# Cults: definition and prevelance?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cults-definition-and-prevelance/617386>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 31, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cults-definition-and-prevelance/617386 "2012-03-31T14:19:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cults-definition-and-prevelance/617386/21 "2012-04-04T01:07:26Z")

</div>

> [@living\_in\_hell](#):
>
> I thought I may have posted in the wrong place. Tough crowd!
> 
> Ok let me ask this then: what differentiates a cult from religion? Actually, it’s not just 80’s…what got me thinking about this today was how a small child was abducted from a friend’s hometown and there is suspicion that the father is involved with an extremely “religious” group which has been soliciting financial support for nothing having to do with the search. I am not riding a conspiracy wave, but it’s fishy. With so much free outreach available through technology, what does a hyper-religious family need with fundraising?

According to ex-moonie Steven Hassan, what separates a cult from a religion is whether they use coercive methods to control and isolate people.

[combatting cult mind control](http://www.amazon.com/Combatting-Cult-Mind-Control-Best-selling/dp/0892813113) is a good book about the techniques cults can use to destroy a persons old identity and create/cement their new identity in the cult.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cults-definition-and-prevelance/617386.md?page=1)