Does anyone have any insight on the path that a religion takes to become an accepted religion? I think it's very interesting that Scientology and Mormonism are considered acceptable, even though they were considered cults a few decades ago. I am wondering about how long it normally takes, and what other factors go into, making a religion acceptable as opposed to a simple cult?
I would just like to quickly point out that at least from what I've seen, Scientology is far from acceptable, with Alex Gibney's recent documentary bring the church even more negative attention due to the truly shocking things that go on in that church, which I would gladly elaborate on if you want. The church has been illegal in Germany for years, and right now there is a movement to get the IRS in the US to remove their tax exempt status.
In answer to your original question: At least with Mormonism, I would say its general acceptance has come simply from its success as a religion. There are over 6 million Mormons in the US alone, and their membership has been steadily increasing. Scientology, on the other hand, counter to what the church says, only has about 20,000 verifiable members, a number which if anything has gone down in recent years.
This question might be worth x-posting to /r/AskSocialScience