Wealth, Fame, and Authenticity

Minor rant I absolutely loathe how wealth and fame can blind people on determining whether someone is authentic or not. There are countless examples now of people being exposed for their fraud. People who I have never respected because I saw through their inauthentic portrayals of who they claim to be due to their actions recorded publicly on full display and not weighing at all whether they are wealthy or not. Someone's actions and commitment to be true to their words should determine integrity, not how many millions of followers or dollars they have. Fame is a potential red flag for me, especially from those who are religious, and especially from those who are Muslims. I've seen over and over again religious leaders being exposed for not practicing what they preach yet still maintain an enormous loyal audience even though the evidence of their misdeeds, misconduct, or even misguidance is on full display to review. Extreme charisma is also red flag and should raise concern to be cautious. In role playing games you boost the charisma stat and you're able to talk your way into getting what you want in many situations even if you're not giving something of equal value. The same also happens regularly in life. The charismatic person graciously receives favors out of their sheer charm, convincing others that this is to their own benefit either overtly or implicitly. When a disconnection occurs, the person being swindled gradually realizes they were being used. Charisma can exponentially multiply someone's fame and a person who does not fear Allah will wield their charm harmfully to vampirically suck time and value out of their victims. For the longest time I could never comprehend the hadith about Dajjal will come and countless people will follow him. Muslims will follow him despite having a complete description to make it impossible to mistake him for anyone else, yet somehow people speculate that Dajjal is not a real person but an idealogy or technology. Many people today fall for people far less than impressive than Dajjal calling humanity unto himself as God who will have the fame, the wealth, and the miracles. Judge someone by their actions and how well they commit to their word, not their carefully crafted image. Cultivate your skepticism skills now. We're living in an age of propaganda, scams, and lies. This rampant blind trust in people who have violated who they claim to be deserve no one's attention and is extremely harmful.