Pagan is another word that should be dropped even more certainly than cult.

Pagan is the word Christians used for non Christian religions starting after the Roman state converted, not the word anyone used for themselves.

Fair enough. English isn't my first language, so I basically go with what the dictionary says, in this case "An adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity". :)

Pagan is merely derived from the Latin word for “rural” or “rustic” because Christianity took hold in Roman cities first and non-Christian Roman gentry held out in the countryside.

Mostly, but I don’t think a Christian would call a Muslim or a Jew ‘Pagan’. It’s more of a synonym for polytheism.