Talk:Cult

Core definition

"A cult is a religious sect or group that is relatively limited in size and often considered to be particularly dangerous, manipulative or all-encompassing." Later, however, you say not all cults are religious. Perhaps a better starting point might be that group, using 12-stem terminology, believes in a "Higher Power".

Another criterion might well be a charismatic leader, who either represents or is the higher power. By every account I've read of people that have talked with Osama bin Laden, he is personally humble and considers himself merely a representative of his god.

Think of the idea of "cult of personality", as with North Korean leadership. Their special operations forces routinely commit suicide rather than be captured, and it's not quite the same situation as bushido, where the culture required it. At what level was Nazi belief a cult? Howard C. Berkowitz 15:32, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Yep, something like an 'often-religious sect'. Feel free to try and iterate something better. –Tom Morris 15:44, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

al-Qaeda

The comparison with cults is broader than one speaker at the APA, and the observation is made for more militant jihadists than al-Qaeda. Does suicide attack, as a doctrine, imply cult? I'll give you examples in either direction.

New Age

There needs to be more sourcing on the allegations here. I had personal experience, not with a group directly managed by Erhard, but by one of his proteges, and can say that I both saw cult-like behavior from some individuals, and a lot more people that knew when to draw the line -- this is from a perspective on a series of trainings I took around 1980. Howard C. Berkowitz 15:32, 15 October 2009 (UTC)