You'll be suprised to find that some people think that a religion and a cult are one in the same. Check out this article
Source(s):
http://www.gotquestions.org/scientology-Christian-cult.html

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How do you define a weed? There's no true classification that makes a plant a weed, only the perceived desirability by the gardener. A weed to you is beautiful vegetation to me.

The same goes for religions and cults. The term "cult" is a derogatory word for religions that are deemed harmful.

"...if you believe in it, it is a religion or perhaps 'the' religion;
and if you do not care one way or another about it, it is a sect;
but if you fear and hate it, it is a cult." - Leo Pfeffer.

"A cult is a church down the street from your church." - Anon

I write all of this, not because I am a fan of Scientology, but because I belong to a spiritual faith that is not mainstream and has sometimes - very mistakenly - been called a cult. To me, "cult" is a buzz-word for fear and ignorance, so I hesitate to label any faith as such.

HOWEVER....if I had to label ten religious movements in history as cults, Scientology would probably make the list. It does seem to exert forms of control over members and has a strange amount of money and influence for such a seemingly small religious sect.

But to argue as devil's advocate, just because the religion is "strange" to most people and was founded based on modern sci-fi writings, doesn't make it "wrong". Every religion was created at some point by some "guy" whose writings and ideas probably seemed crazy at the time. Religions only need time and people to gain legitimacy. A thousand years from now - if we're all still around - Scientology could be a major mainstream religion!
Source(s):
http://www.religioustolerance.org/cults.htm

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It is both a religion and a cult, as are nearly all forms of organized religion that involves membership or group worship are cults, no matter how widely accepted they may be.

If you compare their definitions, you will see that both really do apply to most examples and that cult doesn't necessarily imply "bad":

From Dictionary.com:

cult
–noun
1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. the object of such devotion.
4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
6. 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.
7. the members of such a religion or sect.
8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.

religion:
–noun
1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
4. the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
5. the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
6. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.

Cult is one of the many words we use that over time has come to not only carry its literal meaning, but also the prevailing societal opinion of that meaning. Most "religious" folks are offended if you say that they belong to a "cult", but regardless of the offense they take it is not technically wrong.

There are a lot of words in the English language that have had their meaning corrupted over time to imply something much worse than when the words originated. If I accuse someone of molesting their daughter, it is taken as one of the most horrific things a parent could do, yet "molest" originally meant "bother" or "annoy". In Spanish, "molestar" is still commonly used to be mean "bother" or "annot" and doesn't necessarily imply sex. According to Dictionary.com:
molest
–verb (used with object)
1. to bother, interfere with, or annoy.
2. to make indecent sexual advances to.
3. to assault sexually.

If you look at the above definitions of cult, only #6 and #8 carry possibly negative connotations, yet lately they seem to be what people now fixate on when using the term. If you think about, "cult" obviously has positive connotations too, as we usually use "culture" and "cultivate" in as positive terms.

Regarding Scientology:
It fully meets criteria for both cult and religion, including the negative connotations.

Oh, I just saw a perfect image for this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shaun-g/2408842184/

Your first thought was probably that "GAY" in this sign was intended an homosexual related insult until you read the full message. Note how "queer", another term used by many as a put down, is also being embraced by the sign holder to describe himself. To me, "cult" is a similar word that our popular culture has attached judgments to.
Source(s):
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cult
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/molest

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It's a religion, but it used to also be a cult when the founder, Ron L. Hubbard, was still alive.
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