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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.
In their typology, a "cult movement" is an actual complete organization, differing from a "sect" in that it is not a splinter of a bigger religion, while "audience cults" are loosely organized, and propagated through media, and "client cults" offer services (i.e. psychic readings or meditation sessions).
From the second half of the 20th century, some scholars in the social scientific study of religion have advocated referring to cults as new religious movements (NRMs) [33] hoping to avoid the often pejorative and derogatory connotations attached to the word "cult" in popular language. [34]
Brooke Walker grew up in an Arizona church community. Families, side by side, in communion with God and each other. But the church, she says, was actually a cult. Walker spent her formative years ...
Religious fanaticism (or the prefix ultra-being used with a religious term (such as ultra-Orthodox Judaism), or (especially when violence is involved) religious extremism) is a pejorative designation used to indicate uncritical zeal or obsessive enthusiasm that is related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism that could otherwise be expressed in ...
While the word religion is difficult to define, one standard model of religion used in religious studies courses defines it as [a] system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations ...
The Religion was a novel published by Tim Willocks in 2006. While not entirely set in the 21st century, Willocks' novel takes place in the historical context of the Crusades and reflects how cult-like movements and religious extremism have always been part of human history. It critiques the way religious fervor can justify violence and ...
Religion is the substance, the ground, and the depth of man's spiritual life." [83] When religion is seen in terms of sacred, divine, intensive valuing, or ultimate concern, then it is possible to understand why scientific findings and philosophical criticisms (e.g., those made by Richard Dawkins) do not necessarily disturb its adherents. [84]