Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 168
The primary ―suicidal‖ behavior among early Christians entailed a sometimes unnecessary
embrace of martyrdom. I refer here not simply to a refusal, once the all-important question
was put to an arrested Christian, to disavow Jesus or to sacrifice to the emperor, but to a
phenomenon whereby obscure individuals who would ordinarily have escaped seizure
merely by lying low and keeping quiet deliberately called attention to themselves and
stridently put themselves in harms way.32 There was other self-destructive behavior. The
great third century theologian Origen appears to have castrated himself. ―He showed ..his
ascetic and extreme temperament by taking Matt 19:12 [plucking of one‘s own offensive
organs] literally, an act not altogether unusual even among the orthodox of the time.‖33
Parenthetically there seems to have been an arguably ―cultic‖ quality to early Christianity.
For Celsius, the pagan apologist and anti-Christian writer, Christianity ―was not a matter of
souls being saved ....but an attempt to subvert society, to destroy family life, and to sow
disaffection among the subjects of the Empire.‖34 According to Celsius, when manipulative
Christian proselytizers ―get hold of children in private, and silly women with them, they are
wonderfully eloquent, to the effect that the children must not listen to their fathers, but
believe them and be taught by them.‖35 ―There was,‖ W. H. Frend affirms, ―an element of
truth in Celsius‘ remarks. Proselytization was one of the causes of Christian unpopularity ..
..In times of stress families were driven apart, and the women members who were
Christian sometimes found their worst enemies in husbands, fathers and brothers who had
been shamed by their action.‖36 For many Christians such as the outstanding writer
Tertullian, commitments to Jesus demanded rejection of the world which was governed by
Satan. ―We turn our back on the institutions of our ancestors,‖ wrote Tertullian.37 One can
imagine what would be the response in some quarters if such a statement were made today
by a ―Moonie.‖
We do not here argue that persecution explains all wild sectarian behavior and associated
apocalyptic notions. Indeed, early Christianity was apocalyptic from the outset. We do
maintain that persecution is a salient factor. Destructive extremism in unconventional
groups may not always be a function of persecution and hostility from the environment, but
these phenomena, if present, cannot simply be ignored. Extremist behavior cannot be
treated as simply intrinsic to a particular movement as a ―cult‖ or ―destructive cult‖ without
an examination of context—a flawed approach, which John Hall terms ―cult essentialism.‖
Conclusion
In a study of early Mormons, Grant Underwood concludes that, ―the single greatest factor in
propelling a movement to emphasize a rhetoric of apocalyptic judgment and vengeance
seems to be the persecution from those around them.‖38 Apocalyptic millenarians may use
―frightening and vindictive rhetoric‖ but they generally do not see themselves as ―midwives
of the millennial kingdom,‖ i.e., they generally prefer to be left alone. Mr. Rosedale might
justifiably respond that intramovement abuses may certainly transpire in a group which is
―left alone,‖ although I feel that Rosedale may have an overly broad conception of
insupportable abuses, i.e., subtle psychological pressures and not merely beatings, etc. In
any case, Professor Underwood‘s view suggests that the apocalyptic orientation, which may
be related to internal abuses and extreme behavior, is itself influenced by a perception of
environmental animus.
Absent severe Chinese persecution, would there have been suicides in Falun Gong? Did
some alleged suicides take place in prison? Are prison suicides all that uncommon anywhere
and are not Chinese prison conditions rather harsher and oppressive (and thus more likely
to produce despair) than American prisons? Given the brutal persecution of Falun Gong a
handful of suicides do not appear to be either shocking or evidence of a sinister intrinsic
destructiveness. On the other hand the controversial tumult characterizing the

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 169
recent/current early period of the movement may have a permanent influence on Falun
Gong, which may have recently gone (or may now be going) through its ―formative‖ stage.
There does indeed appear to be indications of some volatile apocalyptic ferment among the
Falunists, which has been noted by Dr. Susan Palmer, who has also denounced the
―extraordinary cruelty and violence‖ perpetrated against devotees, ―their families and
friends.‖39 Dr. Palmer has studied Canadian Falun Gong members and in May of 2001
attended a conference in Ottawa of a thousand mostly Chinese practitioners at which Master
Li spoke. Li‘s message, which later appeared on the internet, was apocalyptic, and
compared to earlier missives somewhat politicized.
Master Li makes three statement that suggest Falun Gong‘s protest
movement is revisiting its strategy. First, he says the aim of ―cultivation‖ is
no longer individual improvement or even enlightenment (consummation).
Second, he announces that we are living in the ―Fa-rectification‖ period (when
Fa, or divine law, triumphs over evil). Therefore, the role of all disciples is to
engage in the collective work of activist protest against the ―evil‖ of Jiang
Zemin‘s persecution of the Falun Gong.40
Thus, ―beneath the rational pursuit of human rights and the familiar rhetoric of religious
liberty is a rapidly evolving apocalyptic theology fueling Falun Gong‘s civil disobedience in
China.‖41 At the conference, ―Master Li was urging his disciples to stop being victimized, and
to participate in a cosmic war that is being waged on many plans.‖ Initially Li had insisted
that Falun Gong was not political and that practitioners should not oppose the authorities.
―They should respond to even the most brutal persecution with forbearance.‖ But in a
recent letter, ―he identified party chairman Jiang and his minions as ‗demons‘ and urged his
students to stop cooperating with ‗evil‘ ...he was showing them how to fight back—using
psychic powers.‖42 Prior speeches by Li Hongzi heard by Palmer just a year earlier had
tended to focus on miraculous healings, solving problems at home and work, moral
upgrading, etc. ―Now, the overriding concern was to ‗suffocate the evil‘.‖43
Palmer feels that this shift ―is understandable, considering the extraordinary cruelty and
violence perpetrated against these sincere and upright people, their families and friends.‖
Nevertheless, she finds ―something appalling in the fact that more than two thousand have
chosen to place themselves [through civil disobedience] in a situation where they have died
horrible, painful deaths ....were they moving into a holocaust? The Chinese government
was obviously not going to change its barbaric methods of social control.‖44
Like that of the Montanists, the apocalyptic wildness of the Falunists is either partly or
largely a consequence of sustained severe persecution. Unlike Mr. Rosedale, Dr. Palmer can
warn against a growing apocalyptic and political theology and its consequences while
contextualizing these developments in terms of continuing and intensifying persecution,
and, moreover, strongly denouncing brutal oppression, which Rosedale, at least in the
conference paper I downloaded, does not.
Postscript: Belief and Heresy
One of the most curious aspects of Mr. Rosedale‘s essay is his radical devaluation of the
importance of belief. For Rosedale, ―in dealing with religious groups that become
destructive cults, the content of the religious beliefs is secondary and to focus on them is
distraction.‖ This view reflects a model of the cult which is common among ―anticultists‖:
the cult as a ―con game‖ or criminal/mafia type organization. The leaders are thought to
want only power and profit and merely manipulate beliefs, which they do not themselves
take seriously and which do not significantly influence their behavior.
This model has elements of truth, and with regard to particular groups it may be nearly
totally true. I once discussed with Michael Langone of the AFF an ―eternal life cult‖ which