OX, what shall it be?
I would NOT tell my children that I am a member of the Roman Catholic Church Cult.
That is because it has the exact same negative connotation to me as it does you Lucid.
No big fucking deal, relax or worry about important shit.
Relax
Perhaps we should build a bridge here that we can all agree on.
There are cults, and then there are religious cults, and therein lies the difference. Religious cults are the abberrations that end up with dead followers after drinking Kool-aid.
Then there are the ubiquitous cults that we are all members of. In fact, by the definition that RE and KD are using, we are all members of the Diner Cult and RE is the Diner Cult Leader.
Maybe you should change the name to "The Doomstead Diner Cult." I'm sure that would get you on another government watch list. You'd likely loose a few members as well. I know if you changed the name to that, if you added "Cult" to the name, I would have a knee jerk reaction to leave and never come back. You won't do that though, will you RE. Why? Because you understand the true definition and usage of the word, and you don't want to suffer the negative consequences of associating your site with a cult.
Just back from my lunar aviation fornication! Very Romantic. What a lady, what a night! Thanks for the suggestion KD

LD and GO
I have to say, I agree with all of this including and especially the part about relaxation.
RE nice article! Much better than the first, tho i did enjoy your description of wall street dress codes (contrary to my initial review

)
Cult Cult is a 'cold prickly' word as opposed to a 'warm fuzzy' one, as JMG would say.
However I do see the value in defining it.
If one persons cult is another's religion and
Everyone is in a cult of one kind or another.
then there's no point in mentioning it.
Maybe It's like having a liver.
You can have a healthy liver
and you can have an unhealthy liver.
Most people associate the word cult with 'unhealthy religion'. Except of course the extraordinarily literate.
But given that Cult is the root of
culture and
cultivation, I'm guessing that this word is far more powerful than anyone is giving it credit for.
I guess the bottom line for me is that this word may or may not be useful in defining patterns of social behaviour in society, simply because it is gets used too generally for multiple specific social phenomenon.
These social patterns are so powerful and inherent that they appear everywhere and we are all subject to their influence, even in our rejection of their influence.
Part of it links up with what Roamer was talking about: Heros.
We have a tendancy to model ourselves on certain ideal figures or heros. (As Peter pointed out long ago). More over we tend to institutionalize the hero personality into behavioural group rituals.
Islam has Mohamed
Christianity has Jesus
Buddhists have Buddha
Anyhoo. Have a great holiday all, don't get your knickers in a knot.
It's only the end of the world after all.
