Do cult leaders really believe what they preach?
We can’t know what they really believe, but their acts speak for themselves. Many leaders of religious cults claim to be G-d’s special messengers, prophets, Jesus, the Messiah, or G-d Himself. For example, Jews believe that “the messiah” will bring about peace for mankind. This appears to be a noble and serious task. One cult leader who claims to be the messiah goes to Las Vegas and gambles huge sums of the hard-earned money that his followers collect, for 10 to 15 hours a day, on street corner
Zalman Kravitz