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The word "cult" is derived from the Latin term cultus, which means worship. [2] In English the term cult usually carries derogatory connotations. [3] The term is variously applied to abusive or coercive groups of many categories, including gangs, organized crime, and terrorist organizations. [4]
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.
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 ...
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 following is a list of religious slurs or religious insults in the English language that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about adherents or non-believers of a given religion or irreligion, or to refer to them in a derogatory (critical or disrespectful), pejorative (disapproving or contemptuous), or insulting manner.
According to the document members of pedophilic organizations use of descriptions such as "boylove", "girllove", and "childlove" to indicate the pedophile's gender preference and have ...
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
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]