{"id":6733,"date":"2020-02-29T17:09:48","date_gmt":"2020-02-29T11:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=6733"},"modified":"2025-08-01T10:47:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T05:17:17","slug":"what-is-the-cult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/what-is-the-cult\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Cult?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_Cult\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">What is the Cult?<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Relevant_for_Sociology_Optional_UPSC\"><\/span><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">(Relevant for Sociology Optional UPSC)<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >What's Inside this Blog!<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/what-is-the-cult\/#What_is_the_Cult\" title=\"What is the Cult?\">What is the Cult?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/what-is-the-cult\/#Relevant_for_Sociology_Optional_UPSC\" title=\"(Relevant for Sociology Optional UPSC)\">(Relevant for Sociology Optional UPSC)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/what-is-the-cult\/#The_cult\" title=\"The cult\">The cult<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/what-is-the-cult\/#What_are_the_Characteristics_of_Cult\" title=\"What are the Characteristics of Cult:\">What are the Characteristics of Cult:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/what-is-the-cult\/#_How_did_the_concept_originate\" title=\"\u00a0How did the concept originate?\">\u00a0How did the concept originate?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-26024 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Untitled-design-23.jpg\" alt=\"What is the Cult by Vikash Ranjan sir at Triumph IAS, UPSC Sociology Optional\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Untitled-design-23.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Untitled-design-23-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Untitled-design-23-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Untitled-design-23-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Untitled-design-23-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_cult\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>The cult<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>The concept of \u201ccult\u201d was introduced into sociology in 1932 by American sociologist Howard P. Becker as an expansion of German theologian Ernst Troeltsch church-sect typology. Troeltsch aim was to distinguish between three main types of religious behavior: churchly, sectarian and mystical.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">Becker created four categories out of Troeltsch first two by splitting church into \u201cecclesia\u201d and \u201cdenomination\u201d, and sect into \u201csect\u201d and \u201ccult\u201d. Like Troeltsch \u201cmystical religion\u201d, Becker\u2019s cults were small religious groups lacking in organization and emphasizing the private nature of personal beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>Later formulations built on these characteristics while placing an additional emphasis on cults as\u00a0deviant\u00a0religious groups \u201cderiving their inspiration from outside of the predominant religious culture\u201d.\u00a0<\/strong>This deviation is often thought to lead to a high degree of tension between the group and the more mainstream culture surrounding it, a characteristic shared with religious sects.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">The term often highlights smaller religious movements or movements involving particularly intense religious devotion. <strong>The cult is a voluntary organisation open to all who wish to join or participate in it. According to Johnson, <\/strong>A cult emphasizes one doctrine (above all others) or it focuses upon a God or Goddess with certain definite characteristics.<\/span><strong style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 1.125rem;\">\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_Characteristics_of_Cult\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>What are the Characteristics of Cult:<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-26023 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Characteristics-of-Cults-1024x578.png\" alt=\"Characteristics of Cults by Vikash Ranjan sir at Triumph IAS, UPSC Sociology Optional \" width=\"1024\" height=\"578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Characteristics-of-Cults-1024x578.png 1024w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Characteristics-of-Cults-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Characteristics-of-Cults-150x85.png 150w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Characteristics-of-Cults-768x433.png 768w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Characteristics-of-Cults-1536x867.png 1536w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Characteristics-of-Cults-2048x1156.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul style=\"list-style-type: disc;\">\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">A cult, also has a high degree of tension with the surrounding society, but its beliefs are (within the\u00a0\u00a0 context of that society) new and innovative.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">Cults are not reactionary or revolutionary but instead are revisionary. Cult does not stand opposite to religion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">Cult is a supplementation of religion than being a challenge to religion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">Cult\u2019s existence is greatly linked to life span of cult leader. He or she is a charismatic person for his followers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">Cults are engaged in catering to day-to-day problems of people.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">Over a period cult may develop into a sect i.e. Calvinism to Protestantism.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">In Indian society, according to K.M. Panikkar it was during Mughals rule that sectarian division among Brahmins was greatly glorified i.e. Shaivism and Vaishnavism, because Hinduism was loosing its great tradition because of loss of political patronage.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"_How_did_the_concept_originate\"><\/span><span style=\"color: #333333; font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>How did the concept originate?<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\">Sociologists still maintain that unlike sects, which are products of religious\u00a0schism\u00a0and therefore maintain continuity with\u00a0traditional\u00a0beliefs and practices,<strong> \u201ccults\u201d arise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>The social reality of cult is essentially rooted in heroic act<\/strong>. This act is a system of worship, a complex of feeling and attitudes of symbol (gestures, words, rites and rituals) and primarily a relationship with sacred object and the world beyond. It involves <strong>co-activity and a social boundary.<\/strong> In it, the relationship between the deity and clergy is not negligible but secondary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;\"><strong>Cult seems to flourish in metropolitan centres where culturally heterogeneous populations are thrown together and they widely feel the impact of most rapidly impinging social change<\/strong>. It crates situation of contingency and powerlessness and thus the problem of adjustment. 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(Relevant for Sociology Optional UPSC) The cult The concept of \u201ccult\u201d was introduced into sociology in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,115,116],"tags":[11312,11310,11316,11308,11313,11315,11314,11317,11311,11309],"class_list":["post-6733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sociology-optional","category-sociology-optional-paper-i","category-sociology-optional-paper-ii","tag-cult-characteristics","tag-cult-definition","tag-cult-influence","tag-cult-meaning","tag-cult-psychology","tag-dangerous-cults","tag-religious-cults","tag-secret-societies","tag-types-of-cults","tag-what-is-a-cult"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6733"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26025,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6733\/revisions\/26025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}