A visitor asked aloud if Toastmasters is a cult. Excellent question. Let's look at that.
Is Toastmasters a cult or a culture ?
There are several definitions of each in the dictionary. The connotation of cult implies devotion to a usually spurious or unorthodox person, idea, object or movement. Culture is about shared values, attitudes, conventions. The second definition from my heirloom 1940 edition of Webster's dictionary applies to Toastmasters: " Act of developing by education, discipline, etc. training or refining of the moral and intellectual nature. "
Different industries inevitably evolve their own inside lingo and shared values. For example, I learned long ago that medical device manufacturers move at a glacial pace compared to other industries. There is a mandate to discontinue DEHP in 2019 which is like tomorrow afternoon in medical device land.
Shared conventions and lingo are divisive but nowhere near as extreme as cutting a member off from their former life which appears to be a common best practice for cults.
About the only thing the culture of Toastmasters has in common with cults is the use of inside acronyms. After 8 years, I'm still learning more. The worst that happens is the new member is confused during conversations with veteran members. Toastmasters is about enhancing communication with everyone a member meets. It makes no sense to isolate their members if they want to expand membership.
Culture ? yes cult ? no