Cult or Not

One of the most emotionally laden terms in the study of religion is "Cult." To speak of some group as a cult is to evoke images of brain-washing, manipulation, destructive and harmful behavior, and unquestioning obedience of the follower for the leader, among others. To speak of a group as a cult brings to mind Jim Jones and Guyana and David Koresh and Waco. To accuse a group of being a cult suggests that it is guilty of the worst that religious groups can do and that its teachings are no better than the ravings of a charlatan. That is why the designation "cult" is typically not used in the academic study of religion.

That brings us to the issue of what is a cult and what is not. On the website Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance are these quotes about defining a cult:
** "...one person's cult is another's religion; all religions begin life as cults. An alternative definition is that a cult is a religion which you happen to dislike." Anthony Campbell
** "Cult is a word without much use outside the realm of religious mudslinging." Philip Kennicott
** "When someone uses the word 'cult,' it usually says more about them than the group," J. Gordon Melton, founder and director of The Institute for the Study of American Religion.
** "It's easy to tell the difference - a cult is someone else's religion. Corollary: "A fanatic is someone who believes something more strongly than you do." Jim Heldberg
** "I have often thought that the difference between a cult and a religion is an IRS ruling." Ron Barrier

One of my areas of study for my Ph.D. was sociology of religion. Thus, I have long had an interest in studying religous groups, especially what are termed minority religious groups or new religious movements.

All of this is prelude to a news story out of the Akron Ohio Beacon Journal, which can be found at: http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/39276907.html. A woman, who happens to be Roman Catholic, is concerned that her 18 year old son has fallen into the clutches of a cult. The son is a member of the Xenos Christian Fellowship, evidently an evangelical Christian group whose focus is youth ministry.

The opening of the news story is telling:
On a Saturday night in November, as a small group gathered for a Bible study at a Fairchild Avenue church in Kent, a woman stood along the street waving a sign: ''I Want My Son Back.''
She brought her husband and daughter, too.
''Xenos is a Cult'' and ''Tom, Don't Drink the Kool-Aid,'' said some of their signs.
Annemarie Smith, 48, a Roman Catholic from Stow, believes her 18-year-old son, Thomas, has been taken by a cult.
She has launched a religious war that has engaged the Stow police, mayor, high school and a municipal judge. She started an Internet blog and is trying to rally others to the cause.
Online, she makes allegations of alcohol abuse, vandalism and brainwashing of young children. She calls the church leader and his family ''Devil man,'' ''Devil wife'' and ''Devil son.''
Her son, meanwhile, left home to live with church friends and has received an ultimatum from his parents: ''Us or the church.''
Xenos Christian Fellowship is her target.

So, do you think the Mother is right or her son? What would you do in the same circumstances?