Historians of religion have argued that “cult” is a damaging and otherizing term, at odds with the guild’s work of humanization. Logan seeks to recover the productive use of “cult” in religious studies. She argues that it should be assessed in relationship to the post-1950 rise of groups that blend religion and recovery, and which are protected through their IRS status as religious organizations. These groups stem from the unique history of Synanon, a group that originated the American model of drug recovery. Groups that are modeled off Synanon believe that addicts should discipline one another and be separate from the world and they argue that addiction is just one of many antisocial or “life controlling” issues. The history of Synanon should challenge historians of religion, Logan argues, to reassess the use of the word cult.

Dana Logan is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at UNC Greensboro. She is the author of Awkward Rituals: Sensations of Governance in Protestant America (University of Chicago Press, 2022).