Well, the majority of mainstream religions started as some kind of cult.
That is certainly NOT true. Cults like scientology are manipulative, brainwashing, moneygrabbing etc... Many religions didn't start out that way at all.
JP is right about Hubbard and Psychology, I remember reading about a bad experience he had or something. Also scientology tends to claim it's a scientific movement to debunk scientology, then when scientists criticize them for their unscientific kooky claims, they claim to be a religion, they just go back and forth to get away with it (plus get off paying taxes).
