Top 10 Evil Cults You May Not Have Heard Of A ‘cult’ is a difficult thing to define. Some will argue that some authoritarian regimes, such as those headed by Stalin and Mao, were like giant, secular cults. There’s some validity to that—the loss of individual autonomy, an expected unwavering support for the leader, harsh punishments for those who seek to leave or expose the egregious actions of the regime. But were they cults? Not in the strictest definition of the term. Others argue that Catholicism, Islam and Mormonism are cults. Whilst these religions may skirt the edges of cult-like practices, and certainly spawn offshoot sect that do fall into a cleaner definition of ‘cult, they cannot broadly be categorized as ‘cults’.