cult vs skepticism

cult

noun
  • The veneration, devotion, and religious rites given to a deity (especially in a historical polytheistic context), or (in a Christian context) to a saint. 

  • A group of people having an obsession with or intense admiration for a particular activity, idea, person or thing. 

  • A group, sect or movement following an unorthodox religious or philosophical system of beliefs, especially one in which members remove and exclude themselves from greater society, including family members not part of the cult, and show extreme devotion to a charismatic leader. 

adj
  • Enjoyed by a small, loyal group. 

  • Of or relating to a cult. 

skepticism

noun
  • Doubt or disbelief of religious doctrines 

  • The practice or philosophy of being a skeptic. 

  • The doctrine that absolute knowledge is not possible 

  • A studied attitude of questioning and doubt 

  • A methodology that starts from a neutral standpoint and aims to acquire certainty though scientific or logical observation. 

How often have the words cult and skepticism occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )