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Cult is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "A relatively small group of people having (esp. religious) beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister, or as exercising excessive control over members."
Derives from Wolof for 'wu ñuul' (meaning 'who is black'). [76] Chuslim India: Muslims The portmanteau of the words 'Chus' and 'Muslim,' derived from 'chus' or 'chusna' (meaning 'to suck' in Hindi/Urdu), often used in internet forums and social media to mock or insult Indian Muslims. [77] Jihadi India: Muslims, especially fundamentalist Jihadists
Cult following, a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific work of culture; Cargo cult, a religious practice ritually mimicking another culture, popular in Melanesia in the late 1900s; Cult of personality, when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and at times, worshipful image
Critics and former cult members, too, could help give you a reality check. For religious cults, "seek out a seminary-trained theologian who you can discuss what the teachings are."
The application of the labels "cults" or "sects" to (for example) religious movements in government documents usually signifies the popular and negative use of the term "cult" in English and a functionally similar use of words translated as "sect" in several European languages.
The term "cult" first appeared in English in 1617, derived from the French culte, meaning "worship" which in turn originated from the Latin word cultus meaning "care, cultivation, worship". The meaning "devotion to a person or thing" is from 1829. Starting about 1920, "cult" acquired an additional six or more positive and negative definitions.
accept less extensive involvement from members than do sects, but more involvement than churches; often draw disproportionately from the middle and upper classes of society; Most of the major Christian bodies formed post-reformation are denominations by this definition (e.g., Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Seventh-day Adventists). [29]
In his book The Road to Total Freedom, the English sociologist Roy Wallis [8] describes that a sect is characterized by "epistemological authoritarianism": meaning it has an authoritative source for determining heresy. According to Wallis, sects claim to have unique and privileged access to truth or salvation, and their followers often view ...