Given the fact that there's currently no universal definition of a cult, it seems best to ask one simple question whenever someone talks about cults: Just what do you mean by the term 'cult'? What is a cult?

Sometimes it's easier, instead of asking what is a cult, to ask what it is not. Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic … The meaning of cult is a group (as an organization or religious sect) with tenets and practices regarded as coercive, insular, or dangerous â€often used before another noun.