There are several definitions of cult, and in recent years the term has taken on a negative connotation using one of the definitions from farther down on the list, namely that of a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader. But all religions, if they contain rites and ceremonies, are, in fact, cults. The more established religions and their adherents tend to distance themselves from the term, reserving it for use as a pejorative in an ad hominem attack against groups with differing doctrines or practices with which the more established religions do not agree. The word itself comes from the Latin cultus, which means cultivated to worship, Culture, meaning the customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group, is also derived from the Latin cultus.
cult, noun
a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
If the number of rites and ceremonies is the litmus test for how cultish a religion is, then Catholicism tops the hit parade. The origin of the pejorative use of the word began in the 1930 with the Christian Anti-culture Movement, where Protestant evangelicals and fundamentalists began demonizing all other denominations of Christianity (and other religions) that, basically, didn't interpret and teach the Bible the "correct" way. They were the first to pejoratively label Catholicism as a cult, as well as Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, Buddhists, and pretty much everyone else.
So while all religions are cults, they're just not all in the same vein as the Branch Davidians, the Moonies, and Scientologists.
