We've been mormon. We know how fun it is to be a mormon.
And these narcissists like Rusty have to live with themselves. I'd hate to be any one of them. No matter how much "luxury" they get from tithing paying them or how much power they have. When they go home at night they have to LIVE with them (and Rusty has to live with Wendy). Isn't that justice???
If I were the spiritual leader of millions of people, I would at least try to do something about the institutional decay. He has to live with being in that position and doing basically nothing. But maybe he is a mascot without any actual power. That’s why the church doesn’t want GAs to be recorded.
Listen: Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some... farcical aquatic ceremony!
You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!! I mean, if I went 'round, saying I was an emperor, just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!
But what if that moistened bint was famous and had a lot of really neat doings attributed to her? What if the populace was really keen on believing it? What if they voted, after the fact?
I have a problem with using the word "deceived" if you are referring to rank and file members or missionaries. Deceived, like the word lied, implies that the person knew they were misleading someone. It was a deliberate act of misleading.
Misleading someone because you didn't know better is not deception.