Cults are strange.
Because its definition is pretty widespread. You can have a cult movie hit like The Big Lebowski and it’s fine but if you’re part of a cult that’s about to drink the Kool-Aid, not so much.
Merriam-Webster defines a cult as “great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work,” so you can see why the term is pretty vague.
There’s a pretty fine line between feeling like a cult and actually being in a cult, however, and people on Reddit have been responding to the question:
What’s something that’s not a cult, but feels like a cult?
Here are some of the best responses…
1. Corporations:
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2. Peleton:
“WHY ARE THEY SO OBSESSED WITH PELOTON?!?”
3. Healing crystals and oils:
“One girl in my year started telling us about her religion around healing crystals which her mum happened to own (and we could buy) and one boy said ‘sounds like a pyramid scheme’ and you would not believe how offended she got.”
4. Air fryers:
“Owning an Air Fryer. I keep telling everyone how great they are and how life changing getting an air fryer is. Then they get one and love it and repeat the cycle. But seriously, air fryers are awesome.”
5. Twitchers:
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6. 12 Step groups:
“Having participated in them, as well as studied them, I feel comfortable in saying they’re not cults. Some individual groups can behave like them, however.
Some ‘cult-like’ experiences in a safe refuge from a life-threatening mode of behaviour can have positive impacts on the well-being of individuals for a period of time. Finding a ‘new home’, a ‘new family’, and a ‘new way of living’ can save lives. In that regard, I believe it’s important to take into consideration the ‘positive’ meaning of the word ‘cult’: “a system of religious (or spiritual) beliefs and its body of adherents”.
On the other hand, peer-support for recovery needs to be a part of — not the entirety of — a recovery plan that involves plenty of other forms of support, especially professional help.
There are also non-religious/non-spiritual peer support groups available for those embraking on the journey of recovery.”
7. Elon Musk:
“There’s a guy in my office who drives a Tesla, has a Tesla jacket, spent thousands on getting Tesla solar panels for his house, his phone case has the Tesla T on the back and his lock screen picture is an Elon portrait of him smoking that joint on Rogan’s podcast.
Say something bad about Elon like how Elon’s hairline is fake and watch him lose his shit.”
8. Politics:
“Way too many people treat politics as team sports. They’ve picked their side and everything that side does is great and everything the other side does is awful. That’s as much thought as they ever put into it.”
9. Harry Potter:
“The Harry Potter fandom. Hard core.”
10. Acapella music:
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11. Work in general:
“Work, of course:
‘We’re all family here’
‘We love our employees’
‘If you don’t meet your quota during this pandemic, you’re fired’
‘Oh, you need to call in sick? Better hope you have a replacement or you may not have a job when you get back.'”
12. Yoga:
“Don’t get me wrong I love yoga. I’ve been practicing since 2013. But sometimes when I’m hosting yoga night at my house and we’re all following along, doing the same movements, knowing the movements from Sanskrit words it feels a little culty.”
13. Salesforce:
“No, I don’t want to build a community, go hiking or join a hundred online classes to learn the basics. Make a couple of well-explained, to-the-point training videos ffs.”
14. Huel:
“Huel Black, Chocolate Flavor (and I use that term extremely loosely) is the single worst substance I’ve ever purposely consumed. If half the posts on the subreddit are about how to make it not taste like shit and how to actually make it dissolve instead of clump, you’ve got a garbage product on your hands, folks.”
15. Herbalife
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16. Crossfit:
“extensive use of cult-generated information ✅
require members to internalize the group‘s doctrine ✅
reduce complexities into buzz words ✅
regulate member‘s diet ✅”
17. House music:
“One of my favorite genres, but the hardcore fans make it almost unbearable. It’s just constantly one upping. Bro, I’m just trying to party and vibe.”
18. Disney:
“Every person I know who worked at Disney. Job sucks, bosses suck, pay is shit, Love working there. Its definitely a cult.”
19. Jeep owners:
“As a Jeep owner I rly feel like I’m in a cult.”
20. K-pop fans:
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