And their means both as determined by their doctrine and expressed by their history vary greatly. In the US religions have been legally defined (a subject of much debate historically) as they are given tax and regulatory exemptions and often public funding. Here’s a good read on the topic from 1969:

https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3...

I’m curious, are there specific ones your referring to, or do you consider all mainstream denominations of Christianity cults?