In this note, I intend to write about a concept that has been less discussed in the literature of Library and Information Science. This concept has a cultural appearance. However, its roots are religious. One of the manifestations of marginalization is the forced separation of individuals from human society based on religious beliefs. This separation is absolutely not normal. That is, believers in a religion do not have an organic and daily connection with society and, as a result, do not find an opportunity to be absorbed in public programs and services and cannot identify themselves with others. They make their religious belief the basis for forming a small community and limit all their communication to members of that community. In fact, they create a closed group within society that only followers of the same religion are allowed to enter. This religious community, which is mainly controlled by a middle-aged religious leader, is a breeding ground for extremist ideas and requires its members to participate seriously and full-time in the programs announced by the community leader. What I am writing about is called a cult.

Cults are closed, tightly controlled, extremist, disciplined, and sometimes dangerous religious communities that initially start operating as a semi-open system and, after establishing an iron organizational order and reaching the minimum forces needed to manage internal affairs, transform into a closed system. The cult’s ideology is based on purity of religious belief, unquestioned superiority over the social fabric, the misguidance of others, pollution and dangers outside the cult, and the impossibility of cooperation with others. The cult leader expects his followers to devote themselves full-time to the cult’s beliefs and program. They must accept that they can only grow spiritually within the cult’s internal atmosphere, and, in order to be safe from the dangers of other societies that are contaminated by politics and economics, they must limit their communication to the cult’s members. The cult believes that it offers the only authentic version of a religion and that the experience of spiritual and mystical growth will be vulgarized if approached by those other than cult members. Religious cults sometimes seek to reform societies and, since they do not believe in normal cooperation with others, use the only remaining method of bringing about change: violence. There have been numerous reports of violent acts by cult members against those they consider corrupt or at least deceived by Satan.

I do not want to write more about cults. Those interested can refer to the relevant sources. The issue of a religious cult that can become a crisis is important for us in that the cult leader not only prevents their members from normal contact with other people but also controls access to the public services. Members of the cult do not have the right to contact governmental and non-governmental organizations and receive services that are the right of every citizen according to the law. They do not contact outside the cult except in emergency situations and with the help of one of the leaders’ trusted people. Among the services that cult members are deprived of is the service that libraries provide in person or remotely. The goal of libraries is, first and foremost, to raise public awareness by encouraging people to use printed and non-printed information. That is, libraries are at the forefront of accessibility and breaking any form of monopoly. They promote freedom of thought and encourage reading and understanding. This lofty ideal is in contradiction with the approach of cults. Cult members, who mainly read a single religious text received from the source of revelation or dictated by the cult leader as a saving prescription, consider themselves free from the need to study. The cult leader tightly controls the thoughts of the members. Cult members are brainwashed and are often required to write and report their thoughts periodically (daily or weekly). This process, which is carried out in group meetings, allows the cult leader to be aware of the tendencies of the members and take the necessary action to control them in a timely manner. In the meetings to review thoughts and receive reports, members can verbally abuse and humiliate a person whose thinking has slipped. This process makes the cult member obedient, timid, and isolated and provides them like dough to the leader.

Libraries have many problems in serving members of religious cults because they are basically unwilling to receive library services. They follow the curriculum dictated by the cult leader, and as long as they believe in their superiority over others, they cannot be transformed from a closed and marginalized community into a group ready to dissolve into society. Religious cults represent the worst form of marginalization. Libraries must help people avoid falling into the trap of cults by informing them. Otherwise, it becomes almost impossible to return cult members to normal life, and even if a person leaves a cult after several decades, the effects of living in a closed system will keep them marginalized forever.