There is a small group of people who believe that the Lubvatcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson zt"l is in fact God. For example, the front page of the website for a synagogue(?) in Mikwaukee reads, in part, "Yechi Eloheinu Moreinu V'Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L'Olam Va'ed!"
Is there an official Chabad/Lubavitch position on the status of those people? Does mainstream Chabad consider them to be true Hasidim? Perhaps they are even considered to be non-Jews? If there is no official position, is there a general consensus among the community?
Answer
Of course, Chabad (or anyone else really, but they may use different language) would consider someone practicing Avodah Zarah in its most egregious form still Jewish, but Chabad, both the non-Meshichist side and the Meshichist side, reject this completely.
See here for some links to source letters. Note that the one from the Beis Din of Crown Heights is signed by Rabbi Marlow ע"ה, who was a supporter of the Meshichist side.
There was also a huge Mechoh made back in the times before the internet was in wide use of most of the Rabbonim who support the Meshichist side condemning this idea as completely against Torah. I don't know if a copy exists online.
There is no test of being a "true" Chosid. Such a statement can mean many things, from fitting into the normative practices of the Chassidic community, to a true dedication to the Rebbe's cause. The former is a much larger group than the latter, but there is no official litmus test.
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