by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

What is a cult and why does it matter? Is the phenomenon of cultism on the rise? Investigative journalist Jane Borden, Sewanee assistant professor of religious studies Kati Curts, and Sewanee School of Letters Director Justin Taylor will grapple with these questions and more at the panel discussion, “Cults in the American Imagination,” slated for 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13, at Convocation Hall. Cults — a little word with vast implications — have captured the imagination of all three panelists. Borden’s book, “Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America,” Taylor’s two novels, and Curts research all take a deep dive into the cult phenomenon. For all three, religion launched them on a journey of discovery into an unknown world.

Taylor frames a cult as “when a group becomes aware of itself as a group and develops a set of practices and beliefs.” For Taylor, the jumping off point was a longtime interest in religions and “what gets included and disincluded.” Taylor points out, some of the world’s most well-established religions began as cults.

Curts, a religious studies scholar, shies away from use of the term, “cult,” because of the “dangerous assumptions” that follow from labeling a group a cult. Religions associated with straight white men are far more likely to be recognized as “mainstream” and “socially acceptable,” Curts commented.

Borden cites a definition by the anti-cult activist Robert Jay Lifton characterizing cults as having a worshipped leader; being engaged in “thought reform” and “mind control”; and causing harm to the followers, often sexual or financial. Although a religious studies major in college, Borden pursued a career in journalism. In an assignment for Vanity Fair covering the NXIVM cult, she became preoccupied with the division in American culture and saw the same dynamics at play in popular cults and politics. She traced the phenomenon back to the founding Puritans, who “look like a cult,” but without the attribute of leader worship.

“America is built on cult-like thinking,” Borden said. She noted the First Amendment to the Constitution allows anyone to start a church and operate tax-free, while freedom of speech gives con artists free reign to manipulate followers.

Taylor maintained “a lot of our politics is cultlike … these intense devotions to figures who are concentrating power. Hardcore Trump voters to Taylor Swift fans behave in structurally identical ways.”

Addressing the question, are cults increasing in the 21st century, Taylor answered, “absolutely.” He attributed the rise in cults to technology which allows “ideas to cohere much more quickly.” In Taylor’s novel, “Reboot,” a former child actor and the voice for a video game falls prey to two warring groups trying to claim him as their cult leader. He doesn’t want the job and is both “paranoid of surveillance” and “addicted” to the attention.

Curts resists drawing a conclusion about cults increasing overtime. She urges questioning what we are paying attention to and the media landscape. Curts speculated those calling attention to a cult’s violence or mind control are often diverting attention away from the same problems in the mainstream culture.

Borden, likewise, points to technology as a factor influencing the prevalence of cults. But she also stresses the impact of crisis in a culture. Looking to the present, Borden quotes from a September 14, 2020, Time Magazine story: since 1975 “the Top 1% of Americans Have Taken $50 Trillion From the Bottom 90%.” Borden argues the circumstance has wreaked havoc on the lives of “under-resourced” lower and middle class individuals and, also, wreaked havoc on the nation. “People in a crisis crave a strong man and are easily conned,” Borden insisted.

On the positive side, Taylor observed, “Cults can be a refuge for outcasts and a safe haven.” “It strikes me people want to think about how to survive in sometimes dehumanizing conditions,” Curts said. “Religions, sometimes labeled cults, offer really important resources for people in those moments.” Borden conceded, in spite of manipulation and exploitation, cult “survivors” often reported making long-term friendships and being driven to continue their “work toward seeking enlightenment.”

Is there a way to curb the cult phenomenon, and do we want to? Sponsored by the Departments of English and Creative Writing, Politics, and Religious Studies, Sewanee School of Letters, The Lectures Committee, and the Dakin Fund, the “Cults in the American Imagination” panel will tackle questions such as these and more. “Cult groups offer the chance to think about what it means to redraw boundaries and to think anew about community and how you want to make it,” Curts said. “Why are [those things that get more clicks] the things that capture our attention now?”