The C-word: what are we saying when we talk about cults?

All kinds of violent deeds have been perpetrated in the name of religion, from wars to witch-burnings to child sex abuse cover-ups. Why don't we use the word cult more widely?

Cults are hot right now, or so it would seem. One of the bestselling literary debuts of recent years, Emma Cline's The Girls, tells of a teenage girl's flirtation with a Manson-like cult in the summer of 1969. American Horror Story's seventh season, subtitled Cult, delivers a political horror story that references the Manson family and Jonestown alongside Trump and creepy clowns. Netflix viewers binged on the 2018 documentary series Wild Wild Country, with its deliriously cool soundtrack and archival footage of the Rajneeshees - followers of controversial guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.

Related: Jim Jones' lover: inside the mind of the cult leader's right-hand woman