Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, Page 45
[27] There are a few historical examples of how a popular organization or followers of a belief, when
they have restricted their actions to terrorism, gradually have changed from a popular organization
into a cult—examples like the assassins who became the cult of Hassan Sabah, Zealots, Thugs. And
even in our time, apart from MEK, one can see how PKK in Turkey changed into the cult of Abdullah
Ocalan, and LTTE in Sri Lanka changed into the cult of Vellupillai Prabhakaran.
[28] Film made by member of parliament Geert Wilders. Mr. Wilders says his film will show that the
Muslim holy book is an inspiration for murder (BBC, February 16, 2008). I saw the film, and I found it
the best propaganda tool for Al-Qaeda, to say Islam is not the Islam of 1 billion people but the Islam
of a few thousand terrorists.
[29] ―To be silent before the oppressor is no different than cooperation with him. To be silent before this
power-ridden aggressor means only subjugation. On the other hand, rioting and mere shouting at the
aggressor will not be effective unless it is based on a well-evaluated plan and program. It is because
of the opening of correct and effective means of fighting against the aggressors and injustice that the
vanguard of the movement, the superior, most intelligent, most devoted, and bravest sons of the
people, have accepted the responsibility of forging this road.‖ (The statement of Mojahedin in
response to the recent accusations of the Iranian regime [Shah‘s regime], reprinted 1979, p. 17
(reprinted and published in Iran by MEK in 1979, p. 17).
[30] http://www.slate.com/id/2214507/
[31] Margaret Thaler Singer, Cults in Our Midst, pp. 74, 75.
[32] Even if this was a restricted source of information, it was never put in an official code of practice or
written law.
[33] At the beginning, sex after life, namely in heaven, was allowed but later, as members found out,
because they might start fantasizing about sex after life, that was forbidden, as well.
[34] Many members have European and American passports or refugee status still, their main slogan
these days, as Rajavi puts it, is: ―If Ashraf (Base) resists—the world will resist‖ and without the
Iraqis‘ insistence, they are not forced to leave Iraq.
[35] The images of the two armies, Israelis in Palestine and Americans in Iraq, are virtually
indistinguishable from each other for most Muslims. Many of these foreign volunteers would likely
prefer to fight Israelis in Palestine, but the Israeli border is virtually impenetrable. So focusing on Iraq
and killing US soldiers is the next best option (from Dying to Kill by Mia Bloom, p. 169).
[36] Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small, political terrorist
cult, in 1974. She was locked in a dark closet for weeks, and was starved and raped. Later, she
became an active member of the group. She passed up chances to escape and participated in a bank
robbery, for which she was convicted and served a jail term.
[37] MEK‘s publication Nashrieh, number 18, December 18, 1981.
[38] ―Preventative detention and sedition laws can send a message to Muslim communities that they are
mistrusted and targeted for special attention such laws engender suspicion, heighten paranoia, and
possibly run the risk of amplifying deviance in those pockets where it might exist. While limited
preventative detention might be justified with adequate judicial safeguards, governments, in treading
a delicate path, should err in favour of free speech, which is not only a fundamental freedom at the
heart of the society we are trying to protect, but a useful ally in the so-called ‗war on terror.‘
Legislation that restricts free speech can certainly engender suspicion, induce non-cooperation, and
destroy the credibility of community leaders seen to be in collaboration with governments that are
running apparently contradictory policies.... It is also vital for authorities to keep in mind that terrorist
violence is not limited to Muslim groups. Aum Shinrikyo was a syncretistic, Japanese Buddhist cult that
employed a weapon of mass destruction, sarin gas, in its attack on the Tokyo subway. A narrow focus
on Muslim groups might blind us to potential problems in cultic groups around the world most often
the subject of query or complaint to the cult-watch network.‖ (Stephen Bruce Mutch, Ph.D., LL.B.
(UNSW), Department of Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
―Cultism, Terrorism, and Homeland Security,‖ Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, Special Issue:
Terrorism, pp. 170, 171.)
[27] There are a few historical examples of how a popular organization or followers of a belief, when
they have restricted their actions to terrorism, gradually have changed from a popular organization
into a cult—examples like the assassins who became the cult of Hassan Sabah, Zealots, Thugs. And
even in our time, apart from MEK, one can see how PKK in Turkey changed into the cult of Abdullah
Ocalan, and LTTE in Sri Lanka changed into the cult of Vellupillai Prabhakaran.
[28] Film made by member of parliament Geert Wilders. Mr. Wilders says his film will show that the
Muslim holy book is an inspiration for murder (BBC, February 16, 2008). I saw the film, and I found it
the best propaganda tool for Al-Qaeda, to say Islam is not the Islam of 1 billion people but the Islam
of a few thousand terrorists.
[29] ―To be silent before the oppressor is no different than cooperation with him. To be silent before this
power-ridden aggressor means only subjugation. On the other hand, rioting and mere shouting at the
aggressor will not be effective unless it is based on a well-evaluated plan and program. It is because
of the opening of correct and effective means of fighting against the aggressors and injustice that the
vanguard of the movement, the superior, most intelligent, most devoted, and bravest sons of the
people, have accepted the responsibility of forging this road.‖ (The statement of Mojahedin in
response to the recent accusations of the Iranian regime [Shah‘s regime], reprinted 1979, p. 17
(reprinted and published in Iran by MEK in 1979, p. 17).
[30] http://www.slate.com/id/2214507/
[31] Margaret Thaler Singer, Cults in Our Midst, pp. 74, 75.
[32] Even if this was a restricted source of information, it was never put in an official code of practice or
written law.
[33] At the beginning, sex after life, namely in heaven, was allowed but later, as members found out,
because they might start fantasizing about sex after life, that was forbidden, as well.
[34] Many members have European and American passports or refugee status still, their main slogan
these days, as Rajavi puts it, is: ―If Ashraf (Base) resists—the world will resist‖ and without the
Iraqis‘ insistence, they are not forced to leave Iraq.
[35] The images of the two armies, Israelis in Palestine and Americans in Iraq, are virtually
indistinguishable from each other for most Muslims. Many of these foreign volunteers would likely
prefer to fight Israelis in Palestine, but the Israeli border is virtually impenetrable. So focusing on Iraq
and killing US soldiers is the next best option (from Dying to Kill by Mia Bloom, p. 169).
[36] Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small, political terrorist
cult, in 1974. She was locked in a dark closet for weeks, and was starved and raped. Later, she
became an active member of the group. She passed up chances to escape and participated in a bank
robbery, for which she was convicted and served a jail term.
[37] MEK‘s publication Nashrieh, number 18, December 18, 1981.
[38] ―Preventative detention and sedition laws can send a message to Muslim communities that they are
mistrusted and targeted for special attention such laws engender suspicion, heighten paranoia, and
possibly run the risk of amplifying deviance in those pockets where it might exist. While limited
preventative detention might be justified with adequate judicial safeguards, governments, in treading
a delicate path, should err in favour of free speech, which is not only a fundamental freedom at the
heart of the society we are trying to protect, but a useful ally in the so-called ‗war on terror.‘
Legislation that restricts free speech can certainly engender suspicion, induce non-cooperation, and
destroy the credibility of community leaders seen to be in collaboration with governments that are
running apparently contradictory policies.... It is also vital for authorities to keep in mind that terrorist
violence is not limited to Muslim groups. Aum Shinrikyo was a syncretistic, Japanese Buddhist cult that
employed a weapon of mass destruction, sarin gas, in its attack on the Tokyo subway. A narrow focus
on Muslim groups might blind us to potential problems in cultic groups around the world most often
the subject of query or complaint to the cult-watch network.‖ (Stephen Bruce Mutch, Ph.D., LL.B.
(UNSW), Department of Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
―Cultism, Terrorism, and Homeland Security,‖ Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, Special Issue:
Terrorism, pp. 170, 171.)
