I don't think the word cult is particularly meaningful or useful. I just left another comment a day or so ago on the subject of a person trying to determine what a cult is, and my answer boiled down to: "Cults are churches that people in other churches disapprove of."

I pretty much had your experiences growing up: Church services 5 days a week, mandatory obedience to church leaders, shunning if you stepped out of line, etc.

The churches I grew up and were ordinary Baptist churches, and the level of social control church leaders and church people exercised was enormous.

But you know what? We weren't a cult, said our leaders. We're warm and cuddly Baptists. Those heretical Pentacostals are the cultists! Mormons are cultists! Seventh-day Adventists are cultists! Don't even talk to us about Catholics because they aren't even Christians.

You see?

I just named several churches that exercise extraordinary control over people, or at least they try to.

Catholic even run networks of schools and that harshly punish students for stepping out of line.

And when I say harshly punish ...

Did you hear about that high school student in Indianapolis who stood up to support his gay teacher after the Catholic school fired her for being gay?

The diocese threatened him with loss of graduation —which would have torpedoed his university career at least temporarily — if he didn't stop defending her publicly. And he complied, because he felt he had no choice. His church leaders effectively muzzled him by causing him to fear them.

Clearly, the leaders in his diocese are evil, disgusting people. You don't get more culty than that.

But nobody calls Catholics cult members, do they? Nobody calls Catholic leaders cult leaders.

Nobody calls Baptists cultists.

But man, it's all a cult. It's all a judgemental, arrogant, controlling cult. And by all, I mean many or most religions — certainly conservative ones, which go out of their way to enforce discipline.

It's not just Christianity. Shall we talk about how cruel Islam is to people who refused to be controlled by religious mandates?

I have a very good friend in Detroit who owns a pharmacy and is a Muslim woman who refuses to cover her head. She disagrees with that part of her religion.

As a result, her family and some of her friends have practically disowned her. She told me once that because of her decision, she is in actual physical fear of her uncle.

You don't get more culty than that. Clearly, the people who are trying to control her are very culty.

So, I find it difficult to try to even distinguish between what's a cult and what's a legitimate religion.

If they're punishing you and going out of their way to control your behavior, I think the distinction is without a difference.