http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PathOfInspiration

Verlaine, Xenogears "'God?' Where does such a being exist? You should know by now how the 'Ethos' came about... It was an organization created by Solaris aeons ago solely for the purpose of managing ignorant humans. Its doctrines are just deceptions designed to control the masses."

A religion that appears benign but was carefully designed from the ground up long ago for a nefarious purpose, usually either to force the subjects of a state to behave as its founders would wish, frequently specifically to never attempt to rise in station or do anything but what they're told (popular with constructed state religions), or to empower an evil god or force without anyone realizing that said god or force is in fact evil. The end result is a Villain with Good Publicity. This is a type of Mystery Cult, hidden not through total secrecy but through its misleading image for the laity, who might be clearly brainwashed from an outside perspective, and are sometimes outright Mind Controlled. This church is widespread in a large country or even the world, and accepted without question, and may conduct Witch Hunts against unbelievers and heretics who have any doubts about its righteousness.

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Occasionally, this is the form that an Ancient Conspiracy would take. Distinct from the Corrupt Church, in that instead of being a legitimate religion that went bad, the Path of Inspiration is by design rotten to the core; the Scam Religion, in that the Path's leaders are true believers, not con artists; and the Religion of Evil, in that the religion is not openly evil. The typical high-ranking member is a Straw Hypocrite. Usually has a Dark Messiah as the figurehead, whose outright evil is part of The Reveal. May overlap with Hollywood Satanism, especially in Conspiracy Theories. May also include references to, or parallels with, the Church of Happyology.

Compare with the Cult. Contrast with the Saintly Church. Often serves as inspiration for Religion Rant Songs by disaffected believers.

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In the Something Wicked Saga by Iced Earth, all religions are this: they were created by the reptilian Setians, who were indigenous to Earth, to destroy the humans who had invaded the planet and nearly wiped them out.

Mythology and Religion

After being destroyed by Shiva for causing mayhem in various worlds, the monster Tripurasura seemingly retained his memory after going through however many reincarnations that took to become the masquerading demon Mahamada and tried to start a religion based around members of the Trimurti becoming his servants. When people caught on to the fact it was a lie, Mahamada departed to a foreign land and set out to start a demonic religion, based around corrupting the very idea of religion.

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