History Main / PathOfInspiration

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 [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly empower]] an [[GodOfEvil evil god]] or [[UltimateEvil force]] without anyone realizing that said god or force is in fact evil. The end result is a VillainWithGoodPublicity. This is a type of MysteryCult, 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 Control}}led. This church is widespread in a large country or even the world, and accepted without question, and may conduct {{Witch Hunt}}s against unbelievers and heretics who have any doubts about its righteousness.

* The Terraist Church in ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' encouraged people to return back to their roots, i.e., the planet Earth, which by the time period of the series[[note]] during the late 36th century AD[[/note]] had became an [[InsignificantLittleBluePlanet isolated backwater planet]]. As the series progresses, it became increasingly clear that the Terraist Church's real objectives were to regain the lost status and power that Earth enjoyed centuries ago and would resort to any means, from brainwashing its members to plotting assassinations of key figures in the galaxy, so as to achieve their objectives.
* The Wall Cult of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' seems like a fairly innocuous--if fanatical--religion that believes God gave humanity the three walls that protect their civilization from the monstrous [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] that roam the outside world. They are vehemently against the idea of touching the walls and because of their clout with the royal government have made it quite difficult for the military to add defensive armaments and adjustments to to the walls. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that they are part of an AncientConspiracy and their admonitions to avoid disturbing the walls is to hide the mysterious imprisoned Titans that make up the structures.]]

** Another Ravnica example is the Selesnya Conclave, at least when the plane was first introduced. They preached of togetherness, community and the greater good, whilst seeking to [[WorldOfSilence exterminate all individuality to achieve that goal]], including using brainwashing to pacify its members and enforce loyalty to the guild. Zigzagged in that when this was revealed, the Conclave rebuilt itself from the subsequent wave of riots, lynching and departures as a more sincerely benevolent organization.
** There is also the plane of Amonkhet, where its sole city of Naktamun has, in the wake of [[ZombieApocalypse the dead spontaneously rising everywhere upon death as ravening zombies]], become a theocratic MartyrdomCulture, where everyone trains from childhood to undertake five dangerous trials, with the fifth one, the Trial of Zeal, being a fight to the death in which the last survivor is personally executed by their [[PhysicalGods manifest God of Zeal]]. They believe those who die in this final trial will be transformed into exalted beings called Eternals, who will be revived in a new paradise when their God-Pharaoh returns; those who perish in earlier trials are made into mummified "Anointed" who serve as the laborers that keeps Naktamun alive when its living population does nothing but train and battle. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Naktamun's entire culture is a corruption of a once-a-year sacred rite that revolved around a singular HumanSacrifice, done by the malevolent dragon planeswalker [[BigBad Nicol]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Bolas]], who has turned the plane's inhabitants into an industrialized generator for elite undead soldiers he intends to use to invade other worlds. When he finally deems the army large enough, he comes to Amonkhet to claim his army -- [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and to annihilate the surviving residents of Naktamun]].]]

* Creator/MarvelComics - The Universal Church of Truth in the 20th century is a galaxy-spanning empire that preaches the message "Convert or Die". It was founded by a time-traveling super-villain for his own evil ends. But in the 30th century on many worlds it has become a somewhat more benevolent and spiritual organization.
* According to Jack Chick's [[Comicbook/ChickTracts famous works]] Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and above all Roman Catholicism (in addition to numerous other Christian congregations that do not focus on the "True Message Of God") are examples of this. [[NightmareFuel Chick is completely serious about this idea]]. He's not trying to be funny, or [[CrossesTheLineTwice Cross the Line Twice]].

* ''ComicBook/RatQueens'' has a really bizarre inverted example. [[spoiler:The cult of N'Rygoth started out as apparently a ReligionOfEvil worshipping an EldritchAbomination and drawing dark power from it. In reality, however, the rituals were actually designed to slowly '''kill''' the chained Abomination by draining its energy, with only the High Priest knowing the truth. The problem is that over the years the cult has become much less evil and more of a standard religion who just happen to have a weird god... which means that the Abomination isn't getting drained any more.]]
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'' reveals that all of Cybertron's religions [[spoiler: were engineered by Shockwave after he was accidentally sent millions of years into Cybertron's ancient past as part of an incredibly complex act of societal manipulation- complex enough that creating a StableTimeLoop was merely a side effect ove it]].
* In ''ComicBook/LoriLovecraft: Into the Past'', Raoul Reichmann is running an ashram that is supposed to be allowing people to unlock their true potential. In reality, he is draing LifeEnergy from the attendees and feeding it to the Cabal to power their magic.

* The Film/JamesBond film ''Film/LicenceToKill'' had TV evangelist Professor Joe Butcher and his Olimpatec Meditation Institute serving as a front for Franz Sanchez's drug empire, with their donations going toward Sanchez's operations and "targets" being drug dealer lingo for agreeing new market prices for their product.

* ''Literature/ChristCloneTrilogy'': [[spoiler: Christopher Goodman]] sets up a false religion with the intent to mislead people. Among the things instituted are euthanasia for anyone who wants it, and public orgies. Its beliefs include the idea that [[AncientAstronauts ancient aliens]] seeded all life on Earth, a progressive reincarnation to get higher spiritual enlightenment, spirit guides, astrology etc. All stuff that fundamentalist Christians hate, naturally.

** The religion started by [[ManipulativeBastard Shift]] and [[AntiAntichrist Puzzle]] definitely counts. Originally, Shift is just deceiving creatures into believing Puzzle is Aslan so he can get whatever he wants. Then things escalate and he teams up with some equally opportunistic Calormenes to create the worship of "Tashlan", a mash-up of Aslan and Tash that true believers of both are equally horrified at, so that he can get rich selling Narnian resources (including its ''people'') to Calormen.

* ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'': The Lazarus Intent in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoMissingAdventures'' novel ''The Crystal Bucephalus'' was set up by a criminal who ripped off Christianity wholesale to create a religion which, rather than teaching the Messiah was resurrected and would return, taught that it was up to believers to invent time travel, and rescue their saviour from the moment of his death. The Doctor notes that while the church may be a fraud set up by a egomaniac (Lazarus isn't even a DarkMessiah, just a conman who thinks big), devout Lazarites tend to be good people.
* The Bene Gesserit of the Franchise/{{Dune}}-iverse. Specifically the Missionaria Protectiva, the subgroup which spreads the set of beliefs called the Panoplia Prophetica on several planets. These prophecies are all pretty vague, and seem to be designed simply so Bene Gesserit sisters have the option of creating a religious cult around themselves if they ever get into trouble. Although not explicitly stated as a goal, it is also shown to give Bene Gesserit sisters a hint about conditions on the planet (Jessica recognises the specific parts of the Panoplia used on Dune as reserved for the worst planets where the most help would be needed).

* Originally, the ''Literature/{{Earthsea}}'' series portrayed the Kargish religion this way, its religious beliefs (particularly [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything their prejudice against magic-users]]) being imposed by evil gods. This was later retconned into being a good/neutral religion which got corrupted.

* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' novels, the religion of the red Martians, which encourages the old and infirm to make a pilgrimage to the South Pole in search of heaven, was created and is controlled by a society of cannibals who use the pilgrims as their primary food source. ''Their'' religion is in turn the product of another sect of cannibals who feed on ''them''. When John Carter discovers these facts, and relates them to the world at large, he's nearly executed for heresy before he manages to prove it.

** ''Literature/TheFullerMemorandum'' also features a mention of the Free Church of the Universal Kingdom, another Nyarlathotep cult disguising itself as a premillenialist dispensationalism branch of evangelical Christianity.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' has the Potentium Heresy. It says that dividing the Force into good and evil is too simplistic, and that as long as you listen to the Force, everything will work out for the best. It was a Sith lie. It actually catches Han and Leia's son, though he doesn't teach Luke's son about it.

* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' has an unusual type, a neo-pagan cult that worships [[LoveGoddess Astarte]]. While this does not sound evil on the face of it, the group is always shown as subversive and hostile to the Victorian state and its culture, which is conservative and Christian. The Victorians retaliate with a veritable inquisition, outlaw the religion and have the senior priestess of the cult [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]].

* ''Series/{{Colony}}'' has the Greatest Day church, a movement which preaches that the alien Hosts are actually benevolent, and that their conquest and occupation of Earth was really for our own good, as it will lead humanity to paradise so long as they do as they're told. Near the end of Season 2, [[TheQuisling Snyder]] flat out admits that it's a sham designed to indoctrinate people into being obedient.

* There were a few episodes ("[[Recap/StarTrekS1E21TheReturnOfTheArchons Return of the Archons]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E5TheApple The Apple]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E8ForTheWorldIsHollowAndIHaveTouchedTheSky For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky]]") of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' where the primitive inhabitants of a planet displayed a cult-like zeal to a divine father figure, often manifesting strange practices. In all cases their "god" turned out to be a [[AIIsACrapshoot computer tasked with governing the society]].

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the state religion of Riedra, created by the Quori forces of the Dreaming Dark in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' DungeonPunk setting TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}, because it both oppresses the masses ''and'' helps empower a great evil. The books go out of their way to stress that life under the Path of Inspiration is not bad at all: [[HappinessInSlavery its followers lead a life of relative peace and sanctity]]. The only ''major'' points of contention from the point-of-view of an informed outsider are the whole "tricking followers into helping empower a great evil" bit, and the part where followers have no personal freedom (and those who do try to resist tend to disappear).
** The Blood of Vol from the same setting is a lesser example. To the common man, it is a slightly creepy but otherwise okay religion that views blood as a gateway to immortality, and venerates undeath as a great martyrdom for the sake of teaching others ( as in Eberron, undead creatures are not AlwaysChaoticEvil). Considering that the afterlife of Eberron consists of a drab wasteland that slowly erases your memories until you're a mindless wandering shade, you can see where they're coming from. The truth is a little harsher: [[spoiler:The Blood of Vol is actually being manipulated by BigBad Erandis Vol in order to advance her agenda in Khorvaire, with the actual dogma being an altered form of House Vol's beliefs preserved by elves fleeing Aerenal]].
* This is the general state of religion in ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' setting, when it isn't a straight ReligionOfEvil. Many Darklords will make up a religion to help control their subjects, such as Azalin Rex and the undead-worshipping Eternal Order, and some will just use a permutation of an existing faith for the purpose. The Nidalan church of Belenus is a real god, but doesn't actually resemble the deity of Nidala (since the faith was founded by an ex-paladin of his, Elena Faith-hold).

* Most chaos cults in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' appear to be legitimate on the surface, not even as a religion, and both settings have a lot of people who are worshiping or aiding the Ruinous Powers without being aware of it. Recently joined an academic circle specializing in recovering lost knowledge? There a reasonable chance you're now working for a cult dedicated to Tzeentch. Are you an aristocrat who regularly attends the [[APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy "social functions"]] of a new upper class club? Chances are that you're now part of a pleasure cult. Joined an abnormally secretive and bloodthirsty iteration of the official church? Your might now be in a Khornate blood cult. For those in the inner circles, however, it's plain ReligionOfEvil.

** The [[TheFederation Tau Empire]]'s guiding principle of "the Greater Good" [[ShrugOfGod may or may not]] fall into this. The Greater Good is a secular philosophy, on its surface perceivable as either not-quite-Confucianism or a form of [[TheNeedsOfTheMany philosophical utilitarianism]]. The Ethereals, the spiritual and highest ranking political leaders of the Tau Empire, guide them to make sure that deviate as little as possible and make sure that the Empire is always on the right side of history. Of course, [[DependingOnTheWriter some sources]] interpret the Ethereals and the Greater Good in a not-so-kind-light (with [[BroadStrokes the blessing of the IP originator to do so]]). Ethereals may just be a bunch of hypocrites who gladly use indoctrination, reeducation, genocide, a surveillance state, and pheromonal influence to cover up the cracks in the Greater Good or where action departs from ideology, and that they may be in some ways be just as bad as the "barbarians" they need to defend themselves against or bring enlightenment to. While Tau generally prefer to use diplomacy and propaganda to bring new worlds and species into the fold without firing a shot, they have occasionally used military conquest or extermination not as a mean of last resort, and have employed commanders who would go to war with enthusiasm.

** And if you belong to certain Orders, you can actually run your own benevolent version. The Guardians of the Veil maintain Labyrinths, fake conspiracies and occult practices meant to groom worthy individuals into Awakening and shunt those not up to the responsibility into a tiny pocket of lesser occult knowledge. The Silver Ladder, meanwhile, runs Cryptopolies, mixtures between civic organizations and mystery cults (think Freemasonry) that are meant to teach Sleepers the lesser principles of Awakened wisdom before they come into the greater ones.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Arcanum}}'', [[spoiler: the Panarii were created as part of an extremely long game by K'an Hua and the Dark Elves. It's actually a SaintlyChurch, but its true purpose is to obscure historical events by turning them into religious mythology and recasting Arronax as an UltimateEvil, so that people in the modern age wouldn't know that he was actually a powerful mage and anti-tech zealot whose wards needed to be maintained. That would cause the wards to weaken over time and eventually allow them to free Arronax]].

** Then subverted in the final installment as in some case, they were [[TheExtremistWasRight actually right]].

* The Records of Fate (the {{Save Point}}s in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'') were set up as a way for the residents of the El Nido archipelago to not only record what they did, but also get any information they need. [[spoiler:Naturally, this is all a part of the supercomputer FATE's plan to keep the people of El Nido (and YOU) in that area and never wander into the rest of the world that ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' took place in.]]

* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' features the [[ChurchOfHappyology Unitologists]]...and their [[MacGuffin Marker]], which unleashed a horde of zombies when the Unitologists began not only studying it, but worshiping it (and the guy who found it). More generally, they're aiming for an AssimilationPlot--but interestingly, they don't keep that part a secret. They just don't tell people that the assimilation involves getting murdered by bloodthirsty zombies and bonded to an undead necromantic HiveMind.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': The series provides a number of examples. Much like real world cults, each attracts members from the fringes of society with promises of purpose and paradise. To note a few specific examples:

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' has the Sixth House Cult, a group which worships the BigBad PhysicalGod Dagoth Ur, who formerly led House Dagoth, the "sixth" [[TheClan Great House]] of the Dunmer (Dark Elves) in ancient times. Dagoth Ur communicates with members through their dreams, promising them great power through the [[TheCorruption Corprus Disease]]. The progression of Corprus is controlled for members, granting them immense power while tying their will to that of Dagoth Ur. (Infected non-members instead become {{Technically Living Zombie}}s with a nasty case of BodyHorror.) Naturally, they stand as an obstacle in the main quest.
** The Mythic Dawn in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' started off as an ApocalypseCult. They then reveal their true intentions and enter full blown ReligionOfEvil territory, worshiping Mehrunes Dagon, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of [[DestroyerDeity Destruction]], and kick off the plot of the game by [[TheKingSlayer assassinating the Emperor of Tamriel]].

* The Fifthist Church in ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' materials is a textbook example. On the outside, it's a harmless celebrity cult with a ''Secret-''esque self-help book as its centerpiece. When given free reign, they very nearly destroyed the world.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series, the Covenant is both a religion and an caste-based interstellar empire incorporating multiple species. They worship the [[{{Precursors}} Forerunners]], who they think AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence by means of the Halos, and seek to recreate this "Great Journey." Unfortunately for them, what actually happened was that the Forerunners lost their war against [[TheVirus the Flood]] and decided to go out by ''[[TakingYouWithMe annihilating all non-indexed sentient life in the galaxy with the Halos in order to starve out the Flood]]''. In fact, the short story ''[[Literature/HaloEvolutions Wages of Sin]]'' reveals that [[spoiler:many in the Covenant leadership always knew that "the Great Journey" part of their religion was a sham]].

* In ''Literature/TranshumanSpace'', with memetics as a mature technology, many new religions have been designed to promote certain behaviours, not always the ones they claim. One of the most targeted is the United Way, a religion of civil disobedience and potentially violent martyrdom that was designed in the TSA as a ''weapon'' against China.

* The Bene Gesserit of the Franchise/{{Dune}}-iverse. Specifically the Missionaria Protectiva, the subgroup which spreads the set of beliefs called the Panoplia Prophetica on several planets. These prophecies are all pretty vague, and seem to be designed simply so Bene Gesserit sisters have the option of creating a religious cult around themselves if they ever get into trouble.

* The Church of St. Eva in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII''.

* The Church of Yevon from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was [[spoiler:created to make people accept the periodic resurgence of Sin, formalise the stopgap method used to keep him at bay, and kneecap anything that could challenge the Yevon government (most notably the development of weaponised machina)]].

* The Church of Martel from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' is a worldwide scam that normalises the unnatural ebb and flow of the world's fortunes as a natural cycle solved by the Journey of Regeneration. [[spoiler:It's also a complicated scheme by the BigBad Yggdrassil to produce genetic copies of his deceased sister across millennia of careful breeding, then have these "Chosen Ones" give up their bodies so his sister can be resurrected]]. That said, the spoiler-tastic portions of this trope are restricted to the innermost circle of the Church: the rest of its members are either faithful believers who don't know any better, or corrupt in a more mundane, power-hungry sense.

* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' features the [[ChurchOfHappyology Unitologists]]...and their [[MacGuffin Marker]], which unleashed a horde of zombies when the Unitologists began not only studying it, but worshipping it (and the guy who found it). More generally, they're aiming for an AssimilationPlot--but interestingly, they don't keep that part a secret. They just don't tell people that the assimilation involves getting murdered by bloodthirsty zombies and bonded to an undead necromantic HiveMind.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' offers us the Order of Messiah. The guy they worship... let's say he was the former poster boy for GodIsEvil. The Senate Elders? The Four Archangels. The DarkMessiah they're trying to create to summon the [[ThereWillBeCake Millennium Kingdom]]? TheHero.

* Morninglight from ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' is part ChurchOfHappyology, part [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson Mansonesque]] hippie {{cult}}. And they [[spoiler: secretly worship an EldritchAbomination (although most members are blissfully unaware of that fact) ]].

* The CrystalDragonJesus faith of Trinitism in ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' is an odd example. All evidence from the game itself is that people genuinely believe it, even its practitioners, and that it's seen as a force for good even by its clergy. However, playing through Double's storyline reveals the sinister truth behind it: [[spoiler: the three goddesses that Trinitism worships are ''evil'', having created the [[ArtifactOfDoom Skullheart]] in hopes of one day producing a Skullgirl strong enough to ''[[OmnicidalManiac destroy the world]]''. Exactly why this is the case, isn't made clear, although playing Eliza's storyline implies it may be some kind of revenge gig, as apparently the Trinity used to be mortals themselves.]]
* ''VideoGame/DyingLight'': The Following. Good news, the priests are pragmatic bulwarks who protect the civilians of Harran. Bad news, DespairEventHorizon is an ''understatement'' to their grandmistress' emotional state. And insane from various zombie cure side effects.

* From the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', the Society of Human Fulfillment is a Scientology-like cult that masquerades as a nationwide chain of self-help clinics. It's actual agenda is to stir-up anti-metahuman sentiment through very subtle brainwashing techniques.

* The Fellowship from ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'' are rather obvious about this, having been created by the Guardian for the purpose of subverting the virtues and turning the Britannian people against Lord British and the Avatar.

* [=ComStar=] in ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'', who maintain humanity's SubspaceAnsible network, act as neutral mediators, and maintain a quasi-religious presentation. [=ComStar=] also spent some 200 odd years actively sabotaging efforts to recover LostTechnology, assassinated scientists, blew up factories, engaged in countless {{False Flag Operation}}s, and horded every piece of tech they could find to fulfill some prophecy. When [=ComStar=] became secular - following a coup after the ruler tried to take over all of known space - the more radical elements broke off and formed the Word of Blake, which didn't try to hide its intentions at all.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' lore, expounded in tie-in novels, has two significant cases: the Triune, an apparently benevolent church that was actually a front for the machinations of the three Prime Evils. Diablo became Dialon, the Spirit of Determination; Mephisto became Mefis, the Spirit of Love; and Baal became Bala, the Spirit of Creation. None of their lay believers had any idea that they were actually worshiping powerful demons who were the exact opposite of their Spirit counterparts. Much later, the Black Road did much the same thing, but it was a more obvious deal-with-the-devil situation.
** The Zakarum priesthood was corrupted to the core by Mephisto, which gave the Prime Evils free reign to corrupt the highest seats of power to the point of madness. King Leoric was driven insane because he couldn't even think about doubting [[TreacherousAdvisor Archbishop Lazarus]], and demon summoning circles were ''[[RefugeInAudacity openly]]'' etched into the Khanduras fortress under the Zakarum cover story of protection runes.

** Straight up averted with the [[TheTheocracy state church]] in both settings. Some denominations are more moderate, in that they emphasize things such as humility, hard work, and the like as being more foundational in their understanding of righteousness. But these denominations are rarer in that the mainstream of the churches in both [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} the Empire]] and [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} the Imperium]] are a naked ChurchMilitant with a xenophobic and puritanical bent, and martyrdom and eliminating the physical, political, and especially spiritual enemies of the state and of Humanity are some of the most important tenants.

** There is also the plane of Amonkhet, where its sole city of Naktamun has, in the wake of [[ZombieApocalypse the dead spontaneously rising everywhere upon death as ravening zombies]], become a theocratic MartyrdomCulture, where everyone trains from childhood to undertake five dangerous trials, with the fifth one, the Trial of Zeal, being a fight to the death in which the last survivor is personally executed by their [[PhysicalGods manifest God of Zeal]]. They believe those who die in this final trial will be transformed into exalted beings called Eternals, who will be revived in a new paradise when their God-Pharaoh returns; those who perish in earlier trials are made into mummified "Anointed" who serve as the laborers that keeps Naktamun alive when its living population does nothing but train and battle. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Naktamun's entire culture is a corruption of a once-a-year sacred rite that revolved around a singular HumanSacrifice, done by the malevolent dragon planeswalker [[BigBad Nicol]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Bolas]], who has turned the plane's inhabitants into an industrialized generator for elite undead soldiers he intends to use to invade other worlds. When he finally deems the army large enough, he comes to Amonkhet to claim his army -- [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulnessand to annihilate the surviving residents of Naktamun]]].]]

** There's actually a ''third'' level of PathOfInspiration among said second sect of cannibals, whose leader presents herself as (and is considered to be by her followers) a living goddess when in fact [[GodGuise she's nothing of the sort]]. When Carter exposes ''her'' it brings the whole system crashing down, and while [[WouldntHitAGirl he won't take her life himself]], her cheated worshippers [[CruelAndUnusualDeath aren't so merciful]].

** It also seems that even among the highest officials of the Church, few know of its true origin and purpose. [[spoiler:Simon, for example, rose to become one of Church's most powerful priests, before accidentally discovering the Germonik Scriptures and learning the truth. Their entire church is based on a lie. Their "god" is actually one of the most powerful of demons, Ultima.]] Though many of those who aren't aware are rather evil anyway. Thus, Glabados could be seen as both a PathOfInspiration ''and'' a CorruptChurch.

* The Chapter from ''Literature/BookOfTheLongSun'' probably qualifies, because although individual members may be kindly or even saintly, the gods that they worship are in fact [[spoiler:the uploaded personalities of a dictator, his family and some of his closest advisers, almost all of whose idea of a commandment is ''Your government isn't sacrificing to me enough; overthrow them right now and let me know when you've done it; if you sacrifice enough children to me you'll probably get my attention.'']]
** [[spoiler:[[OurVampiresAreDifferent Who's in charge.]]]]

* In ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', the Calormenes worship their god Tash, who is definitely a real and evil demon. Tash's cult has plenty of the [[DarkIsEvil trappings]] of being ObviouslyEvil; so far, it superficially appears to be a ReligionOfEvil. But we eventually meet a man named Emeth who is pure of heart and attained entrance to {{Heaven}}--who nevertheless was a pious member of Tash's religion--thus proving that the Calormenes (who are just normal humans, after all) are mostly just deceived and exploited, and not the kind of evil persons who would join the ReligionOfEvil.

** The entire society of Amonkhet is based around self-improvement under the gaze of their benevolent gods, that when the God-Pharaoh returns he will judge them worthy and usher forth paradise. The God-Pharaoh is [[BigBad Nicol]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Bolas]], and the entire point of the exercise is to create an army of elite undead warriors. When the time comes to claim his army, every living thing on the plane, including the brainwashed gods, has [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]].
** There is also the plane of Amonkhet, where its sole city of Naktamun has, in the wake of [[ZombieApocalypse the dead spontaneously rising everywhere upon death as ravening zombies]], become a theocratic MartyrdomCulture, where everyone trains from childhood to undertake five dangerous trials, with the fifth one, the Trial of Zeal, being a fight to the death in which the last survivor is personally executed by their [[PhysicalGods manifest God of Zeal]]. They believe those who die in this final trial will be transformed into exalted beings called Eternals, who will be revived in a new paradise when their God-Pharaoh returns; those who perish in earlier trials are made into mummified "Anointed" who serve as the laborers that keeps Naktamun alive when its living population does nothing but train and battle. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Naktamun's entire culture is a corruption of a once-a-year sacred rite that revolved around a singular HumanSacrifice, done by the malevolent dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas, who has turned the plane's inhabitants into an industrialized generator for elite undead soldiers he intends to use to invade other worlds. When he finally deems the army large enough, he comes to Amonkhet to claim his army -- and to annihilate the surviving residents of Naktamun.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is the state religion of Riedra, created by the Quori forces of the Dreaming Dark in the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' DungeonPunk setting TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}, because it both oppresses the masses ''and'' helps empower a great evil. The books go out of their way to stress that life under the Path of Inspiration is not bad at all: [[HappinessInSlavery its followers lead a life of relative peace and sanctity]]. The only ''major'' point of contention from the point-of-view of an informed outsider is the whole "tricking followers into helping empower a great evil" bit.

* The Hymn of One in ''WebVideo/{{lonelygirl15}}'', a front for the sinister Order of Denderah.
* The Hymn of One is central to the plot of ''WebVideo/KateModern''.

* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' has the plane of Amonkhet, where its sole city of Naktamun has, in the wake of [[ZombieApocalypse the dead spontaneously rising everywhere upon death as ravening zombies]], become a theocratic MartyrdomCulture, where everyone trains from childhood to undertake five dangerous trials, with the fifth one, the Trial of Zeal, being a fight to the death in which the last survivor is personally executed by their [[PhysicalGods manifest God of Zeal]]. They believe those who die in this final trial will be transformed into exalted beings called Eternals, who will be revived in a new paradise when their God-Pharaoh returns; those who perish in earlier trials are made into mummified "Anointed" who serve as the laborers that keeps Naktamun alive when its living population does nothing but train and battle. [[spoiler:It's revealed that Naktamun's entire culture is a corruption of a once-a-year sacred rite that revolved around a singular HumanSacrifice, done by the malevolent dragon planeswalker Nicol Bolas, who has turned the plane's inhabitants into an industrialized generator for elite undead soldiers he intends to use to invade other worlds. When he finally deems the army large enough, he comes to Amonkhet to claim his army -- and to annihilate the surviving residents of Naktamun.]]

** On Amonkhet their entire society is based around self-improvement under the gaze of their benevolent gods, that when the God-Pharaoh returns he will judge them worthy and usher forth paradise. The God-Pharaoh is [[BigBad Nicol]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Bolas]], and the entire point of the exercise is to create an army of elite undead warriors. When the time comes to claim his army every living thing on the plane, including the ensorcelled gods, has [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]].

* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' provides a rare example of this trope used for what are unquestionably good aims. The titular Foundation manages to turn the four empires surrounding their homeworld, Terminus, into puppet states by creating a "religion of science" as a guise for providing technological aid while gaining influence. At one point, despite handing the BigBad of one story a battleship to invade Terminus with, the Foundation proved that it had ultimate control of both the technology and the people. The result is that the Foundation is preserved and expands its influence--a key part of Hari Seldon's Plan to cut the Galaxy's dark age from 30,000 years to a mere 1,000.
** Showing off his abilities to understand the changes in societies, in a later book of the series, someone attempts to use that religion and finds out that economics is now more important to the current people than religion. The time of religious fervor has passed.