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This list indexes a diverse set of groups and organizations indicated in the popular press and elsewhere as a "cult" or a "sect".

Inclusion is based on a single reference:

  1. as a "cult" directly by specific listed sources;
  2. as a "sect" directly by specific listed French-language or United Kingdom sources;
  3. as such within the last 50 years;
  4. as the group has existed within the last 150 years.

Media attention alone is not an objective analysis of a group's status as a "cult" or "sect". Nor can any harmful or beneficial aspects of that group be reliably established by these references. This list serves to aggregate those references to facilitate further research.

Some references may apply these terms in a scientific way to mainstream systems of spirituality; others may use them as pejoratives and their application to specific groups is sometimes controversial. The definitions and common use of the term are examined in depth at the article on cults.

Very few groups or organizations are willing to accept the label of "cult", and inclusion of a group within this list does not prove, in any manner, that that group is a "cult" or "sect".

Not included in this list are personality cults (heads of state), fancults of popular culture, and groups that don't have actual followings (fictional or self-nominated groups).

To deal with the clearly very different uses of the term in sociological sources and other sources, the list is is split in several sections.

Groups referred to as "cult" in sociological sources

In the sociology of religion, cult is one of the four terms making up the church-sect typology. Under this definition, a cult refers to a religious group with a high degree of tension with the surrounding society combined with novel religious beliefs. This is distinguished from sects, which have a high degree of tension with society but whose beliefs are traditional to that society, and ecclesias and denominations, which are groups with a low degree of tension and traditional beliefs.

This definition of "cult" is rather different from the popular definition, or the definitions used in other academic disciplines (e.g. the definition of cults as harmful groups adopted by many psychologists). It excludes any consideration of harm, manipulation, deceit or exploitation from what constitutes a cult - by this definition, a cult may be harmless, and a group that is not a cult may be very harmful.

  • Meher Baba cult
  • Sathya Sai BabaMorton Klass, Singing with Sai Baba: The Politics of Revitalization in Trinidad, p.11 , Westview Press, (1991) ISBN 0-8133-7969-5
    "Opinion, it is hardly necessary to observe, is divided. In the many published volumes of his sermons and speeches, and in the writings of his devotees, his is a "religion" and sometimes a "movement." On the other hand, the two scholars who have written extensively on Sai Baba and his followers in India (Swallow 1976, 1982; Babb 1986) refer to the phenomenon as a "cult.""

Groups referred to as "cult" in psychology sources

  • ---

Groups referred to as "cult" in the media and government reports

A-C

D-F

G-I

J-L

M-O

P-R

S-U

V-Z

Key to sources for this section

Exclusive to the French Report

France's 1995 parliamentary commission report (Unofficial English translation), published a list of purported cults (compiled by the general information division of the French National Police (Renseignements généraux) with the help of cult-watching groups). A 1995 government decree has withdrawn government support for this project, recommending not maintaining a list of "cultic groups".* See also French legislation for the prevention and repression of cultic groups. In 2005 Jean-Pierre Raffarin indicated the report is "less and less relevant" due to evolution of the phenonomenon since 1995. Because of these concerns groups whose only source is the French Report shall be placed here.

References

External links

Religion-related lists | Cults | New religious movements

Lijst van vermeende sekten | カルトと指摘された団体・人物の一覧 | Список тоталитарных сект

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "List of groups referred to as cults".

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