Comment on A lot of people who try to start a religion are seen as mentally ill. Like Jim Jones, David Koresh, the UFO guy, and L Ron Hubbard. Then could it be a safe bet that Jesus was mentally ill?

southsamurai@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

Well, your first two examples started sects of established religions. And they were also cults.

Scientology amounts to a religion in a sense, though it’s just a very large cult that barely fits the usual concept of religion.

But, yeah, if you buy into Jesus having done what’s said in the bible and/or believed by christians, dude was starting a sect at least. I’ve seen people debate if what he was teaching was really “just” a reformation of judaism, or an intentional schism intended to start something new-ish, but the story of the new testament is of a charismatic cult leader building a sect.

Regardless of one’s faith in said charismatic cult leader, he didn’t do much that Koresh didn’t try. Managed to do a bit better than koresh or jones in that there was no mass suicide (and waco was that to an extent).

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