I think it may be a mix of both. The leaders are scam artists I'm pretty sure, though at some point many of them start to believe their own bullshit to some degree.
I've been in some culty churches, and while I did manage to get out of religion entirely I don't think that I became a smarter person as soon as I left. Hopefully a bit wiser from the experience, but I'm still the same person.
Shit maybe I'm still just an idiot
