Had you bothered to watch the program, you would have heard last night how Scientology is like the Hotel California - you can check in but never leave. Leah spoke to a couple who escaped, separately. Each of them was followed, the guy was run off the road by Scientology enforcers who tried to kidnap him and take him back. The woman was required to have five escorts wherever she went (even to an appointment with the eye doctor).
Cults do that. Religions don't. Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Catholicism, the various Protestant denominations - do not forbid their members to leave the religion. They don't surround them with razor wire like at Scientology's base in Hemet, Calif. They don't guard them, kidnap them, track them down and harass them and their families. That's what Scientology does. That's what some other cults do. Baptists, Methodists, Roman Catholics, Sikhs (for example) don't do that.
WHAT IS A CULT?
Larry King asked me this very question after thirty-nine people took their lives in the largest mass suicide in U.S. history. He went on to ask whether Christianity might legitimately be referred to as a cult. As I explained on Larry King Live the word “cult” has various connotations.
First, a cult may be defined sociologically. From this perspective, a cult is a religious or semi-religious sect whose followers are controlled by strong leadership in virtually every dimension of their lives. Devotees characteristically display a displaced loyalty for the guru and the group and are galvanized together through physical and/or psychological intimidation tactics. This kind of cultist more often than not displays a “we/they” siege mentality and has been cut off from all former associations including their immediate families.
Furthermore, a cult may be defined theologically. In this sense a cult can be a pseudo-Christian organization that claims to be Christian but compromises, confuses, or contradicts essential Christian doctrine. Such cults operate under the guise of Christianity but deviate from the orthodox teachings of the historic Christian faith as codified in the ancient ecumenical creeds. Typically, devotees become masters at taking texts out of context to develop pretexts for their theological perversions. ...
Hank Hanegraaff, Equip.org.
Hope this helps. Feel free to read more at Equip.org.