Was the former Leesburg High band director's 'Elder Council' a cult? What is a cult?

Cult classic. Cult favorite. When you're referring to pop culture creations with a fervent following, "cult" can be good.

If you're talking about offshoot religious groups with extreme ideologies and charismatic leaders, "cult" can mean a different thing altogether.

Recently a "secret society" called The Elder Council reportedly run by Leesburg High School band director Gabriel Fielder and former LHS guidance counselor Lenny Finelli was described by a former student as "a cult-like group."

The society's articles of incorporation said its primary purpose was "not for profit missions and teaching activities for the greater evangelical Christian church globally." Videos show Fielder calling other Christians liars and talking about demons. Former students describe his efforts to get them to astral project. One described Fielder as someone who "sees himself as a prophet or like a channel of God."

But what makes a cult a cult? Pinning down a consistent definition can be tricky and very subjective.

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What is a cult?

That really depends on what you're talking about.

Merriam-Webster has several definitions for cult. First up is "a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious" or its members (the voodoo cult, a satanic cult).

But it also defines it as a "great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (such as a film or book)," "a system of religious beliefs and ritual" and its followers (the cult of Apollo, the Gnostic cult) and "a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator" (health cults).

A short version might be that cults are enthusiastic social groups defined by unusual religious, spiritual or philosophical beliefs and rituals, often with a powerful personality or compelling goal at its head.

But ever since the first half of the 20th century, what people are usually talking about when they talk about cults in a negative way is religion.

What is the difference between a cult and a religion?

Acceptance.

A branch of an established religion will get labeled a cult by the religion if they stray too far from accepted orthodoxy, especially if they include violent or threatening behavior such as the Branch Davidians or socially deviant practices. Sometimes the state simply declares a group a cult, such as the Chinese Communist Party vilifying the spiritual practice of Falun Gong as part of its ongoing political persecution amid reports of horrific abuse of members of the group.

Cults are often differentiated from religions because they are based on a single charismatic, often manipulative leader, usually speaking with utter authority, without whom the cult can not last. Charles Manson and the Manson Family, Jim Jones and the People's Temple, Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church, and more recently Keith Raniere and NXIVM are all examples. These leaders tend to separate followers from their families and social circles so that they alone will be the sole source of information and affection, which guarantees loyalty.

"Cult followers typically consider their leaders divine or, at least, mandated by some supreme authority (God, fate, the forces of history, or whatever ethereal idea fits their particular world view) to change the universe," says Kathleen Taylor in "Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control."

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When does a cult become a religion?

Time.

Most, if not all world religions were considered cults when they began. Most recently Latter-Day Saints, Seventh Day Adventists and Scientologists have grown from cult status to recognized religions.

"To start with the most obvious points, a group that survives over generations cannot afford the sort of self-destructive, oppressive or anti-social behavior that appalls us in cults," said Sam Fleischacker, an author and professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago-Illinois. "It cannot engage in mass suicide, of course, nor is it likely to continue if it prescribes extremely unhealthy practices. And it is likely to fall apart, or draw upon itself harsh attention by the political authorities around it, if it oppresses its members or engages in attacks on outsiders. To become a religion, a group with a shared vision of what God wants, or what makes human life worth living, is therefore likely to develop a morality much like that of the society around it — and indeed declare that morality central to what it has to teach."

There is no central organization defining cult status, other than possibly the IRS declaring it tax exempt.

The State of Florida statutes do not attempt to define religion other than stating that free exercise of religion is protected, with some exceptions. "Exercise of religion" is defined as "an act or refusal to act that is substantially motivated by a religious belief, whether or not the religious exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief."

C. A. Bridges is a Digital Producer for the USA TODAY Network, working with multiple newsrooms across Florida. Local journalists work hard to keep you informed about the things you care about, and you can support them by subscribing to your local news organization. Read more articles by Chris here and follow him on Twitter at @cabridges

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Leesburg High School former band director: Was he running a cult?