So, What Exactly is a Cult?

Trying to Understand the Ritual Human Sacrifice at Pathways Ministries in Albion, Jamaica (Part 3)

I’ve spent the last several weeks watching documentaries and reading about violent cults. While I’ve learned a lot, it’s become clear to me that I need to go back to the beginning and consider: What exactly is a cult? The impetus for the series I’m writing is the ritual human sacrifice ordered by Kevin Smith, the pastor of Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries (Pathways), at the group’s compound in Albion, Jamaica. Smith ordered members to turn upon their fellow churchgoers with knives and murder them. They obeyed. As the horrific story was reported, the word cult was attached to Pathways, and I have been using it as well, because it’s clearly a cult… isn’t it? That’s what it means when a charismatic leader has his followers so under his sway that they’ll do whatever he bids them, right?

I wanted an academic perspective on cults, and bought the collection, Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements, which is used in sociology classes. The phrase “new religious movement” in the subtitle immediately got me thinking about when the use of the term cult is appropriate. When a group like Pathways makes the news, the reports are often sensationalized, and the label cult is…