"Cults have always been a fragile topic, but what makes a cult?"--Cece burger, Seventh grade
Cults have always been a fragile topic, but what makes a cult? Urban dictionary describes cults as “... any organization whose leader uses mind control on its followers.”
“Mind control” seems like a stretch but it makes sense, cults are based around one religion or belief that is organized by one higher ranking person in the group, a leader. An example is the very infamous cult that was, Jonestown. So here's the story of Jonestown as well as two other infamous cults.
Jonestown:
Jim Jones was born May 13th ,1931 in Crete, Indiana to parents James Jones and Lynetta Putman. His father was a veteran of The Great War and mustard gas survivor, he lived on disability payments from the government.
Jones’ mother, the main provider for the family, was known to be outspoken about her disbelief of a “sky god.” Jones' parents were very distant from him, he would later preach to his congregation, “I didn’t have any love given to me — I didn’t know what the hell love was.”
Jones was bullied by his neighbors, called names. He was known to bring in strays and people in need of a meal to his home. Most likely bored out of his mind, Jones hopped around every church in town, Methodist, Church of Christ, Quaker, everything, immersing himself into all of them before getting bored and moving to the next.
After graduating high school he sparked an interest in medicine. In school he met fellow nursing student, Marceline Baldwin, they married in 1949. While serving in a small Indianapolis church as a student pastor, Jones found the idea to make his own church, he hadn’t found a single religion that supported all his beliefs so he made his own. The People’s Temple was founded in 1964.
A large reason The People’s Temple was controversial from day one was because it was very racially integrated, which most places were not at the time obviously. But this made the church very popular with people of color which would make up 70% of the congregation.
As the church began to get fully established and settled, more criticism from the media came, rumors and allegations of drugs, beatings, verbal harassment and much more were spread through newspapers.
In fear of his church being shut down or further investigated Jones started sending people to a small compound he had in Guyana that he had been building for years without anyone but his wife's knowledge. Jones lied and told his followers that there would be a “Nuclear holocaust” if they didnt move.
More than 900 members of the church were brainwashed and manipulated into moving into the compound with their children.
There were houses and farms pretty much everything for a sustainable life though the allegations of abuse in the church still lingered. People from the outside said it sounded more like a “slave camp” than a place of light hearted worship.
Concerned about these allegations California congressman Leo Ryan flew out with some peers to Guyana in fall of 1978. They spent multiple days at the compound and were lovingly welcomed, as days passed they interviewed followers who admitted that they would like to leave due to the trapped feeling they had. Some followers had escaped into the forest already.
Jones caught wind of this talk and was very upset. Ryan knew if he and his crew didn't leave they would be harmed. But, there were so many followers of Jones that wanted to leave they would need another plane to fly them out. Ryan and everyone else gathered on the tar-mac waiting for the plane.
A dump truck of armed followers of Jones pulled up and shot at the group killing Ryan and most of his peers were killed.
Back at the compound, Jones was in a panic. He had practiced for this day for a while in case of an emergency like this, he mixed Cyanide (a deadly drug) and Grape Kool-aid powder into big buckets. Some followers had heard of what was happening and started to panic. One woman hid under a bed and ended up surviving.
Jones ordered all of his followers to a main area where he forced them to drink a cup of the drink, some people knew it was poison others didn't. More than 900 followers died that day, 200 were children with no idea what was going on.
There were less than 100 survivors of the massacre. U.S military arrived later in the day and Jones was found with a self- inflicted gunshot wound to the head in the main church.
Aum Shinrikyo cult: The leader: Shoko Asahara born Chizuo Matsumoto was born March 2, 1955, in Kumamoto, Japan, there is not a lot on him before the age of elementary school. He was born into a large poor family and was very well liked by school mates and family.
He was born partially blind and was sent to a school for the blind, graduating in 1975 from highschool. After getting rejected from med school he established his own herbal medicine pharmacy in Chiba.
In 1982 he was arrested for selling fake medication. After his conviction, he returned to his pharmacy which had gone bankrupt and was eventually closed.
A new religion called Agunshu which was starting to get popular for its mix of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. Asahara started to participate in this religion before starting his own which he named, “AUM Shinrikyo.”
His religion was a mix of Hindu, Christian and, Buddist beliefs. Ashara started to hand out flyers and preach on the streets about his religion and teaching yoga and somehow started selling herbal medicine to his new followers.
Most of the crowd that was drawn to Ashara were young elite college students due to how much he preached at universities and schools. He had promised the already pressured students that they could live a successful meaningful life with him.
He told his followers that he was Jesus Christ and, “The Enlightened one”. The cult members said they had to pay thousands of dollars for rituals, the religion was soon officially recognized in Japan. At its peak it was followed by thousands globally.
Gradually Asahara became worried, leading the cult to become a paranoid doomsday cult. He preached of how the world would end soon and only his followers would survive the supposed World War 3 that was coming.
Members became violent with civilians stealing and harming them under the impression it would help them prepare.
On March 20th, 1995, followers of the cult were instructed to put bags of liquid Sarin nerve gas on a busy Tokyo subway train during morning rush hour. The five bags were left leaking, and within seconds the gas took effect. Passengers collapsed, vomited, some were paralyzed and blinded by it. 13 people died between 3 train lines and 5,800 were injured.
Ashara was found and arrested along with several of his followers; they were put on death row July 6th. He was sent to The Tokyo Detention house where he served 22 years before his execution in 2018 , July 6th at the age of 63.
The Penza recluses / the true Russian orthodox church :Pyotr Kuznetsov was born in 1964 in Penza, Russia. There is nothing on his early life, not even a school he attended or his parents' names. We know he ended up in Belarus after getting divorced from his wife and fired from an architect job he had. Kuznetsov had also been diagnosed with Schizophrenia which he did not take anything for.
In 2007 he founded “The true Russian Orthodox Church” based on his belief that the world would end in May of 2008. He gathered a small amount of followers, no more than 100, who also believed the end of the world was coming soon.
In November 2007 around 35 members of the church including partners and children, holed themselves into a cave in the Penza region. Kuznetsov did not stay with them in the cave, he had been put under arrest for intianting the whole thing, he instructed them to live in the cave and pray, waiting for the world to end.
They were not allowed money, TV, radio, or any other media. They were not allowed processed food, believing that the barcodes were satanic, and they were also not allowed official documents, passports or anything like that. The group told Police if they tried to stop them they would commit mass suicide via explosion.
On March 28th, 2008, seven women were pulled from the cage by emergency workers and treated for malnutrition. Three days later, 14 members emerged due to the roof collapsing in the cave due to snow.
A few months later on May 16th, the last nine members of the cult came out due to the horrible stench and toxic fumes of two deceased women that had been rotting in the cave.
Then, on May 21st, the bodies of the women were removed and the cave was blown up for the safety of curious visitors who might get hurt.
Earlier that April, Kuznetsov had been hospitalized for an attempted suicide, officials assume he was crushed his prediction of the world ending failed.
He was sent to a psychiatric hospital and was diagnosed with paranoia, in 2016 the court extended his stay at the hospital where he still stays.
“Mind control” seems like a stretch but it makes sense, cults are based around one religion or belief that is organized by one higher ranking person in the group, a leader. An example is the very infamous cult that was, Jonestown. So here's the story of Jonestown as well as two other infamous cults.
Jonestown:
Jim Jones was born May 13th ,1931 in Crete, Indiana to parents James Jones and Lynetta Putman. His father was a veteran of The Great War and mustard gas survivor, he lived on disability payments from the government.
Jones’ mother, the main provider for the family, was known to be outspoken about her disbelief of a “sky god.” Jones' parents were very distant from him, he would later preach to his congregation, “I didn’t have any love given to me — I didn’t know what the hell love was.”
Jones was bullied by his neighbors, called names. He was known to bring in strays and people in need of a meal to his home. Most likely bored out of his mind, Jones hopped around every church in town, Methodist, Church of Christ, Quaker, everything, immersing himself into all of them before getting bored and moving to the next.
After graduating high school he sparked an interest in medicine. In school he met fellow nursing student, Marceline Baldwin, they married in 1949. While serving in a small Indianapolis church as a student pastor, Jones found the idea to make his own church, he hadn’t found a single religion that supported all his beliefs so he made his own. The People’s Temple was founded in 1964.
A large reason The People’s Temple was controversial from day one was because it was very racially integrated, which most places were not at the time obviously. But this made the church very popular with people of color which would make up 70% of the congregation.
As the church began to get fully established and settled, more criticism from the media came, rumors and allegations of drugs, beatings, verbal harassment and much more were spread through newspapers.
In fear of his church being shut down or further investigated Jones started sending people to a small compound he had in Guyana that he had been building for years without anyone but his wife's knowledge. Jones lied and told his followers that there would be a “Nuclear holocaust” if they didnt move.
More than 900 members of the church were brainwashed and manipulated into moving into the compound with their children.
There were houses and farms pretty much everything for a sustainable life though the allegations of abuse in the church still lingered. People from the outside said it sounded more like a “slave camp” than a place of light hearted worship.
Concerned about these allegations California congressman Leo Ryan flew out with some peers to Guyana in fall of 1978. They spent multiple days at the compound and were lovingly welcomed, as days passed they interviewed followers who admitted that they would like to leave due to the trapped feeling they had. Some followers had escaped into the forest already.
Jones caught wind of this talk and was very upset. Ryan knew if he and his crew didn't leave they would be harmed. But, there were so many followers of Jones that wanted to leave they would need another plane to fly them out. Ryan and everyone else gathered on the tar-mac waiting for the plane.
A dump truck of armed followers of Jones pulled up and shot at the group killing Ryan and most of his peers were killed.
Back at the compound, Jones was in a panic. He had practiced for this day for a while in case of an emergency like this, he mixed Cyanide (a deadly drug) and Grape Kool-aid powder into big buckets. Some followers had heard of what was happening and started to panic. One woman hid under a bed and ended up surviving.
Jones ordered all of his followers to a main area where he forced them to drink a cup of the drink, some people knew it was poison others didn't. More than 900 followers died that day, 200 were children with no idea what was going on.
There were less than 100 survivors of the massacre. U.S military arrived later in the day and Jones was found with a self- inflicted gunshot wound to the head in the main church.
Aum Shinrikyo cult: The leader: Shoko Asahara born Chizuo Matsumoto was born March 2, 1955, in Kumamoto, Japan, there is not a lot on him before the age of elementary school. He was born into a large poor family and was very well liked by school mates and family.
He was born partially blind and was sent to a school for the blind, graduating in 1975 from highschool. After getting rejected from med school he established his own herbal medicine pharmacy in Chiba.
In 1982 he was arrested for selling fake medication. After his conviction, he returned to his pharmacy which had gone bankrupt and was eventually closed.
A new religion called Agunshu which was starting to get popular for its mix of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. Asahara started to participate in this religion before starting his own which he named, “AUM Shinrikyo.”
His religion was a mix of Hindu, Christian and, Buddist beliefs. Ashara started to hand out flyers and preach on the streets about his religion and teaching yoga and somehow started selling herbal medicine to his new followers.
Most of the crowd that was drawn to Ashara were young elite college students due to how much he preached at universities and schools. He had promised the already pressured students that they could live a successful meaningful life with him.
He told his followers that he was Jesus Christ and, “The Enlightened one”. The cult members said they had to pay thousands of dollars for rituals, the religion was soon officially recognized in Japan. At its peak it was followed by thousands globally.
Gradually Asahara became worried, leading the cult to become a paranoid doomsday cult. He preached of how the world would end soon and only his followers would survive the supposed World War 3 that was coming.
Members became violent with civilians stealing and harming them under the impression it would help them prepare.
On March 20th, 1995, followers of the cult were instructed to put bags of liquid Sarin nerve gas on a busy Tokyo subway train during morning rush hour. The five bags were left leaking, and within seconds the gas took effect. Passengers collapsed, vomited, some were paralyzed and blinded by it. 13 people died between 3 train lines and 5,800 were injured.
Ashara was found and arrested along with several of his followers; they were put on death row July 6th. He was sent to The Tokyo Detention house where he served 22 years before his execution in 2018 , July 6th at the age of 63.
The Penza recluses / the true Russian orthodox church :Pyotr Kuznetsov was born in 1964 in Penza, Russia. There is nothing on his early life, not even a school he attended or his parents' names. We know he ended up in Belarus after getting divorced from his wife and fired from an architect job he had. Kuznetsov had also been diagnosed with Schizophrenia which he did not take anything for.
In 2007 he founded “The true Russian Orthodox Church” based on his belief that the world would end in May of 2008. He gathered a small amount of followers, no more than 100, who also believed the end of the world was coming soon.
In November 2007 around 35 members of the church including partners and children, holed themselves into a cave in the Penza region. Kuznetsov did not stay with them in the cave, he had been put under arrest for intianting the whole thing, he instructed them to live in the cave and pray, waiting for the world to end.
They were not allowed money, TV, radio, or any other media. They were not allowed processed food, believing that the barcodes were satanic, and they were also not allowed official documents, passports or anything like that. The group told Police if they tried to stop them they would commit mass suicide via explosion.
On March 28th, 2008, seven women were pulled from the cage by emergency workers and treated for malnutrition. Three days later, 14 members emerged due to the roof collapsing in the cave due to snow.
A few months later on May 16th, the last nine members of the cult came out due to the horrible stench and toxic fumes of two deceased women that had been rotting in the cave.
Then, on May 21st, the bodies of the women were removed and the cave was blown up for the safety of curious visitors who might get hurt.
Earlier that April, Kuznetsov had been hospitalized for an attempted suicide, officials assume he was crushed his prediction of the world ending failed.
He was sent to a psychiatric hospital and was diagnosed with paranoia, in 2016 the court extended his stay at the hospital where he still stays.
