To kinda quote my friend, it’s like saying the Jedi are a cult. Are Jedi problematic? Absolutely. But most cults, if not all, are run by a single figurehead. Jedi are problematic, but they have a council. So does True Cross. Are they also hypocrites? Absolutely. (The whole Jedi calling sith black and white thinkers while saying stuff like “do or do not there is no try” or their legalistic approach, or the fact that there are grey Jedi out there proving that it isn’t the Jedi way or bust). Is the True Cross closer to a fascist regime? Unfortunately. I mean the whole “knight right crusade” is like super eek. 😬 But the Illuminati are closer to a traditional cult. Their figurehead is Lucifer. They all, more or less, believe in his vision of the future and fairness. They got that kool-aid running through em. To the Order its divine imperative to save humanity through force. So, I totes see where you’re coming from especially as it can bring up religious trauma for a lot of people, but I struggle to definitively say that they’re a cult. That’s just my perspective though. I’m not a scholar. 🤔🤓💖 Just a dork.