Cults - They're Fun for the Whole Family!

The word "cult" is a subjective term—a group of people are only considered cult members when their devotion is committed to something or someone else than what is generally believed in mainstream society to be an acceptable object of devotion. A religion has government, military and general institutional backing; a cult has none of those. As the number of believers grow, so does their transition from cult to religion grow more solid. Christianity, our dear friends, was at one time a cult—and its dear leader was killed for it. But only a few decades later, the political winds had changed and suddenly people were being crucified for not being a part of Christianity. Things could still change. For all we know, in two thousand years, schoolchildren across this great country of ours will be required to pledge allegiance to David Koresh, and the small handful of Christian children will be the objects of playground taunts.

This Cult Issue has little to do with religion or spirituality. It does, however, have everything to do with groups of people who are a wee bit (overly?) devoted to specialized forms of community. We make the point about Christianity because we want to warn you. The people you will read about in this special section may be what some call "kooky" or "crazy" or "completely fucking nuts," but we like to be more forward-thinking. Sure, these are all cult-like groups now, but with our help these groups could possibly become the Future Religions of America. And what would be better than a secretary of state dressed in a bunny suit, a vice president who is a witch and has an evil chinchilla, and a president whose only agenda is to ensure that monogamy is outlawed and polyamorous sexual relationships are the law of the land? Make sure you check out the Cultometer™ ratings for the most accurate guide to each group's strongest cult qualities. Enjoy—and remember, be sure to drink the Kool-Aid. It's delicious.