Identifying Religious Cults

As my previous columns may have shown, defining a cult is no simple task. Even removing the literal definition, which includes any group of people on some level, the religious definition is ambiguous at best. Oh, it may be effortless for extremists of any given religion, of course—the cults are the ones who have similar beliefs with a few variations, perhaps minor ceremonial ones or fundamental doctrinary differences—but for thinking people, it’s not usually that simple.

So I’ve bypassed ‘dogma’ altogether in this, my super-brief, handy-dandy guide to identifying a religious cult. Instead, I have taken a rather broad (and hopefully not too egotistical) look at religion as a whole, and found the most frequent twists they offer from the mainstream.

A. Lack of Responsibility. Every valid religion I’m aware of teaches some variation of the ‘Golden Rule.’ Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it; karma; ‘Do unto others;’ whatever name it’s given, the point is the same: personal responsibility on an ethical level. Any group or religion which doesn’t promote this concept, or which exists to show you a way to be a jerk and not pay any consequences, is probably a cult (and probably led by the master of said jerks).

B. Lack of Accountability. Granted, this is ambiguous, and every religion starts somewhere—but it’s incontestable that the dangerous cults are small and contained. As far as religious groups go, there is safety in numbers. Not necessarily validity, but safety. If the local leader answers to a higher leader who answers to a board, there’s a much better chance the religion has some merit than if it’s just the New Messiah, his seven underage wives, and you—and a much lower risk of the story ending in castration and ritual suicide.

C. Excessive concentration on one area of life. It’s no coincidence that this is usually money and goods—as in yours, going to them for the purpose of (fill in the blank) because it’s Godly, right, clever, and/or urgent. Tithes, offerings, love gifts, and so on are fine, but watch for manipulative or oppressive activities used by the group to obtain them. A religion or belief system is valuable for guiding the will, not overriding it.

D. Failure to deliver the needed/promised power. Perhaps I’m a bit opinionated, so I leave this one for you to interpret; it’s my main problem with the religions I’ve encountered to date.

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