". We're talking about groups that aren't just religious, but which are extreme, and where members live outside of conventional society, often times under someone else's direction. We are all aware of the cults whose members sell all of their possessions, and move away to be with other members of the faith, in an extremely controlled environment where everyone watches everyone else.

Incidentally, there are plenty examples of this among evangelical fundamentalist Christians. Whether it's the Boston Church Of Christ, the Brotherhood, or some of the more extreme Christian Summer camps, plenty of Evangelical Christians belong to groups that are described by definition #6.

When looking at the Catholic church, only certain aspects of the priesthood, convents, and monestaries full of monks fit #6 -- rarely do you see lay-Catholics living unconventional lives under the direction of religious leaders.

7. the members of such a religion or sect.

No comment needed.

8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

This doesn't really apply, either, as it's seldom used.

So anyway, I've narrowed down how I, and most other people tend to use the word "cult". Interestingly, enough, unorthodox or extreme religions, once practiced by enough people, and accepted by the majority, tend to no longer be called cults. If the majority of Americans were to converted to a cult, and Catholics, Evangelicals, Baptists, and other common sects were a minority, the Cult would technically no longer be a cult, and non-cult members would then be the extremists, since the behaviors formally seen as extreme are now common place.

I would only say this to Evangelicals -- be careful of using the word "Cult" and be specific in how you define it. You need to chose your words and their definitions carefully, otherwise, you will easily include yourself in the definition.