anti-cultists

Gurus and the Guru-shishya tradition have been criticized and assessed by secular scholars, theologians, anti-cultists, skeptics, and religious philosophers.

He questioned the tactics of anti-cultists and their claims over brainwashing in several books and articles coauthored with Anson Shupe, such as Strange Gods, Moonies in America, and The New Vigilantes.

Gordon Melton also dismisses these criticisms by stating that the usage of the term " cults " by what he calls " anti-cultists " reflects the negative evaluation that new religious movements have endured.