The plot thickens, though.

Crowly was denounced in the press of his day as “possibly the wickedest man in the world.” He was Satanist, among other things; it goes to show that a man can speak a truth in the midst of a thousand lies…and I think most of us who were part of TSAF would agree that is why we did not leave sooner. The social outcast-ness appealed to our independence on one level- completely isolated us on another.

In the end, we were simply human, struggling with most of the same poignancies of life as any other human. The number one item on my “To get over” list was being “special.” We were neither specialy good, nor were we especially bad people. Most of us were average people who either fell into, or were born into a mind trap.

My quote was not a condoning of Crowly’s ideas or his words, even. I quoted his thought to demonstrate how someone else felt after finding himself betrayed by religion.

We are not alone, historically, or at present, in our feelings of betrayal and disconnect. That is evident by the many dark statements regarding organized religion.

On the other hand you suggest people who came to the Alamo group were desperate. Thay may be true for some, but it is no more the case for Alamo-ites than converts of other popular myths. The people who were converted there were neither more nor less intelligent on average than the general population. They were more idealistic (indicated by the age in which they were converted.)