The Cult of Charles Manson and the Later Turnaround

Many argue on if killers, or in this case, cult killers, are smart in any way, or just insanely stupid all together. Charles Manson, the leader of the Manson Family is one of the most famous. If you don’t already know who he was, or what he did, here’s some background knowledge. Mason set up the Manson Family. This was a cult of runaways, unwanted, or just people that Manson simply drew in. In the 1960’s, he sent some of his family to kill multiple rich and famous. He wanted to trigger a race war, which he would later call Helter Skelter, after he found a dark meaning in the well known Beatles song. His proxies would go on to kill seven people, including Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant. What he did, or what his proxies did wasn’t okay, but Charles Manson without the evil thought process, was a pretty smart man.

It can be difficult to get someone to believe your thought processes, especially if they are crazy or evil. Even though Manson wanting this murderous uproar, people still believed. The reasons why people believe him vary. One reason is people simply liked his viewpoint of wanting to kill the rich and famous, just so people would finally pay attention. Some sided with him because his belief in the Helter Skelter war being triggered by murder. Another reason is Manson welcomed unwanted or runaways with open arms, and the proxies loved that. The last is women and even some men loved him. He would flirtatiously try to lure them in, and with his charm, they just believed him.

When you think about it, Manson may have been evil and mentally not sound, but the way he gathered these people to believe him, is pretty intelligent. Many of these people had no clue who he was. He was able to convince 100 people, give or take, to join his Manson Family. He had that automatic charisma, as many called it, that just drew people in. Even though he was crazy, and so were his ideas, he had that way of convincing people it was fine. They all soon learned to believe him, no matter how crazy he was, or how extreme his plans became. He was viewed as a messiah figure towards them. “He taught his followers that they were the incarnation of the original Christians” (Hughes). The average person cannot convince people to believe in murder and race wars, especially now days.

Now, back onto the topic of the race war he called Helter Skelter. Many might not understand why his want to kill rich, white people would be thought to cause a race war. This is an idea of his that he thought out very well. It probably would’ve caused a minor Helter Skelter if the whole plan was carried through correctly. When Manson sent his proxies to go to the Tate family house, and to kill everyone inside, this is where his plan to cause Helter Skelter kicked in. “False clues were left to dress the scene as an attack by the Black Panthers, a militant African-American group which used violence in its battle against white racism. Manson's hope was that these murders, and the killing of two shop owners the next night, would start an apocalyptic race war, after which he would emerge as America's ruler” (Parkinson). Even though morally, he was very wrong for this, the way he tried to plant the murders on someone else is smart nonetheless. If the Manson family was not caught, Manson’s plan for Helter Skelter probably would’ve worked. His want for race war and more murder, as wrong as it was, would’ve been fulfilled.

The Manson family had many ways of living and worship in their cult. Manson did use a lot of drugs. Which also made his followers use them as well. He began to get to the point where the drugs became basically essential, because he claimed that it made them see god. The drugs made the followers already under a different influence, causing them to go even more into the state Manson wanted them in. They trusted him so much, that they’d do the drugs because they believed him, and anything that he said. The fact that he could make any of them do these drugs without thought, shows how much he had all of them under his ways.

Many will say that Manson doesn’t deserve the word smart, since he was a terrible person. Manson may have been truly insane, but there’s no doubt that he was a very smart man. He knew exactly how to convince people, even the most stubborn of people. From the convincing of joining the cult, the plan to set up Helter Skelter, and the ways he used drugs to push his family farther into the follower status. The fact that he didn’t kill anyone in the Tate house murders, because he had his proxies do it, shows how much they believed in the influential Manson. One of his followers, convicted with the murders said “for the first time, to feel safe … to feel like someone was gonna care for me” (Krenwinkel). This minor quote alone shows how many of his followers felt towards him, and why they devoted their trust to his ways. Even though his intelligent wasn’t used for good, there’s no denying that he was still an evil mastermind.