Could Network Marketing be considered as a "cult"?

I've been looking into network marketing as a business oppurtunity but suddenly it hit me.... is this not similar to being in a cult? I am not referring to 1 spesific business or network but to it in general - the whole network marketing concept, the way they recruit, educate, motivate, keep people lock in. etc. Please I am not asking for any Network Marketers to attack me. This is a sincere question. Your answers can be based from a biblical, religous or non religious point or from personal experience. If from an personal experience, please share it.

Could Network Marketing be considered as a "cult"?
This is not unique to network marketing... in fact, the best "regular" companies usually have "cult" like feelings among the employees. And during the dot-com boom nearly everyone, even in the "dumb" idea companies were "drinking the coolaide" thinking they were a part of something big. Today I bet Google employees feel this way... that they are somehow special for being employed by Google. In addition, stock options (which are commonly called "golden handcuffs" because of how they keep you at the company until they "vest" and companies can keep you longer and longer by continuing to grant new stock options to valued employees) create a financial incentive based on the performance of the company's stock... so employees often become over zealous in their praise and belief in the company. So... yes, network marketers can act like this (but not all do) just as regular company employees can act like this (but not all do). I have personally felt that way about 2 "regular" companies during my career... one totally blew up when the market changed on them and they didn't adapt, and the other is a dot-com that is still in business but is valued at about 1/10th of what it had been when I was there during it's height. In my current network marketing company I feel that I'm a part of something big... but I'll never fall prey to the cult-like feelings that I've gone thru twice before - we may be flying high now - but markets, trends and industries change... and by being watchful, as opposed to "high", is the way to see that we've got to adapt when the market calls for it (unlike my previous two companies)
Reply:I think the business is very dogmatic.
Reply:MLM's use the same dastardly tactics as religions, yes, every religion started as a "Cult"
Reply:well this network marketing concept is usd 150 billion industry and its growing in double digit growth per annum and each business [whether traditional or network marketing] works on designed system otherwise it fails and if any one thinks that network marketing concept, working on a system to be successful, is a cult then they can be happy by the way they think.