Of Swami's and Baba's

Since I was a kid, I have always been very skeptical of the so called "god-men". And there is such a proliferation of such men (and women) in India. I have now realized that this phenomenon of god-men or other variations of them, seems to be a global one. "It's regular folks everywhere, of every level of education and sophistication, who embrace devils and deities."(Randi)

How do such god-men come about? Why do so many people from all backgrounds flock to them? Are all of them pure fraud or are there some of them who genuinely believe themselves(mistakenly ofcourse) to be divine?

Being an agnostic, I am biased...I believe all of them are out to make money and have found a very profitable way of doing so. It would have been less of a concern if these Baba's were only making themselved rich; what bothers me is the very considerable clout they wield in matters that they shouldn't be having anything to do with.

Read what James Randi has to say about one of the most illustrious of all the Baba's...Satya Sai Baba...I personally think he is a genius in his line!
http://www.randi.org/jr/12-08-2000.html