A cult is a social group that is usually associated with a dominant, forceful leader. Cults often have religious and political overtones. For example, in the United States, several religious cults have formed around charismatic leaders who claimed to be the Christ or God. The cult leader usually demands total submission to himself or herself, claiming absolute authority over the members of the cult. Often, religious cults will revolve around a belief in the imminent end of the world and preparation for the destruction of Earth. Frequently, cults separate themselves from the larger society and prepare for the end by stockpiling food, weapons, and computers. The cult leader often claims to be in direct communication with God and directs the cult accordingly. Often fearful of outside interference, cults in recent times commit mass suicide (for example the Jim Jones cult, the Hale-Bopp Comet cult, and the Branch Davidian cult). Their stockpiling of weapons often brings a cult under investigation by the government.

Politically, some regimes have been accused of cult leader worship (as the Soviet Union's leaders after Joseph Stalin's death complained of his "cult of personality") when a dictator assumes godlike status.

The sociological definition of a religious cult is a group whose beliefs or practices lie way outside the established religious institutions. So, often, state churches accuse (and outlaw) minority churches of being cults, when in fact they are only different sects, or denominations, of the same religion. In American Christianity, the churches that derive from the predominant beliefs of the Bible (such as Mormons, Scientology, the Unification Church, and Hare Krishnas) are regarded as cults (especially if they revere a human "founder" above Christ).

The political concern with cults surrounds their exclusive and often destructive social behavior. Random acts of violence or terrorism, "mind control" over members, and immoral practices by leaders draw social criticism of cults. This causes some dominant religious and political groups to use the term cult to criticize and harass their enemies. So, for example, the Russian Orthodox Church led the Russian parliament to pass a law persecuting cults that included many western Christian churches and missionaries. The Muslim (Islamic) world sometimes accuses Christianity of being a cult for worshiping Jesus as the Son of God.

Western freedom of religion allows the existence of cults as long as they do not commit illegal acts and do not violate the natural rights of their members (especially the right to leave the cult when the individual chooses). Religious liberty allows voluntary membership in cults that are not engaged in illegal activities or enslavement of members. . .