Are Ole Miss fans a cult?

The behavior of Ole Miss fans towards their football program feature a lot of similarities to a cult.

College football fans as a whole are a pretty passionate bunch.  After all, the word “fan” is a shortened version of “fanatic”.  So it stands to reason that fans, regardless of the team they support, are somewhat extreme in supporting their favorite team.  And there is certainly nothing wrong with this.  In fact, it’s probably the main reason college football is so great.

Yet there are fans of certain teams that take their fandom beyond what most would consider healthy.  For these fans, the obsession not only with their team, but with their coaches too, actually borders on the behavior normally associated with a cult.  This is especially true for Ole Miss Fans and their relationship with head coach Hugh Freeze.  And as the NCAA investigation continues to drag on, the behavior becomes more cult-like.

So what exactly is a cult?  Well rather than just throw around loaded words in an attempt to merely inflame, let approach this in a more systematic and scientific way.  Let’s examine some of the warning signs that experts commonly use to identify cults, and then compare the words and actions of Ole Miss fans and their leaders to those warning signs.  Fair enough?

There are many experts in this field, as well as many organizations that exist to help people who may have loved ones involved in a cult. For purposes of this article, I am using the cult warning signs identified by Dr. Michael Lagone, Executive Director of the International Cultic Studies Association and a noted expert on cults.  Using the checklist on cults that his group publishes, let’s take a look…..

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