Cult suicide

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

A cult suicide is a mass suicide by the members of a cult. In some cases all, or nearly all members have committed suicide at the same time and place. Groups which have committed such mass suicides include Heaven's Gate, Order of the Solar Temple, Peoples Temple (in the Jonestown incident) and the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. In other cases, such as Filippians and the Taiping, a group has apparently supported mass suicide but without necessarily encouraging all members to participate.

Known cult suicides

Peoples Temple

On November 18, 1978, 918 Americans died in Peoples Temple-related incidents, including 909 members of the Temple, led by Jim Jones, in Jonestown, Guyana. The dead included 274 children. A tape of the Temple's final meeting in a Jonestown pavilion contains repeated discussions of the group committing "revolutionary suicide," including reference to people taking the poison and the vats to be used. On that tape, Jones tells Temple members that Russia, with whom the Temple had been negotiating a potential exodus for months, would not take them after the Temple had murdered Congressman Leo Ryan, NBC reporter Don Harris and three others at a nearby airstrip. When members apparently cried, Jones counseled "Stop this hysterics. This is not the way for people who are Socialists or Communists to die. No way for us to die. We must die with some dignity." At the end of the tape, Jones concludes: "We didn't commit suicide, we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world." The people in Jonsetown died of an apparent cyanide poisoning, except for Jones (injury consistent with self-inflicted gunshot wound) and his personal nurse. The Temple had spoken of committing "revolutionary suicide" in prior instances, and members had previously drunk what Jones told them was poison at least once before, but the "Flavor Aid" drink they ingested contained no poison. Concurrently, four other members died in the Temple's headquarters in Georgetown.

Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God

On March 17 2000, 778 members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God died in Uganda. The theory that all of the members died in a mass suicide was changed to mass murder when decomposing bodies were discovered in pits with signs of strangulation while others had stab wounds. The group had diverged from the Roman Catholic Church in order to emphasize apocalypticism and alleged Marian apparitions. The group had been called inward-looking movement that wore matching uniforms and restricted their speech to avoid saying anything dishonest or sinful. On the suicide itself locals said they held a party at which 70 crates of soft drinks and three bulls were consumed.

This version of events has been criticized, most notably Irving Hexham, and a Ugandan source states that even today "no one can really explain the whys, hows, whats, where, when, etc."

Solar Temple

From 1994 to 1997, the Order of the Solar Temple's members began a series of mass suicides, which led to roughly 74 deaths. Farewell letters were left by members, stating that they believed their deaths would be an escape from the "hypocrisies and oppression of this world." Added to this they felt they were "moving on to Sirius." Records seized by the Quebec police showed that some members had personally donated over $1 million to the cult's leader, Joseph Di Mambro.

There was also another attempted mass suicide of the remaining members, which was thwarted in the late 1990s. All the suicide/murders and attempts occurred around the dates of the equinoxes and solstices, which likely held some relation to the beliefs of the group.

Heaven's Gate

On March 26 1997, 39 followers of Heaven's Gate died in a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California, which borders San Diego to the north. These people believed, according to the teachings of their cult, that through their suicides they were "exiting their human vehicles" so that their souls could go on a journey aboard a spaceship they believed to be following comet Hale-Bopp. Some male members of the cult underwent voluntary castration in preparation for the genderless life they believed awaited them after the suicide. On March 30 199, Robert Leon Nichols, a former roadie for the Grateful Dead, was discovered dead in his California trailer, with a note nearby that read in part "I'm going to the spaceship with Hale-Bopp to be with those who have gone before me." Using propane gas rather than vodka and phenobarbital to end his life, Nichols, like the members of Heaven's Gate, had his head covered by a plastic bag and his upper torso covered with a purple shroud. Nichols' connection with the cult is unknown.

In May 1997, two Heaven's Gate members who had not been present for the mass suicide attempted suicide, one succeeding in the attempt, the other going into coma for two days and then recovering. In February 1998 the survivor, Chuck Humphrey, committed suicide.

Suspected cult suicides

Branch Davidians

On April 19, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms siege of the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas ended with an assault and subsequent firestorm that destroyed the compound and killed most of the inhabitants. During the siege, highly concentrated C.S. gas and pyrotechnic "flash-bang" grenades were fired. Some believe these devices ignited the gasoline stockpiled inside the building.

Richard L. Sherrow, a fire and explosion investigator hired by plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit to investigate the cause of the fire stated in his conclusion that "the fire originated in the southeast corner tower from the tipping of a lit Coleman-type lantern which fell onto combustible materials, most likely bedding materials, as the room was utilized as sleeping quarters, and was most likely caused by violent contact or mechanical shock associated with the CEV removing the corner of the southeast tower directly under the point of origin."

The mainstream media reported immediately after the fire that the Branch Davidians, when being overrun, started fires, and therefore this incident was a "cult suicide" or even a murder-suicide perpetrated by the leaders. However, some independent journalists, academics, and other experts contend that the fires could have been an accident or result of a panic. Others accuse the ATF of inadvertently causing or even intentionally starting fires during the assault.

Disputed cult suicides

The Family International

At the beginning of 2005, the cult gained renewed media attention due to the premeditated murder-suicide of former member Ricky Rodriguez, biological son of current leader Karen Zerby and informally adopted son of the group's founder, David Berg. It revived allegations that the group is abusive and inciting of suicidal ideation. Thus his death was widely called a "suicide of a cult member", or "cult suicide", though this view was far from universal. The event made it to popular culture in oblique references in NBC shows Third Watch and Law & Order

Defenders of the group contend that Rodriguez's behavior was not typical of the group, and that there is no evidence their members are more suicidal than those in mainstream society.

Las Cañadas suicide sect scare

Heidi Fittkau-Garthe, a German psychologist, and a previously high-profile Brahma Kumaris, was charged in the Canary Islands with a plot of murder-suicide in which 31 group members, including five children, were to ingest poison. After the suicides, they were told they would be picked up by a spaceship and taken to an unspecified destination. However a more recent article in Tenerife News casts doubt that there was any intention on the part of the group to commit suicide.

Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident

On January 23, 2001, six people set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. The state-media claimed them to be Falun Gong practitioners. Time magazine said that it was possible for misguided practitioners to have taken it upon themselves to demonstrate in this manner, sparking a "propaganda bonanza" for the Chinese authorities. Falun Gong in New York denies that these people could have been practitioners on grounds that the teachings explicitly forbid suicide and killing. Falun Gong and some third-party commentators point to apparent inconsistencies in the government's version of events, and claim that the incident was staged in order to turn public opinion against the practice and build support for its crackdown against the movement.

Martyrdom

Some argue that martyrdom, as found in religions such as Christianity or Islam, is tantamount to suicide. This argument states that by accepting -- or even inviting-- their own death, the martyr is committing something like assisted suicide. This theory is not in itself new. Richard Marius's unflattering biography of Thomas More indicated More felt hesitant about accepting martyrdom too easily, for fear that would be too similar to suicide. This idea has gained more currency in modern times.

Most mainstream religions traditionally forbid members to take their own lives. Martyrdom generally involves losing one's life (usually passively) due to one's religious beliefs or practices. The Roman Catholic Church considers life to be a gift whose sole "owner" is "God", who is consequently the only individual who may legitimately decide when to interrupt it. Special cases exist, such as the giving of one's own life to save that of another, but most cultures do not consider such acts to be true suicides.

Islam arguably has the harshest view of suicide of any major religion. Therefore some of the lowest suicide rates are found in Muslim nations like Jordan or Egypt.

Mass suicide can also occur as a means of escape when a religious group perceives itself to be hopelessly besieged by its enemies or other adverse external pressure. These external foes may be real or imagined (see Masada). The legend of Masada, and similar examples, are sometimes explicitly used by cult-suicides as a justification. They may say that like those at Masada they are in danger from an evil empire, even if that evil empire is imaginary. They therefore prefer death to surrender, hence criticisms have arisen over the occasional glorification of Masada.

Related Chapters

• Destructive cult
• Mass suicide

Sources

• http://www.rickross.com/reference/heavensgate/gate26.html
• http://www.rickross.com/reference/heavensgate/gate24.html
• http://www.rickross.com/reference/heavensgate/gate28.html
• http://www.rickross.com/reference/heavensgate/gate16.html
• http://www.xfamily.org/index.php/Ricky_Rodriguez_video
• http://www.thefamily.org/dossier/statements/suicide.html
• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/1998/int/980119/europe.neardeath_experie15.html
• http://www.tenerifenews.com/cms/front_content.php?client=1&lang=1&idcat=70&idart=5389
• http://www.faluninfo.net/tiananmen/immolation.asp
• http://www.faluninfo.net/displayAnArticle.asp?ID=5982
• http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/charts/en/index.html
• http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81484&page=1
• http://www.religioustolerance.org/wcotc1.htm