Cult Suicides

An evangelical pastor and 60 worshippers sparked fears of a mass suicide pact by holing themselves up in a Havana church. The group have spent more than three weeks locked in the 'Fountain of Life' Pentecostal Church, prompting conspiracy theories about their aims. But now the pastor's son has insisted they are conducting a regular spiritual retreat and aim to 'liberate Cuba from sins'.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk, September 15, 2011

MAJOR MASS CULT SUICIDES

• Peoples Temple: On November 18, 1978, 918 Americans died in Peoples Temple-related incidents, including 909 members of the Temple, led by Jim Jones, in Jonestown, Guyana. The dead included 303 children. A tape of the Temple's final meeting in a Jonestown pavilion contains repeated discussions of the group committing "revolutionary suicide," including reference to people taking the poison and the vats to be used.
• Solar Temple: From 1994 to 1997, the Order of the Solar Temple's members began a series of mass suicides, which led to roughly 74 deaths. Farewell letters were left by members, stating that they believed their deaths would be an escape from the "hypocrisies and oppression of this world." Added to this they felt they were moving on to Sirius. (Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky). Records seized by the Quebec police showed that some members had personally donated over $1 million to the cult's leader, Joseph Di Mambro.
• Heaven's Gate: An American UFO religion based in San Diego, California, founded and led by Marshall Applewhite, caused the death en masse of 39 of its followers on March 26, 1997, in Rancho Santa Fe, California. These people believed, according to the teachings of their cult, that through their suicides they were "exiting their human vessels" so that their souls could go on a journey aboard a spaceship they believed to be following comet Hale-Bopp.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Priest of unreason, and charlatan King!
"Hail to the saviour!" believers sing…

Behind every cult there is a charismatic leader who demands total faith and obedience. He commands a faithful following, believing in a future heavenly reward and often an impending, earthly doom. The most dangerous cults abuse the faith of their followers to such an extreme that it endangers all of their lives. The leaders of these groups take advantage of group psychology to generate a fantasised sense of 'us' versus a very hostile 'them' outside. Four basic behaviours found in extreme form in destructive cults: compliance with the group, dependence on a leader, devaluing the outsider, and avoiding dissent.

Cult members can come from widely disparate socio-economic backgrounds and include rich as well as poor who are willing to make enormous personal sacrifices for reaching a faith based goal promised by the charismatic leader. The cult influence is like addiction to a drug . Typical behaviour for both includes draining bank accounts, neglecting children, destroying relations with family and losing interest in anything except the drug or cult.

Today, there is an alarming rise in young people attracted to cults. The psychological effects on members, particularly adolescents, lead them to develop opinions and modes of behaviour diametrically different from their families of origin, causing familial tensions. Often, psychiatrists need to be consulted with the view to understand, treat and correct what is seen as behavioural aberration by the families.

Most democratic governments defend religious freedom. However, there has to be some regulatory mechanism to monitor cults, considering their effects on young people and their families, and some of the reactions they have caused in society.

© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.

Tackling Insult

“He who puts up with insult invites injury”.

Insult can be a cause of tremendous social anxiety, especially when someone in your personal environment has made it a habit to put you down repeatedly.

An insulting remark made towards you, especially in public, can evoke the twin demons, humiliation and anger, making your emotional equilibrium go to dogs! Your response might be to shrink inwards, wishing you could vanish from the face of the earth at that moment, or it could be a fit of angry incoherent stuttering! 

Whatever be your emotional reaction, you have given the insulter exactly what he wants- power! You have given him the confidence to insult you again and again.

If the insulter has the effect of causing you social anxiety, you need to do something about it as soon as possible.

Brace yourself- you’ve got some insulting to do too! Prepare some choice retorts. Nothing hits like comments on a persons personality. The more true to fact the comment is, the more effective it is.

Bullies are like dogs- they smell fear! Show your  tormentor you are not afraid. The next time your tormentor insults you, insult him back instantly, looking straight into his eyes.  Half the battle is won when your eyes lock, and you don’t look away. Walk away from the insulter as soon as you have retorted, thus leaving him no chance to carry the conversation further.

Some people insult subtly. A good way of countering a subtle insult is to rephrase the insult bluntly and ask the insulter if he meant what you thought he meant. This will put him on a back-foot and you will get some lame answer like, “Just kidding…”. You can then tell him calmly that you hope he was, because you have not liked his comment.

You might face a situation where the insulter tries to save face saying he’s sorry, he did not think you were so sensitive. Beware! It’s his way trying to emotionally overpower you by passing on the blame of your reaction on to you. Do not reply. Just walk on, and the game is over.

No one has ever escaped insult, not even very successful and confident people. The only thing is that they never accept an insult. They are either able to rise above being insulted at all or are able to nip the insult perpetrator’s audacity in the bud.

© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.

'Arakshan' Ban Quashed By SC

Giving the go ahead for the screening of Amitabh Bachchan starrer 'Aarakshan' in UttarPradesh, the Supreme Court on Friday quashed the ban imposed by the state, saying public discussion and dissent are necessary in a vibrant democracy. A bench of justice Mukundakam Sharma and justice A.R Dave lifted the state’s two-month ban on thefilm in UP holding that the restriction would go against the democratic value of free speech and expression.

Source: www.hindustantimes.com, 19 August, 2011

The policy of reservation of academic seats and government jobs based on caste was to be implemented for a period of ten years following the independence of India. Over sixty years have passed but the policy still continues to be implemented. ‘Arakshan’, meaning ‘reservation’, is a movie that highlights the frustration of the majority of students in the ‘general’ category.

Points to be pondered upon:

• We have seen systemic ineffectiveness in many of our government institutions. Merit, and hence performance, has taken a back seat. Is merit not being sacrificed at the altar of vote bank politics?
• It is true that certain sections of society still need support for enhancing their lives and moving upwards on the social scale. Cannot students from these sections be given economic help and training facilities in order to compete for academic seats and jobs rather than reservation?
• Since many meritorious Indian students cannot avail of seats in colleges, they are leaving the shores for higher studies elsewhere. The money that could have gone into our educational system is leaking to foreign universities. Is reservation not responsible for this monetary loss and further brain drain?

In a democracy, citizens have a right to express their views. Different people may have different opinions on the issue of reservation.The movies addresses an issue that can raise a healthy debate on the reservation policy. Politicians with vested interests cannot appoint themselves as ‘super censors’, when there is an expert panel appointed by the Indian censor board.

The Supreme Court of India, by quashing the ban on the movie, has adjudicated admirably!

© Sujata Khanna. All rights reserved.