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In Reply to: Re: Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) posted by Farmer on September 22, 2008 at 11:08:52:
Farmer wrote: "I believe they lived in their deluded grandeur & self-worship (even though he constantly wrote: don't praise me , praise the Lord..he thought to be a prophet, King & priest & that was already enough delusion)"
What you describe is what the author of Cults in America: Programmed for Paradise, Willa Appel calls "messianic etiquette". Here's what she says:
"To establish his credentials, the messiah must officially demonstrate that he or she does not eagerly embrace such an exalted burden but only accepts it upon realization that there is no other choice."
That quotation is cited by Daphne Bramham in her excellent, and highly recommended, book The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada's Polygamous Mormon Sect.
In that book she tells an interesting story of a graduate student who approached the cult leader, Winston Blackmore, for permission to live in his community for a few months as part of her research for her master's thesis on closed communities. Halfway through her project, however, she realized that far from being an objective observer, she was being treated like a new recruit and potential plural wife. The researcher wrote:
"This reminds me of the Monty Python movie, The Life of Brian, in which the mobs proclaim Brian as their leader and messiah, Exasperated, Brian yells at the people that they have to think for themselves. They respond in unison, 'Yes, we have to think for ourselves.'"
