Groups that have committed such mass suicides and that have been called cults include Heaven's Gate, Order of the Solar Temple, and Peoples Temple. There are other cases, where the respective group has supported mass suicide, but where it did not encourage all members to kill themselves. An example for such a case is that of the Filippians.
Destructive cult
A destructive cult is a cult or other religious movement which has caused harm to its members or other people, or which will likely do so. There is a discussion of what "harm" really means in this context. For most researchers, it includes "physical harm", so organisations who injure or kill their members qualify.
Some researchers also include mental abuse in this notion of harm, for example: "A destructive cult is a pyramid-shaped authoritarian regime with a person or group of people that have dictatorial control. It uses deception in recruiting new members (e.g. people are NOT told up front what the group is, what the group actually believes and what will be expected of them if they become members". Psychologist Michael Langone defines a destructive cult as "a highly manipulative group which exploits and sometimes physically and/or psychologically damages members and recruits". Lifton's "Eight criteria for thought reform" are criteria to identify a destructive cult.
The use of the term "destructive cult" has also been criticised. According to some researchers, the term has been used to describe groups which are not necessarily harmful to themselves or others. The term may be used too widely, and equated with the deaths of members of Peoples Temple at Jonestown. Some complain that the term has been used to discredit groups. Lorne L. Dawson writes that though the Unification Church "has not been shown to be violent or volatile," it has been described as a destructive cult by "anticult crusaders".
The German Federal Constitutional Court ruled in 2002, that the German government defamed the Osho movement by referring to it, among other things, as a "destructive cult". The court decided that "destructive cult" and other expressions employed by the government to describe the group had no factual basis to justify their use.
Doomsday cult
A doomsday cult is a new religious movement or cult that says that the world is about to end. According to these cults, there will be a catastrophe. The only way to be saved is by joining the group, and by doing what it says. John Lofland first used the term in 1966, in a study of the Unification Church. Some researchers believe that the term should not be used by mass media or by governments, because it will reinforce the beliefs of the respective group, and lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Examples of groups said to be doomsday cults include the Peoples Temple, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, and Aum Shinrikyo. Aum Shinrikyo was responsible for an Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, where thirteen people died. The People's Temple organised a forced mass suicide in Guyana, at a facility now known as "Jonestown", where over 900 people died. The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten commandments, in Uganda, predicted the end of the world would be on the 31st December 1999. When it did not come, people in the movement became skeptical, and wanted their property back, which they had donated to the church leader. At a religious service on 17th March 2000, the church where the service was held was put on fire, and 530 people died. During the inquiry, the police found other people dead, at the properties of the movement; they had likely been poisoned. In total, over 1000 people had died. The leader of the movement survived, and has not been seen since then.
In "Globalisation and the Future of Terrorism", Brynjar Lia notes that "Doomsday cults are nothing new," but also states that they are "relatively few". Lia cites the mass murder/suicide of members of Peoples Temple at Jonestown, Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, the use of salmonella as a poison by followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and actions of Aum Shinrikyo as examples, noting that: "...during the past decades one has witnessed a number of increasingly violent doomsday sects, inflicting mass violence on their members and, in rare cases, also on outsiders".
New religious movement
New religious movement is a term that is used for certain religious communities. Such communities are usually small, compared to world religions. Very often, they do not have a long history. In most cases, the following will be true:
Other names for such movements include sect and cult. They are problematic though, because they have a negative connotation. Examples for movements that have been called cults are Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, Unification Church, Family International also called "Children of God", Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate and Wicca.
Richard Hildreth
Richard Hildreth (June 28, 1807 – July 11, 1865), was an American journalist, author and historian. He is best known for writing his six-volume "History of the United States of America, 1849-1853."
In an overview of writings by and about Hildreth, OCLC/WorldCat lists roughly 270 works in 870+ publications in 11 languages and 12,800+ library holdings.
George H. Kerr
, also known in Taiwan as 葛超智 or 柯喬治, was an American diplomat, author and academic.
In an overview of writings by and about Kerr, OCLC/WorldCat lists roughly 270 works in 870+ publications in 11 languages and 12,800+ library holdings.
George Kerr
George Kerr may mean
Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt
Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt (July 29, 1861 – February 14, 1884) was the first wife of Teddy Roosevelt. She died in 1884. She was of Mexican descent and born in Texas. She had 1 child with her husband.
Richard Mason (historian)
Richard Henry Pitt Mason (born 3 March 1934), also known as R.H.P. Mason, is an Australian academic, historian and Japanologist. He is a professor at the Australian National University in Canberra.
In an overview of writings by and about Mason, OCLC/WorldCat lists roughly 10+ works in 50+ publications in 5 languages and 1,900+ library holdings.
Abdominal migraine
Abdominal migraine (AM) is a kind of migraine which causes severe pain in the area of the abdomen. The pain is usually around the navel (belly button) area, which is called the "periumbilical area".
AM is most common in children starting at about age 7, but younger and older children may also get AM. Usually, abdominal migraines stop by the time children become teenagers. However, children who have had AM are more likely to have migraine headaches when they are adults. Sometimes adults also have abdominal migraines.
Abdominal migraine causes "paroxysmal attacks" - attacks that happen suddenly, and happen again and again. The attacks can last from 1–72 hours, but they usually last less than 6 hours. They happen about one-third more often in females than in males.
Abdominal migraines can cause other symptoms along with bad pain in the abdomen. People with AM usually have at least two of these other symptoms: nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite (not wanting to eat), headache, photophobia (being bothered by lights), and pallor (pale skin).
AM is more common in children of women who have had migraine headaches. This suggests that AM may have a genetic cause (a cause that is passed down from parents to their children).
Abdominal migraines can cause many different symptoms. A person having an AM may have all of these symptoms, or only a few.