Crazy Cults Creating Mental Madness

Rania Suleiman, section editor

Saying no to someone sounds simple enough, but in some cases, it could be a life-or-death decision. This is called “cult mentality”, which is defined as a system or group of people who practice devotion to a figure, object or belief system. Giving someone complete authority leads to evil dictatorship. Those that join cults become so brainwashed that they hurt their own community of family and friends. 

For example, The Peoples Temple Heaven’s Gate all had a brainwashed group of individuals who sold their souls to their leaders. These cases went so far that several were killed, tortured or sexually abused.  

The Peoples Temple took place in the United States of America and Guyana. The leader, Jim Jones was born in Indiana. He grew up with a sick mother and neglected family, despite these challenges he had a strong sense of belief and told his classmates when he was nine that he was a superhero. Later, Jones married Marceline Baldwin and traveled across Indiana and Ohio for his passion for preaching, he preached about the need to challenge capitalism and racial segregation.  

Jones started his own church called the Peoples Temple, it started with twenty people and continued to expand. Jones passionately spoke about the issues of race and class; he marketed this towards the poor. He started a “rainbow family”, which included a diverse amount of people from different backgrounds. The church did a lot of charity work to help the homeless. 

Later, Jones moved to California to reach a larger audience of people. He specialized in faith healing, claiming he could heal the sick. For example, he got his followers to sit in a wheelchair and pretend he suddenly made her walk. His followers believed he had divine power. Jones pressured his followers into building a town for the community by promising them a home and land. They were all extremely overworked and treated more like slaves. It turned into more of a prison with armed guards and they were forced into working. Passports were taken away and entry and exit were restricted. Jones would drug and sexually abuse his followers, both men and women. 

California Congressman Leo Ryan went to find the missing people in his town. On the first day he went to the town everyone was nice and welcoming, however, the second day he was attacked with a knife and let go with a warning. 14 followers decided to escape with Ryan in his aircraft. A group of people from the Temple attacked Ryan and the departing group, nobody survived. Jones learned of the killings and warned his followers that they would be next. He gave them poisoned Kool-Aid to drink for a suicide protesting the inhumane world. In the end, 913 committed suicide which was one of the largest tragedies ever seen. 

Heaven’s Gate story also has a tragic ending. Marshall Applewhite was born in Indiana and had many careers, being a soldier, opera singer and music teacher. Applewhite met his significant other named Bonnie Nettles; however, this wasn’t an ordinary relationship because they believed they were two witnesses from the Book of Revelation. They recruited a small group of people to bring on a spiritual road trip, but it failed when Applewhite got arrested in Missouri for stealing a rental car. However, six months later the two leaders changed their names to “Bo and Peep.” They gained around one hundred followers and took trips to Colorado where they told their followers a spaceship would land and bring them to heaven, which obviously didn’t happen. They then moved across various other campsites. 

The rules the followers were forced to abide by were meticulous. There were restrictions on alcohol, drugs, sex and some foods. In Oct. 1996, the group was moved to their final campsite in Rancho Santa Fe. The followers waited for 10 years for a spaceship to land and take them to heaven, and they started to become frustrated. When Applewhite heard about the Hale Bopp comet that was visible from earth, he informed his followers the comet would collect them and bring everyone to heaven. Applewhite told them to kill themselves so their souls could board the spacecraft and go to heaven. The followers recorded their farewell messages; they took a heavy dose of phenobarbital which is used as a sedative for surgeries because it slows down the brain. They mixed it with apple sauce and vodka, then placed a plastic bag tightly over their heads. The farewell messages stated they had, “exited our vehicles.” There were 39 decomposing bodies found, and all had a badge attached to them that said, “Heaven’s Gate Away Team.” In each of their pockets was $5 and some quarters. Marshall Applewhite was found dead in the main bedroom. 

Both cults started with a small group but later obtained hundreds of followers. The cult mentality lures people in to brainwash them, like how both Marshall Applewhite and Jim Jones got their followers to commit suicide. All the cult followers never criticized their leader no matter what inhumane acts of crime were committed. It is extremely dangerous and not talked about enough on social media and the news.