famous cult leaders

The craziest cult leaders with the personality to influence thousands. One of the most famous cult leaders of all time, Charles Manson was the leader of a group of young people in California during the late 1960s. The Manson Family famously murdered seven people over the course of two nights to start a race war. Jones, a self-ordained Christian minister who was born in Indiana in 1931, founded what became the Peoples Temple church in his home state in the 1950s then relocated his congregation to California in the 1960s. It was suspected some had been killed because they were considered traitors for criticizing the group’s leaders. In 1990, he and some of his followers ran for parliament but lost. By the early 1990s, Aum Shinrikyo, which attracted members from some of Japan’s top universities, was stockpiling chemical weapons. Shoko Asahara was the leader of the most notorious religious cult in Japanese history, Aum Shinrikyo. 10. Cult leaders certainly don’t want to focus on the present. Indian cult leader Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh created the spiritual practice of dynamic meditation. Jim Jones – The People’s Temple Image credit: Murderpedia. In the 1970s, the group even adopted an evangelic approach dubbed “flirty fishing.” The deaths of Di Mambro and Jouret didn’t bring an end to the violence: In December 1995, 16 more members took their own lives or were killed in France, while an additional five committed suicide in March 1997 in Quebec. The trouble lies in the limited worldview that cults can inculcate, which in turn makes it difficult for members to see their actions as anything but normal – even when they include mass suicides, attacks, and abductions. In the fall of 1996, Heaven’s Gate members moved into the Rancho Santa Fe mansion, where they lived a regimented existence. For centuries, people thought of cult leaders as brutal or charismatic men who brainwash the gullible into following their doctrines. In a related story, Timothy McVeigh, a U.S. Army veteran and supporter of right-wing survivalist groups, went to Waco during the siege and was outraged by the government’s actions. Cult leader David Koresh led the Branch Davidians in a deadly 51-day standoff against the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They were dressed in matching black outfits and black Nike running shoes and had a packed suitcase nearby. The five Solar Temple members who committed suicide in 1997 left a note indicating they believed their lives would continue on a new planet. Charles Manson, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and others have gained international notoriety for exposing the dark side of humanity. 8. However, in 1977, following a slew of negative publicity about Temple members being physically and mentally abused by Jones, he relocated with some 1,000 of his followers to the Guyanese jungle, where he promised they would create a utopian community. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, the Jonestown tragedy marked the single largest loss of U.S. civilian lives in a non-natural disaster. On November 17, U.S. Representative Leo Ryan of California arrived at Jonestown to investigate claims that Temple members were being held there against their will. From Valentina de Andrade to Michel Rostand and David Berg, WatchMojo is counting down the most infamous, influential and notorious cult leaders from around the world. He attracted many well educated but lonely followers who were convinced of his belief that the end of the world was coming. Here are nine of the most unnerving examples of … There’s always spiritual revival on the way. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. On March 26, 1997, Applewhite and 38 other members of a cult called Heaven’s Gate were found dead in a mass suicide at a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California. A lot of celebrities grew up in the cult : Christopher Owens from the band Girls , actor Rose McGowan (whose father headed the Italian branch), and Joaquin and River Phoenix. When the cult's leader, David Berg, passed in 1994, Berg's wife, Karen "Maria" Zerby, took over and changed the name of the group. The motives behind mass suicide are varied. When the 1995 subway attack took place, the group was estimated to have some 10,000 members in Japan and more than 30,000 around the world, many of them in Russia. The one notable celebrity recruit is Jeremy … Puputan, Bali Aum Shinrikyo, renamed Aleph in 2000, still exists, although its membership is smaller than it was in the mid-1990s. The following year, after 16 Solar Temple members were found dead in a forest in southeastern France, investigations again concluded not all had died willingly. sir, we follow you - cult leaders stock illustrations. Cult leaders’ charismatic personalities, fringe beliefs and lust for power have inspired hundreds to follow their unconventional philosophies — with often-tragic results. Born in 1931 in Indiana, Jim Jones was an orderly and Methodist pastor before he became a self-proclaimed messiah. In that role, he preached that the end of the world was near, stockpiled weapons, fathered multiple children with sect members and had sex with underage Davidian girls. Recruiting over 10,000 followers, Asahara believed he was destined to become Emperor of Japan and organized a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. In 2011, he was convicted of two felony counts of child sexual assault, for which he is currently serving a life sentence plus twenty years.. Anna LeBaron Anna LeBaron with her brother Eddie before she escaped the famous cult. Following the October 1994 deaths of the 53 sect members, whose bodies were discovered at Solar Temple properties that had been set on fire in Cheiry and Les Granges sur Salvan, Switzerland, and Morin Heights, Quebec, investigators estimated at least 30 of the dead had been murdered—either shot or asphyxiated. Director: Tod Browning | Stars: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates. There have been many famous female cult leaders over the years. Shoko Asahara, leader of the Aum Shinrikyo, pictured in 1990. Within several months after the attacks, Asahara was found hiding out at his group’s compound near Mount Fuji and arrested. Marshall Applewhite was the leader of the Heaven's Gate religious group. Eventually, Asahara began claiming he could read minds and levitate. On March 20, 1995, members of Aum Shinrikyo (“Supreme Truth”), founded by Asahara in the 1980s, released the poisonous nerve gas sarin on five crowded subway trains during morning rush hour in Tokyo, killing 13 people and sickening thousands more. Aum Shinrikyo targeted the Kasumigaseki station, in the area where many of Japan’s government offices are located, as part of what they thought would be an apocalyptic battle with the government. The following day, the cult members, 21 women and 18 men ranging in age from mid-20s to early 70s, began killing themselves in shifts. A look into the acts of narcissistic cult leaders who hurt their followers. The cult later had a Last Supper ritual and took their own lives. 1. Jones was influenced by communism and was appointed as a priest of Disciples of Christ. And sometimes a cult will ask the ultimate price, your life. Race war could read minds and levitate commune in Oregon in the late 1960s, in. 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