# Cult or Sect?

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Posted by Kinsman [TG] on October 24, 1999 at 14:20:29 {f8eW6hUOe2J8G5e9xHp6qXkUpQVXdM}:

Cult or Sect? …What are they? …What is the difference?

There is an ongoing but still inconclusive effort by sociologists of religion to define "cult" in an analytically rigorous way, and particularly to clarify how it differs from "sect." While scholars debate alternative conceptions of both, …sensationalized media accounts have applied the cult label to groups as sociologically different as "moonies" and neo-pagans.

In popular usage, the term cult, now suggests a deviant religious group composed of highly committed but troubled and/or brainwashed members under the powerful (even malign) control of a charismatic leader. An adequately sociological distinction between cult and sect is crucial to analyzing the influence of recent new religious movements. The definitions offered below synthesize elements frequently specified in social-scientific analyses of cults and sects.

Cult:
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The cult is a group composed of radically individualistic religious seekers. Consequently, it is loosely organized and its belief system is sufficiently minimal and/or generalized to permit a high degree of ideological heterogeneity. The cult emerges as a "new" religious system; its innovation, however, mainly consists in eclectically combining beliefs and practices appropriated from various domestic and foreign sources. Though normally organized around a founding charismatic figure (who leads by example rather than fiat), members largely determine for themselves which elements of belief and practice to accept or reject. As an alternative to conventional religion, the cult stands opposed to mainstream culture, an antagonism reciprocated by society toward the alien in its midst. The cult does not insist, however, that it possesses the truth. Upholding the authority of the individual -- and relatively pluralistic itself in consequence -- it instead confers varying degrees of legitimacy on the claims made by other religious groups. (Contemporary examples: the Meher Baba movement, Vedanta, and Silva Mind Control.)

Sect:
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The sect, on the other hand, is a highly solidary, ideologically homogeneous religious group dedicated to a clearly specified doctrine. It generally forms as a breakaway group from a church or denomination, protesting the parent body's perceived compromise with a highly imperfect World. Though doctrinally related to mainstream religion, the sect's dissenting character engenders mutual hostility between itself and society. Normally under charismatic lay leadership, the disciplined membership strictly adheres to all elements of belief and practice. Deviants are commonly ostracized or expelled. The sect insists that it possesses the truth, rejecting all other religious groups as illegitimate. (Contemporary examples: Holiness groups, the Unification Church, and David Koresh's Branch Davidians.)

Thought this might be interesting to some here.

Kind Regards – Kinsman

Follow Ups:

- *Cult or Sect? Harold 07:03:47 10/25/99 (1)
  - **Cult or Sect? Kinsman 09:01:12 10/25/99 (0)
- *Cult or Sect? Bibleman 06:13:09 10/25/99 (1)
  - **Cult or Sect? Kinsman 09:23:28 10/25/99 (0)
- *Cult or Sect? JanG 19:55:23 10/24/99 (2)
  - **Cult or Sect? Kinsman 20:48:19 10/24/99 (1)
    - ***Cult or Sect? Reference 21:08:12 10/24/99 (0)
- *Cult or Sect? JanG 19:54:29 10/24/99 (0)
- *Cult or Sect? FRED HALL 15:56:02 10/24/99 (3)
  - **Cult or Sect? Kinsman 20:51:29 10/24/99 (0)
  - **Cult or Sect? roxy 17:09:41 10/24/99 (0)
  - **Cult or Sect? Older Tom 16:34:35 10/24/99 (0)

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