Cult: According to the dictionary

[Philosoraptor]

cult
[kuhlt]

noun
1.
a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.

2.
an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially 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.

[Quantess]

1. What's the difference between a religion and a cult?

[Philosoraptor]

2. None

It's just that the word cult has been bastardized, like the word liberal. The word cult is used as an insult, but it describes all religions.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. A religion is a cult that's become respectable.

[lame54]

6. Size

[MineralMan]

7. Sheer numbers, mostly. However,

another definition of a cult is "a religious organization other than the one I belong to." That's the most common way it is used.

[graham4anything]

3. Cult=Ron and Rand Paul fans.

[DeeDeeNY]

5. the cult of Ronald Reagan

Many Republicans worship him. I've never been able to figure this one out

[Recursion]

8. It's not always even perjorative

e.g. the Catholic and Orthodox churches have subgroups in them that call themselves "cults", like the Cult of Madonna or the Cult of the Paschal Feast