LOL I knew at least ONE Of those would get a reaction. Pretty much any religion could be used in a cult if the leader was authoritarian and escape was difficult. She didn't define cult, but she pointed us toward several places where definitions could be found. Many of those things in the "how cults win" section are part of somebody's definition of cult.

She was speaking as an escapee, that is to say, she is sensitive to it. My impression was that she sees cults everywhere, and that she may be disposed to believe that any strict moral code enforced by family/church is cult-like.

My personal take is that there is a huge gray area between religion/community/groupthink/cult and freethinking/authenticity/notCult. Most humans reside somewhere in that gray area. It is our nature to want to believe in something, even if what we believe in makes little sense.