Quoll,

Am I right in inferring from your post that, in your opinion, so long as someone looks at M the way they'd look at any other person or issue, they'd see him as a fraud and that it's only when they quit using their mind to judge him that they wouldn't? 

If that's the case, then why are you even bothering to try to rationally defend M here at all?  It seems kind of futile to me.  Why not just admit that on an objective, rational basis, M indeed looks like a fraud and that it's only "the heart" that can see him otherwise?

Quoll, what the hell do you think a cult looks like if not this?  Honestly, I'm asking you.  Isn't this just the epitome of one?