There is a fun Netflix documentary where a guy creates his own cult: Kumare.

In the end he feels bad for taking advantage of peoples’ trust particularly when vulnerable and has a semi-sincere apology for including them in his project.

So the first requirement is you need to be a bit of a sociopath or a true believer (aka a bit crazy)

Easy, join the cult of linux and bow to the power of the cult leaders: “doing math very fast”. BEHOLD.

This is why claiming to be a “prophet” (by any of a multitude of definitions) is so popular for cult leaders.

You can say you have information from a deity, one way or another, or even that you get special treatment from a deity. No special powers needed. If people believe in the deity and they believe you were chosen by that deity, to counteract that would mean counteracting the belief in the deity itself.

False prophets will arrive and mislead many

A good deal of the miracles happen conveniently off-screen, and mostly become “true” because the whole group tends to unanimously trust the mythos.

I think that is undercutting the prime requirement to be in a cult… too dumb to question shit like that.

All this hullabaloo about a guy who never existed. Jesus buttfucking Christ.

Coincidentally watched The Man Who Would Be King for the first time last night. 😆

Still trying to decide if Huston (or Kipling for that matter) intended the anti-colonialism or if that’s just my reading.

Yup. The requirement of “faith” is a sure sign of charlatanism.

It’s a funny thing, when you think about it. If you were truly God, you wouldn’t need to prove it; you could just make it so everyone believes you.