Is there any sort of psychological test people should have to pass to harvest souls for God?

If there was a god, and he allowed people to harvest souls for him, it would be for his amusement only, with no souls actually harvested.

Sure if their real reason was to actually save people ,and make the world a better place,not just bleed innocent people of their money.

Does anyone require any safeguards in advance against these religious leaders being psychopaths, sociopaths, or demons? I don’t know the process, but it seems they would want to be sure they don’t unleash a wolf amongst the sheep.

If you want to be an Ordained Minister here is a place you can do it. Seems pretty simple.

Of course you don’t need any type of license to get people to follow you for whatever purpose. Charles Manson did it, Jim Jones did it, and of course the Blind Shake did it. You don’t need credentials, just follwers.

I think it would more of a test that people would have to fail in order to qualify for that tour of duty.

The same people who follow those, “Shepherds”, are the ones who call out the loudest about how people should have to take a course to be parents. People gather by thousands to follow the words of some nut, and then try to convince the rest of the world of the wrongness of not falling in step with it.

The concept of ‘harvesting souls’ is grotesque.

Harvesting means that the person (whose soul was harvested) essentially had no free will – that the person’s identity was chopped out from under him like a stalk of hay harvested in a field.

If someone or some thing wanted my soul to come willingly (and what sort of religion would want to force someone??) then don’t “harvest” – rather convince me or persuade me with rational arguments.

But then, a clergy person needs some special (and I am not using ‘special’ in a positive way) sort of ego to think that she or he speaks on behalf of god in the first place.

This gets to the core of the difference between spirituality and religion. Hard core religionists tend to a Mainchean viewpoint, a yes/no opinion on things. And as such they are able to persuade followers that those who do not obey them are being wrong.

A spiritual leader will tell you what worked for them, and encourage you to find your own path.

People who get into ministry work tend to be people who need a lot of structure because they are not capable of thinking for them selves. And they tend to have damaged psyches.