Cults and Violence

It is often assumed that religious cults are prone to violence since many seek to transform society into an idealized state based on their theology. Yet history suggests that cultic groups are more often the targets of violence or that they peacefully await the millennial kingdom. In this seminar we will consider a range of factors that produce cultic violence. We will examine such cases as violence and anti-Mormonism in 19th-century America; the collective suicide of 900 Peoples Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana in 1978; the 1993 assault by the American government on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas; and apocalyptic violence by the Japanese group Aum Shinrikyo. 3 hrs. sem.