There's a word getting thrown around a lot in regarding churches, ministries, an other faiths. It's a word I've seen used flippantly, jokingly, and sometimes with what I see as an appropriate level of gravity. Often it's a word spoken, and probably rightly so, by broken and hurting people. It's a word used by a commenter recent 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 thought.

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

It's used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like (insert examples... Jonestown group name and Heaven's Gatees??)  It's also used against many other Christian churches and ministries that have an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and 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 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 throw aaround unless they no for certain that a group is a cult. But what is a true cult?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives the following definition:

<span class="ssens">1    : formal religious veneration : <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worship">worship</a></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><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, by this definition, any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, 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.  And, with the exception of the third definition above that describes cult as a religion "regarded as unorhtodox or spurious", the term 'cult' doesn't necessarily have a negative connotation.

Even sociologist and psychologists tend to disagree over the use of the word "cult", given that what is generally a neutral term has become to bring to mind only pictures of poisoned Kool-Aid of Jonestown infamy or the Charles Mansen cult murders. However, most agree that there is really a continuum between what constitutes "cult" and "non-cult", which is why many have given to adding further descriptors, such as "dangerous" or "benign" to cults. Because of this, for the purposes of this article, I have gotten the majority of my information on cults from the International Cultic Studies Association.  They focus on the damaging aspects and practices that often occur in damaging cults, but they are careful not to specifically list possible cultts on their webpage, as there are many gray areas where groups may contain some aspeccts of cults, but not really be a full blown cult, or a dangerous cult

Furthermore, it can be difficult to be fully objective when determining what is "unorthodox" regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. And, who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentacostal, Charistmatic, Bretheren, Mennononite, and Episcopalian about what constituted orthodox veruses unorthodox beliefs in other denominationsI thin it is likely each denomination would find themselves stuck with that label by another one.

That being said, here is a list of characteristics found with damaging cults, according to 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 (Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups-Revised, Michael D. Langone, Ph.D)</li>
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Even with this list, 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. This is not a checklist to determine if a group is a cult for certain or not, but is merely a guideline of  characterithat cults often display. It is possible for a dangerous cult to not display all of these, and I think it is also possible for a group that is not a cult by today's current usage of the word to display some or even many of these trait.

For example, if you think about it, many of these traits could describe a sports team. In a sports team, all of the members are committed wholly to the coach. Questioning the coach can lead to being benched or removed from the team. Team members often engage in pre-game chants to grow team unity. Furthermore, the team must wear the required team uniform and any special equipment, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us versus them attitude towards any other teams they come across. Being apart of the team may also affect heir 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.

While the term cult is perhaps nebulous, or at best a cloudy term that can be misused, I do still think it a good thing to consider these spiritually and psychology damaging characteristics in the groups. Some people have a perception that only people with pre-existing psychoses join cults, really studies suggest only 5-6% of people who join cults had pre-existing psychological issues (GET REFERENCE!!!) People of all walks of life can be suspect to cults, especially since there is often misleading information about the true nature of cult activity when you first become involved. However, it is important that we are careful before immediately tossing out the "cult" label with any religious group that we disagree with or even one that has truly hurt us.

I was a part of a 5-fold Christian para-church 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 worked along side Christian churches, with a focus on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher). I knew many of the members from my previous church when I was still 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, and our involvement became deeper. As time progressed, meetings became more frequent and went into the early morning hours, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking to alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, things weree were not supposed to discuss with non-team members, and much more. Questioning of the leader was not only discouraged in public, but when you questioned him in