"If you want to attract the attention of the mass media, there is no better way than to predict the end of the world."
- The Cult of Elizabeth Claire Prophet - Church Universal and Triumphant - ECP and Her husband were both appointed by the spiritual entities the church calls "Ascended Masters," not by humans.
The Church Universal and Triumphant is a rather wealthy cult started around 1960 and based in California throughout much of the 1980s, but which in 1986 moved to a 24,000 acre ranch near Livingston, Montana. Members built a huge compound, complete with extensive bomb shelters. Prophet--who claimed to be the reincarnation of Queen Guinevere and Marie Antoinette--predicted the end of the world by nuclear holocaust, perhaps as early as 1990. See http://www.militia-watchdog.org/koernke. Revolution and Reality
Maybe there was a nuclear holocaust in 1990 in another worldline?
Eventually Elizabeth had been diagnosed with epilepsy causing "memory loss that inhibits her ability to accurately recall past and recent events and which interferes with new learning.'' I wonder, have the "Masters" forsaken her?
- The Cult of Jim Jones – Jonestown
Jim Jones and 'The Peoples Temple' was initially structured as an inter-racial mission for the sick, homeless and jobless. He assembled a large following of over 900 members in Indianapolis IN during the 1950's. "He preached a 'social gospel' of human freedom, equality, and love, which required helping the least and the lowliest of society's members. Later on, however, this gospel became explicitly socialistic, or communistic in Jones' own view, and the hypocrisy of white Christianity was ridiculed while 'apostolic socialism' was preached." 1 It was an interracial congregation -- almost unheard of in Indiana at the time. When a govt. investigation began into his cures for cancer, heart disease and arthritis, he decided to move the group to Ukiah in Northern California. He preached the imminent end of the world in a nuclear war; Ukiah was judged to be as safe as any when war broke out. They later moved to San Francisco and Los Angeles. After an expose during the mid 1970's in the magazine New West raised suspicions of ill-egal activities within the Temple, he moved some of the Temple membership to Jonestown, Guyana. The Temple had leased almost 4,000 acres of dense jungle from the govt.. They established an agricultural cooperative there, called the "Peoples Temple Agricultural Project." They raised animals for food, and assorted tropical fruits and vegetables for consumption and sale.
Jones developed a belief called Translation in which he and his followers would d-ie together, and would move to another planet for a life of bliss. Mass suicides were practiced in which his followers pretended to drink poison and fell to the ground. See http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones. THE PEOPLE'S TEMPLE
- WACO - The Branch Dividian Cult - David Koresh
Its pretty ironic that JT chose this one to use as a "sign of the times."
On April 19th 1993 David Koresh (born Vernon Howell) claimed the lives of 80 of his Branch Davidian followers, including 25 children, in what seemed to be their final trial by fire. The 33-year-old self-proclaimed "Lamb of God" thus ended a 51-day-standoff with federal law enforcement.
That standoff began February 28th when agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) attempted to serve Koresh with a warrant at his Davidian compound outside Waco, Texas. This effort erupted in gunfire. Heavily armed Davidians fired upon federal agents killing four and wounding 16 BATF officers.
After the shootout Koresh refused to leave the enclosure often called "Ranch Apocalypse." The fbi assumed control of the perimeter and conducted negotiations. David Koresh repeatedly broke his promises to come out peacefully. A frustrated and exhausted fbi subsequently attempted to end the standoff by gassing the compound. Koresh, then forced to choose between his compound Kingdom and certain criminal prosecution, opted to end not only of his own life, but that of his followers as well.
This was the tragic end of Koresh's six-year-rule over the once benign Davidian sect, originally founded by an officially excommunicated Seventh Day Adventist named Victor Houteff who died in 1955. David Koresh was a man many mental health experts were inclined to describe as a likely "psychopath."
Vernon Wayne Howell was born in Houston, the son an unwed mother. He grew up in Dallas and according to his grandmother "was dyslexic." After dropping out of school in the ninth grade he moved to Tyler, Texas and at the age of 18 joined an Adventist Church. However, after repeated conflicts with the Adventists he moved to Waco, where he found an obscure communal group known as the Davidians. Lois Roden was then the group's aging leader. But eventually, Howell would effectively replace her, as Roden's health and power diminished. After her d-eath Howell traveled to Israel, where he claimed American forces would soon invade and begin Armageddon. After those predictions failed, Howell changed his name to David Koresh. David, symbolized the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom and Koresh was supposedly the Hebrew pronunciation for the Babylonian king Cyrus, who allowed the Jews to return to Israel. Koresh's new prophetic role was set and he proclaimed the final conflict would now begin in Texas.
Koresh's leadership of the Davidians began with violence. A gun battle in 1987 between Koresh (assisted by 7 heavily armed followers) and a rival leader George Roden Jr. led to his trial for attempted m-urdered. But the jury deadlocked and prosecutors chose not to retry Koresh. Texas prosecutor Denise Wilkerson observed at the time that David Koresh "was building an arsenal" and "preparing for a battle with someone."
According to financial records Koresh spent $199,715.00 on weapons and ammunition in the 17 months immediately proceeding the BATF raid on his compound.
The remnants of a huge arsenal was later found after the fire amidst the ruins of the Davidian compound. This stockpile included grenades, gas masks, more than a million rounds of ammunition and at least 40 submachine guns. See http://www.culteducation.com/waco.html" target="_blank">The Waco Standoff
- The Heavens Gate Cult - mass suicide outside of San Diego in 1997 (again, suicides are harmful)
Heaven's Gate is a destructive, doomsday cult centered in California. 21 women and 18 men voluntarily committed suicide in three groups on three successive days starting on 1997-MAR-23. Most were in their 40's; the rest covered an age range of 26 to 72. 1 Two months later, two additional members, Charles Humphrey and Wayne Cooke attempted suicide in a hotel room a few miles from the Rancho Santa Fe mansion; Cooke succeeded. Humphrey tried again in the Arizona desert during 1998-FEB and was successful.
"Heaven's Gate" was the latest of three organizations founded by Marshall Herff Applewhite and Bonnie "Ti" Lu Trusdale Nettles, a.k.a. "The Two." The first was Human Individual Metamorphosis (HIM) which they organized in 1975. They traveled to the Colorado desert to wait for the arrival of a UFO. None came. Bonnie Nettles died of cancer in 1985. Applewhite organized a new group called Total Overcomers Anonymous or "TOA" in 1993. They placed an ad in USA Today, announcing that the Earth's present civilization was about to be "recycled." Applewhite originally went by the nickname "Bo", and more recently was called "Do" (pronounced "Doe"). Marshall moved to San Diego County CA with the group, now renamed "Heaven's Gate", and lived on to become one of the 39 suicides.
They followed a syncretistic religion, combining elements of Christianity with unusual beliefs about the nature of UFOs. They interpreted passages from the four gospels and the book Revelation as referring to UFO visitation. In particular, they emphasized a story in Revelation which described two witnesses who are killed, remained dead for 3 1/2 days, were revived and taken up into the clouds. They look upon earth as being in the control of evil forces, and perceived themselves as being among the elite who would attain heaven. They held a profoundly dualistic belief of the soul as being a superior entity which is only housed temporarily in a body. Applewhite said that bodies were only "the temporary containers of the soul...The final act of metamorphosis or separation from the human kingdom is the 'disconnect' or separation from the human physical container or body in order to be released from the human environment."
They believe that about 2000 years ago, a group of extra-terrestrials came to earth from the Kingdom of Heaven (the "Next Level"). One of these was "Do". He was given instructions by "Ti", his female companion, whom he referred to as his "Heavenly Father." He left his body behind, transported to Earth in a space-ship, and incarnated (moved into) a human body, that of Jesus Christ. A second group of extra-terrestrials returned to earth, starting in the 1920's. Do was the Captain of this expedition; Ti was the Admiral. They each moved into a human body, but somehow became scattered. Do and Ti held public meetings to disseminate their beliefs. They were pleasantly surprised to find that most of their converts were the long-lost crew members.
Members called themselves brother and sister; they looked upon themselves as monks and nuns; they lived communally in a large, rented San Diego County (CA) home which they called their monastery. Most members had little contact with their families of origin or with their neighbors. Many followed successful professional careers before entering the group. Some abandoned their children before joining. They were free to leave at any time. They dressed in unis-ex garments: shapeless black shirts with Mandarin collars, and black pants. They were required commit themselves to a celibate life. Eight of the male members, including Do, submitted to voluntary castration. This seems to have been a form of preparation for their next level of existence: in a life that would be free of gender, s-exual identity and s-exual activity.
The group supported themselves through a commercial effort called Higher Source which designed WWW pages for a profit. They also used the Internet as a recruitment tool; they have a site called Heaven's Gate. On their site, Applewhite (calling himself the "Present Representative") drew parallels between himself and the spirit from Heaven that occupied the body of Jesus Christ. Their main page says: "As was promised - the keys to Heaven's Gate are here again in Ti and Do (The UFO Two) as they were in Jesus and His Father, 2000 years ago". They discussed their task is "to work individually on our personal overcoming and change, in preparation for entering the Kingdom of Heaven." Their web site was taken over by the fbi, but some individuals were able to download the site files and create mirrors at various locations.
Marshall Herff Applewhite was jolly & happy. There are rumors that he had one or more affairs with male students when he was a music teacher. He is believed to have checked himself in to a hospital over two decades ago in order to overcome his homos-exual feelings. This occurred when many therapists believed that a person's s-exual orientation could be changed. Needless to say, the therapy was unsuccessful. One theory being proposed is that he was unable to accept his s-exual orientation because of the homophobia that he had adsorbed during his youth. This motivated him to live an celibate life and to create a group which also suppressed their s-exual behavior. Another theory is that among UFO groups, there is a widespread belief that extra-terrestrials have no vocal cords, an atrophied digestive system and no s-exual organs. This is symbolic of three common religious disciplines: silence, fasting and celibacy. Perhaps Applewhite was attempting to emulate both the UFO inhabitants and ancient Christian tradition. See http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_highe. Heaven's Gate
- The Charles Manson Cult
Charles Manson and the Family
Self-styled guru and leader of the 1960s religious cult the Manson Family, Charles Manson is a convicted serial k-iller who never actually killed any of his victims himself. I've toyed with the notion that this could be one of JT's goals.
The bearded figure of Manson was a charismatic and persuasive leader, whose apparent goal was to persuade his followers to embark on a m-urder spree in order to spark a racial war, after which only he and his Family would be left, along with black slaves.
His followers believed he was Jesus Christ, or the "fifth angel", the other four angels being the members of British band the Beatles.
He named his racist Armageddon philosophy after "Helter Skelter", a Beatles song, and preached that black people would begin stealing from and killing white people if something wasn't done. He prophesied that Helter Skelter would begin happening in 1969, and his devoted and unhinged followers lapped up his teachings.
When his prophecies failed to come true, he told his followers that the black population wouldn't know what to do unless the white population showed them - and so the Manson Family m-urders began. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/bad/caseclosed/charlesmanson.shtml" target="_blank">Charles Manson and the Family
- The Cult of Scientology - L.Ron Hubbard
Beleives that about 75 million years ago there was an alien galactic ruler named Xenu. Xenu was in charge of all the planets in this part of the galaxy including our own planet Earth, except in those days it was called Teegeeack.
Now Xenu had a problem. All of the 76 planets he controlled were overpopulated. Each planet had on average 178 billion people. He wanted to get rid of all the overpopulation so he had a plan.
Xenu took over complete control with the help of renegades to defeat the good people and the Loyal Officers. Then with the help of psychiatrists he called in billions of people for income tax inspections where they were instead given injections of alcohol and glycol mixed to paralyse them. Then they were put into space planes that looked exactly like DC8s (except they had rocket motors instead of propellers).
These DC8 space planes then flew to planet Earth where the paralysed people were stacked around the bases of volcanoes in their hundreds of billions. When they had finished stacking them around then H-bombs were lowered into the volcanoes. Xenu then detonated all the H-bombs at the same time and everyone was killed.
The story doesn't end there though. Since everyone has a soul (called a "thetan" in this story) then you have to trick souls into not coming back again. So while the hundreds of billions of souls were being blown around by the nuclear winds he had special electronic traps that caught all the souls in electronic beams (the electronic beams were sticky like fly-paper).
After he had captured all these souls he had them packed into boxes and taken to a few huge cinemas. There all the souls had to spend days watching special 3D motion pictures that told them what life should be like and many confusing things. In this film they were shown false pictures and told they were God, The Devil and Christ. In the story this process is called "implanting".
When the films ended and the souls left the cinema these souls started to stick together because since they had all seen the same film they thought they were the same people. They clustered in groups of a few thousand. Now because there were only a few living bodies left they stayed as clusters and inhabited these bodies.
As for Xenu, the Loyal Officers finally overthrew him and they locked him away in a mountain on one of the planets. He is kept in by a force-field powered by an eternal battery and Xenu is still alive today. See: http://www.xenu.net/archive/leaflet/xenuleaf. Who is Xenu?
Harmful? just ask the victims - Do you know who Lisa McPherson is?
See http://www.lisamcpherson.org/" target="_blank">Lisa died needlessly at the hands of Scientology
- The cult of Aum Shinri Kyo
Not everyone might believe in a guru who says he time-travelled to the year 2006, but his followers in Japan pay $116,000 for "telepathy head gear" just to share visions he says he has experienced.
The estimated 10,000 members of Japan's Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect) say they even drink tea made from locks of hair of guru Shoko Asahara to enhance such abilities.
The cult is now the target of daily police raids following the March 20 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway which killed 11 people and injured thousands. The cult denies any connection to the attacks.
Despite the raids, which have turned up hundreds of tonnes of chemicals, laboratories and secret plants, no formal charges have been made against the sect. Nor have there been any arrests directly linked to the attack.
But what the raids have revealed is that the cult was obsessed with things more dangerous than time-travelling.
Investigators rummaging through the labyrinthine building of the sect's complex at Kamiku Isshiki, at the foot of Mt Fuji west of Tokyo, were silent on exact details of what they found.
But most agreed on one thing. "This is no police matter. This is a national security issue," as one put it.
Day after day, the Japanese public have been fed hours of television footage and newspaper coverage of the details of the bizarre world of the Aum sect.
Some aspects, like its pyramid structure resembling a national govt., was straight out of pulp fiction. Its "defence ministry" guarded the premises and kept an eye on would-be escapees. Its "science ministry" ran chemical plants.
Other aspects bordered on the incredible. It repeatedly accused the U.S.military of spraying nerve gas on the cult complex from airplanes. It said cellular phones were actually devices used in a govt. plot to control people's minds.
Religious commentators said Asahara attracted his following from Japan's youth by appealing to their interest in the supernatural and the occult.
His key prediction is that the world as we know it would end in 1997 in an "Armageddon" of nerve gas and biological wars.
In 1992, he predicted a nuclear war would break out and forced his followers to move to Okinawa.
In last December's issue of the sect's monthly magazine entitled "Great Prophecy: the Shuddering End of the Century," Asahara said he travelled to the world in the year 2006 and talked to residents who said World War Three was over.
"I asked the people around me what year it was," Asahara wrote in the magazine. "They said it was the year 2006. Mankind had already experienced World War Three."
Hey!!!! This Sounds familiar! I wonder if he met JT there?
In a strange contrast to such far-fetched claims, the sect has displayed an extremely realistic attitude over money.
It demands that a devoted follower wishing to live in its ascetic community give every penny he or she has to the sect, including house, land and life savings. The sect wants everything, and that includes stamps in desk drawers and telephone cards.
- The Orthon Cult Doomsday in Denmark 1967
A few Danes still remember the doomsday cult that built an air-raid shelter in 1967 at Borup in Sealand. The builders envisioned a world-wide nuclear war that would make the Earth bob in its orbit around the sun.
It must be rather peculiar to feel disappointed that nuclear bombs have failed to rain down on your head. But logically that should have been the feeling the Orthon people experienced when the prophecy did not come true. See http://www.skeptica.dk/arkiv_us/017_wegner2.htm#Armageddon" target="_blank">The Orthon Cult ?
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I think JT and company can become a cult for the same reason all of these examples eventually turned into one. Like them, JT's story line was a perfect examlpe of rhetoric filled with signs of cultish talk. It includes intrigue, prophecies, mystery and "above the law" ideologies. All underlined with the "blinders" JT manages to establish from the outset.
End of the World Talk: If you want to attract the attention of the mass media, there is no better way than to predict the end of the world. An apocalyptic theology is only dangerous when individual followers believe they are going to be called upon to be foot soldiers in “the war,†and prepare themselves by stocking up on weapons and ammunition. You are told to look for warning sign with blinders already in place. The group is preparing to fight a literal, physical Armageddon against other human beings. Of course this alone cannot be used to label an operation but think about JT’s 2004 – 2015 stories.
Join me/us: They see only the followers as saved and the rest of the world as damned. Although this trait is widespread among traditional beliefs, it can be a great danger sign. Another characteristic are the instructions on how to “treat†non-believers. The organization is willing to place itself above the law. Typical of cult doctrination.
Sub-societies: A group's relative isolation. There are abundant examples of traditional religions establishing communities or monastic centers apart from the larger society that have posed no danger to anyone. On the other hand, some of the worst abuses have taken place in the segregated (usually communal) sub-societies of certain minority religions. From the suicidal violence of People's Temple to the externally-directed violence of AUM Shinrikyo, it was the social dynamics found in an isolated or semi-isolated community that allowed such extreme actions to be contemplated. JT would always preach of suburban militia groups. JT warned about those darn Canadians! Again, very typical of cult propaganda.
Deception: Another warning sign is when a group's leader deceives “outsiders.†The leader regularly makes public assertions that he or she knows are false and/or the group has a policy of routinely deceiving outsiders. The leadership, blatantly or subliminally, dictates important personal details of followers' lives. JT's photos, time travel story line and his overall language was created for effective mass deception.
Like some of the hoaxes I've included above, JT took advantage of the time element.
I hope that, based on the above outcomes, people keep from believing any of JT's story-line until a few of the predictor's solid predictions actually proves to be true.
This is my own opinion on the JT subject. We are all entitled no? Please excuse my English...
- The Cult of Elizabeth Claire Prophet - Church Universal and Triumphant - ECP and Her husband were both appointed by the spiritual entities the church calls "Ascended Masters," not by humans.
The Church Universal and Triumphant is a rather wealthy cult started around 1960 and based in California throughout much of the 1980s, but which in 1986 moved to a 24,000 acre ranch near Livingston, Montana. Members built a huge compound, complete with extensive bomb shelters. Prophet--who claimed to be the reincarnation of Queen Guinevere and Marie Antoinette--predicted the end of the world by nuclear holocaust, perhaps as early as 1990. See http://www.militia-watchdog.org/koernke. Revolution and Reality
Maybe there was a nuclear holocaust in 1990 in another worldline?
Eventually Elizabeth had been diagnosed with epilepsy causing "memory loss that inhibits her ability to accurately recall past and recent events and which interferes with new learning.'' I wonder, have the "Masters" forsaken her?
- The Cult of Jim Jones – Jonestown
Jim Jones and 'The Peoples Temple' was initially structured as an inter-racial mission for the sick, homeless and jobless. He assembled a large following of over 900 members in Indianapolis IN during the 1950's. "He preached a 'social gospel' of human freedom, equality, and love, which required helping the least and the lowliest of society's members. Later on, however, this gospel became explicitly socialistic, or communistic in Jones' own view, and the hypocrisy of white Christianity was ridiculed while 'apostolic socialism' was preached." 1 It was an interracial congregation -- almost unheard of in Indiana at the time. When a govt. investigation began into his cures for cancer, heart disease and arthritis, he decided to move the group to Ukiah in Northern California. He preached the imminent end of the world in a nuclear war; Ukiah was judged to be as safe as any when war broke out. They later moved to San Francisco and Los Angeles. After an expose during the mid 1970's in the magazine New West raised suspicions of ill-egal activities within the Temple, he moved some of the Temple membership to Jonestown, Guyana. The Temple had leased almost 4,000 acres of dense jungle from the govt.. They established an agricultural cooperative there, called the "Peoples Temple Agricultural Project." They raised animals for food, and assorted tropical fruits and vegetables for consumption and sale.
Jones developed a belief called Translation in which he and his followers would d-ie together, and would move to another planet for a life of bliss. Mass suicides were practiced in which his followers pretended to drink poison and fell to the ground. See http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones. THE PEOPLE'S TEMPLE
- WACO - The Branch Dividian Cult - David Koresh
Its pretty ironic that JT chose this one to use as a "sign of the times."
On April 19th 1993 David Koresh (born Vernon Howell) claimed the lives of 80 of his Branch Davidian followers, including 25 children, in what seemed to be their final trial by fire. The 33-year-old self-proclaimed "Lamb of God" thus ended a 51-day-standoff with federal law enforcement.
That standoff began February 28th when agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) attempted to serve Koresh with a warrant at his Davidian compound outside Waco, Texas. This effort erupted in gunfire. Heavily armed Davidians fired upon federal agents killing four and wounding 16 BATF officers.
After the shootout Koresh refused to leave the enclosure often called "Ranch Apocalypse." The fbi assumed control of the perimeter and conducted negotiations. David Koresh repeatedly broke his promises to come out peacefully. A frustrated and exhausted fbi subsequently attempted to end the standoff by gassing the compound. Koresh, then forced to choose between his compound Kingdom and certain criminal prosecution, opted to end not only of his own life, but that of his followers as well.
This was the tragic end of Koresh's six-year-rule over the once benign Davidian sect, originally founded by an officially excommunicated Seventh Day Adventist named Victor Houteff who died in 1955. David Koresh was a man many mental health experts were inclined to describe as a likely "psychopath."
Vernon Wayne Howell was born in Houston, the son an unwed mother. He grew up in Dallas and according to his grandmother "was dyslexic." After dropping out of school in the ninth grade he moved to Tyler, Texas and at the age of 18 joined an Adventist Church. However, after repeated conflicts with the Adventists he moved to Waco, where he found an obscure communal group known as the Davidians. Lois Roden was then the group's aging leader. But eventually, Howell would effectively replace her, as Roden's health and power diminished. After her d-eath Howell traveled to Israel, where he claimed American forces would soon invade and begin Armageddon. After those predictions failed, Howell changed his name to David Koresh. David, symbolized the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom and Koresh was supposedly the Hebrew pronunciation for the Babylonian king Cyrus, who allowed the Jews to return to Israel. Koresh's new prophetic role was set and he proclaimed the final conflict would now begin in Texas.
Koresh's leadership of the Davidians began with violence. A gun battle in 1987 between Koresh (assisted by 7 heavily armed followers) and a rival leader George Roden Jr. led to his trial for attempted m-urdered. But the jury deadlocked and prosecutors chose not to retry Koresh. Texas prosecutor Denise Wilkerson observed at the time that David Koresh "was building an arsenal" and "preparing for a battle with someone."
According to financial records Koresh spent $199,715.00 on weapons and ammunition in the 17 months immediately proceeding the BATF raid on his compound.
The remnants of a huge arsenal was later found after the fire amidst the ruins of the Davidian compound. This stockpile included grenades, gas masks, more than a million rounds of ammunition and at least 40 submachine guns. See http://www.culteducation.com/waco.html" target="_blank">The Waco Standoff
- The Heavens Gate Cult - mass suicide outside of San Diego in 1997 (again, suicides are harmful)
Heaven's Gate is a destructive, doomsday cult centered in California. 21 women and 18 men voluntarily committed suicide in three groups on three successive days starting on 1997-MAR-23. Most were in their 40's; the rest covered an age range of 26 to 72. 1 Two months later, two additional members, Charles Humphrey and Wayne Cooke attempted suicide in a hotel room a few miles from the Rancho Santa Fe mansion; Cooke succeeded. Humphrey tried again in the Arizona desert during 1998-FEB and was successful.
"Heaven's Gate" was the latest of three organizations founded by Marshall Herff Applewhite and Bonnie "Ti" Lu Trusdale Nettles, a.k.a. "The Two." The first was Human Individual Metamorphosis (HIM) which they organized in 1975. They traveled to the Colorado desert to wait for the arrival of a UFO. None came. Bonnie Nettles died of cancer in 1985. Applewhite organized a new group called Total Overcomers Anonymous or "TOA" in 1993. They placed an ad in USA Today, announcing that the Earth's present civilization was about to be "recycled." Applewhite originally went by the nickname "Bo", and more recently was called "Do" (pronounced "Doe"). Marshall moved to San Diego County CA with the group, now renamed "Heaven's Gate", and lived on to become one of the 39 suicides.
They followed a syncretistic religion, combining elements of Christianity with unusual beliefs about the nature of UFOs. They interpreted passages from the four gospels and the book Revelation as referring to UFO visitation. In particular, they emphasized a story in Revelation which described two witnesses who are killed, remained dead for 3 1/2 days, were revived and taken up into the clouds. They look upon earth as being in the control of evil forces, and perceived themselves as being among the elite who would attain heaven. They held a profoundly dualistic belief of the soul as being a superior entity which is only housed temporarily in a body. Applewhite said that bodies were only "the temporary containers of the soul...The final act of metamorphosis or separation from the human kingdom is the 'disconnect' or separation from the human physical container or body in order to be released from the human environment."
They believe that about 2000 years ago, a group of extra-terrestrials came to earth from the Kingdom of Heaven (the "Next Level"). One of these was "Do". He was given instructions by "Ti", his female companion, whom he referred to as his "Heavenly Father." He left his body behind, transported to Earth in a space-ship, and incarnated (moved into) a human body, that of Jesus Christ. A second group of extra-terrestrials returned to earth, starting in the 1920's. Do was the Captain of this expedition; Ti was the Admiral. They each moved into a human body, but somehow became scattered. Do and Ti held public meetings to disseminate their beliefs. They were pleasantly surprised to find that most of their converts were the long-lost crew members.
Members called themselves brother and sister; they looked upon themselves as monks and nuns; they lived communally in a large, rented San Diego County (CA) home which they called their monastery. Most members had little contact with their families of origin or with their neighbors. Many followed successful professional careers before entering the group. Some abandoned their children before joining. They were free to leave at any time. They dressed in unis-ex garments: shapeless black shirts with Mandarin collars, and black pants. They were required commit themselves to a celibate life. Eight of the male members, including Do, submitted to voluntary castration. This seems to have been a form of preparation for their next level of existence: in a life that would be free of gender, s-exual identity and s-exual activity.
The group supported themselves through a commercial effort called Higher Source which designed WWW pages for a profit. They also used the Internet as a recruitment tool; they have a site called Heaven's Gate. On their site, Applewhite (calling himself the "Present Representative") drew parallels between himself and the spirit from Heaven that occupied the body of Jesus Christ. Their main page says: "As was promised - the keys to Heaven's Gate are here again in Ti and Do (The UFO Two) as they were in Jesus and His Father, 2000 years ago". They discussed their task is "to work individually on our personal overcoming and change, in preparation for entering the Kingdom of Heaven." Their web site was taken over by the fbi, but some individuals were able to download the site files and create mirrors at various locations.
Marshall Herff Applewhite was jolly & happy. There are rumors that he had one or more affairs with male students when he was a music teacher. He is believed to have checked himself in to a hospital over two decades ago in order to overcome his homos-exual feelings. This occurred when many therapists believed that a person's s-exual orientation could be changed. Needless to say, the therapy was unsuccessful. One theory being proposed is that he was unable to accept his s-exual orientation because of the homophobia that he had adsorbed during his youth. This motivated him to live an celibate life and to create a group which also suppressed their s-exual behavior. Another theory is that among UFO groups, there is a widespread belief that extra-terrestrials have no vocal cords, an atrophied digestive system and no s-exual organs. This is symbolic of three common religious disciplines: silence, fasting and celibacy. Perhaps Applewhite was attempting to emulate both the UFO inhabitants and ancient Christian tradition. See http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_highe. Heaven's Gate
- The Charles Manson Cult
Charles Manson and the Family
Self-styled guru and leader of the 1960s religious cult the Manson Family, Charles Manson is a convicted serial k-iller who never actually killed any of his victims himself. I've toyed with the notion that this could be one of JT's goals.
The bearded figure of Manson was a charismatic and persuasive leader, whose apparent goal was to persuade his followers to embark on a m-urder spree in order to spark a racial war, after which only he and his Family would be left, along with black slaves.
His followers believed he was Jesus Christ, or the "fifth angel", the other four angels being the members of British band the Beatles.
He named his racist Armageddon philosophy after "Helter Skelter", a Beatles song, and preached that black people would begin stealing from and killing white people if something wasn't done. He prophesied that Helter Skelter would begin happening in 1969, and his devoted and unhinged followers lapped up his teachings.
When his prophecies failed to come true, he told his followers that the black population wouldn't know what to do unless the white population showed them - and so the Manson Family m-urders began. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/bad/caseclosed/charlesmanson.shtml" target="_blank">Charles Manson and the Family
- The Cult of Scientology - L.Ron Hubbard
Beleives that about 75 million years ago there was an alien galactic ruler named Xenu. Xenu was in charge of all the planets in this part of the galaxy including our own planet Earth, except in those days it was called Teegeeack.
Now Xenu had a problem. All of the 76 planets he controlled were overpopulated. Each planet had on average 178 billion people. He wanted to get rid of all the overpopulation so he had a plan.
Xenu took over complete control with the help of renegades to defeat the good people and the Loyal Officers. Then with the help of psychiatrists he called in billions of people for income tax inspections where they were instead given injections of alcohol and glycol mixed to paralyse them. Then they were put into space planes that looked exactly like DC8s (except they had rocket motors instead of propellers).
These DC8 space planes then flew to planet Earth where the paralysed people were stacked around the bases of volcanoes in their hundreds of billions. When they had finished stacking them around then H-bombs were lowered into the volcanoes. Xenu then detonated all the H-bombs at the same time and everyone was killed.
The story doesn't end there though. Since everyone has a soul (called a "thetan" in this story) then you have to trick souls into not coming back again. So while the hundreds of billions of souls were being blown around by the nuclear winds he had special electronic traps that caught all the souls in electronic beams (the electronic beams were sticky like fly-paper).
After he had captured all these souls he had them packed into boxes and taken to a few huge cinemas. There all the souls had to spend days watching special 3D motion pictures that told them what life should be like and many confusing things. In this film they were shown false pictures and told they were God, The Devil and Christ. In the story this process is called "implanting".
When the films ended and the souls left the cinema these souls started to stick together because since they had all seen the same film they thought they were the same people. They clustered in groups of a few thousand. Now because there were only a few living bodies left they stayed as clusters and inhabited these bodies.
As for Xenu, the Loyal Officers finally overthrew him and they locked him away in a mountain on one of the planets. He is kept in by a force-field powered by an eternal battery and Xenu is still alive today. See: http://www.xenu.net/archive/leaflet/xenuleaf. Who is Xenu?
Harmful? just ask the victims - Do you know who Lisa McPherson is?
See http://www.lisamcpherson.org/" target="_blank">Lisa died needlessly at the hands of Scientology
- The cult of Aum Shinri Kyo
Not everyone might believe in a guru who says he time-travelled to the year 2006, but his followers in Japan pay $116,000 for "telepathy head gear" just to share visions he says he has experienced.
The estimated 10,000 members of Japan's Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect) say they even drink tea made from locks of hair of guru Shoko Asahara to enhance such abilities.
The cult is now the target of daily police raids following the March 20 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway which killed 11 people and injured thousands. The cult denies any connection to the attacks.
Despite the raids, which have turned up hundreds of tonnes of chemicals, laboratories and secret plants, no formal charges have been made against the sect. Nor have there been any arrests directly linked to the attack.
But what the raids have revealed is that the cult was obsessed with things more dangerous than time-travelling.
Investigators rummaging through the labyrinthine building of the sect's complex at Kamiku Isshiki, at the foot of Mt Fuji west of Tokyo, were silent on exact details of what they found.
But most agreed on one thing. "This is no police matter. This is a national security issue," as one put it.
Day after day, the Japanese public have been fed hours of television footage and newspaper coverage of the details of the bizarre world of the Aum sect.
Some aspects, like its pyramid structure resembling a national govt., was straight out of pulp fiction. Its "defence ministry" guarded the premises and kept an eye on would-be escapees. Its "science ministry" ran chemical plants.
Other aspects bordered on the incredible. It repeatedly accused the U.S.military of spraying nerve gas on the cult complex from airplanes. It said cellular phones were actually devices used in a govt. plot to control people's minds.
Religious commentators said Asahara attracted his following from Japan's youth by appealing to their interest in the supernatural and the occult.
His key prediction is that the world as we know it would end in 1997 in an "Armageddon" of nerve gas and biological wars.
In 1992, he predicted a nuclear war would break out and forced his followers to move to Okinawa.
In last December's issue of the sect's monthly magazine entitled "Great Prophecy: the Shuddering End of the Century," Asahara said he travelled to the world in the year 2006 and talked to residents who said World War Three was over.
"I asked the people around me what year it was," Asahara wrote in the magazine. "They said it was the year 2006. Mankind had already experienced World War Three."
Hey!!!! This Sounds familiar! I wonder if he met JT there?
In a strange contrast to such far-fetched claims, the sect has displayed an extremely realistic attitude over money.
It demands that a devoted follower wishing to live in its ascetic community give every penny he or she has to the sect, including house, land and life savings. The sect wants everything, and that includes stamps in desk drawers and telephone cards.
- The Orthon Cult Doomsday in Denmark 1967
A few Danes still remember the doomsday cult that built an air-raid shelter in 1967 at Borup in Sealand. The builders envisioned a world-wide nuclear war that would make the Earth bob in its orbit around the sun.
It must be rather peculiar to feel disappointed that nuclear bombs have failed to rain down on your head. But logically that should have been the feeling the Orthon people experienced when the prophecy did not come true. See http://www.skeptica.dk/arkiv_us/017_wegner2.htm#Armageddon" target="_blank">The Orthon Cult ?
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I think JT and company can become a cult for the same reason all of these examples eventually turned into one. Like them, JT's story line was a perfect examlpe of rhetoric filled with signs of cultish talk. It includes intrigue, prophecies, mystery and "above the law" ideologies. All underlined with the "blinders" JT manages to establish from the outset.
End of the World Talk: If you want to attract the attention of the mass media, there is no better way than to predict the end of the world. An apocalyptic theology is only dangerous when individual followers believe they are going to be called upon to be foot soldiers in “the war,†and prepare themselves by stocking up on weapons and ammunition. You are told to look for warning sign with blinders already in place. The group is preparing to fight a literal, physical Armageddon against other human beings. Of course this alone cannot be used to label an operation but think about JT’s 2004 – 2015 stories.
Join me/us: They see only the followers as saved and the rest of the world as damned. Although this trait is widespread among traditional beliefs, it can be a great danger sign. Another characteristic are the instructions on how to “treat†non-believers. The organization is willing to place itself above the law. Typical of cult doctrination.
Sub-societies: A group's relative isolation. There are abundant examples of traditional religions establishing communities or monastic centers apart from the larger society that have posed no danger to anyone. On the other hand, some of the worst abuses have taken place in the segregated (usually communal) sub-societies of certain minority religions. From the suicidal violence of People's Temple to the externally-directed violence of AUM Shinrikyo, it was the social dynamics found in an isolated or semi-isolated community that allowed such extreme actions to be contemplated. JT would always preach of suburban militia groups. JT warned about those darn Canadians! Again, very typical of cult propaganda.
Deception: Another warning sign is when a group's leader deceives “outsiders.†The leader regularly makes public assertions that he or she knows are false and/or the group has a policy of routinely deceiving outsiders. The leadership, blatantly or subliminally, dictates important personal details of followers' lives. JT's photos, time travel story line and his overall language was created for effective mass deception.
Like some of the hoaxes I've included above, JT took advantage of the time element.
I hope that, based on the above outcomes, people keep from believing any of JT's story-line until a few of the predictor's solid predictions actually proves to be true.
This is my own opinion on the JT subject. We are all entitled no? Please excuse my English...
