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:
Claire Lloyd.
0622669.
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