International Journal of Cultic Studies Vol. 4, 2013 57
Conclusion
There are, of course, limitations to this
framework. The case examples cannot stand to
represent every communal religious movement.
Thus, I imagine there would be a number of
groups that would not exactly follow this model.
Also, like the theories that support it, the
framework is highly Eurocentric, and I do not
know how applicable it would be outside of a
European or North American context.
Nonetheless, history provides numerous other
potential examples: The Rashneeshis in Oregon,
the Old Believers in Russia,166 the Branch
Davidians in Texas, the early Mormon Church,
the Lollards in England, the European Flagellant
movement, the Diggers in the English
Revolution, and the current Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
movement are some of the groups that
potentially could fit within this framework.
Consequently, Marx and the revisionists shed a
great deal of light on the rise and fall of
communal religious movements. When
compiled, their theories provide a framework
that explains the elements at play during the
development and degradation of these
movements. Marx and the revisionists explained
the connection between these groups and the
dominant social relations of their time. The
theorists explained how these groups resisted,
yet were unable to escape these relations. More
often than not, the deviant efforts of these
groups resulted in the reinforcement of dominant
ideologies rather than their reversal, as was the
case in both Munster and Jonestown.167
Therefore, although the Essenes, Anabaptists,
and Peoples Temple emerged out of
sociopolitical discontent, they failed as
movements partially as a result of their
religiosity. The aspects of religion embedded in
these groups left them highly localized and
unable to gain the critical mass to initiate any
substantial changes. Most importantly, it left
them ill-equipped to deal with the reaction their
social, political, and religious practices would
garner from the dominant social order.
166 Sociologist Thomas Robbins already has published a piece that
compares the mass suicides of the Old Believers with the events in
Jonestown (Robbins, “Religious Mass Suicide before Jonestown”).
167 Hall, p. 291 Wise.
Bibliography
Axthelm, Pete. (1978, December 4). The Emperor Jones.
Newsweek (Special Report), p. 54.
Baumgarten, Joseph. (2005). The avoidance of the death penalty in
Qumran law.” In Ester G. Chazon, Devorah Dimant, &Ruth A.
Clements (Eds.), Reworking the Bible: Apocryphal and related
texts at Qumran (pp. 31–37). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.
Bax, E. Belfort. (1879). The word “religion.’” Modern Thought,
(1)4, p. 67–69. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1879/04/religion.htm
Bax, E. Belfort. (1883). The modern revolution II. Progress, pp.
193–201. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1883/09/modrev2.htm
Bax, E. Belfort. (1894). German society at the close of the Middle
Ages (report). New York, NY: Augustus Kelly.
Bax, E. Belfort. (1899). The Peasants War in Germany: 1525–
1526 (report). New York, NY: Augustus Kelly.
Bax, E. Belfort. (1903). Rise and fall of the Anabaptists (report).
New York, NY: Augustus Kelly.
Bax, E. Belfort. (1905, January 14). Christianity and Socialism
(letter). Justice, p. 6. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1905/01/christianity-14-
1.htm
Bax, E. Belfort. (1906, April 14). Socialist ethics and private
charity. Justice, p. 4. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1906/04/ethics.htm
Bernstein, Eduard. (1895). Cromwell and Communism: Socialism
and democracy in the great English Revolution. London, England:
George Allen and Unwin.
Bernstein, Eduard. (1895a). The judgment of abnormal sexual
intercourse. Die Neue Zeit, 2, pp. 228–233. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bernstein/works/1895/w
ilde/homosexual.htm
Bernstein, Eduard. (1899). The preconditions of socialism (report).
Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Bibby, Reginald W. (2002). Restless gods: The renaissance of
religion in Canada. Toronto, Canada: Stoddart.
Bloch, Maurice. (1992). Prey into hunter: The politics of religious
experience. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre. (1998). Acts of resistance: Against the new myths
of our time. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Polity Press.
Carroll, James. (2001). Constantine’s sword: The church and the
Jews. New York, NY: First Mariner.
Chidester, David. (2003). Salvation and suicide: Jim Jones, the
Peoples Temple, and Jonestown. Bloomington, IN: Indiana
University Press.
Cohn, Norman. (1957). The pursuit of the millennium:
Revolutionary millenarians and mystical anarchists of the Middle
Ages (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Crossan, John Dominic. (1998). The birth of Christianity:
Discovering what happened in the years immediately after the
execution of Jesus. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins.
Crossan, John Dominic, &Reed, Jonathan L. (2001). Excavating
Jesus: Beneath the stones, behind the texts. San Francisco, CA:
HarperCollins.
Conclusion
There are, of course, limitations to this
framework. The case examples cannot stand to
represent every communal religious movement.
Thus, I imagine there would be a number of
groups that would not exactly follow this model.
Also, like the theories that support it, the
framework is highly Eurocentric, and I do not
know how applicable it would be outside of a
European or North American context.
Nonetheless, history provides numerous other
potential examples: The Rashneeshis in Oregon,
the Old Believers in Russia,166 the Branch
Davidians in Texas, the early Mormon Church,
the Lollards in England, the European Flagellant
movement, the Diggers in the English
Revolution, and the current Fundamentalist
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
movement are some of the groups that
potentially could fit within this framework.
Consequently, Marx and the revisionists shed a
great deal of light on the rise and fall of
communal religious movements. When
compiled, their theories provide a framework
that explains the elements at play during the
development and degradation of these
movements. Marx and the revisionists explained
the connection between these groups and the
dominant social relations of their time. The
theorists explained how these groups resisted,
yet were unable to escape these relations. More
often than not, the deviant efforts of these
groups resulted in the reinforcement of dominant
ideologies rather than their reversal, as was the
case in both Munster and Jonestown.167
Therefore, although the Essenes, Anabaptists,
and Peoples Temple emerged out of
sociopolitical discontent, they failed as
movements partially as a result of their
religiosity. The aspects of religion embedded in
these groups left them highly localized and
unable to gain the critical mass to initiate any
substantial changes. Most importantly, it left
them ill-equipped to deal with the reaction their
social, political, and religious practices would
garner from the dominant social order.
166 Sociologist Thomas Robbins already has published a piece that
compares the mass suicides of the Old Believers with the events in
Jonestown (Robbins, “Religious Mass Suicide before Jonestown”).
167 Hall, p. 291 Wise.
Bibliography
Axthelm, Pete. (1978, December 4). The Emperor Jones.
Newsweek (Special Report), p. 54.
Baumgarten, Joseph. (2005). The avoidance of the death penalty in
Qumran law.” In Ester G. Chazon, Devorah Dimant, &Ruth A.
Clements (Eds.), Reworking the Bible: Apocryphal and related
texts at Qumran (pp. 31–37). Leiden, Netherlands: Brill.
Bax, E. Belfort. (1879). The word “religion.’” Modern Thought,
(1)4, p. 67–69. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1879/04/religion.htm
Bax, E. Belfort. (1883). The modern revolution II. Progress, pp.
193–201. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1883/09/modrev2.htm
Bax, E. Belfort. (1894). German society at the close of the Middle
Ages (report). New York, NY: Augustus Kelly.
Bax, E. Belfort. (1899). The Peasants War in Germany: 1525–
1526 (report). New York, NY: Augustus Kelly.
Bax, E. Belfort. (1903). Rise and fall of the Anabaptists (report).
New York, NY: Augustus Kelly.
Bax, E. Belfort. (1905, January 14). Christianity and Socialism
(letter). Justice, p. 6. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1905/01/christianity-14-
1.htm
Bax, E. Belfort. (1906, April 14). Socialist ethics and private
charity. Justice, p. 4. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1906/04/ethics.htm
Bernstein, Eduard. (1895). Cromwell and Communism: Socialism
and democracy in the great English Revolution. London, England:
George Allen and Unwin.
Bernstein, Eduard. (1895a). The judgment of abnormal sexual
intercourse. Die Neue Zeit, 2, pp. 228–233. Retrieved from
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/bernstein/works/1895/w
ilde/homosexual.htm
Bernstein, Eduard. (1899). The preconditions of socialism (report).
Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Bibby, Reginald W. (2002). Restless gods: The renaissance of
religion in Canada. Toronto, Canada: Stoddart.
Bloch, Maurice. (1992). Prey into hunter: The politics of religious
experience. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre. (1998). Acts of resistance: Against the new myths
of our time. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Polity Press.
Carroll, James. (2001). Constantine’s sword: The church and the
Jews. New York, NY: First Mariner.
Chidester, David. (2003). Salvation and suicide: Jim Jones, the
Peoples Temple, and Jonestown. Bloomington, IN: Indiana
University Press.
Cohn, Norman. (1957). The pursuit of the millennium:
Revolutionary millenarians and mystical anarchists of the Middle
Ages (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Crossan, John Dominic. (1998). The birth of Christianity:
Discovering what happened in the years immediately after the
execution of Jesus. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins.
Crossan, John Dominic, &Reed, Jonathan L. (2001). Excavating
Jesus: Beneath the stones, behind the texts. San Francisco, CA:
HarperCollins.
