10 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 9, 2018
Applewhite led “Heaven’s Gate,” another
doomsday-type cult.
132F
133 In 1997, in California,
thirty-nine members of Heaven’s Gate
committed group suicide.
133F
134
Aum Shrinrikyo formed a Buddhist-based
religion centralized around a theory that
thousands of people could be emancipated and
gain supernatural powers he predicted a Third
World War or Armageddon in 1999.
134F
135 After
other killings, in March 1995, Aum launched a
gas attack on a Tokyo subway system in which
12 people died and 5,000 suffered injuries.
135F
136
Not all religious cults focus on the imminent end
of the world. Others have ongoing ideology and
spirituality.
136F
137 As examples indicate in this
Article, at the center of religious cults is the
preaching of their spiritual leader who often
claims to have unique knowledge or some
connection to the after-world.
2. Political Cults
Rather than religion as its tenet, political cults’
ideology builds upon a belief that the political
system must be changed. One such group is
Move, whose headquarters in Philadelphia was
bombed by police going after the group’s arsenal
of weapons.
137F
138 Move espoused eating raw,
“natural” food, holding convictions contrary to
the current political system, shunning traditional
education of its children, providing rudimentary
education to boys only, and the forgoing of
materialism.
138F
139
Janja Lalich joined the Workers Democratic
Union (“WDU”) and ascended the ranks but
later described the group as a small political cult
led by a charismatic woman.
139F
140 The WDU was a
feminist, Marxist-Leninist party with women
133 See Schwartz, supra note 13, at 92 LALICH, supra note 62, at
25−109.
134 See Violent Outcomes, supra note 1, at 287.
135 See Hiroshi Hirata, Crimes and Teachings of Aum Shinrikyo,
18 CULTIC STUD. J. 36 (2001).
136 See id.
137 See HASSAN, supra note 55.
138 See id. at 86. On May 13, 1985, confrontation by authorities
led to the killing of eleven Move members and destruction of sixty
homes. See INT’L CULTIC STUD. ASS’N, Move, wf
139 See INT’L CULTIC STUD. ASS’N, supra note 136.
140 LALICH, supra note 62, at 113−218.
leading its upper-ranks.
140F
141 In October 1985,
after twelve years of existence, one hundred
members of WDU met in San Francisco and
voted to expel their leader, Doreen Baxter, and
dissolve the organization.
141F
142 Baxter was accused
of corruption and abuse.
142F
143
3. Terrorist Groups as Cults
Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on
America’s soil, cult researchers have drawn
parallels between terrorist groups with an
ideological premise, such as Al Qaeda, and
religious cults.
143F
144 Al Qaeda had a charismatic,
self-appointed leader in Osama bin Laden, and
followers were so devoted to their cause
144F
145 they
were willing to commit suicide and mass murder
as part of the September 11th attacks. This
arguably indicates Al Qaeda’s leaders’ extreme
undue influence over its followers. Thus, Al
Qaeda can be characterized as a religious cultic
terrorist group.
145F
146
Another organization that combines terrorism
and religious worship is the Lord’s Resistance
Army (“LRA”), which is centralized in northern
Uganda.
146F
147 Accounts differ on the number of
children LRA has abducted, but estimates are
over 20,000 children.
147F
148 The children are forced
to terrorize their own communities.
148F
149 It is
estimated the LRA is responsible for the deaths
141 See Janja Lalich, The Cadre Ideal: Origins and Development of
a Political Cult, 9 CULTIC STUD. J. 1 (1992).
142 Id.
143 Id.
144 In contrast, Masoud Banisadr argues that some terrorist groups
should be considered political cults in that they share the cult
characteristics of strong charismatic leader, a shared ideology, and
isolation. Masoud Banisadr, Terrorist Organizations are Cults, 8
CULTIC STUD. REV. 154, 164 (2009). It is in isolation from wider
society that makes a terrorist group dangerous. In order to combat
terrorism, Banisadr suggests reducing isolation by forcing them to
abide by the moral fabric of the larger society. Id.
145 Stephen Bruce Mutch, Cultism, Terrorism, and Homeland
Security, 5 CULTIC STUD. REV. 169, 173 (2006).
146 See id. Arthur A. Dole, Are Terrorists Cultists?, 5 CULTIC
STUD. REV. 198, 217 (2006) (“Are Terrorists cultists? In my
opinion some, like Al Qaeda, certainly are.”).
147 Terra Manca, Innocent Murders? Abducted Children in the
Lord’s Resistance Army, 7 CULTIC STUD. REV. 129, 130, 141−42
(2008).
148 Id.
149 See id. (citing United Nations’ figures, however, other
estimates are higher).
Applewhite led “Heaven’s Gate,” another
doomsday-type cult.
132F
133 In 1997, in California,
thirty-nine members of Heaven’s Gate
committed group suicide.
133F
134
Aum Shrinrikyo formed a Buddhist-based
religion centralized around a theory that
thousands of people could be emancipated and
gain supernatural powers he predicted a Third
World War or Armageddon in 1999.
134F
135 After
other killings, in March 1995, Aum launched a
gas attack on a Tokyo subway system in which
12 people died and 5,000 suffered injuries.
135F
136
Not all religious cults focus on the imminent end
of the world. Others have ongoing ideology and
spirituality.
136F
137 As examples indicate in this
Article, at the center of religious cults is the
preaching of their spiritual leader who often
claims to have unique knowledge or some
connection to the after-world.
2. Political Cults
Rather than religion as its tenet, political cults’
ideology builds upon a belief that the political
system must be changed. One such group is
Move, whose headquarters in Philadelphia was
bombed by police going after the group’s arsenal
of weapons.
137F
138 Move espoused eating raw,
“natural” food, holding convictions contrary to
the current political system, shunning traditional
education of its children, providing rudimentary
education to boys only, and the forgoing of
materialism.
138F
139
Janja Lalich joined the Workers Democratic
Union (“WDU”) and ascended the ranks but
later described the group as a small political cult
led by a charismatic woman.
139F
140 The WDU was a
feminist, Marxist-Leninist party with women
133 See Schwartz, supra note 13, at 92 LALICH, supra note 62, at
25−109.
134 See Violent Outcomes, supra note 1, at 287.
135 See Hiroshi Hirata, Crimes and Teachings of Aum Shinrikyo,
18 CULTIC STUD. J. 36 (2001).
136 See id.
137 See HASSAN, supra note 55.
138 See id. at 86. On May 13, 1985, confrontation by authorities
led to the killing of eleven Move members and destruction of sixty
homes. See INT’L CULTIC STUD. ASS’N, Move, wf
139 See INT’L CULTIC STUD. ASS’N, supra note 136.
140 LALICH, supra note 62, at 113−218.
leading its upper-ranks.
140F
141 In October 1985,
after twelve years of existence, one hundred
members of WDU met in San Francisco and
voted to expel their leader, Doreen Baxter, and
dissolve the organization.
141F
142 Baxter was accused
of corruption and abuse.
142F
143
3. Terrorist Groups as Cults
Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on
America’s soil, cult researchers have drawn
parallels between terrorist groups with an
ideological premise, such as Al Qaeda, and
religious cults.
143F
144 Al Qaeda had a charismatic,
self-appointed leader in Osama bin Laden, and
followers were so devoted to their cause
144F
145 they
were willing to commit suicide and mass murder
as part of the September 11th attacks. This
arguably indicates Al Qaeda’s leaders’ extreme
undue influence over its followers. Thus, Al
Qaeda can be characterized as a religious cultic
terrorist group.
145F
146
Another organization that combines terrorism
and religious worship is the Lord’s Resistance
Army (“LRA”), which is centralized in northern
Uganda.
146F
147 Accounts differ on the number of
children LRA has abducted, but estimates are
over 20,000 children.
147F
148 The children are forced
to terrorize their own communities.
148F
149 It is
estimated the LRA is responsible for the deaths
141 See Janja Lalich, The Cadre Ideal: Origins and Development of
a Political Cult, 9 CULTIC STUD. J. 1 (1992).
142 Id.
143 Id.
144 In contrast, Masoud Banisadr argues that some terrorist groups
should be considered political cults in that they share the cult
characteristics of strong charismatic leader, a shared ideology, and
isolation. Masoud Banisadr, Terrorist Organizations are Cults, 8
CULTIC STUD. REV. 154, 164 (2009). It is in isolation from wider
society that makes a terrorist group dangerous. In order to combat
terrorism, Banisadr suggests reducing isolation by forcing them to
abide by the moral fabric of the larger society. Id.
145 Stephen Bruce Mutch, Cultism, Terrorism, and Homeland
Security, 5 CULTIC STUD. REV. 169, 173 (2006).
146 See id. Arthur A. Dole, Are Terrorists Cultists?, 5 CULTIC
STUD. REV. 198, 217 (2006) (“Are Terrorists cultists? In my
opinion some, like Al Qaeda, certainly are.”).
147 Terra Manca, Innocent Murders? Abducted Children in the
Lord’s Resistance Army, 7 CULTIC STUD. REV. 129, 130, 141−42
(2008).
148 Id.
149 See id. (citing United Nations’ figures, however, other
estimates are higher).
