The ongoing influence of Ellen G. White could certainly be regarded as cult-like. The SDA church is not a cult a la Scientology, in which members have been abused. We could refer to it as an "established cult" which, for some, might mean "a religion." As Mormonism might be described as the "Cult of Joseph Smith" that outlasted Joseph Smith and continued to grow, Seventh Day Adventism could be described as the "Cult of William Miller and Ellen G. White" that outlasted them and grew beyond them.