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Diploma Thesis FACULTY OF EDUCATION Masaryk University Diploma Thesis SECT AND SUICIDE IN CONTAMPORARY U.S.A. Spring 2015 Supervisor: Student: Michael George, MA Bc. Terezie Marková Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my supervisor Mr. Michael George, M.A. for the patient guidance and valuable advice he provided me with during the writing of this thesis. Further, I would like to thank my children Kristýna and Josef and my friend Jana Braborcová, who supported me practically and emotionally. ……………………………. Terezie Marková Abstract: The thesis attempts to map the history of violent and suicidal cults in the USA. In particular, it focuses on the circumstances and conditions that resulted in the voluntary death of the members of these cults. The aim is to uncover the roots of violence in a community of people and the process during which a person becomes absolutely dependent. The special interest is paid to the personal convictions of the survivors in different periods of their lives. Key words: Sect, cult, community, group, violence, suicide, guru, cult members, dependence, faith Language used: English Declaration: I proclaim that I worked in my diploma thesis on my own and I used only the materials that are stated in the reference list. …………………………………. Terezie Marková 1 Introduction. The United States – Melting Pot 3 1. People Searching Their Way 4 2. Sects and Dangerous Sects 5 2.1. Faith, Religion and Sect 6 3. The Leaders 7 3.1 Jim Jones 8 3.2 David Koresh 11 3.3 Marshall Applewhite 13 4. Peoples Temple 16 4.1 People of the Cult 16 4.2. Peoples Temple in the U.S.A 23 4.3 Jonestown, Guyana 25 4.3.1 Life in Jonestown 28 4.4 Leo Ryan´s visit of Jonestown and the end of the cult 30 4.5. Conspirational theories 33 5. Branch Davidians 34 5.1 Branch Davidians – the Beginning 35 5.2 Life in Branch Davidians´ Community 36 5.3 Survivors from Waco 42 5.3.1 Misty Ferguson 42 2 5.3.2 Clive Doyle, Catherine Mattison, Sheila Martin, Ofelia Satoyo 42 5.3.3 Livingstone Fagan 45 5.3.4 Different point of view – Deborah Brown 46 6. Heaven´s Gate 46 6.1. Life of Heaven´s Gate Members 48 6.2 Philosophy of Heaven´s Gate 50 6.3 The End of Heaven´s Gate 51 6.4 Heaven´s Gate Surviving Members 6.4.1 Rio DiAngelo 52 6.4.2 Other survivors of Heaven´s Gate 57 6.4.3 Heaven´s Gate web pages still active 58 6.4.4 Sawyerhg´s blog 60 7. Psychology of pressure in cults and religious groups 61 7.1 Modern approach to manipulation and violence in cults and religious groups 63 Conclusion 63 Sources 65 3 MOTTO: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (King James Bible, Mathew 7:15) Introduction The United States – Melting Pot The world of today is miscellaneous, colourful, and astonishing. Nevertheless, sometimes people have to face to unexpected and painful troubles to which they are not prepared at all. One of the most dangerous phenomena, a collective suicide, belongs to such problems. The rare cases always shock the world. Deep knowledge of the issue is essentially the only prevention. The selected area of this research is the United States, the scene of the most known cases. In particular, I intend to analyse the personality of the “gurus” who led their “flocks” and the reasons for such a blind obedience, which as a consequence led to the deaths of the hundreds of people. There is no other country whose history is so complicated like developing and forming the United States of America. There is no country where, actually, nationalities and races from all over the world blend and co-exist together. Native Amero-Indians had to cope with the influence of European settlers, who brought their culture and tried to learn them their way of life, thinking that it was the best way of solving the problems, caused by the differences of the two worlds. Soon another culture was brought to America together with slaves from Africa. The Afro-Americans were able to inherit their habits for generations. Other influences from other 4 parts of the world, e.g. the Chinese, who came to America to find a better life like the Europeans from all possible European countries All these nationalities have kept their cultural habits and religious traditions for generations. Christianity soon prevailed. The Jews, who came predominantly from Europe, brought Judaism. But Buddhism has been spread as well. Old Amero-Indian cults have never been forgotten and Shamanism and Animism attract people of today. 1. People Searching Their Way No wonder, that inside such a various society, people meet different beliefs or philosophies much more often than in any other country. Especially those, who are not satisfied with their lives. Anytime and anywhere, there have always been people in need, unlucky, suffering from diseases, with lots problems, desperate. There have always been such problems like homelessness, poverty, segregation, fatal diseases, accidents and disasters. People feel that this is not fair, that the world, society, system, church, God ... there is no justice! Economic crisis and major social changes in various countries are probably the consequences of crucial moments. However, such instances occur even in the most peaceful times. Most Czechs remember the incomprehensible “Kuřim Affair” a few years ago (Mokrý, “Kauza Kuřim: případ, který nemá v Česku obdoby,) or the situation regarding Imanuelits – Dvorský alias Parcifal Imanuel. Luckily, the stories did not end with the death of the protagonists. (Křemen, “Boj se sektou”) 5 But what is the reason which leads not only young, seeking, naive and inexperienced, but also experienced, well-educated and well-off people to the clutches of the sects. There is something wrong in the society where such a situation may arise. When children feel that they are lacking something in the family, in which relations are not satisfactory, they try to find a balance in their lives and answers to their questions elsewhere. Having no opinion they cannot resist the pressure of intrusive faith interpreters, who introduce them quite a new world, loving community quite different from their families, a new way of life and philosophy that seems to have a solution to all problems and answer any questions in the world. It is not so easy to warn people against solving their problems like that, but people, especially young, should know about the dangers that can happen and be able to resist such “loving gurus”. The personalities of the leaders have many identical features and the way of life in communities is usually very similar. There is a way to detect that a person is manipulated or could be manipulated in time. The possible victim is able to resist only if their knowledge is adequate. 2. Sects and Dangerous Sects In the second half of the twentieth century, most cases occurred in the United States, no matter how developed the country is. The most shocking cases were characterized by names such as Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple, David Koresh and his Davidians and Marshall Applewhite´s Heaven´s Gate, but there were also some others. 6 2.1. Faith, Religion and Sect Most people believe in something. Even those who feel themselves to be atheists believe that there is something like a kind of “higher power” that could affect their lives. Personal belief is part of human´s personality and most people even in such country like the Czech Republic, which is considered to be the most atheistic society in all over the world (WIN- Gallup International, GLOBAL INDEX OF RELIGIOSITY AND ATHEISM – 2012, p. 4), proclaim that they believe in “something”. They cannot define this “something”, but due to the development and official propaganda during forty years of the rule of the communist party they probably feel ashamed to call it “God”. To believe in God or to be a member of a church is seen as a strange oddity or a sign of a low level of education by lots of people. At school we were taught that the believers were naive, not too intelligent individuals, mostly older women. “Science is in irreconcilable conflict with religion. Religion since its beginning acts as unscientific belief”. (Brychnáč a kol.. 341) Everything what was religious or non-materialistic was defined as unscientific. (Jandourek, p. 79). Nevertheless, the reminders of the old way of life have not been overcome”, stated communist leaders (Jandourek 80) On the other hand, personal belief is usually affected by the culture and the most spread religion of the specific country, where the individual was grown. To find the exact definition of “religion” seems to be impossible. The word in English and most other European languages come from the Latin word “religio” which means “reverence for the gods”. Nevertheless, the word means much more. We need more dimensions to understand various religions. Probably M. Langley describes the most exact characteristic of religion. There are at least six dimensions, which define religion: 1. Doctrine – the system which explains the reality 2. Myth – the stories about God, the Creation, etc 7 3. Ethic 4. Ceremonies, rituals 5. Opinion 6. Social dimension (Langley, Allan, Butterworth 12) Religions can be also divided into the groups of monotheistic religions, the most spread are Christianity, Judaism, Islam (quite new Bahá´ism, the fusion of the previous three ones) and polytheistic religions like Buddhism, animism and a lot of others. Nevertheless, sometimes in a church or religious community, a group appears, which bears some characteristics of a sect.
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