Warning Signs Preceded Suicides

History shows that cults under siege by powerful enemies often choose mass suicide.

If this wasn’t the case with the 39 cult members found dead Wednesday in a California mansion, it was on their minds.

“Waco” was one cult-siege-suicide event considered by the California cult members who built Internet Web sites under the name Higher Source and had their own World Wide Web home page under the name Heaven’s Gate.

The mass suicide in the Rancho Santa Fe million-dollar mansion was the largest in the United States only if you don’t count the 76 men, women and children who died when fire swept through David Koresh’s Rancho Apocalypse for his Branch Davidian followers a few miles east of here in 1993.

The Heaven’s Gate home page referred to government sieges at Waco and Ruby Ridge, Idaho. It also referred to the historic siege at the ancient fortress of Masada, where more than 900 Jewish zealots committed suicide in A.D. 73 rather than surrender to the Romans.

Many cults, and perhaps this one, make their members feel they are under siege by potent forces. People are measured by their enemies. Powerful enemies elevate a group’s importance and draw the members closer together.

Con men and self-anointed messiahs use this gambit to control their followers. Vernon Howell changed his name to David Koresh and employed this tactic to manipulate his Branch Davidian followers in their Mount Carmel compound, referred to as Rancho Apocalypse by some members.

Koresh proclaimed himself the messiah and the only legitimate mate for all the Branch Davidian women, which included the children. As the only true interpreter of the Bible, Koresh scripturally justified his arsenal buildup by saying that Jesus told his disciples to sell what they had and buy a sword. Koresh’s Mighty Men would use their weapons to repel the evil forces of Babylon, which appeared in the form of the government - particularly the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Koresh and the Davidians always objected to being called a cult. They claimed they represented a legitimate religion deserving full constitutional protections. No doubt the mysterious California group also would object to being called a cult.

Just as they had Waco, Ruby Ridge and Masada on their minds, the California cult also held religious views. The Heaven’s Gate Web page declared, “Organized Religions Are Killers of Souls.”

Heaven’s Gate followers also had suicide on their minds. The Heaven’s Gate Web site said suicide was an acceptable way for members to ascend to a higher level of life, while the practice was unacceptable for people who were not part of their group.

Experts estimate there are 2,500 U.S. cults, perhaps up to 5,000. Most remain unnoticed until they burst into public view following a tragedy such as the siege at Mount Carmel or the mass suicide of more than 900 followers of the Rev. Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple in Guyana in 1978.

Since most, if not all, religions were once considered cults, the term is not that easy to define. Many religions shed their cult labels simply with staying power. Splinter groups from mainstream religions, once considered cults, often form new cults. In America, Mormons, Christian Scientists, Scientologists and Seventh-day Adventists were recently considered cults, and some still are considered cults.

With our constitutional protections of religion and speech, plus our emphasis on individualism, the United States will always be a cult hotbed. Most cults die out on their own and cause little, if any, harm.

But alarm bells must go off and authorities must be notified when any group adopts a siege-suicide mentality or its beliefs pose a threat to the health, safety or welfare of its members. History demonstrates that ignoring such warnings can be tragic.

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