“Aren’t you a Mormon?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re not really welcome. This is a Christian thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we were trying to pray. It’s hard to do when there are people from a cult there.”
This was an actual conversation I had with a girl (whom I kind of had a crush on) in my high school. I was devastated; she not only didn’t recognize my christianity, but also thought I was a member of a cult. This was in the late 90s and the news of the Heaven’s Gate Cult was in the news. When this young woman put my beliefs in the same category as these unfortunate souls felt insulting. I wasn’t sure why she thought of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints (“The Church”) this way, but that was what she said.
You see, in the town I grew up in, Christian churches are actually pretty influential. They are influential enough that parents get involved in schools and try to make sure their beliefs are recognized and space is made for their children to practice their faith. The event my friend was talking about was something called “See You at the Pole” where Christian students would gather around the school flagpole and pray together. I remember feeling like it was pretty cool that I had something so important in common with my classmates. I had always been a member of The Church, but I hadn’t had a lot of chances to mingle with my peers and commiserate about our beliefs in Jesus.
When I showed up at the event, I had been expecting smiles and maybe even hugs from the attendees. However, this was not the case. I remember that a lot of people looked at me quizzically or even derisively as I looked for a place to stand or a circle to join. None seemed welcoming.
Honestly, my feelings probably should have been hurt, but I remember just feeling puzzled. Was this behavior representative of their beliefs? I wasn’t sure. It was this question that I asked my friend when she responded about my potential cultism.
It’s been about 25 years since then, and I think about this conversation often, mostly when I hear others accuse myself and other members of the church of being cultists. I have noticed, however, that I’ve only ever heard it used in a pejorative fashion, and those who label us this way almost never point to the reasons we should be labeled as a cult.
What is a cult, anyway?
Dictionary definitions are more important than you might think
Before I tell you what the dictionary says on the definition of cult, let me attempt to impress upon your mind what a monumental achievement dictionaries are. In a world where we disagree on so much, agreement on language itself is paramount to mutual understanding. If we can’t even agree on definitions of words, then we are not even speaking the same language, and we are talking past each other. You will see me often rely on dictionary definitions for this reason. It’s all part of grounding our assumptions.
The dictionary you choose is also important. Not all dictionaries are created equal, and standards matter. I recommend the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) if you are truly interested in etymology. They have lexicographic standards for both word-admission and definition-admission.
That said, here is the definition from OED:
Cult
- Worship; reverential homage rendered to a divine being or beings
- A particular form or system of worship
- Devotion or homage to a particular person or thing, now esp. as paid by a body of professed adherents or admirers.
I, for one, conclude that my beliefs fit these definitions. I don’t apologize for it.
- I do pay reverential homage to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- I belong to The Church, and it has a system of worship and behavioral prescriptions and patterns.
- I try to devote my life to Jesus Christ and I try to adhere to what I believe is admiration through imitation of him.
I do not deny nor am I in any way ashamed to admit that my membership in my church lumps me in to this category. So what’s the problem?
Also, doesn’t this definition fit all religions?
Application of the BITE model
As I mentioned before, when I have heard this word used, it has always been a pejorative. Granted, this is anecdotal, and therefore subject to statistical objection. But the fact remains that I don’t think people are referring to the definition in the OED when they use the word. This has led me to just ask “When you say ‘cult,’ what do you mean?”
I have never gotten the same definition twice when I’ve asked this question, but when someone attempts to define it, others in the group have quickly agreed with the first thing that is said, often without offering any adjustments or objections. What can explain this?
I have asked this question as well, and more than once I’ve been referred to Hassan’s BITE Model of Control. It’s an interesting take, and it also underscores my impression that people are using the word “cult” pejoratively. In Hassan’s model, the goal seems to be to identify when systems of beliefs are being used to engage in mind-control of some kind. In other words, the “believers” are somehow being duped into engaging in unhealthy surrender of their autonomy.
If you examine the model closely, though, it’s difficult to distinguish the types of organizations for which we definitely would not use the word “cult” from those for which we traditionally would. Also, when I make this assessment, I’m excluding illegal behaviors that the organization would condemn and/or punish with excommunication or otherwise. If you look at the BITE model, you’ll also see that not everything on these lists even applies to The Church, so I’ve chosen just a few to compare to the military.
| BITE Characteristic | The Church | Military |
|---|---|---|
| Sexual Restrictions | Adultery: not ok | Adultery: not ok |
| Control types of clothing or hairstyles | Sunday Dress, Garments, Modesty | Uniforms, decorations |
| Regulate diet, fasting | Fasting, Word of Wisdom | Military rations |
| Thought-stopping (prayer, chanting) | Prayer, meditation | Marching cadences |
| Deliberately withhold information | Private Confessions, welfare recipients | “Need to know”/”Classified” |
With just these few examples, you can see that this part of the BITE model we would apply to The Church applies just as easily to the military, but I don’t think most people would think of the word “cult” when we think of the military either by the OED definition or Hassan’s model.
I was tempted to be more exhaustive with this list, but I found that there were so many that either didn’t apply at all or were sufficiently illegal and/or unethical that The Church would outright condemn or press charges if those behaviors were discovered. So Hassan’s model can’t even be perfectly applied. At best, it can be generally applied, and when you concede that it can only be generally applied, you also have to concede it can be generally applied to other organizations.
Let me put it more succinctly: Any sufficiently broad definition of “cult” that can describe The Church can also be used to describe any other organization.
What do people actually mean, then?
I contend and assert that most people are using a mimetic, subjective, and pejorative definition of the word “cult.”
Mimesis
the fact of a particular social group changing their behavior by copying the behavior of another social group
People will end up creating an ever more specific definition to get it to fit the group they are describing, or they’ll pull back and make it more and more general. Either way, it’s a moving target, ultimately incomprehensible, and doesn’t really resolve any confusion on the matter. This is why I believe it’s mimetic. They are using the word to fit in with whatever group they belong to, and using it to try to disambiguate their own beliefs, or the beliefs of their group, with the tenets of The Church.
Even though it’s a moving target, I have found one constant bedrock of the definition which I would express this way:
Cult (pejorative)
A term used to describe a religion or system of beliefs which the speaker doesn’t like or understand
So, is The Church a cult or not?
Ultimately, it depends on who you ask, and it depends on how that person feels about The Church already. Therefore the answer to this question will tell you more about the person you asked than it will about The Church, and it won’t even be a useful question. You might as well just ask, “How do you feel about the Church?” It will not only be a more interesting answer, but it will also be more precise.