There's a word getting thrown around a lot regarding churches, ministries, and other faiths. It's a word I've seen used flippantly, jokingly, and occasionally with what I feel is a more appropriate level of gravity. Often it's a word spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It's a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, Slap on a Little Lipstick, You'll Be Fine. If I am being completely honest, it's a word I've used, sometimes quickly in anger and pain, and also after great prayer and consideration.

That's right, I am talking about the 'C' word: Cult.

Cult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven's Gate.  It's also been used to decry Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occured at a secular or religious organization).

Given that it carries such a negative connotation, it is probably not a word one should use unless they know for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?

Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary gives the following definition:

<span class="ssens">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>
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<div class="snum" style="float: left">2</div>
<div class="scnt" style="margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px"><span class="ssens">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>
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<div class="snum" style="float: left">3</div>
<div class="scnt" style="margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px"><span class="ssens">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>
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<div class="snum" style="float: left">4</div>
<div class="scnt" style="margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px"><span class="ssens">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class="vi">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>
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<div class="snum" style="float: left">5</div>
<div class="scnt" style="margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px"><span class="ssens"><span class="sn">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>
<div class="scnt" style="margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px"><span class="ssens"><span class="sn">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>
<div class="scnt" style="margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px"><span class="ssens"><span class="sn">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>
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Going by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That's right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn't stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following could be called a cult, like the cult of Mac or my cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult as being a religion "regarded as unorthodox or spurious", the word "cult" shouldn't necessarily carry a negative connotation.

Furthermore, it can be difficult to find someone fully objective to determine what is "unorthodox" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled "unorthodox" (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.

Even sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word "cult," since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre or the Charles Manson murders. Most agree that there is a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes "cult" and "non-cult," which is why many have given to using further descriptors to describe cults, such as "dangerous" or "benign."

This is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href="http://www.icsahome.com/">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges up front the difficulty in using the word "cult", and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is a list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:
<ol>
	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>
	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>
	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>
	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>
	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>
	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>
	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>
	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>
	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class="SpellE" style="text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>
	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>
	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>
	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>
	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>
	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>
	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>
</ol>
It should be noted that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to mark off, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think it is important to be careful before immediately labeling a group a "cult", given the current negative connotation that it immediately brings  to peoples' minds. It is possible that a group that everyone would agree is not truly a cult could in some ways display many of these traits.

A sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in pre-game chants to increase team unity and a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress exactly the same, wearing the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals, due to long practice sessions and traveling for games. They will have little to no time to pursue other activities and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn't fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.

The term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, and it is important that we are careful before immediately tossig out the "cult" label with any religious group that we disgree with or even on that has truly hurt us. However, damaging groups even under the "Christian flag" do exist, and it is a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups you may join or those you may already have joined. There is a common misperception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, while studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!). It is easy to have the "I'm to smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult" mentality, but people of all walks of life can be susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved.

I was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry for almost 8 years. For those of you unfamiliar with those terms, that essentially means it was a Christian ministry that was not a church, but rather it worked alongside Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew of the ministry through respected friends and aquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was still in college.

Shortly after college, my husband and I "joined the team", which means our involvement became deeper and more committed. As time progressed, the ministry's meetings (both public meetings and private "team only" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  "heart issue" and "issues with authority." Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.

The "heart issue" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team or were kicked off the team, or if the leadership found out that team members were associating with people that did not agree 100% with the ministry, the team was were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn't saying we couldn't associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing "optional" extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.

Eventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership's confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a "come to Jesus meeting" where my heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other supposed issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn't toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or at the very least, highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because 'God was moving', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat.

In the end, despite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and what the ministry and leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was said to be "out of God's will", and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified Christ, and I did not believe that was what God wanted for me.

In the end, while I prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. On his request and advice, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband's decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team.

Despite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain from how things were handled, both during our time at the minstry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months I easily decried this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many of you may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. However, let me encourage you not to be too hasty. While I do not believe the old adage that time heals all wounds, I do believe it affords some perspective.

Despite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God's will. Granted, having good intentions doesn't mean that you will not hurt people or do incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God's will.  At this ministry, I do think they end up doing more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn't at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide.

With this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue is with an authoritarian leadership structure that does not allow for questioning of church leadership authority, which can easily lead to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical. So what then? Are they all wrong and in a cult, or are they simply misunderstanding or twisting scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture grounds for pulling out the "cult" label?

At a recent family gathering, my brother-in-law asked me whether I thought the ministry we had left was a cult. I answered him that I thought it straddled the line between spiritual abuse and cult, and that I really wasn't sure. Perhaps this is a topic for another day, but spiritual abuse is another label I've heard pop up in Christian ministries, usually by ministry leaders upset with "victim mentality." Just like in domestic abuse and sexual abuse situations, there seems to be a lot of "blaming the victim"  going on in the Church.

Regardless, while I certainly won't recommend this ministry to anyone, friend or foe, at this point I also won't publically denounce them as a definitive "cult". I will pray for them, in hopes that they will see the damage they are doing and change, or at the very least, that God will protect those they think they are helping.

What do you think constitutes a "cult"? Are there particular characteristics you think necessarily categorize something as a cult, or is it too subjective? Do we use the term too freely or not enough? And what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people, cult or not?