Our Presentation...

Personally, I think our presentation went quite well, particularly as we hadn't rehearsed it in full many times. We played a short video beforehand, during the break, to give the group a brief idea on what Heaven's Gate was about.

The presentation seemed to last for the length of time required, and I think we covered all the points needed in the criteria. There is not a great deal of information available for Heaven's Gatem because not only were they quite a small group, they are no longer in existence, and there's not much published literature on the group. Therefore, we tried to cover as much ground as possible with not a great deal of information, unlike groups like Jonestown.

I think once we had finished our presentation, most people watching were rather confused about Heaven's Gate, as were we until we studied it in depth. Before taking this module, I had heard of a few of the NRMs we studied, but I had never heard of Heaven's Gate before, despite the fact that their suicide only occurred 10 years ago. We chose this group as they were rather unusual, believing in UFOlogy, and we wanted to gain a greater understanding of why they all ended theirs lives in order to ascend to TELAH. Only one question was asked by the audience, and that was by George.

I have enjoyed this module, for it has opened my eyes to groups that exist around us, that often, the world and the media only become aware of when mass deaths have occurred, and then it's too late. I've been shocked by what people will believe once a charismatic believer has instilled ideas into them, and most of these groups will cut all ties with family and friends, and give all their material possessions to the group's leader. Whether it's a case of members being "brainwashed" or actually believing in their group's prophesy we will never know, but I think that initially, these NRMs offer a way of life that is idealistic to certain people,and once they are enticed into the group, they rarely leave, for their way of life becomes controlled by other individuals, often to the extent that they will end their own lives in the name of their religious beliefs.

Claire Lloyd.

0622669.

The End of the World group...

Last night, on channel 4, I watched a documentary called "The End of the World Cult." They were a group led by a charismatic leader named Michael Travesser, who believed that the end of the world would occur on 31st October 2007, and if not then, then it would be on the 15th Decemeber 2007.

They are a group derived from Christianity, and the followers believed that Travesser was their messiah, and his "Two Witnesses" are members of the group. The group live in a secluded gated community in America, which they called "Strong Town." Many people believe that the world was created in October, so you can see the connection they made with their date for the end of the world, although many people argue that this date should have been 10 years previous.

The group has been in existence for 7 years now; all followers have had to give up all their possessions and material wealth, handing them over to Travesser. Members are free to leave at any time, as Travesser believes that they will re-join the group in the future, for that is where the messiah is. Indeed, over the months filming the the documentary, some of the followers who left returned to their life in the group, after realising that their lives in the outside world were "meaningless."

There are quite a few children in the community, none of whom are educated - Travesser has instilled into them that they do not need knowledge, for they will soon ascend to heaven. To me, Travesser appears to be quite a perverse individual, for he makes claims that God instructs him to perform certain acts, such as lying naked with virgin minors - he was even "prepared" to have sexual intercourse with the one girl, who was only 14 years old. He crudely manipulates his followers, dissolving all marriages, and he has even slept with his son's wife on a number of occasions, as "God ordered him to consummate their relationship." Personally, I think this individual represents individual deviance, and he appears to instill sexual control over his female followers, arguing that it's all part of God's will.

When the 31st October came this year, outsiders feared that this might be another mass suicide "cult" like Jonestown or Waco, for the group believed they would ascend to heaven then. However, when the 1st November began, the members were still alive, and were very jubilant, chanting "liberty" over and over, for they argued thatmwant they wanted to happen had, and in the forthcoming days, weeks or years, they would ascend to heaven. Only those in the group could ascend and be children of God in heaven - the rest of humanity could not be saved.

Some useful websites on the group:

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/cult.html

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/e/e5/Michael_with_bowl.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.answers.com/topic/michael-travesser&h=205&w=288&sz=17&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=NJjIeAerLmLUKM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=115&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmichael%2Btravesser%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den

Claire Lloyd.

0622669.

The Branch Davidians

Victor Tasho Houteff was originally a member of the Branch Seventh-Day Adventists, but on communicating his own reading of the Bible he declared that the teachings of the SDA needed to be reformed. He then split from the group and founded The Shepherd's Rod. The name later changed to The Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Association.

After Houteff's death in 1955 the group was taken over by his wife, but the group fell apart after her prophecy was not fulfilled. A splinter group, however, survived and was known as the Branch Davidians. Ben Roden led this fraction of the group up until his death in 1978, after that his wife, Lois Roden, lead the group.

In 1981 Vernon Howell joined the group, Lois believed that he would be the groups next prophet. In 1988 Howell gained complete control of the Branch Davidian movement, and in 1990 he changed his name to David Koresh. Koresh claimed to be the Lamb from Revelation 5, and believed that it was his task to interpret the secrets of the seven seals, and that if he could do this he would bring about the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Koresh also claimed to be "The Sinful Messiah", and in 1989 he gained complete control over the women of the Mount Carmel community. He wanted to create a new lineage of God's children from his seed. The Branch Davidians became more of a closed community after Koresh predicted that there would be an apocalypse in America. The group began the process of stock piling food and weapons in 1991 - 1992.

Complaints of child abuse reached the outside community of Waco, and on the 28th February 1993, the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire arms) received a search warrant to investigate Mount Carmel, but Koresh refused to allow them. Some of the members of the group, Koresh's lieutenants (known as the "Mighty Men") attacked the ATF Agents with fire arms, four of the agents died and 16 of Koresh's followers were injured.

Things were getting dangerous, and in 1993 Janet Reno launched an attack on Mount Carmel, which lasted a month. During this one month siege, psychological warfare was conducted by FBI and ATF agents, determined that the cult would surrender. The siege ended when the Waco compound somehow caught fire, 83 people died including Koresh himself.

We cannot know for certain how the fire started, some theories conclude that the CS tear gas that was used by the FBI somehow caused the fire, others claim that the group barricaded themselves inside the building and set fire to it. A lot of the information about the destruction of Mount Carmel has been kept secret, it was not until 1999 that the information about the tear gas was released.

It seems clear that we may never discover the truth about the end of Koresh's Branch Davidians. But with what we do know, about their practices and so on, I'm afraid that it is almost impossible for me to conclude that the group had any redeeming features. The women in the cult were essentially abused, it almost seems that Koresh used his status as a "prophet" to pursue his own pleasures and needs rather than to be involved in any religious enlightenment. But the women who acted as Koresh's "Spiritual Wives" must have really believed in his claims, else wouldn't they have left? I think that Koresh was strange from the beginning - he was expelled from Newbold College because of his strange beliefs and was removed from the SDA because of preaching about sex and masturbation. I am surprised that anyone trusted him at all after learning about his history!

There is a lot of information about the events at Waco on the link below, there is also a list of other websites that might useful.

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/bran.html

Natalie Watkins - 0604967

The Movement for The Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God...

On the 17th March 2000, 530 bodies, of which at least 78 were children, were found to have burned alive in a church in a remote part of Uganda; all part of a Christian apolcalyptic group. 330 skulls were found, the rest had turned to ash. Over 1,000 bodies were found elsewhere in Uganda during the following days, many of which were found to have been strangled. The doors and locks were fastened from the inside, suggesting this was the final intention of the group's leader, not necessarily an outsider murdering them.



However, during both when the movement existed and when it came to an end, there were problems with the outside world obtaining information about them. These included: the remoteness of the group's location in Kunungu, undocumented information on the movement, and their problematic relationships with their surrounding communities and local authorities. Following the death, there were inadequate forensic resources available to distinguish how exactly the members of the group died, but the greatest speculation is that of murder, rather than mass suicide.



The group lived in a secluded community, with speech only allowed for hymns and prayers. They built their own houses, sold all their possessions and had a commitment to martyrdom. One of the principle teachings of the group was that to survive the apocalypse, one had to enter Noah's Ark, and this entry to heaven was only possible after death; in the hope of restoring the garden of Eden. The group believed the world would end on 31/12/1999, and the "Day of the New World" would begin the following day. However, as the world did not end, one of the leaders, Credonia, said the Virgin Mary would appear between 6th and 18th March 2000. The leeaders taught that the importance of the 10 Commandments needed to be restored.



Although it is clear that many mass murders took place around various locations in Uganda in connection with the group, no-one knows how exactly what happened on 17th March 2000 in the church in Kugunga.


One website speculates over what might have happened to draw this NRM to an end:
<http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_rest.htm>


"Mass suicide:
- There is one initial report, never unconfirmed, that the members had applied gasoline and paraffin to their skin before the explosion and fire. However, it is difficult to see how the observer could have witnessed these preparations if the windows and doors of the church were nailed shut. If confirmed, this would be one indicator that the deaths might have been the result of a mass suicide, similar to that of Heaven's Gate.
- The police investigation cast doubt on this sole witness; they found no signs of paraffin having been used at the church. Most of the world media initially emphasized the suicide theory. So did representatives of the anti-cult movement who are keen to promote their belief that mass suicide is a logical outcome of cult activity. They accuse cults of brainwashing their membership and reducing their will to act independently.
- Although their fundamental beliefs have been widely discounted by mental health professionals, the ACM has been quite successful in propagating their beliefs among the press and the rest of the public.


Mass murder: There is a growing indication that the tragedy was a mass murder, not a mass suicide:
- Several news sources reported that the doors of the church were nailed shut from the inside. That might indicate that the leadership wanted to confine the full membership within the church in order to murder the entire group.
- The discovery of additional bodies which had been murdered and buried in latrines near the church gives weight to the mass murder theory.
- The discoveries of many hundreds of murder victims at other locations also point towards mass murder.
- Leader Kibwetere appears to have planned the tragedy in advance. He allegedly sent a letter to his wife before the tragedy, encouraging her to continue the religion "because the members of the cult were going to perish the next day.''
- The group's membership are almost entirely ex-Roman Catholic -- a faith that strongly forbids suicide. Traditional belief also very strongly forbids suicide. Finally, local belief is that if a person dies in a fire, that not only their body is killed but their soul is as well. This is the reason why evil sorcerers were once burned alive: so that they would be completely annihilated. It is very unlikely that if a person in this area wanted to commit suicide that they would choose death by fire."

Claire Lloyd.

0622669.

Suicide Cults - Why join?!

Noone deliberatley joins a cult just for the sake of it! They join it because they believe they may be able to seek the fulfillment of life and the means of existance and whether or not such groups are related to churches, research groups, personal development courses, Bible studies, etc.there are such myths of why people allow themselves to listen to mind changing ideas, become involved within a formal dress code, odd practices and so on... Here are a few of what believers have thought to be true:

Myth - Cultism is no different than Christianity.
At first glance, this appears compellingly true because of the religious nature of both, but this is simply not true as well. Cults demand submission to their authority structure, preach that their revelation or insight is the only Truth that will enlighten or save the world, and develop doctrinal positions completely contradicting historic Christian claims - mainly that one must earn God's grace by their cult-mandated works. The orthodox Christian Gospel clearly points to a relationship with Jesus Christ, "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), as the only way to enter into right relationship to God, and not a trust in any organizational association or personal labors within them. While the moral absolutism and exclusive nature of Christian truth claims are mimicked by cultic religion, it is far from being the same as the Christian admonitions to faith in Jesus alone.

What is rather odd, is what peole who join believe themselves as being one of Jesus' followers! The only logical explaination that could be thought, is if that they truly believe they are one of his diciples/followers or that intelligent 'brain-washing' techniques are being used. Many leaders attempt to push the 'Truth' out as far as possible to make their followers understand that they only way to gain a place in Heaven is to hold a strong relationship with their leader who may/not have 'strong contacts' with Jesus or God himself!

Myth – Cult doctrine is easy to spot and recognize.
We WISH. This is probably the slickest myth of all. It just isn't true. False doctrine is very difficult to discern due to the ability of cult leaders to mingle enough sound doctrine with it to make it appear orthodox and inspiring. The dangerous aberrancy of skewed "knowledge" is very cleverly combined alongside brilliant and sometimes even profound insights into a subject that the cultic teaching's truth claim presents. It wouldn't BE deceptive if it was served up to the masses any other way! The doctrinal and practical claims of cultic organizations that clearly set it apart as unorthodox and questionable are also very well hidden beneath engaging deliveries by appealing, charismatic figures that introduce a purely personal and subjective factor into the mix that makes detecting them even more difficult.
Who could believe that that charming, well-dressed person with a room full of starry-eyed people leaning on their every word could possibly be WRONG?

Antoher myth is that memebers stay in cults because they feel too weak or vunerable to leave therefore staying within the cults gives the leader more power and control over them! They are told that there is no toher way of reaching the true meaning of life, the reason of the purpose of why they join in the first place.

It actually takes enormous amounts of personal courage and self-determination to remain committed to a group.

The members of Heaven's Gate were determined to stay within their surroundings and to announce the word many times to others to persuade them to join to reach another level above human. The Jonestown leader seemed to slowly become weak as many of his followers bravely left the group one by one. It does take a lot of personal courage for each member to stand up for themselves and for them to believe in what is right and wrong.

Techniques of Conversion

There are many theories on how New Religious Movement's recruit new members. One of the most popular explanations is that of brainwashing, which is believed to be counteracted by the process of "deprogramming". Other examples include pressure and deception.

Pressure is a key factor in recruiting, as Eileen Barker confirms in her book New Religious Movements, "... many of the NRMs put the potential convert under considerable pressure to join" (p.17). This pressure can either be the negative kind, which can take the form of inducing feelings of guilt, or the positive kind in which "... the individual is showered with attention and instant affection" (p.17).

Deception is more of a perverse act of gaining followers; some NRMs prey upon the weak minded and take advantage of them. Jim Jones, for example, convinced people that he was a Prophet; he also persuaded many homeless people and those belonging to minority groups to join The Peoples Temple. He took advantage of their downtrodden state and gave them the prospect of hope if they joined his group.

The "Brainwashing Thesis" came into public use during the Korean War (1950's), as an explanation for why some American GI's had defected to Communism. It came into popular use again during the 1960's - 70's when various cult movements were being accused of "brainwashing" the youth.

It is often an easy way of explaining why someone has joined a cult. For example, a young girl runs away from home to join a cult. Her parents might consider the act as "out of character", or find that their child has "changed" next time they see her, and so conclude that she has been brainwashed, when the difference in personality could just be the result of personal growth.

Brainwashing is also an easy excuse for having joined a cult and behaved in a certain way. It would be easy for members of the most violent of groups to claim that they had been brainwashed into doing despicable acts. That's why I think the brainwashing thesis is a bit risky, it removes responsibility. The idea of the "Charismatic Leader" with hypnotising eyes is nothing but a stereotype, people often join cults to become liberated, or to find a path in life.

But I do think that acts of pressure and deception are possible, and there are people gullible and lonely enough in the world to succumb to them.

For more information on the origins of brainwashing visit the link below,
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/cultsect/brainwashing.htm

For more information on Conversion Techniques, I recommend Eileen Barker's book on New Religious Movements.

Natalie Watkins - 0604967

The Guyana Tragedy...

On November 18th 1978, 919 people were found dead in a remote community in the Guyana jungle. However, this was not entirely a case of a mass suicide "cult," for it is clear that many members of the group were murdered. Although the majority of people appear to have committed suicide by drinking a deadly concoction of cyanide, they childern would not have willingly drank it, and many people who died had been injected with syringes; suggesting the died against their wishes. Only about 85 people survived this massacre; some because they left or escaped before it was too late, and others because they were elsewhere in the jungle at the time.

Just before the mass deaths, a US Congressman visited the community, along with media reporters; however, these were all shot on the airstrip - this was evidently murder, and a form of group deviance. The People's Temple was a part of mainstream Christianity, as it belonged to a denomination called the Disciples of Christ.


The People's Temple preached a social gospel, and the community sought to acheive a perfect community, free of racial differences. They built the community together, and all worked as agricultural workers on their land, following their religious practices, in what they perceived as being the ideal. However, there are reports of abuse within the community, with Jones apparently locking people in boxes against their will, and sedating them with the vast amount of drugs he had acquired if they did not comply to his rules, or expressed views to wanting to leave. This suggests that members were kept against their will, and if they sought to escape, they were severely punished. Jones had major power and control over his community, it seems that after enticing them to Guyana, he almost claimed his followers as his possessions. Jones represents an extreme example of individual deviance, who influenced the deviance of others by conditioning their behaviour.


The group's charismatic leader was Jim Jones, and he was one of only two people to die of gunshot wounds on that fateful day; which raises the question - did he shoot himself, or was he murdered? To this day, they are still many conflicting theories, as to which no-one will ever find the answer to; it is something that can only be speculated upon.


"The question of how many people at Jonestown willingly took the poison always will be open to question. Certainly young children could not have evaluated very well what their actions would mean. The presence of armed guards shows at least implicit coercion, though the guards themselves reported their intentions to visitors in glorious terms and then took the poison. Nor was the situation structured as one of individual choice. Jim Jones proposed a collective action, and in the discussion that followed only one woman offered extended opposition. No one rushed up to tip over the vat of Fla-Vor-Aid. Wittingly, unknowingly, or reluctantly, they took the poison," (Hall, J. (2004). Gone from the Promised Land. New Brunswick : Transaction, p. xviii).

To obtain more information on Jonestown, I would suggest:

http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/

Barker, E. (1995). New Religious Movements. London: HSMO Publications Centre.

Bromley, D. (ed.), Melton, J. (ed.) (2002). Cults, Religion and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Claire Lloyd.
0622669.