Cult

Parts of this article (those related to Entire article needs updating, with attention paid to sources) need to be updated. The reason given is: Some of these sources are over 50 years old, and academic thinking in this area has changed profoundly even in the past twenty-five years. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2024)

Cult is a lay term for a group perceived as requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered deviant outside the norms of society. Such groups are typically perceived as being led by a charismatic leader who tightly controls its members. It is in some contexts a pejorative term, also used for new religious movements and other social groups which are defined by their unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or their common interest in a particular person, object, or goal. This sense of the term is weakly defined – having divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia – and has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study.

Beginning in the 1930s, new religious movements perceived as cults became an object of sociological study within the context of the study of religious behavior. Since the 1940s, the Christian countercult movement has opposed some sects and new religious movements, labeling them "cults" because of their unorthodox beliefs. Since the 1970s, the secular anti-cult movement has opposed certain groups and, as a reaction to acts of violence, frequently charged those cults with practicing brainwashing. The term is largely viewed as pejorative by academics, who instead use the term "new religious movement", which is viewed as a euphemism by the anti-cult movement. Groups labelled "cults" are found around the world and range in size from local groups with a few members to international organizations with millions.