Rogue Messiahs

What's it about: The stories and outrageous claims, acts, and abuses of 25 self-proclaimed messiahs who have arisen in the last 300 years. The probable factors that turn earnest religious leaders, mystics, or well-intentioned cult leaders into violent, abusive, murderous, and
paranoid rogue messiahs.

Chapters:

1- Sex as Salvation. (The final assault on Waco. The mass suicide of the Branch Davidians. Why do normal people join such cults?...)

2- The Millenium Cometh. (Sabbatai Zevi, the Messiah of 1666, mystic and kabbalist. The Jewish expectation of the Messiah. The Brethren of the Free Spirit...)

3- The Psychology of Discipleship. (Jim Jones and group marriage. Colonel Olcott and thaumaturgy. William James on "the will to believe." The career of Madame Blavatsky. The Tibetan Mahatmas...)

4- The Messiah as Killer. (Auguste Comte tries to overthrow religion. The case of Jeffrey Lundgren. Joseph Smith and the Mormons...)

5- A Taste of Power. (Arturo LeBaron becomes Prophet...)

6- How to Transform Reality. (Milton Rokeach and the Three Christs of Ypsilanti. Lindner's "participation therapy." Madame Yeti...)

7- The Psychiatrist as Messiah. (Freud versus Jung. "Man has a religious function." The craving for an authority figure...)

8- Strange Powers. (Rudolf Steiner and the incredible rise of Anthroposophy. The rise of Krishnamutri. Edward Irving and "speaking in tongues."... )

9- The Gospel of Free Love. (Lucina Umphreville and spiritual marriage. William Miller and the Day of Judgement that failed to arrive...)

10- The Sexual Watershed. (Henry James Prince and the Abode of Love...)

11- The Mask of Power. (Aleister Crowley and Shelley. Manson among the Flower Children. Yukio Mishima as messiah...)

12- The Second Stream. (Charlotte Bach's theory of sex: all men wish to become women and vice versa. Evolution as the result of sexual tension. David Berg and the Children of God...)