I came here to give a shout-out to the earlier, established use of cult to mean small religion - before it was hijacked by people like Walter Martin to demonize religions they didn't like.

> The academic usage of the word cult is quite different than the common usage, the common usage is the one that has relatively recently acquired a deragatory meaning.

Words used for non-Abrahamic Religions: Myth, Legend, Cult, Folklore, Pagan, Heathen, Infidel, Idolator, Disbeliever/Non-believer.

All of these words inherently have a derogatory, racist meaning. This should be classified as racism and is as bad as, or worse than Nazism[1][2] but since 2/3rd of the population follows one of the Abrahamic Religions it is given a pass.

1. Read up on Goan Inquisition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goa_Inquisition#Persecution_of...

2. Mughal India ~ The Biggest Holocaust in World History: https://www.sikhnet.com/news/islamic-india-biggest-holocaust...

Why don't we start calling all religions cults instead. That would solve the problem of word usage you're talking about.