Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 3, Nos. 2 &3, 2004, Page 8
patterns were ―just like some of the psychotic patients I spoke with when I was on
psychiatry rotation during my medical course‖ (Hamilton-Byrne 1995:111).
B. Drugs and Alcohol
Similar associations between some leaders of groups involved in forms of violence also exist
with drugs (including alcohol). David Berg remained a group leader during periods of
alcoholism (Berg 1982), and the volatile founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, reputedly
abused a wide variety of drugs and alcohol (Atack 1990:119, 131, 171, 274 Corydon and
Hubbard 1987:300, 303 Hubbard 1980:123-124 Miller 1987:266). The leader of Love
Israel became a cocaine addict (Balch 1988:207-208, 212). So, too, did the heavy drinker,
Hyo Jin Moon, thought to have been in line to assume his father‘s leadership position in the
Unification Church (Hong 1998:169, 175, 177). In the latter case, his substance abuse
contributed to extremely violent behaviour toward his wife, who finally had to flee at night
for fear of losing her life. Trungpa Rinpoche‘s drunkenness facilitated violence among his
followers and associates (Investigative Poetry Group 1977 Marin 1979), and Canada‘s Roch
Theriault operated on his followers when he was roaring drunk, castrating one follower,
disemboweling another, and amputating the arm of a third (Kaihla and Laver 1993:18-19,
39, 44-45, 112, 155-156, 209, 211, 220, 221, 225, 263, 265, 276, 290, 294). In Guyana,
Jim Jones created a surreal, abusive (and ultimately deadly) world as his mental health
deteriorated amidst his consumption of ―injectable Valium, Quaaludes, uppers, [and]
barbiturates‖ (Reiterman with Jacobs, 1982:446). Aum Shinrikyo‘s founder, Shoko Asahara,
―sampled the initial batches of his group‘s production of LSD‖ (Brackett 1996:98).
C. Religious Irrationality
Beyond, however, instances of personality dysfunction among some leaders of violent
groups, secularists may argue that the central culprit in so many cases of violence is religion
itself (See van Uden and Pieper 1996:50). Like people, sometimes the gods are crazy, and
in a divinely (mis)attributed craziness, people can, and do, hurt and sometimes kill
themselves and others. Religiously driven suicide is the most sombre example, which we all
know about in groups such as People‘s Temple, Order of the Solar Temple, Heaven‘s Gate,
and (at least in some cases) the Branch Davidians. We must not forget, however, less-well-
known examples of much the same thing—anorexic starvation among the Breatharians
(Walker and O‘Reilly 1999) self-immolations among Buddhist, Catholic, and Quaker
dissidents during the Vietnam War (Zaroulis and Sullivan 1984:1-5) and several protesting
Falun Gong members in China (Chang, 2004:16-19, 21, 104 Page 2002 – although some
claim these were staged by the government [Xie &Zhu, 2004]) and extreme Jain monks
who view ―the ideal mode of death as being a form of highly controlled wasting away
through fasting [sallekhana]‖ (Dundas 1992:155). All of these forms of violence against the
self bear some resemblance to contemporary suicide bombers, yet the latter‘s goals include
the infliction of death and destruction upon others as well as themselves (Juergensmeyer
2000:69-78).
Less dramatic, but oftentimes no less deadly, are people who deny themselves (and often
their loved ones) medical treatments on religious grounds. Ordinarily, one would not think
of groups such as the Christian Scientists (Fraser 1999:416-435) or Jehovah‘s Witnesses
(Williams 1987:116-209) as fostering violence, but the denial of appropriate medical
treatment can kill just as easily as can a weapon or a fist. Sometimes researchers are able
to trace these medical denials to the peculiar psychologies of groups‘ leaders for example,
the founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, probably was paranoid and literally
afraid of medical treatment (Fraser 1999:26, 103, 107-108). Regardless, however, of the
cause or religious rationale behind such denials, often the consequences are dire. In its
worst manifestations, religion itself can foster violence to the extent that it subverts ―higher
reasoning to help offset the more primitive focus on sex and aggression‖ (Roy 2000:394-
patterns were ―just like some of the psychotic patients I spoke with when I was on
psychiatry rotation during my medical course‖ (Hamilton-Byrne 1995:111).
B. Drugs and Alcohol
Similar associations between some leaders of groups involved in forms of violence also exist
with drugs (including alcohol). David Berg remained a group leader during periods of
alcoholism (Berg 1982), and the volatile founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, reputedly
abused a wide variety of drugs and alcohol (Atack 1990:119, 131, 171, 274 Corydon and
Hubbard 1987:300, 303 Hubbard 1980:123-124 Miller 1987:266). The leader of Love
Israel became a cocaine addict (Balch 1988:207-208, 212). So, too, did the heavy drinker,
Hyo Jin Moon, thought to have been in line to assume his father‘s leadership position in the
Unification Church (Hong 1998:169, 175, 177). In the latter case, his substance abuse
contributed to extremely violent behaviour toward his wife, who finally had to flee at night
for fear of losing her life. Trungpa Rinpoche‘s drunkenness facilitated violence among his
followers and associates (Investigative Poetry Group 1977 Marin 1979), and Canada‘s Roch
Theriault operated on his followers when he was roaring drunk, castrating one follower,
disemboweling another, and amputating the arm of a third (Kaihla and Laver 1993:18-19,
39, 44-45, 112, 155-156, 209, 211, 220, 221, 225, 263, 265, 276, 290, 294). In Guyana,
Jim Jones created a surreal, abusive (and ultimately deadly) world as his mental health
deteriorated amidst his consumption of ―injectable Valium, Quaaludes, uppers, [and]
barbiturates‖ (Reiterman with Jacobs, 1982:446). Aum Shinrikyo‘s founder, Shoko Asahara,
―sampled the initial batches of his group‘s production of LSD‖ (Brackett 1996:98).
C. Religious Irrationality
Beyond, however, instances of personality dysfunction among some leaders of violent
groups, secularists may argue that the central culprit in so many cases of violence is religion
itself (See van Uden and Pieper 1996:50). Like people, sometimes the gods are crazy, and
in a divinely (mis)attributed craziness, people can, and do, hurt and sometimes kill
themselves and others. Religiously driven suicide is the most sombre example, which we all
know about in groups such as People‘s Temple, Order of the Solar Temple, Heaven‘s Gate,
and (at least in some cases) the Branch Davidians. We must not forget, however, less-well-
known examples of much the same thing—anorexic starvation among the Breatharians
(Walker and O‘Reilly 1999) self-immolations among Buddhist, Catholic, and Quaker
dissidents during the Vietnam War (Zaroulis and Sullivan 1984:1-5) and several protesting
Falun Gong members in China (Chang, 2004:16-19, 21, 104 Page 2002 – although some
claim these were staged by the government [Xie &Zhu, 2004]) and extreme Jain monks
who view ―the ideal mode of death as being a form of highly controlled wasting away
through fasting [sallekhana]‖ (Dundas 1992:155). All of these forms of violence against the
self bear some resemblance to contemporary suicide bombers, yet the latter‘s goals include
the infliction of death and destruction upon others as well as themselves (Juergensmeyer
2000:69-78).
Less dramatic, but oftentimes no less deadly, are people who deny themselves (and often
their loved ones) medical treatments on religious grounds. Ordinarily, one would not think
of groups such as the Christian Scientists (Fraser 1999:416-435) or Jehovah‘s Witnesses
(Williams 1987:116-209) as fostering violence, but the denial of appropriate medical
treatment can kill just as easily as can a weapon or a fist. Sometimes researchers are able
to trace these medical denials to the peculiar psychologies of groups‘ leaders for example,
the founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, probably was paranoid and literally
afraid of medical treatment (Fraser 1999:26, 103, 107-108). Regardless, however, of the
cause or religious rationale behind such denials, often the consequences are dire. In its
worst manifestations, religion itself can foster violence to the extent that it subverts ―higher
reasoning to help offset the more primitive focus on sex and aggression‖ (Roy 2000:394-
