Cult is the term commonly used for a new religion devoted to a living leader and committed to a fixed set of teachings and practices. Such groups range in size from a few followers to worldwide organizations directed by a complex chain of command. Members of these groups generally consider them to be legitimate religions and rarely call them cults. Most historians of religion use the more neutral term new religious movement instead of cult. Because there is no one definition of cults, their number and membership today cannot be accurately measured.
Kinds of cults.
Traditionally, the term cult referred to any form of worship or ritual observance, or even to a group of people pursuing common goals. Many groups accepted as religions today were once classified as cults. Christianity began as a cult within Judaism and developed into an established religion. Other groups that began as cults and developed into organized churches include the Quakers, Mormons, Swedenborgians, Christian Scientists, Methodists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists. For a discussion of cults in the ancient world, see Mysteries.
During the 1960’s, new religious movements spread and flourished in the United States. Since that time, negative publicity about cults has altered the meaning of the term cult. Today, the term is applied to groups that follow a living leader who promotes new and unorthodox doctrines and practices. Some leaders demand that members live apart from everyday society in communities called communes. Leaders claim that they possess exclusive religious truth, and they command absolute obedience and allegiance from their followers. Some cults require that members contribute all their possessions to the group. None of these characteristics are unusual in the history of religions. But they tend to create suspicion among outsiders, especially those whose family members join such groups.
Modern cults.
Probably the most notorious new religious movement of the late 1900’s was the People’s Temple, a group led by the Protestant clergyman Jim Jones. Hundreds of his followers moved into a rural commune called Jonestown in the South American country of Guyana. They lived under Jones’s absolute rule. In 1978, members of the People’s Temple killed a U.S. congressman and three journalists. Jones then ordered his followers to commit suicide, resulting in the deaths of more than 900 people, including Jones. See Guyana (History).
Another controversial group was the Branch Davidians, led by the self-proclaimed prophet David Koresh. In 1993, a 51-day confrontation between the Branch Davidians and federal forces near Waco, Texas, ended with a tragic fire in the group’s compound. More than 80 Branch Davidians died, including Koresh.
Some movements regarded as cults did not begin as religious groups. A movement called Synanon was originally organized in California to rehabilitate drug addicts. It changed into a commune that won legal recognition as a religion.
Two of the largest groups regarded as cults in the United States had origins in Asia. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly called the Hare Krishna movement, was established in 1966. Its leader, the Hindu teacher A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, had come from India to the United States in 1965. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, he established many centers in the United States and other countries. Many members of ISKCON wear orange robes similar to those worn by Indian holy men.
The Unification Church, founded by the evangelist Sun Myung Moon, is an adaptation of Christianity. Its members, commonly called “Moonies,” believe in a cosmic struggle between the forces of good and evil. The Unification Church has been aggressive in seeking conversions. Like many other cults popular in the 1970’s, however, it began to adopt a more moderate tone in the 1980’s.
Less aggressive and more loosely organized cults tend to stress such personal spiritual practices as meditation. Transcendental meditation, for example, offers forms of meditation practice to participants but does not require adherence to specific religious creeds. See Transcendental meditation.
See also Divine, Father.
