RECOVER FROM COERCIVE CONTROL
Other Groups Operating in Australia
Cults With a Little "c"
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Renée's Cult Ranking System, aims to separate the wheat from the chaff. This means that while some groups may attract the term "cult", they are not necessarily destructive or harmful. For example, popular personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Steve Irwin, and Fred Hollows may be described as having cult followers but their influence is generally considered to be positive. ​
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A group may hold quirky, strange, or even bizarre ideologies, but if no one is being harmed, then it's a matter of personal choice. Basic human rights affirm that everyone is entitled to "freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. This right includes freedom to change one's religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest one's religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance." This principle establishes the dividing line of "freedom of religion" (italic emphasis is mine).