Cult Apologist - Uses of Term

Uses of Term

In 2000, Eileen Barker was criticized by Tom Sackville because "she refuses to condemn all new religions as 'cults'". She responded by pointing out that "we are not cult apologists. People make a lot of noise without doing serious research – so much so that they can end up sounding as closed to reason as the cults they're attacking. Besides, I imagine FAIR was disappointed not to get our funding." In her book Aliens Adored, Susan J. Palmer acknowledged that in some television interviews discussing Raelians, she "came across as a gullible cult apologist," while trying to "deconstruct the cult stereotype".

In a joint hearing before the United States Congress on the Waco Siege entitled: Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians, it was stated into the record that publicists for the New Alliance Party had circulated a report to Congress and the media called "What is the Cult Awareness Network and What Role Did it Play in Waco?". Testimony was also entered into the record stating that: "Their report relied on Linda Thompson, organizations created or funded by the Church of Scientology and the Unification Church.." and a "long-time cult apologist".

As reported by Singapore's The Straits Times in a 1997 article about the Central Christian Church, an attorney referenced a 1988 Milwaukee Journal report wherein an unnamed expert described religious scholar J. Gordon Melton as a "cult apologist who has a long association of defending the practices of destructive cults." In 1997, Melton was called an "apologist" for cults by Ronald Enroth. Anti-cult activists have also called Melton an "apologist" for Aum Shinrikyo because of his initial defense of the group after the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.