Characteristics Associated With Cults:


> The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader, and regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.

> Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.

> The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel.

> The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and its members (e.g., the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).

> The group has a polarized, us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.

> The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group

> The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and control members. Often this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.

[link to cultresearch.org]