After producing some articles about cult
members, I now have a few things to say about cult leaders.
The godlike cult leader
No matter what type or size of cult is being
investigated, religious, political, lifestyle or other, it will have many
features in common with other cults.
Similarly, the leader will have attributes in
common with most other cult leaders, no matter what their nationality or
ideology is.
The most significant of these is the messiah
complex.
Only they can save us all; they must be
worshipped and obeyed without question. They expect to be treated with respect
and even reverence as great spiritual masters, heroes who are going to save the
world or model examples of what highly-evolved people should be, depending on
what sort of cult they are leaders of.
They may claim a direct connection to and do
everything using the authority of some god.
