The financial yields of the new religions are incomparably higher than
is the voodoo man's gain. His followers, who believe in black art and
other foolish, old-fashioned things, are nearly always drawn from the
poorer, even the indigent classes--classes that have but little to
spend, even on a religion. But the East Indian religionist, or the
sun worshiper, draws his clientele from the better classes, and his
followers have the money to reward him in a way that is astounding.
He dabbles not with the poor--neither, it must be confessed, entirely
with the ignorant. His victims come from the upper walks of life,
sometimes from near the top, and their name is legion.
There is a Hindu who has now left this country to go back to spend the
rest of his days in luxurious idleness, the while chuckling over the
gullibility of the smart American people, who came here with a new
religion and made a fortune.
This man was an educated, cultured man of high caste. Sent at an early
age to England to attend school, he returned to his native country at
the age of 28, wise in the things of two worlds, that of his own and
that of the occidentals. For a while he buried himself in the native
life of a loathsome colony of Fakers. There he learned much of their
religious style by rote, and, putting this along with a smattering of
Buddhism, psychology and sun worship, he managed to appear in America
with a new religion, fairly reeking with the essentials required by
those who want mysticism served along with their religious beliefs.