Nightshift.
Because eternal vigilance something something
Philippines and Indonesia issue tsunami warnings after 7.4 magnitude quake
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damage estimated at $1,322.45
>wrong. while both cult and culture derive from the latin colere, their etymological evolutions were mostly independent
no matter. cult wasn't a bad thing until the moonies came along.
etymologize that
The word "cult" began to take on its modern, negative connotations primarily during the late 1960s through the 1970s.
This shift was driven by several factors:
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Rise of the Anti-Cult Movement
Secular and Religious Opposition: Both secular anti-cult movements and the Christian countercult movement began to actively oppose and label certain new religious movements (NRMs) as "cults" due to their unorthodox beliefs and practices.
"Brainwashing" Theory: A key element of the secular anti-cult movement was the accusation that these groups practiced "brainwashing" or "mind control" to recruit and retain members, stripping them of their free will.
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High-Profile Incidents
The negative portrayal in popular culture and the media was solidified by sensational, widely covered incidents involving groups labeled as cults, which demonstrated extreme or violent behavior.
Manson Family Murders (1969): This event in the U.S. brought the idea of a dangerous, authoritarian group engaging in violence to the forefront of public consciousness.
People's Temple/Jonestown Massacre (1978): The mass murder and suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, involving over 900 people, cemented the word "cult" as a term associated with manipulation, danger, and mass tragedy.
Earlier Meaning
Prior to this period, the word "cult" was a neutral term, often used in a purely academic or historical sense:
Latin Origin: It derives from the Latin word cultus, meaning "care," "cultivation," or "worship."
Historical and Academic Use: Until the mid-20th century, it was commonly used to refer to:
A particular system of religious worship (e.g., the cult of Isis).
A relatively small group within a larger religion (e.g., a saint cult in the Middle Ages).
Shift in the 19th Century: A slightly extended sense of "excessive devotion to a person or thing" (not always religious) arose in the 19th century, but the widespread pejorative use associated with danger and manipulation is tied to the mid-to-late 20th century.
Today, due to its heavy negative baggage, many sociologists and religious scholars avoid the term, preferring the more neutral label "new religious movement" (NRM).
The previous answer is strongly supported by scholarly and historical sources from the fields of sociology of religion and cult studies.
The key points and their sources are:
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The Timing: Late 1960s through the 1970s
Lorne L. Dawson (Sociologist): States that the term "cult" became a widely used pejorative term in the 1970s due to the rise of New Religious Movements (NRMs) and a hostile reaction from Christian groups, ex-members, and families.
Eileen Barker (Sociologist): Scholars began to abandon the terms "cult" and "sect" around the early 1970s in favor of the term "new religious movement" (NRM) specifically to avoid the negative connotations those words had acquired in public discourse.
Anthropologist Phillips Stevens: Notes that the definition of "cult" developed negative, satanic connotations in the 1970s after the Manson Family murders.
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The Drivers: Anti-Cult Movement and "Brainwashing"
Anti-Cult Movement (ACM) Emergence: The ACM arose in the early 1970s as a grassroots, activist network of concerned family members of NRM adherents.
One of the first organizations, Free the Children of God (FREECOG), was established in 1971.
The largest national umbrella organization, Citizens Freedom Foundation (CFF) (later the Cult Awareness Network or CAN), coalesced in 1974.
The "Brainwashing" Trope: The negative connotation is intrinsically linked to the allegation that these groups use unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control, popularly called "brainwashing" or "mind control." This idea was central to the ACM's campaign against these groups.
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Key Events that Cemented the Negative Meaning
Jonestown (1978): Scholarly sources and historical accounts universally cite the Jonestown mass murder-suicide in 1978 as the event that propelled the term "cult" into its most extreme, sensationalized, and negative form in the public imagination, leading to the formation of larger national anti-cult organizations.
Conclusion
The evolution of the word "cult" from a neutral, technical term (meaning "worship" or a small religious body, as per its Latin root) to a loaded, pejorative label meaning a dangerous, manipulative, and authoritarian group is a well-documented historical and sociological phenomenon centered on the intense social conflicts and media coverage of the 1970s.
TO SUMMARIZE:
The word "cult" evolved from a neutral term to a pejorative label associated with dangerous, manipulative groups primarily during the 1970s, influenced by events like the Manson Family murders and the Jonestown massacre.
TO SUMMARIZE:
The word "cult" evolved from a neutral term to a pejorative label associated with dangerous, manipulative groups primarily during the 1970s, influenced by events like the Manson Family murders and the Jonestown massacre.
indeed.