Ever heard of Marshall Applewhite (Heaven’s Gate), David Berg (The Children of God), Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science), L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology), Jim Jones (People’s Temple), David Koresh (Branch Davidians), Sun Myung Moon (Unification Church), Elijah Muhammad (Nation of Islam), Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Rajneeshites), Joseph Smith, Jr. (Mormonism), and Victor Paul Wierwille (The Way Interntional)? Those are the names of just a few of the founders of some of this country’s largest and most notorious cults and religious movements. Most of the groups still exist, though those cult founders are all now dead. You have probably read about most of them and their groups, either on the MarketFaith website (www.marketfaith.org) or elsewhere. One of them was assassinated (Smith). Two of them (Jones and Applewhite) led their followers in mass suicides (918 for Jones). Another set fire to his cult compound in a deadly conflagration killing himself and 75 others (Koresh). All the others died of natural causes (that we know of).
The worldviews and beliefs of these various movements differed widely. Some even claimed to be Bible believers (Eddy, Koresh, Smith, Wierwille). The others borrowed their doctrines from Islam, eastern religions, or just made them up themselves. One turned what was at one time a Christian church into a Marxist sex cult (Jones). If there is one common denominator we see in all of these cult leaders, it is they all exhibited classic symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. So what is that, you ask?
To understand that psychological disorder, it helps to understand the origin of that term. In ancient Greek mythology, Narcissus was the son of the river god Cephissus and a nymph named Liriope. He was known for his physical beauty and self-pride. One day he looked into a pool of water and fell in love with his own image, not realizing it was only a reflection. So, disheartened with his inability to possess his loved one, he sat and gazed at the image until he died.
Thus the word “narcissism” or “narcissist” is often applied to someone who is self-absorbed or conceited. Psychologists have adapted that concept to describe a specific type of personality disorder they call Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). According to British professor Jeremy Coid, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at Queen Mary University of London, there are nine basic traits of people with NPD.
The nine traits Coid lists are as follows.
1. Grandiosity – thinking they are someone great or very important.
2. Arrogant and Domineering – treating other people with contempt.
3. Preoccupation with success and power – desiring to be successful at all costs and acquiring power over other people.
4. Lack of empathy – an inability to understand or care about other people’s feelings, even those close to them.
5. Belief about being unique – an irrational belief that they are one of a kind and specially gifted above others.
6. Requiring excessive admiration – the need for constant adulation and respect.
7. Sense of entitlement – the assumption that they entitled to whatever they want when they want it.
8. Exploitative – Taking advantage of other people’s weaknesses or strengths for their own purposes without expressing thanks or giving due credit.
9. Envious of others – the desire to want or take whatever someone else possesses (looks, money, spouses, cars, etc.).
Coid says many people demonstrate one or more of the traits and behave quite well. They often are driven to be successful in business, sports, or whatever they do. However, if an individual exhibits five or more of the characteristics he or she may be in danger of having NPD. This makes his or her egotistical behavior difficult for others to tolerate, and may cause him or her to act in unhealthy or even illegal ways.
Naturally, we may all recognize some of these traits in people we know. We also can look back in history at persons who exhibited many of them and probably had NPD. Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, and many other infamous tyrants certainly were examples of NPD.
But one area where this disorder may raise its head in bizarre and dangerous ways is in religion. When we analyze the lives and careers of the cult leaders mentioned above, we immediately recognize many of the NPD traits in all of them. We often refer to such people or their disciples as religious fanatics.
For example, L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, clearly exhibited grandiosity, arrogance toward his employees, was preoccupied with power, had a lack of empathy, and constantly required the admiration of those around him.
Another good example was Sun Myung Moon, founder and “Lord of the Second Advent” of the Unification Church. He not only had grandiose delusions, he had an irrational sense of his own uniqueness. He actually believed (I think) that he was literally the second Messiah, equal or superior to Jesus. He was excessively exploitative of his church members, working them without rest to raise money and proselytize new recruits. Moon also lived like a king in several mansions, thinking he truly deserved to possess great admiration and wealth.
It does not take much analysis of the lives of each one of the above cult leaders to see the NPD traits each one exhibited. The really difficult thing, though, is to figure is how intelligent people could give up their own wills and minds to follow such unhinged personalities. Our natural inclination is to think “that could never happen to me.” Yet, there are hundreds, or maybe thousands, of localized religious groups (even many evangelical churches) where cult-like behavioral control and NPD traits are practiced. Many otherwise smart people just do not see the dangers inherit in blindly following authoritarian or exploitive leaders. Others simply turn a blind eye to unethical policies of powerful religious figures (especially in the area of finances). It all goes to show how easily any of us can be manipulated or deceived. It demonstrates the need for Christians to develop strong senses of spiritual discernment and to watch for the signs of NPD in those in positions of spiritual authority.
© 2018 Tal Davis
Maybe one of the main reasons these otherwise “intelligent people”, as mentioned here, are easily duped by leaders who are textbook narcissists, that obviously show symptoms of Narcissism, is because narcissistic traits in general seem to be on the rise. In fact, people are often attracted to others who have some of these narcissistic traits. In fact, possessing traits such as perfectionism and a zeal to be the best, along with a charismatic personality, are often considered signs of the supposed “rugged individualism” many Americans admire. Also, as more people have become acclimated to dealing with people with narcissistic traits, by perhaps having been raised by one, or had teachers, or friends or bosses with similar qualities, they unconsciously have learned how to act around narcissists, so as not to tap into their “narcissistic rage”! So they’re harder to spot, since these traits are becoming so common . If you don’t truly know what you’re dealing with, and you’ve become so accustomed to this sort of person being considered relatively “benign”, you’re easy to dupe!
Thank for your comments, Linda. Good insights.
–Tal Davis