International Journal of Cultic Studies Vol. 4, 2013 51
development of a framework of events that these
groups have followed. Essentially, these groups
moved through three stages, which purposely
bear a great deal of resemblance to ritual
processes a number of anthropologists have
identified:90
a) Rebellion: A group decides to rebel against
one or more dominant social ideologies. In
this process, the members begin to separate
from the dominant social order.
b) Reification: Group members then form
sectarian communities in which they can
more easily escape dominant ideologies and
reify their own.
c) Resist or Reintegrate: Finally, members
come into direct conflict with mainstream
society, at which point they are then forced
to resist, most often violently, or reintegrate
by giving up their revolutionary spirit and
return to society at large.
These theorists tended to spend more time
analyzing the first and last stages of this
framework. They acknowledged, however, the
existence of the second stage in the process.
Rebellion
The three communes that I highlighted
developed from periods of great social unrest.
The Essenes existed in a time when traditional
Judaism was under a great deal of pressure from
both Roman commercial domination and Greek
cultural domination.91 The historian John
Dominic Crossan made the following
comparison to the situation in first-century
Israel: “Modernization for many then was
Hellenization—Greek internationalism—just as
modernization for many now is
Americanization.”92 The Essenes had taken
particular offense at the Roman appointing of
Temple priests and Jewish kings.93 The Essenes,
however, evolved as one of many responses to
this oppression. The Zealots, who were a
militant Jewish sect, and the Pharisees, who
were the predecessors of modern Judaism,
represent different responses to this same
90 For example, see Bloch, Prey into Hunter Turner, The Ritual
Process Van Gennep, The Rites of Passage.
91 Crossan, The Birth of Christianity, p. xxii.
92 Crossan, The Birth of Christianity, p. xxii. Emphasis in original.
93 Zeitlin, Jesus and the Judaism of His Time, p. 28.
situation. Engels understood that Jesus of
Nazareth arose because of these proletarian
pressures, as well.94
The Anabaptists emerged out of the late stages
of the Protestant Reformation, which was a
response to the Catholic Church’s oppressive
feudalist doctrines. As a byproduct, this new
religious freedom created a vacuum of spiritual
guidance. People began to legitimately feel that
they could come face to face with the will of
God.95 As Marx said, “Man was therefore not
freed from religion he received the freedom of
religion.”96 The Peasants’ War in Germany was
an example of this newfound freedom infused
with the sociopolitical angst caused by the
oppression of the peasant class in Europe.97 The
Anabaptists rose from a similar freedom and
angst.
The Peoples Temple developed out of the social
turmoil and racial tension of 1960s America.
The 1960s’ counterculture movement emerged
as a result of the repressive culture of the
postwar era. Upheavals in race, class, and
family relationships were commonplace and, as
a result, numerous subcultures and
submovements formed.98 People, especially
youth, began to search for alternative lifestyles,
such as communes, that would enable a person
to experiment with different forms of
sociopolitical relations.99 Jim Jones tapped into
this desire for a new way of being and the racial
tensions that remained in America to attract
people to his church.100
Religion appeared in each of these situations,
and many others, as an answer to social and
political strife religion became “the soul of
soulless circumstances.”101 Therefore, even for
Marx, religion was far more than an opiate.
Michel Foucault noted this fact in his analysis of
the Iranian Revolution: “People always quote
94 Engels, “The History of Early Christianity,” p. 217.
95 Cohn, p. 252.
96 Marx, “On the Jewish Question,” p. 63.
97 Cohn, p. 245.
98 Kimball, “What the Sixties Wrought.”
99 O’Donnell, “Nineteen-Sixties Radicalism and its Critics: Radical
Utopians, Liberal Realists and Postmodern Sceptics,” p. 246.
100 Chidester, Salvation and Suicide, p. 64 Reiterman with Jacobs,
p. 147.
101 Marx, “Towards a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,”
p. 72.
development of a framework of events that these
groups have followed. Essentially, these groups
moved through three stages, which purposely
bear a great deal of resemblance to ritual
processes a number of anthropologists have
identified:90
a) Rebellion: A group decides to rebel against
one or more dominant social ideologies. In
this process, the members begin to separate
from the dominant social order.
b) Reification: Group members then form
sectarian communities in which they can
more easily escape dominant ideologies and
reify their own.
c) Resist or Reintegrate: Finally, members
come into direct conflict with mainstream
society, at which point they are then forced
to resist, most often violently, or reintegrate
by giving up their revolutionary spirit and
return to society at large.
These theorists tended to spend more time
analyzing the first and last stages of this
framework. They acknowledged, however, the
existence of the second stage in the process.
Rebellion
The three communes that I highlighted
developed from periods of great social unrest.
The Essenes existed in a time when traditional
Judaism was under a great deal of pressure from
both Roman commercial domination and Greek
cultural domination.91 The historian John
Dominic Crossan made the following
comparison to the situation in first-century
Israel: “Modernization for many then was
Hellenization—Greek internationalism—just as
modernization for many now is
Americanization.”92 The Essenes had taken
particular offense at the Roman appointing of
Temple priests and Jewish kings.93 The Essenes,
however, evolved as one of many responses to
this oppression. The Zealots, who were a
militant Jewish sect, and the Pharisees, who
were the predecessors of modern Judaism,
represent different responses to this same
90 For example, see Bloch, Prey into Hunter Turner, The Ritual
Process Van Gennep, The Rites of Passage.
91 Crossan, The Birth of Christianity, p. xxii.
92 Crossan, The Birth of Christianity, p. xxii. Emphasis in original.
93 Zeitlin, Jesus and the Judaism of His Time, p. 28.
situation. Engels understood that Jesus of
Nazareth arose because of these proletarian
pressures, as well.94
The Anabaptists emerged out of the late stages
of the Protestant Reformation, which was a
response to the Catholic Church’s oppressive
feudalist doctrines. As a byproduct, this new
religious freedom created a vacuum of spiritual
guidance. People began to legitimately feel that
they could come face to face with the will of
God.95 As Marx said, “Man was therefore not
freed from religion he received the freedom of
religion.”96 The Peasants’ War in Germany was
an example of this newfound freedom infused
with the sociopolitical angst caused by the
oppression of the peasant class in Europe.97 The
Anabaptists rose from a similar freedom and
angst.
The Peoples Temple developed out of the social
turmoil and racial tension of 1960s America.
The 1960s’ counterculture movement emerged
as a result of the repressive culture of the
postwar era. Upheavals in race, class, and
family relationships were commonplace and, as
a result, numerous subcultures and
submovements formed.98 People, especially
youth, began to search for alternative lifestyles,
such as communes, that would enable a person
to experiment with different forms of
sociopolitical relations.99 Jim Jones tapped into
this desire for a new way of being and the racial
tensions that remained in America to attract
people to his church.100
Religion appeared in each of these situations,
and many others, as an answer to social and
political strife religion became “the soul of
soulless circumstances.”101 Therefore, even for
Marx, religion was far more than an opiate.
Michel Foucault noted this fact in his analysis of
the Iranian Revolution: “People always quote
94 Engels, “The History of Early Christianity,” p. 217.
95 Cohn, p. 252.
96 Marx, “On the Jewish Question,” p. 63.
97 Cohn, p. 245.
98 Kimball, “What the Sixties Wrought.”
99 O’Donnell, “Nineteen-Sixties Radicalism and its Critics: Radical
Utopians, Liberal Realists and Postmodern Sceptics,” p. 246.
100 Chidester, Salvation and Suicide, p. 64 Reiterman with Jacobs,
p. 147.
101 Marx, “Towards a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,”
p. 72.
