If I list the accomplishments of the current Pope and explain how great I think he is doing and has always been doing and how he is just an awesome person, then I'm being cultish... even though I'm an atheist?

Your argument does not make any sense at all. It's a string of words ordered to seems to mean something rational, while it is in fact complete gibberish. Listing accomplishments paired with fawning and idolatry is ... exactly that. Reverence, not cultism.