We explain what a cult is and its meaning when referring to religion, language and cinema. Also, what is freedom of worship?
What is a cult?
Today, when we speak of a cult, we usually refer to a more or less informal group, organized around beliefs shared religious, mystical or esoteric. Cults distinguish ordinary people from cult initiates, revealing their secrets only to their most advanced practitioners.
The use of the term in this sense is above all pejorative, as a way of distinguishing the religions officers of these informal esoteric or mystical groups, often also referred to by the name of sect.
Now this is a rather colloquial use of a word that has a rather complex history and set of meanings. Cult comes from Latin cultus, Latin verb form colere, which can be translated as "cultivating", and which is clearly linked to the world of agriculture: cultivating is sowing and inhabiting the land, making it fertile, extracting fruits from it.
From there also comes the word culture, since this sense was applied in a figurative way to the human spirit, that is, to the mind: even today the phrase "a cultivated person" is used to refer, precisely, to someone "cultured", that is, who has cultivated his mind with knowledge and learning, or possessing a fertile spirit.
However, we must distinguish between the adjective "cult", applied as in the example in the previous paragraph, and the noun "cult", which has the meaning we gave it at the beginning.
Since religion was once the main form of education social, moral and citizen of the peoples, religious practice was also understood as a form of cultivation of the spirit, which, as in the case of agriculture, had to be carried out through rites and ceremonies of a cyclical, repetitive type.
Many of these senses, and those historically associated with the idea of worship and culture, nonetheless survive today. When we speak of "cult of personality", for example, we refer to a form of devotion around the way of being of a Leader social or political, who is venerated as if he were a religious icon.
Religious worship
The religious meaning of the word "cult" comes, as we explained before, from its figurative association with the image of the cultivation of the land: religion cultivates the human spirit as the peasant does the land, so that it is fertile, so that it gives fruits. Hence perhaps that religions consist of repetitive, repetitive, cyclical practices, just like agriculture.
The truth is that every religion and every form of mysticism involves a cult, that is, a series of identifiable practices destined to form ties of religion. solidarity, brotherhood and membership among the faithful. The cult ChristianFor example, it encompasses the different versions put into practice by each of the churches that, however, have in common their veneration of Jesus of Nazareth as divine messiah.
However, in modern times the term "cult" has been used to distinguish between religions and unofficial practices, called "sects" or "cults", as understood by the German philosopher and sociologist Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923).
Freedom of worship
For Liberty of cults or religious freedom is understood as the fundamental right that most of the societies Modern laws grant their citizens to freely choose and practice their religion, choose none, or openly profess the atheism or agnosticism. It is a fundamental law for the separation between Condition and religion, that is, to have a secular state that does not meddle in matters of faith.
Freedom of religion is internationally recognized as a human right fundamental, in documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Cult film
The term "cult movie" or "cult director" are commonly used in cinephile slang, that is, in the speech of fans of the movie. movie theater. It means that a film or a director is widely followed and celebrated by a large part of the community interested in watching and making films.
Thus, a cult film or director is a frequent mention among the influences of new creators, has hints or references in other works of the same or of different film genres, and constitutes, unofficially, an institution for those interested in cinema.
Cult language
In the case of language cult or cultivated language, we refer to a form of speaks or from writing formal, careful and demanding, employing a lexicon technical, specialized or not very conversational. It is the form of language that dominates in academic, specialized or philosophical situations, so it requires recipients with a high degree of training, that is, educated or cultivated recipients.