Let's start a cult

[unoduetre]

Let's start a cult and make some money.

In this thread we brainstorm about how the new cult might work.

We need to think about:
1. the ideology—it must be convincing
2. the hierarchy and the career path
3. how to get new members
4. how to prevent old members from leaving
5. how to collect money from members and outsiders
6. how to convince members to work for the cult for free
7. how to prevent the world from knowing what happens inside the cult
8. anything else?

All ideas are welcome!

[unoduetre]

I think what scientology does is pretty smart.

They use a device which (they claim) works in a similar way to a lie detector. They record the confessions, so later they can use them to blackmail members and prevent them from leaving the cult or spreading inconvenient information about the cult.

So it solves 4, 7 and (to some degree) 6 at the same time.

[unoduetre]

A nice idea is to claim that there is someone invisible who watches each member all the time and that being will grant rewards and punishments in life after death.

It solves 6 and 5, 7 to a certain degree, and also contributes to 1 (people in general want to live forever).

[unoduetre]

Also, it might be good to claim that the cult leader has unique access to the supernatural (he/she is the chosen one etc.) in some way, but is still human.

It's important to say that the person is still a normal human and not some kind of a god, so in case there is some fuckup, one can still claim that "I'm just a weak human, I make mistakes."

But the leader cannot be removed because the leader is the only person who has access to the supernatural (hears the word of god, sees the future, has access to the world of the dead/another world, communicates with aliens etc., we need to choose the best option).

So it's a nice contribution to 2 (for the top of the hierarchy).

[unoduetre]

I like the idea that "the truth" is not revealed all at once, but it's done step by step while the member advances to the next level of the hierarchy. In this case the members would like to advance because of the curiosity and because they want to know "the answer to the meaning of life". I think the advancement should only be possible for members who contribute something:
- free work
- money/material goods etc.
- connections
- they recruit new members

It contributes to 2, 3, 5, 6.