Re: Deciding what's a cult and what's not

No.

Thought reform is the second characteristic used to define a cult in Lifton's paper "Cult Formation."

My book "Cults Inside Out" cites "Cult Formation" as the nucleus for a definition of a destructive cult and includes thought reform, coercive persuasion and certain influence techniquest in a chapter titled "Cult Brainwashing."

See [cultsinsideout.com]

There is an excellent documentary "Captive Minds" that demonstrates how thought reform, hypnosis and influence techniques can be used to manipulate and control people.

See [www.youtube.com]