The word cult is derived from the Latin term cultus, which means ‘worship’.[1] In modern English the term cult is generally a pejorative, carrying derogatory connotations.[2] The term is variously applied to abusive or coercive groups of many categories, including gangs, organized crime, and terrorist organizations.[3]

Sociological classifications of religious movements may identify a cult as a social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices,[5] although this is often unclear.[6][7] Other researchers present a less-organized picture of cults, saying that they arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices.[8]

In its pejorative sense, the term is often used for new religious movements and other social groups defined by their unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals,[11] or their group belief in a particular person, object, or goal. This sense of the term is weakly defined, having divergent definitions both in popular culture and in academia, where it has been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study.[12][13] According to Susannah Crockford, “[t]he word ‘cult’ is a shapeshifter, semantically morphing with the intentions of whoever uses it. As an analytical term, it resists rigorous definition.” She argues that the least subjective definition of cult refers to a religion or religion-like group “self-consciously building a new form of society”, but that the rest of society rejects as unacceptable.[14]

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The term cult has been criticized as lacking “scholarly rigour”; Benjamin E. Zeller stated “[l]abelling any group with which one disagrees and considers deviant as a cult may be a common occurrence, but it is not scholarship”.[15] Religious scholar Catherine Wessinger argued the term was dehumanizing of the people within the group, as well as their children; following the Waco siege, it was argued by some scholars that the defining of the Branch Davidians as a cult by the media, government and former members is a significant factor as to what led to the deaths.[16] However, it has also been viewed as empowering for ex-members of groups who have had traumatic experiences.[15] The term was noted to carry “considerable cultural legitimacy”.[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult#Definition_and_usage