To this day, historians are divided on whether Augustus was really a good or bad force in the course of the breakdown of the Roman Republic, and whether his reign can be seen as constructive or destabilising.

Which brings me back to the original point. What is the purpose of a cult? I would argue it is a naturally-occurring phenomenon that help society navigate the ambiguous. The ambiguous can be interpreted in many ways. It is thus extremely destabilising.

When evidence is lacking and facts are ambiguous, like it or not, we all have to take a biased perspective on how we proceed forward. Cults unite societies to ensure those ambiguities can be faced collectively in a stabilising way. This is how cults give rise to CULTURE.

This, for example, is Warsaw's Palace of Culture AND science - a gift from the USSR to the Polish people, recognising the tricky balance between ambiguity and facts. It represents the power of being able to influence a society's perspective on the ambiguous.

But it was also representative of a cult that the Poles did not give consent to joining. They had a different perspective on the ambiguous.

So I guess my point is, cults are OKAY & potentially stabilising forces. But ONLY if you join them freely of your own mind and in full recognition of the fact that you are suspending neutrality for the sake of a biased perspective on the ambiguous. Which may or may not work out.

They are, however, not a substitute for "science", because they are by definition anti-scientific.

When ambiguities run high, voluntary cult formation is a potentially good and stabilising force. If people understand the reason they are being asked to suspend neutrality, it can make sense. What people must not be is duped.

A good cult never hides the fact that there are other perspectives out there, or other cults that might be more suitable for you and your own. It ask you to join it voluntary. It does not attempt to recruit or impose its ways on others.

That is the essence of what the culture wars really are I think. A battle between many different cults trying to make sense of modern-day ambiguity. My only warning is that it's probably wise to be wary of the cult that tries to obscure it is a cult.

I also think it’s important to focus on the positive attributes of some benign cults and the stabilizing force they play in society. A good one for generations and generations has been FOOTBALL.