Q. Is The Agape Order a cult organization?

A. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1998, provides ten definitions under the entry cult. The definition intended by your question, however, is probably number six:

cult (kult), n. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.

Here is that definition as applied to the Agape Order:

1. As stated clearly at this website, the Agape Order is not a religious organization. In view of that, moreover, the AO would probably not be considered a sect, either, given the generally religious meaning of that word.

2. The love ethic is the sole principal promoted by the Agape Order, and its only raison d'etre. Most people probably do not consider the love ethic to be "false, unorthodox, or extremist." Indeed, loving other people is generally seen as desirable, if not highly so, in U.S. society and around the world.

3. The AO does not advocate that members live outside of conventional society. Indeed, the organization has no interest whatever in where or how members live, other than doing so in as loving a manner as possible, which is the sole prerequisite for membership.

4. Members do not live under the direction of any leader, charismatic or otherwise.

Accordingly, no, the Agape Order is obviously not a cult.

I suppose at most, we might term the AO a quasi-religious organization. "Religious" because it possesses some of the outward trappings of a religion such as rites and robes, and focuses on the moral and ethical dimension of existence, as religions do, or purport to do. But "quasi" because "religion," strictly understood, arguably consists of a body of people united in their belief in a diety or metaphysical entity of some kind (often referred to as "God," or by a term with a generally similar meaning).

The Agape Order neither asserts nor denies the existence of a diety or metaphysical entity. We unite solely around the desire to learn and live the love ethic, and we posit that it can exist whether or not "God" or any other metaphysical entity exists.

The love ethic, in all its sublimity and power, is our sole and only uniting element or principle!

Q. Does The Agape Order definition of Agape extend to non-human animals such as dogs, cats, or cows, or to other species of organism such as plants or insects?

A. While we recognize that certain belief systems, such as those rooted in the Hindu concept of Ahimsa, consider it morally unacceptable to harm life of any kind, this is not the predicate upon which the AO was founded. Agape essentially means "brotherly love," and thus is the focus of AO love for one's brothers and sisters in the human race.

However, the Agape program is relevant to individuals of any philosophical, religious, or spiritual quarter, provided they believe in the primacy or importance of the love ethic, and commit to living this principal in their lives every day, across every situation and circumstance.

It is also not incomprehensible that the kind of individual drawn to the AO message of universal love would likewise be drawn to a perspective or philosophy that reveres all life.

Q. What is the difference between The Agape Order and the Agape International Spiritual Center?

A. Here is the basic statement of definition of the Agape International Spiritual Center, culled directly from its official website:

The essence of Agape is best described by its founder, Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith: "When I founded the Agape International Spiritual Center and community in 1986, we “visioned” it as a movement that would take a stand for love, for peace, for being a beneficial presence on the planet. That’s why it was named "Agape," which in Greek means unconditional love. Agape’s vision is fueled by the love of God, the One, indefinable yet unmistakable Presence whose vehicle on earth is the human heart and soul. My aspiration is that every individual who is touched by the vibration of Agape is inspired to cultivate a heart of love as wide as the world."

The Agape Order believes in the primacy of the love ethic, and urges individuals of any philosophical, religious, or spiritual quarter to commit to learning this principal, and live it every day across every situation and circumstance. We do not ground our belief in Agape in any metaphysical system or belief, as does the AISC. Thus, for example, while a Christian, Jew, or Muslim, or atheist, agnostic, or humanist could all rightly join The Agape Order, thus strengthening the movement for Agape in the most comprehensive possible way, only the first class of persons, religious believers, would reasonably be expected to seek, or obtain, membership in the Agape International Spiritual Center.

Simply put, the AISC is a religious organization; The Agape Order, strictly speaking, is not. Other indications of the religious orientation of the former are its Annual Revelation Conference, and the fact that explicit mention of "God" is made in the first three of the five Spiritual Principles listed at the Agape Movement website.

Additionally, the conception and understanding of love of The Agape Order is ground in a kind of realpolitik. Thus, The AO urges members and others to seriously consider our second thesis, that a full and complete flowering or implementation of love is impossible in a global culture predicated officially on money, capital, and profit, not love, cooperation, and people. Indeed, AO asserts that the normal operation of the global hyper-capitalism of today inhibits the personal and social development and practice of love at every turn. Moreover, individuals interested in further exploration of this thesis have an informational and organizational vehicle available in the form of PCS, the sister organization of The Agape Order.

In contrast, neither the perspective nor program of the Agape International Spiritual Center apparently includes this critical element; nor does Dr. Beckwith's Association for Global New Thought. Indeed, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., advocating dramatic structural economic change late in his career, said: "...power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic."

"Love without power." Failure to recognize and address this problem is the grand deficit not merely of the Agape International Spiritual Center, but arguably most, if not all, systems of religious or spiritual belief. The AO call to scrutinize the juxtaposition of the global profit system with our aspiration and attempt to build a world based on love, is our attempt to pair love in the most realistic and effective way possible with the power that such an objective requires, and that is referred to, and indeed recommended, by Dr. King.

Last, the AISC, at least in the form of its website, appears to widely and openly promote Dr. Beckwith himself. For example, as of this writing, August 26, 2010, there are five photographs of Dr. Beckwith on the AISC homepage, alone. There is a photo on the AISC "About" page, with the following testimonial by Dr. Lawrence E. Carter, Dean of Morehouse College International Chapel:

"If it is so as Emerson stated that every institution is but the lengthened shadow of one person, then the Agape International Spiritual Center is indeed an extension of Dr. Beckwith and his vision of a world joined together by humanity’s highest spiritual and social evolution."

There is also a web page at the AISC site devoted specifically to Dr. Beckwith, which also presents his photograph, and the link for the AISC Online Community, contained on the Ministers page, also consists of a photo of Dr. Beckwith. This is a total of eight photographs of the founder on just four pages. I did not review every other site page.

I am not judging this display of photographs, only listing it as an apparent difference between the two organizations, since, in contrast, at the website of The Agape Order you will find neither a photo of the founder, this writer, nor any mention of my name. I avoid this specifically to forestall the impression that this organization exists for self-promotion or aggrandizement, or any reason other than the promulgation of brotherly love.

The two organizations, then, might be understood as loosely overlapping, although our respective predicates for belief and action are different, as are the implications of our respective theses. Ultimately, AO focuses only on the primacy of love, and leaves it to each individual to bring along whatever other beliefs they wish.