Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2009, Page 34
We prepare the people by reading over the p.a. system the words of strong,
assertive revolutionaries of the past who took this choice... We will meet in
the pavilion surrounded with highly trusted security with guns. Names will be
called off randomly. People will be escorted to a place of dying by a strong
personality... who is loving, supported [sic] but non sympathetic. They are
accompanied by two strong security men with guns. (I don‘t trust people to
arrange their own death... but [it] can be arranged by outside pressure and
no alternatives left open.) At the place of dying they are shot in the head and
if Larry does not believe they are definitely dead, their throat is slit with a
scalpel. I would be willing to help here if it is necessary. The bodies would be
thrown in a ditch. It might be advisable to blindfold the people before going to
the death place in that the blood and body remains on the ground might
increase the agitation.4
So can the unbridled narcissism of a cult leader lead to acts of violence—inward or outward?
Yes. Remember, not just Jones and his followers died—including 314 innocent children who
did not make that choice—but also a U.S. Congressman and four members of the press
were killed and others seriously wounded as they tried to leave.5
Each of the collective suicides/mass murders I‘m about to mention is incredibly complex and
warrants full discussion. I cite them briefly here as some of the other incidents we can learn
from.
1993: In Texas 80 members of the Branch Davidians, followers of David Koresh,
including 22 children, die in a blazing inferno at the Waco compound. We might
ask: Could Koresh have let his people go? 6
1994 – 1997: A total of 74 people, members of the Order of the Solar Temple in
Canada, Switzerland, and France, died. Again this included infants and children, in
brutal and ritual deaths. How much was compliance? How much coerced?7
1997: In Rancho Santa Fe, California, 39 members of the Heaven‘s Gate cult
committed ―collective suicide.‖ Two more followers of Marshall Applewhite followed
suit within the next six months—and possibly more we‘ve never learned about.8
2000: In Uganda, more than 400 members of The Movement for the Restoration of
the 10 Commandments were brutally murdered and buried in secret mass graves
another 300+ burned to death in the locked church building.9
These examples are tragic, yes no doubt about it. But in my mind, what is most important
about the Peoples Temple and Jonestown, and what is so important about other cults, is
what they tell us about the systems of influence and control that are instituted to retain
members and ensure their loyalty in words and deeds.
When we hear the term ―ideological extremism,‖ we may most immediately think of acts of
violence toward outsiders, such as we are seeing in many parts of the world today.
However, what we must not lose sight of is that ideological extremism and the violence that
may ensue is not just about orchestrated collective suicides or martyrs blowing up airplanes
or crowded buses. Rather, at its core, it‘s about the social structure that gets set up around
that ideology, about the promise of ―salvation‖ and the leader‘s recipe for transformation
that will take you there, about the institution of systems of influence and control within that
self-sealing social structure to ensure obedience and conformity—and about the power
relations and the power imbalance between the charismatic leader(s) and the followers.
Ultimately, whether or not one believes that cult members are brainwashed, it‘s about at
least some of the members being taken to the social-psychological and emotional state of
―bounded choice.‖10 This is when normal, intelligent, educated people give up years of their
We prepare the people by reading over the p.a. system the words of strong,
assertive revolutionaries of the past who took this choice... We will meet in
the pavilion surrounded with highly trusted security with guns. Names will be
called off randomly. People will be escorted to a place of dying by a strong
personality... who is loving, supported [sic] but non sympathetic. They are
accompanied by two strong security men with guns. (I don‘t trust people to
arrange their own death... but [it] can be arranged by outside pressure and
no alternatives left open.) At the place of dying they are shot in the head and
if Larry does not believe they are definitely dead, their throat is slit with a
scalpel. I would be willing to help here if it is necessary. The bodies would be
thrown in a ditch. It might be advisable to blindfold the people before going to
the death place in that the blood and body remains on the ground might
increase the agitation.4
So can the unbridled narcissism of a cult leader lead to acts of violence—inward or outward?
Yes. Remember, not just Jones and his followers died—including 314 innocent children who
did not make that choice—but also a U.S. Congressman and four members of the press
were killed and others seriously wounded as they tried to leave.5
Each of the collective suicides/mass murders I‘m about to mention is incredibly complex and
warrants full discussion. I cite them briefly here as some of the other incidents we can learn
from.
1993: In Texas 80 members of the Branch Davidians, followers of David Koresh,
including 22 children, die in a blazing inferno at the Waco compound. We might
ask: Could Koresh have let his people go? 6
1994 – 1997: A total of 74 people, members of the Order of the Solar Temple in
Canada, Switzerland, and France, died. Again this included infants and children, in
brutal and ritual deaths. How much was compliance? How much coerced?7
1997: In Rancho Santa Fe, California, 39 members of the Heaven‘s Gate cult
committed ―collective suicide.‖ Two more followers of Marshall Applewhite followed
suit within the next six months—and possibly more we‘ve never learned about.8
2000: In Uganda, more than 400 members of The Movement for the Restoration of
the 10 Commandments were brutally murdered and buried in secret mass graves
another 300+ burned to death in the locked church building.9
These examples are tragic, yes no doubt about it. But in my mind, what is most important
about the Peoples Temple and Jonestown, and what is so important about other cults, is
what they tell us about the systems of influence and control that are instituted to retain
members and ensure their loyalty in words and deeds.
When we hear the term ―ideological extremism,‖ we may most immediately think of acts of
violence toward outsiders, such as we are seeing in many parts of the world today.
However, what we must not lose sight of is that ideological extremism and the violence that
may ensue is not just about orchestrated collective suicides or martyrs blowing up airplanes
or crowded buses. Rather, at its core, it‘s about the social structure that gets set up around
that ideology, about the promise of ―salvation‖ and the leader‘s recipe for transformation
that will take you there, about the institution of systems of influence and control within that
self-sealing social structure to ensure obedience and conformity—and about the power
relations and the power imbalance between the charismatic leader(s) and the followers.
Ultimately, whether or not one believes that cult members are brainwashed, it‘s about at
least some of the members being taken to the social-psychological and emotional state of
―bounded choice.‖10 This is when normal, intelligent, educated people give up years of their
