define cult?

Question

what is a cult exactly? i have heard even catholics described as such.

Answer 1

Well,
If you're asking fundamentalist Christian types, a cult is anything that isn't their idea of Christian.

If you ask a sociologist, a cult is a grop, usually somehow radical, which exercises undue control over their members, such as forbiding contact with family members who aren't part of the group, requesting large amounts of money, including signing over inheritances, and things like this. These groups exercise such control over an individual that they tend to lose their individuality, adopting standards, morals and attitudes that mirror the group, rather than the individual that they were prior to association with that group.

Many new religions may be called "cults", without exhibiting the amount of control mentioned above. In this sense, one might conclude another definition for a cult is a new or small religion.

Some groups within a particular religion might be considered a cult, such as Catholics who worship Mary.

The Catholic Church is considered a cult by some Protestants because they believe the Catholic church teaches things that are contrary to the Bible. These protestants believe that all that God wishes man to know is included in their Bible; a shortened version of the Catholic Bible. Catholics hold church tradition as important as well, and Protestants reject this.

It all depends on your perspective.

Answer 2

Cult Define

Answer 3

Define Cult

Answer 4

A cult is a group of people that hide their knoweledge from the general public. Which means yes the catholics are a cult because they are keeping a lot of information hidden from the public in their vaults. It does not mean however that they are satanic worshipers etc like a lot of christians view the pagans. Christians tend to judge before they learn. This is partly because of the conditioning that has been around since the crusades and the brainwashing the pope did to sort out the problem of ex soilders becoming mercinaries. He decided to spread rumours about pagan religions and started a holy war to get the mercinaries as far away from him as possible.

Answer 5

cult /kʌlt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kuhlt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. the object of such devotion.
4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
7. the members of such a religion or sect.
8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

By this definition either all religions are cults in one way or the other. just the small weird churches down the street. Please note that Momons do not fall under this definition as many think, unless ALL churches are cults to each other.

Answer 6

In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (sometimes a relatively small and recently founded religious movement, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. Its separate status may come about either due to its novel belief system, because of its idiosyncratic practices or because it opposes the interests of the mainstream culture. Other non-religious groups may also display cult-like characteristics.

In common usage, "cult" has a negative connotation, and is generally applied to a group by its opponents, for a variety of reasons. Understandably, most, if not all, groups that are called "cults" deny this label. Some anthropologists and sociologists studying cults have argued that no one yet has been able to define “cult” in a way that enables the term to identify only groups that have been claimed as problematic[citation needed].

The literal and traditional meanings of the word cult is derived from the Latin cultus, meaning "care" or "adoration", as "a system of religious belief or ritual; or: the body of adherents to same"32. In English, it remains neutral and a technical term within this context to refer to the "cult of Artemis at Ephesus" and the "cult figures" that accompanied it, or to "the importance of the Ave Maria in the cult of the Virgin." This usage is more fully explored in the entry Cult (religious practice).

In non-English European terms, the cognates of the English word "cult" are neutral, and refer mainly to divisions within a single faith, a case where English speakers might use the word "sect", as in "Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism are sects (or denominations) within Christianity". In French or Spanish, culte or culto simply means "worship" or "religious attendance"; thus an association cultuelle is an association whose goal is to organize religious worship and practices.

The word for "cult" in the popular English meaning is secte (French) or secta (Spanish). In German the usual word used for the English cult is Sekte, which also has other definitions. A similar case is the Russian word sekta.

Answer 7

in case you're unlikely to bypass with the ordinary definition of cult as being a "equipment of non secular ideals and practices", i might define a non secular cult not by length as there are minority religions obtainable that i does not evaluate "cult" communities (such because of the fact the Asatru and different Reconstructionist Pagans). "Cult" religions share a number of standard residences. they have a single-minded concentration on a charismatic chief, demonize "unbelievers" and often dictate the daily movements of the club. by this definition, atheists are actually not a cult, Hellenic Polythiests are actually not a cult, however the human beings's Temple interior the 1970's became a cult and the Westboro "Baptists" are a cult. it extremely is not a length concern, it extremely is a administration concern

Answer 8

Counterfeit Christianity is probably the best description I can give for a cult. Counterfeit Christianity is an imitation of real Christianity. Bible terms like "Jesus Christ, Resurrection, Salvation, and Atonement" are used by the Cult groups.
Like counterfeit money which is sometimes difficult to detect, so it is difficult to detect counterfeit Christianity, since it looks like the real thing. Experts examining counterfeit money often hold it up to a strong light and look for identifying marks. Counterfeit Christianity also has identifying marks which can be seen when held up to an even stronger light, the light of God's word, the Bible.

Answer 9

Religion.

Answer 10

its when a group of people get together to practice something they believe. cult is often a stereotype for a group of people that do strange and bizarre things though.