Other scholars have advanced a more narrow definition of the term cult as a religious group with some or all of the following characteristics: a charismatic leader who exercises total control; an apocalyptic vision (doomsday cult); isolation from society; an emphasis on a transcendent spiritual experience; rigid rules governing group members’ behaviour; and the exploitation of members, including sexually and financially. In popular use, the term cult has accumulated a strong negative connotation and is often used to cast aspersions on a religious group’s validity as a form of religious practice. From the 1960s onward, a number of new cults developed in the United States and attracted large numbers of worshippers. The actions of these cultists, who sometimes isolated themselves from their families and oriented their lives fully around the cult, triggered widespread alarm. So, too, did the actions of violent cults such as the Peoples Temple, headed by Jim Jones, and the Manson Family, which was led by Charles Manson.

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Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/cult