OK, there's things like Catholic healthcare and schools or the Adventists' various interests. They're mostly pretty clearly branded as being Catholic or Adventist affiliated. For the most part, this is not something religions do, though certainly there are areas of concern, like faith-affiliated substance abuse programs used to recruit the vulnerable.
> > * use dubious fundraising and recruitment practices.
OK, perhaps religious fundraising isn't perfect, but most religions do not engage in employing missionaries as quasi-slave-labor to panhandle funds from the public at scale. Of course, you can find an exception or two, like the Salvation Army.
> > * form complex webs of not-obviously-related entities to use in influence operations.
Doing this on anywhere near the scale of the Unification Church is basically unheard of.
> > * have acted as a pseudo-cult of personality of a figure in living memory.
Basically here you've mostly got the Unification Church, Scientology, and various kinds of "prosperity" churches.
> > * are possibly abusive to their members in various ways.
OK, you've got me here: a lot of religions dabble in abusing their members.
> > * directly accumulate controlling ownership interests in key businesses.
OK, there's things like Catholic healthcare and schools or the Adventists' various interests. They're mostly pretty clearly branded as being Catholic or Adventist affiliated. For the most part, this is not something religions do, though certainly there are areas of concern, like faith-affiliated substance abuse programs used to recruit the vulnerable.
> > * use dubious fundraising and recruitment practices.
OK, perhaps religious fundraising isn't perfect, but most religions do not engage in employing missionaries as quasi-slave-labor to panhandle funds from the public at scale. Of course, you can find an exception or two, like the Salvation Army.
> > * form complex webs of not-obviously-related entities to use in influence operations.
Doing this on anywhere near the scale of the Unification Church is basically unheard of.
> > * have acted as a pseudo-cult of personality of a figure in living memory.
Basically here you've mostly got the Unification Church, Scientology, and various kinds of "prosperity" churches.
> > * are possibly abusive to their members in various ways.
OK, you've got me here: a lot of religions dabble in abusing their members.