Having survived with half a mind the life style in The Family is a strong incentive to provide a better world for my progeny. I don't want them to be cought up in a cult of any sort.
That's why I got to think about cults. I know that there are many definitions around, but I have never found one that fully satisfies me. Maybe it is because of my own particular view of things but in my mind anything that takes power over the individual's decision processes is not good. The exceptions to these are those that may affect in a negative way the responsibilities the individual has.
For instance, AmWay has been seen by many as a cult-like organization. This is a sort of multi level sales where one person recruits salesmen who will also recruit more salesmen, ad infinitum. The idea is to develop a piramid shaped organization where everybody belows send some percentage one level up. Obviously the person on top get the big crop, sort of MO, Maria, Peter, the cream of the crap.
In order to maintain a productive motivational level there are all kinds of devises. In any case, the top motivator must continually keep adding to the piramid below because the drop out rate is immense. This happens because, of course, people realize that they are being used. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Like that there are many other outfits, hippie communes, political parties, exercise groups, diet support groups, etc.
I just los a friend a few months ago that fell pray of a reading/writing book club. I suspect they are involved in some sort of panteistic group but the way their behavior is controlled certainly makes me think cult. They don't talk to people outside their group and my friend and a couple of other people in that group ignore everybody else who is not in their group.
So my deifiniton of a cult is pretty much "mob mentality" at a less time-compressed manner. In othert words, a mod sort of explodes in a certain given circumstance. A cult develops the common mentality, vocabulary, procedures, beliefs, etc. over a spread out period of time (the brainwashing period).
Some people even thought IBM was a cult-like group with their own songs and prayer like recitations before meetings and certain ceremonies. One in, people were not allowed out under penalty of losing their jobs. Ross Perot's EDS also had that fame. They even had a uniform, just like IBM.
I have been in many Baptist churches and each one of them is run as a cult. The same is true with a few of other churches in denominations where the actual church is owned by the pastor.
I am trying to come up with some working definition of a cult that can leave out legitimate institutions like the army or even political parties but are not centered in the idea of personality worship.