Mormonism is classed as misguided or a cult by 98% of Utah clergy (Deseret News, August 2001).

The term "cult" in modern connotation has evolved to include those religions which have demonstrated characteristics which are detrimental to the individual, society, or government. Tim Miller in the Fall of 1995 issue of Communities magazine identified thirteen characteristics that would classify a religion as a cult.

Using these thirteen criteria, the LDS, Mormon religion qualifies in all thirteen categories as a cult.

Characteristics of a Cult (Tim Miller)

1. "The group focuses on a living leader to whom its members appear to be extraordinarily committed."

2. "The group focuses heavily on recruiting new members."

3. "The group focuses heavily on making money"

4. "Members who question, doubt, or dissent with the group's beliefs are discouraged or punished."

5. "The group uses techniques that numb the mind to suppress doubts about the group and its leaders. These include long work routines, denunciation sessions, meditating, chanting, or speaking in tongues."

6. "The group's leaders tell members how they should act, think, and feel. For example, members must get their love life and jobs okayed. Leaders may tell them what kind of clothes to wear, where to live, how to raise their children, etc."

7. "The group sees itself as especially and uniquely blessed; for example, the leader is believed to be a Messiah or avatar, or the leader and the group have special orders to save the world."

8. "The group has an us-versus-them outlook, which puts it in conflict with mainstream culture."

9. "The group's leaders are accountable only to themselves and are not guided by or disciplined by any higher authorities as are, for example, military officers, and the ministers, priests, and rabbis of mainstream religions. The group believes its goals justify methods that members would have considered unethical before joining, such as raising money for fake charities."

10. "The leaders manipulate the members into feeling guilty in order to maintain control."

11. "Because members become subservient to the group, they cut ties to friends, families and the personal goals and activities they had before joining."

12. "The group expects its members to devote inordinate amounts of time to it."

13. "The group encourages or requires its members to live or socialize only with each other."