Religious Cults

If you are writing a story with a charismatic character who is able to lure and manipulate others, consider the profile of cult leaders. These individuals have an uncanny ability to persuade, to manipulate and control, often leading their followers to commit murder or suicide.

Driven by narcissism, cult leaders shape the world into their own vision. According to Dr. Michael Stone, Columbia University, there is a scale of evil. There are twenty two levels based on motive, cruelty of actions and mental stability.

On March 20, 1995 during the morning rush hour in Japan, lethal sarin gas is released into the public train station. Twelve people died and hundreds were injured. The perpetrators are educated professionals: doctors, lawyers, scientists. They are all members of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo, founded by Shoko Asahara. To inflect violence on a massive scale, one must be delusional, they must possess the power to manipulate and be completely void of remorse. Asahara was such a person.

He lost most of his sight as a child and is sent to a school for the blind. He became a bully, targeting those who were more disabled than him. Later in life, he studied the prophecies of Nostradamus and had delusions while mediating, witnessing the end of the world. His visions are more creditable because by this time, he is a guru yoga instructor and in a position of authority.

By 1990, Asahara has over 5000 followers. He envisions a new world in the wake of mass destruction and his followers design weapons to bring about his vision. After the subway attack, Asahara was arrested and sentenced to death.

Asahara received a score of sixteen on Dr Stone's scale of evil, because his delusions indicate mental illness. Neuro anatomist Michael Persinger believes all experience comes from brain activity. Asahara's delusions were a result of heightened electro magnetic activity in the temporal lobe rather than a religious experience. Persinger believes cult leaders who report hearing or seeing deities are in fact suffering from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. The visions are results of seizures, not divine intervention.

In Matamoros Mexico, police exhume thirteen mutilated bodies, including that of Mark Kilroy. A shed nearby contains the remnants of black magic and human sacrifice.

Adolfo Constanzo is the owner of the shed and a cult leader, voodoo practitioner and drug lord. Constanzo was born in Miami in 1962. His Cuban mother practiced black magic, who believed Constanzo was a chosen one destined for greatness in the world of evil. He is taught to torture and kill animals and is praised for having no remorse. In 1984 Constanzo gathered a following and became a trusted advisor for drug lords. He is praised and revered. He leads his devoted followers into a dark world of human sacrifice.

His followers would bring victims to the shed for sacrifice. Constanzo would be placed on the highest scale of evil, scoring 22 per Dr. Stone. He was not mentally ill, but conditioned to commit violence and he conditioned his followers to commit violence.

Dr. Brad Bushman theorizes that when a narcissist's ego is damaged, he can become dangerous. Participants write essays which are then graded at random. An A or an F is written on the exam and for those who receive an F, they are able to "punish" the grader with loud noise. Observing the results, Dr Bushman finds that narcissistic participants would punish the grader at higher volumes for longer periods of times then non-narcissistic participants.

Charles Manson sent his followers to murder rich affluent whites to bring about a race war. He is an extreme narcissist. Manson was born in 1934, an unwanted child of a sixteen year old runaway mother. He was once traded to a waitress for a pitcher of beer. He spent much of his youth institutionalized, including several years in prison. Released for jail at the age of 32, Manson was able to blend into the hippy culture of San Francisco. He attracted naïve and vulnerable young women, provided them with drugs and acceptance. Manson took a group to live in deserted movie set outside of Los Angeles. Once isolated, Manson's followers were increasingly susceptible to his teachings. He would talk about Armageddon and promised safety for his followers. In 1964, Manson ordered four members to kill.

The nation is bewildered by the women who were so enthralled by Manson. It took his followers years to break through the brainwashing they endured. Manson would receive a score of 15 because he is a psychopathic narcissist who encouraged murder, but did not engage in the act himself.

Jim Jones lead his followers to death, 909 people committed mass suicide on November 15, 1978. Congressman Leo Ryan departed for Guyana to meet with the members Jones's compound, called Johnstown. Jones allowed Ryan to visit the compound and was given access to followers, most of whom expressed contentment with their life, however, fifteen members asked to return to America.

Jones was unwilling to let them go and sent armed solders to stop the flight out. Ryan was killed along with four others, and ten were injured. Back at Jonestown, Jones gathered all the members together for a mass suicide. Babies and children were poisoned first while Jones urged his followers to die calmly, to welcome death as a friend. Children were crying and convulsing: parents and grandparents were hysterical watching their children die; most just waited patiently for their turn to come.

Jones would be the most evil because of he engineered the deaths of so many.

Cult leaders will never give up control. They would rather end their reign with violence and death, then to surrender their power over others.