The thing cults and secret societies do is pretend to be something else while engaging in the activities that define them as cults and secret societies, and at the same time, they keep as many of these types of activities they engage in as hidden as they can, do as to keep up the illusion that hides what they truly are. The real issue with cults is when a whole country turns into one, as we see today, this bring us to the concept of the meta cult, where irrational dogmas define the culture of an entire nation, sacred cows that cannot be spoken of negatively, and the taboos that cannot be spoken of positively. This irrationality is covered up, by attacking the reasonable and by killing any thoughts that go against the dominant narratives of the time.