Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, Page 28
Terrorist Organizations Are Cults
Masoud Banisadr
United Kingdom
Abstract
In this paper, I attempt to show that there is a difference between an act of
terrorism and a terrorist organization. Therefore each should be dealt with
differently. I further argue that a terrorist organization is a cult or must
change into a cult in order to survive. Therefore, to deal with terrorist
organizations we must understand how to deal with cults. The most important
action is to take cult members, including radicals and potential recruits of
terrorist groups, out of isolation, psychological or physical, rather than push
them even more into isolation from wider society.
American novelist Mary McCarthy said, ―In violence we forget who we are.‖ When we do
forget, we forget what humanity is. Then the life of other human beings becomes as
valueless as the life of an insect. This change of perspective happened to me during my
membership in an organization that changed from a small guerrilla organization into a
popular one, and then into a terrorist group, and eventually into a cult.
Based on my experiences and my observations of other members of terrorist and cultic
groups, I will in this paper:
1. Attempt to show that there is a difference between an act of terrorism and a
terrorist organization. Therefore, each one should be dealt with differently.
2. Argue that a terrorist organization is a cult or, if it is not, it has no choice but to
change into a cult to survive.
3. Show that the key to this transformation is isolation of members and creating in
them a phobia and paranoia toward the outside world.
4. Argue that a long-term solution to the issue of terrorism depends on breaking the
isolation and the phobia for members and potential recruits.
Background
For almost twenty years, I was a supporter, a member, and then a representative of a cult
called Mojahedin e Khalq e Iran—in short, MEK (or Mojahedin). This organization is included
among the list of terrorist groups in the United States (US) and, until recently, in the
European Union (EU). Of course, because MEK‘s terrorism is against the Iranian
government, Western nations tend to consider its members good terrorists therefore,
contrary to their label, MEK members have had a free hand to do almost anything in the US
and in Europe.
When I began introducing myself as a supporter of MEK, neither MEK nor I was who we are
now. When the policy of MEK changed solely into violence, we soon both forgot who we
were and changed into the opposite of our previous selves.
In 1979, I was a 25-year-old Ph.D. student in the Engineering Mathematics department of
the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom (UK). I had a very happy life. I was
Terrorist Organizations Are Cults
Masoud Banisadr
United Kingdom
Abstract
In this paper, I attempt to show that there is a difference between an act of
terrorism and a terrorist organization. Therefore each should be dealt with
differently. I further argue that a terrorist organization is a cult or must
change into a cult in order to survive. Therefore, to deal with terrorist
organizations we must understand how to deal with cults. The most important
action is to take cult members, including radicals and potential recruits of
terrorist groups, out of isolation, psychological or physical, rather than push
them even more into isolation from wider society.
American novelist Mary McCarthy said, ―In violence we forget who we are.‖ When we do
forget, we forget what humanity is. Then the life of other human beings becomes as
valueless as the life of an insect. This change of perspective happened to me during my
membership in an organization that changed from a small guerrilla organization into a
popular one, and then into a terrorist group, and eventually into a cult.
Based on my experiences and my observations of other members of terrorist and cultic
groups, I will in this paper:
1. Attempt to show that there is a difference between an act of terrorism and a
terrorist organization. Therefore, each one should be dealt with differently.
2. Argue that a terrorist organization is a cult or, if it is not, it has no choice but to
change into a cult to survive.
3. Show that the key to this transformation is isolation of members and creating in
them a phobia and paranoia toward the outside world.
4. Argue that a long-term solution to the issue of terrorism depends on breaking the
isolation and the phobia for members and potential recruits.
Background
For almost twenty years, I was a supporter, a member, and then a representative of a cult
called Mojahedin e Khalq e Iran—in short, MEK (or Mojahedin). This organization is included
among the list of terrorist groups in the United States (US) and, until recently, in the
European Union (EU). Of course, because MEK‘s terrorism is against the Iranian
government, Western nations tend to consider its members good terrorists therefore,
contrary to their label, MEK members have had a free hand to do almost anything in the US
and in Europe.
When I began introducing myself as a supporter of MEK, neither MEK nor I was who we are
now. When the policy of MEK changed solely into violence, we soon both forgot who we
were and changed into the opposite of our previous selves.
In 1979, I was a 25-year-old Ph.D. student in the Engineering Mathematics department of
the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom (UK). I had a very happy life. I was
