Cults

The word cult is defined as an alternative religion. Most cults are started because someone doesn't like the way the world is, and feels that his/her church isn't doing anything to make it better, so they leave and create what they believe to be the perfect religion. Then this person strives to make others believe as they do so they will join (Miller, 1991, p. 15). There are somewhere around 3,000 to 5,000 of these cults throughout the United States, but only 75 to 100 are documented (Miller, 1991, p. 15-16). Satanism is the oldest form of such cults. A few other commonly known cults are Reverend Jim Jones and the People Temple, Heavens Gate, and Charles Manson and the Family.

In the early 20th century, Allistar Crowly, AKA "The Black Pope", started modern Satanism. It is said that Anton Lavey brought Satanism to the United States. Anton believed that he was the reincarnation of the "Black Pope". He set his church up in San Francisco in 1966. Within one year Anton's cult grew to more than 200,000 members (Miller, 1991, p. 28-29). Anton then went to Hollywood to help make movies about Satanism. He succeeded in doing so and was involved with the making of many movies including Rosmary's Baby (Miller, 1991, p. 29). During this time Lavey and his assistant Michael Aquins wrote The Satanic Bible, which instantly became a best seller. The Satanic Bible told of the main concepts of Satanism. Basically, it is the reverse of Christianity. The main idea projected is "Do what thou will" (Miller, 1991, p. 31). One of the peculiar rituals of Satanist is the sacrifice of a newborn child. They believe that the newborn has a special power, and if they sacrifice the baby immediately after birth, that its power will go into the coven (Miller 1991, p. 33).

Reverend Jim Jones was the leader of The Peoples Temple. Jim thought of himself as the reincarnation of Jesus and Lenin. His vision of world domination was nuclear war, and the only cities that would survive are Ukiah, California and Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Because of this belief, he moved his cult to Ukiah and awaited the war (Cults R Us, 2000, September 27, p. 1). After awhile he grew tired of waiting for what he claimed would be "WW 3", so he relocated his church to San Francisco. There he practiced a ritual know as "White Nights". In this ritual members prepared themselves for a suicide that would protest racism and faceism (Cults R Us, 2000, September 27, p. 1). In 1977 Jones was forced to move his church to a secluded jungle in Guyana, South America. There he created Jonestown (Cults R Us, 2000, September 27, p. 1).

In 1978, Leo Ryan went to Jonestown on a fact-finding investigation. After being there for only one day, a member tried to stab him. When Ryan tried to leave the compound, members of the church shot at his plane and killed him. A few hours after this incident, Jones made all the members drink grape-flavored Fla-Vor-Aid that was laced with potassium cyanide and tranquilizers. All members did so, some by force, and most died. Surviving members later committed suicide (Cults R Us, 2000, September 27, p. 1).

Many people believe that Jim was involved with the CIA, and that Jonestown was just a mind control experiment. Later Henry Lee, a known serial killer, said he was the one who delivered the cyanide to Jones (Cults R Us, 2000,September 27, p. 1).

One of the more recently publicized cults is Heavens Gate. Heavens Gate was the only known "doomsday-cult-web-design-team". On March 26, 1997, they believed there would be a space ship hiding in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet, and it would come and take them to their "mother planet". This caused a mass suicide of 21 women, and 18 men. "All the people that committed suicide were between 26 and 72, all had buzz cuts, were dressed in black pants, oversized shirts, and brand new Nikes". They were lying on their backs throughout a large mansion they had been living in. They are believed to have died in three separate shifts over a three-day period. They also each had a five-dollar bill, and change in their pockets, and small suitcases (Cults R Us, 2000, September 27, p. 1).

America's king of homicidal maniacs is Charles Manson. Manson was born "No Named Maddox". His mother was a "teenage, bisexual, alcoholic