This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 1985, Volume 2, Number 2, pages 358-370. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.

Objectionable Aspects of “Cults”: Rhetoric and Reality

Thomas Robbins

I am in sympathy with the aim, expressed in the introduction to this issue, of zeroing in on what is really objectionable about “cults” and distinguishing it from other attributes of movements which are sometimes disturbing, but are more tolerable. I acknowledge that cults have sometimes egregiously violated the “rules of interpersonal fair play.” Nevertheless, I think that the Editor’s comment that “to the chagrin of “ideologues of the underdog” it is this lack of interpersonal fair play rather than heresy, minority status, or unusual behavior which is at the heart of the concerns of parents and others about cults, is really somewhat of a half-truth. I think that the existence of interpersonal foul-play is sometimes inferred from unusual behavior. I think that violation of the rules of interpersonal fair play, under which the Editor includes “disrupting members’ life-pursuits” and “interfering in family relations,” is often simply equated with its posited consequences (e.g., someone dropping out of dental school or leaving the family faith) or else it is assumed to have occurred when these troublesome consequences arise. I think repugnance for heresy has been a factor in evangelical antipathy to Unificationism. I think that the perception that educated young persons are holding .preposterous” beliefs in the sanctity of a Hindu idol or a Korean businessman has sometimes been the basis for inferring interpersonal fouls, as have “unusual behavior” such as speaking in tongues, “excessive Bible reading,” repetitive chanting, or being obedient to spiritual “elders.” Too often interpersonal inauthenticity tends to be inferred from or equated with its posited disruptive consequences.

Disruptive or nonconformist consequences presumably related to interpersonal influence can be directly observed (e.g., persons performing weird rituals, talking strangely, leaving school) by concerned persons. In contrast, the latter are more likely to find out second hand (from ex-devotees and “experts”) about the violation of interpersonal rules, which have allegedly produced the observed disruptive and nonconformist consequences. The testimonies of the experts and ex-devotees may often provide socially acceptable rationales for “principled” opposition to something which is objectionable on other grounds.
 

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