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List of groups referred to as cults in government reports
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Since 1978, some governments have compiled lists of groups that they have termed either cults, doomsday cults, or sects - in order to focus study on those groups within their respective countries. Groups listed below were cited in past government reports from Austria,[1] Belgium,[2] Canada,[3] France[4](in 1995), Germany,[5] and the United States.[6]
According to a United States Congressional Research Service report, the mass murder/suicide of members of the Peoples Temple group at Jonestown in 1978 awoke the government to the need to study cults and new religious movements.[6] The report stated that the "tragic events in Guyana" had "focused attention on the larger phenomenon of religious cults in American life" - their nature, extent, and significance.[6]
Groups are listed alphabetically by country, with the date of their appearance in the respective government report noted in the section header.
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In 1996, the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and the Family, in Austria published a list of 200 groups it considers to be sects.[citation needed]
According to the United States Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report 2006, as released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor[1] "the vast majority" of these what the US State Department refers to as sects (however not necessarily the same groups referred to in the original Austrian government report) comprise small organizations with fewer than 100 members. Larger groups include the Church of Scientology and the Unification Church.
The report states that other groups termed "sects" by the Austrian government include the Divine Light Mission, Eckanar, Hare Krishna, Holosophic community, Osho movement, Sahaja Yoga, Sai Baba, Sri Chinmoy, Transcendental Meditation, Landmark Education, Center for Experimental Society Formation, Fiat Lux, Universal Life, and The Family, but does not specify if these groups appear in the list compiled by the Austrian Federal Ministry.
The United States Department of State had similar sections in its International Religious Freedom Report on Austria, in 1999,[7] 2000,[8] 2002,[9] 2003,[10] 2004][11] and 2005.[12]
The Justice Commission of the Belgian House of Representatives set up a parliamentary inquiry commission to work out a policy against cults. On April 28, 1997, the parliamentary commission issued its 670-page report[2] that contained a list of 189 movements, and also stated that "[t]he fact that a movement is listed here, even if at the instigation of an official instance, does not signify that the Commission regards it as a cult". The parliament failed to adopt the report as such and only voted to accept the conclusions and recommendations (19 pages), and not the list. Despite the lack of adoption of the list, the commission published the whole report, including the list.[13]
According to Human Rights Without Frontiers Int., a Brussels Appeals Court in 2005 condemned the Belgian House of Representatives on the grounds that it had damaged the image of an organization (the Universal Church of God's Kingdom) listed in the 1997 parliamentary inquiry commission on sects.[14]
A Canadian Security Intelligence Service report of 1999 discussed "Doomsday Religious Movements espousing hostile beliefs and having the potential to be violent.."[3]
Groups classified as "Doomsday Religious Movements" included the Branch Davidians, Canada’s Order of the Solar Temple, and Aum Shinrikyo.[3] Later in the report, Aum Shinrikyo was referred to as the "Aum cult".[3]
- For more details on this topic, see Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France.
In France in 1995, a parliamentary commission of the National Assembly of France on cults produced its report[4] (in French: compare an unofficial English translation). The report included a list of purported cults compiled by the general information division of the French National Police (Renseignements généraux — a French secret service) in association with cult-watching groups.
Subsequent French parliamentary commissions on cults reported on specific aspects of cult activity in 1999 and in 2006.
The French 1995 list of cults included ( as well a certain older groups):
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- For more details on this topic, see MIVILUDES.
In May 2005 the then Prime Minister of France, in a circulaire (which stressed that the government must exercise vigilance in continuing the fight against the cult-phenomenon), said that the list of movements attached to the Parliamentary Report of 1995 had become less pertinent, based on the observation that many small groups had formed: scattered, more mobile, and less-easily identifiable, and that labeling the groups as "sects" went against the respect for public freedoms and Laïcité (separation of Church and State). The Prime Minister asked his civil servants to update a number of ministerial instructions issued by previous commissions, to apply criteria set in consultation with the Interministerial Commission for Monitoring and Combating Cultic Deviances (MIVILUDES), and to avoid falling back on lists of groups for the identification of cultic deviances.[16]
An official report of a Senate Committee of the State of Berlin in Germany lists and discusses cults (German: Sekten), emphasizing with its sub-title their category as "entities espousing a world view and new religions". The current (1997) Berlin Senate report — entitled Cults: Risks and Side-effects: Information on selected new religious and world-view espousing Movements and Psycho-offerings[5] — subdivides "selected suppliers" (ausgewählte Anbieter) of its objects of interest as:
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
In 1979, Charles H. Whittier wrote a report which was printed by the Congressional Research Service, entitled: The Cultic Phenomena: New and Emerging Religious Movements in America. This report included a list of what were termed "Religious Cults in U.S. and Abroad",[6] which included the following groups :
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- Suspect Organizations and Individuals Possessing Long-Range Fifty Caliber Sniper Weapons
A report to the United States House of Representatives, Section VI is entitled "Montana Doomsday Religious Cult - "Church Universal and Triumphant".
- For more details on this topic, see Project Megiddo.
Project Megiddo was an FBI report, released on October 20, 1999.[18] The report warned against: "the potential for extremist criminal activity in the United States by individuals or domestic groups who attach special significance to the year 2000."[18] Its analysis focused on apocalyptic religious groups, doomsday cults and (New World Order) conspiracy theories.
Among the groups labeled "potentially violent", included "biblically-driven cults",[18] and the report went on to warn that "less time spent on “Bible study” and more time spent on “physical training” - indicate that the cult may be preparing for some type of action."[18] Groups singled out and analyzed in the report under the heading: "Apocalyptic Cults", included the Branch Davidians, and the Concerned Christians.[18]
- ^ a b International Religious Freedom Report 2006, (Austria), released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State.
"The vast majority of groups termed "sects" by the Government were small organizations with fewer than 100 members. Among the larger groups was the Church of Scientology, with between 5,000 and 6,000 members, and the Unification Church, with approximately 700 adherents throughout the country. Other groups found in the country included Divine Light Mission, Eckankar, Hare Krishna, the Holosophic community, the Osho movement, Sahaja Yoga, Sai Baba, Sri Chinmoy, Transcendental Meditation, Landmark Education, the Center for Experimental Society Formation, Fiat Lux, Universal Life, and The Family." - ^ a b Enquête Parlementaire visant à élaborer une politique en vue de lutter contre les practiques illégales des sectes et le danger qu'elles représentent pour la société et pour les personnes, particulièrement les mineurs d'âge. Rapport fait au nom de la Commission d'enquête par MM. Duquesne et Willems. Partie II. [Parliamentary Inquiry with the aim of detailing a policy for combating the illegal practices of cults and the danger they represent for society and for people, especially minors. Report made in the name of the Commission of Inquiry by Messieurs Duquesne and Willems. Part 2.] available online -- bilingual report in French and Flemish, retrieved 2007-01-08.
- ^ a b c d "Doomsday Religious Movements", PERSPECTIVES, a Canadian Security Intelligence Service publication, Report # 2000/03, December 18, 1999. available online, last updated November 1, 2000.
- ^ a b French report, 1995, English translation, National Assembly of France, Parliamentary Commission report.
- ^ a b "Sekten" - Risiken und Nebenwirkungen: Informationen zu ausgewählten neuen religiõsen und weltanschaulichen Bewegungen und Psychoangeboten. [Cults: Risks and Side-effects. Information on selected new religious and world-view Movements and Psycho-offerings] Herausgeben von der Senatsverwaltung fuer Schule, Jugend and Sport. [Published by the Senate administration for School, Youth and Sport]. Edited by Anne Rũhle and Ina Kunst. Version: December 1997. Downloadable in PDF form Retrieved 2007-02-06.
- ^ a b c d Whittier, Charles H., The Cultic Phenomena: New and Emerging Religious Movements in America, "Addendum II:Religious Cults in U.S. and Abroad.", Page CRS-45., Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Report No. 79-24 GOV., January 24, 1979. available online.
- ^ Religious Freedom Report 1999, Austria, Section I. Freedom of Religion.
- ^ Religious Freedom Report 2000, Austria, Section I. Freedom of Religion.
- ^ Religious Freedom Report 2002, Austria, Section I. Freedom of Religion.
- ^ Religious Freedom Report 2003, Austria, Section I. Religious Demography.
- ^ Religious Freedom Report 2004, Austria, Section I. Religious Demography.
- ^ Religious Freedom Report 2005, Austria, Section I. Religious Demography.
- ^ Fautré, Willy (2002). The Sect Issue in France and in Belgium. Human Rights Without Frontiers Int..
- ^ Human Rights Without Frontiers Int. Human Rights in Belgium Annual Report (Events in 2005).
- ^ Cults, Religion & Violence 2002 ISBN 0-521-66898-0 5 , (Listed as "Dangerous" by the French Parliamentary Commission (1996), also defined as "enemies of the state" in Greece, 1993).
- ^ Circulaire du 27 mai 2005 relative à la lutte contre les dérives sectaires
- ^ Suspect Organizations and Individuals Possessing Long-Range Fifty Caliber Sniper Weapons, United States House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform, August 17, 1999., VI: Additional Cases: "Montana Doomsday Religious Cult - "Church Universal and Triumphant", Page 8.
The GAO investigators found a 1989 case in Montana in which members of a "doomsday religious cult" had stockpiled many weapons, including several fifty caliber weapons. The cult is called the "Church Universal and Triumphant" (C.U.T.), and its leader is Elizabeth Clare Prophet. The cult was in the process of building underground bunkers to prepare for the end of the world. This investigation began because Ms. Prophet's and another cult member used birth certificates of deceased individuals to obtain driver's licenses so that they could purchase and stockpile weapons.
In an ATF crackdown, agents found that the cult members had illegally acquired hundreds of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Among this stockpile was ten semi-automatic fifty caliber weapons purchased with false identifications. The cult members were convicted of illegally purchasing firearms. According to GAO, Ms. Prophet continues to lead the cult and was not charged in connection with these offenses. - ^ a b c d e Project Megiddo, FBI Strategic Assessment, October 20, 1999, retrieved 3/7/07.