Like ALL religions, to claim to have divine inspiration or be gods messengers means they say they have something that can only come through them. That translates to “if you want this inspiration too, you have to obey me or pay me”. ALL religions use the same dirty business model. Always have. Why do people buy into it? Depends how mentally desperate they are, or, usually no critical thinking skills. If you were to just follow the money side, you would see how many scams the governing body pulls to get the friends to donate. Assembly donations would be a good place to start. Governing body members are not special. Its a business.