by Lisa Piper

Created on: July 22, 2010

A cult is a religious group that is very extreme and tends to live unusually, such as in communes.  There have been many famous cults throughout history. The one belief that many of them have in common is that of an impending apocalypse and mass suicide to escape it. Whether they were trying to survive it or go on to become the ruler of the new world, cult leaders had their followers brainwashed to do their bidding and assist them in their quest.

Reverend James Warren Jones was the cult leader of The People’s Temple.   This was a Christian cult that formed in the 1950’s in Indiana. Jones preached that his cult would help the sick, homeless, and jobless people. This is how he began finding followers. Then during his sermons given over a loud speaker throughout the day, he would brainwash his followers. Jones believed that the apocalypse was going to happen in the form of a nuclear war. He had his followers believing that they would all move to another plant, by way of mass suicide, to live a life of bliss. Finally, after an unwelcomed visit by a congressman, it was decided by Jones that the best action for them to take was to go through with the mass suicide that the group had been practicing for so long. 914 people, including hundreds of children, drank cyanide laced Kool Aid and died.

Another such cult was Heaven’s Gate led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles which began in the early 1970’s in California. This group believed that the apocalypse was when planet Earth would be recycled, or wiped clean, and the only way to survive would be yet again, mass suicide. Applewhite brainwashed his followers to believe that their only chance of survival was to commit suicide on March 26, 1997 and hitch a ride on the UFO that was following the comet Hale-Bopp. 39 followers died by consuming pudding mixed with Phenobarbital followed by drinking vodka.

Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret led The Solar Temple, which was started in 1984 in Geneva. This was a Christian cult that incorporated some New Age philosophy. The followers were brainwashed to commit suicide from 1994 to 1997 in which 74 people had died. They believed that after death, they would travel to another planet and life would continue.

Though these three famous cults were located far from each other and during different periods of time, they had many ideas and beliefs in common. Mass suicide and brainwashing were a common thread, and fear of an apocalypse was held by many. There are still hundreds of cults in the world today. We can only hope that some of the beliefs, such as mass suicide, have changed.

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