Cult Leaders and Their Abuse of Power Although power should be used with virtue by those with good intentions, many of the most powerful people in the world use it in ways that deliberately harm others. people, the most famous example of this being that of Adolf Hitler during World War II. More generally, this includes some past (and present) members of royal families, some political leaders as well as some religious leaders who have used their power to manipulate those below them in terms of social status. An example of a “religious” leader abusing his power is Reverend Jim Jones who initiated ritual suicide to protest racism and fascism. Even though in his mind he intended to feed himself, to save the world from Armageddon, he was insane and in the overabundance of power he was able to kill over 900 people. It is unclear whether Jim Jones committed suicide during the ritual or was shot by another, so it is uncertain to say that he also intended to die. Although his protests had good moral intentions, he was wrong to use his status as Housing Authority president and award winner to rally additional supporters to join in the suicide. Here he overstepped the bounds and abused the power assigned to him by endangering the lives of others. Being in his position, he was most likely aware that he had many supporters who believed in him and would gladly follow his example. That's when he chose to abuse his power by taking advantage of the people who had the most respect and admiration for him. Charles Manson is an example of a cult leader who abused his power, but with very different intentions than Jim Jones. Charles Manson wanted revenge for all the wrongs he had suffered, which is much more selfish and very different from Jim Jones. Charles Manson had a very turbulent childhood as the son of a bisexual, alcoholic teenage prostitute. Alternating between the homes of his relatives and orphanages, it is not surprising to see that his criminal activity germinated from a very young age. Manson's incredible charisma attracted many hippies and he managed to build a reputation as a god in the eyes of many beautiful girls. When Manson and his "family" moved to Spahn Ranch, he was able to sleep with a different girl every night..