A cult is typically defined as a group characterized by unusual or extreme beliefs and practices, often centered around a charismatic leader who demands unquestioning loyalty. Key features that make a group a cult include:

• Authoritarian leadership: A single charismatic leader or leadership group holds absolute control, often demanding obedience and reverence from members

• Unquestioning devotion: Members are expected to accept the leader’s teachings or ideology without criticism or doubt, with dissent often punished or shamed

• Isolation: Cults often isolate members from outside influences, including family and friends, to maintain control and foster dependence on the group

• Manipulative practices: Techniques such as love-bombing (excessive praise), sleep deprivation, meditation, or other mind-altering methods are used to break down individual defenses and increase susceptibility to control

• Us-vs-them mentality: Cults promote a worldview that the group is superior and the outside world is dangerous or evil, fostering paranoia and loyalty

• Extreme commitment: Members are expected to dedicate significant time, energy, and often financial resources to the group, sometimes at the expense of their own well-being and relationships

• Secrecy and hostility: Cults tend to be secretive about their practices and hostile toward outsiders or former members

• Psychological control: Cults use brainwashing or coercive persuasion to maintain control over members, making them dependent and obedient regardless of personal cost

In summary, a cult is a tightly controlled social system with a dominant leader, extreme ideological demands, social isolation, and manipulative tactics designed to maintain power and control over members