Posted by:
eternal1
(
)
Date: April 20, 2017 01:24PM
Kinda depends on how you want to define it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult“The term cult usually refers to a social group defined by their religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs, or common interest in a particular personality, object or goal. The term itself is controversial and has divergent definitions in popular culture and in academia and has been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study.”
“English-speakers originally used the word "cult" not to describe a group of religionists, but to refer to the act of worship or to religious ceremony. The English term originated in the early 17th century, borrowed via the French culte, from Latin cultus (worship). The French word, in turn, derived from the Latin adjective cultus (inhabited, cultivated, worshiped), based on the verb colere (to care, to cultivate). The word "culture" also derives from the Latin words cultura and cultus; "culture" in general terms refers to the customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a religious or social group.
While the literal original sense of the word in English remains in use, a derived sense of "excessive devotion" arose in the 19th century. The terms cult and cultist came into use in medical literature in the United States in the 1930s for what would now be termed "faith healing", especially as practised in the US Holiness movement. This usage experienced a surge of popularity at the time, and extended to other forms of alternative medicine as well. In the English-speaking world the word "cult" often carries derogatory connotations.
Most sociologists and scholars of religion began to reject the word "cult" altogether because of its negative connotations in mass culture. Some began to advocate the use of new terms like "new religious movement", "alternative religion" or "novel religion" to describe most of the groups that had come to be referred to as "cults", yet none of these terms have had much success in popular culture or in the media. Other scholars have pushed to redeem the word "cult" as one fit for neutral academic discourse.”