Modern Cults Trivia Quiz

Answer: L. Ron Hubbard

L.Ron Hubbard was the author of over 138 adventure and science-fiction novels. He grew up as a "navy brat" who followed his career navy father to many ports. Hubbard claimed at various times to have been made a lama priest and a shaman of the Blackfeet tribe.

He had a bumpy career as a naval officer and a complicated personal life. After "Dianetics", he wrote science-fiction as an expansion of his ideas on Scientology. His legal difficulties are too numerous to detail here but he died of a stroke in 1986 leaving an estate of 600 million dollars.

Answer: Sexual liberation

Hare Krishna became a central focus for the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Hare Krishna called for abstinence from intoxicants, a restricted diet banning meat, fish, and eggs, no gambling, and no sexual relations outside of marriage. Applicants were required to repeat the mantra:

"Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare"

for hours each day.

Answer: Sun Myung Moon

Adherents to this faith are often called 'moonies'. The church calls for the unification of all faiths. It considers the Christian Cross to be offensive to God as it brings God sorrow and stands as an obstacle to the uniting of religions. Mass marriages practiced by the church -- marrying many couples at one time -- has drawn media attention. Arranged marriages between people of different backgrounds, such as between Koreans and Japanese, is regarded as a step in unification.

Some members believe that Moon himself is the second coming although Moon has never made this claim. Charges of 'brainwashing' have been made.

The Church is reported to have vast real estate holdings.

Answer: Sexual liberation

The doctrine of the Children of God was spelled out in over 3000 'Mo Letters', that is, writings of David Berg (i.e. Moses Berg). The philosophy changed from time to time but advocated sex with children, later renounced. There was an open door to homosexuals and bisexuals.

At one time there was a 'Flirty Fishing'. This was a squad of generally female believers who would seduce unsuspecting males into sexually compromising situations in order to bring them into the faith. It is reported that over 300 children were born through this system, and were referred to as 'Jesus children'. Berg himself fathered children and published an illustrated book detailing pictures and narratives of the sexual abuse of his young son.

Answer: Birth of a Nation

After the release of "Birth of a Nation" the Klan grew in the 1920s to an estimated four million members. Many more joined but dropped out very quickly when its goals became clear and uncomfortable. The ebb and flow of membership was often related to the social and economic issues of the time.

The theme of white supremacy has pretty much remained intact as well as the ghostly costumes, used as a tactic to intimidate their victims, particularly black Americans. Horrible tales of lynchings and cross burnings litter the Klan history.

Answer: Helter Skelter

"Helter Skelter" is also the name of the book by Vincent Bugliosi which maps the Manson history. Manson was a petty criminal, a rock-and-roll music hanger-on, who had the charisma to attract others, particularly young women, to him. It was at the height of the hippie movement that Manson brought his prophecy of a race war, at the conclusion of which he and his followers would emerge as spiritual leaders of a new society.

It was a cult more of personality than of beliefs.

Answer: Comet Hale-Bopp

On March 26th 1997, authorities in San Diego, California, found the bodies of 39 suicides. Each was dressed in identical attire, each with a five dollar bill and three quarters in their pockets, and wearing a brand new pair of Nikes. Suicide was accomplished through a combination of vodka and phenobarbital and a plastic bag over the head.

The suicides were in shifts to allow for clean-up. How many reached Hale-Bopp is unclear.

Answer: Di Mambro believed the child was the anti-Christ

A few days after the infanticide, two mass suicides occurred in Switzerland of Solar Temple members after a ritual Last Supper. The Solar Temple sought to correct common ideas of power and authority, placed spiritual over temporal values, and wished to prepare for the Second Coming and the unification of faiths.

It was a strange mix of medieval concepts of chivalry and New Age philosophy.

Answer: Waco, Texas

The feds believed that there was child abuse, polygamy, and a cache of illegal firearms in the compound. The Davidians felt that the federal authorities did not understand the Christian nature of their beliefs.

The Davidians historically split from the Seven Day Adventists in the early 1930s. They were called Davidians long before David Koresh was born. Koresh, whose real name was Vernon Howell, allegedly had an affair with the 78-year-old leader of the Waco Davidians and over time became the acknowledged leader.

In the April 19th raid, sixty-six Davidians died, of whom fifteen were under seventeen years of age. The Davidians claimed that the fire came as a result of a government flare fired into the compound; the feds claimed the fire was set by the Davidians themselves. The Davidians claimed that the deaths were the result of federal bullets; the counterclaim is that they were shot by Davidians as an act of suicide.

Answer: Leo Ryan

Ryan was a congressman from the San Francisco area and was on a mission to investigate Jim Jones. Several People's Temple members asked to leave with Ryan. To prevent this, Ryan and his entire press contingent were murdered. It was then that Jones ordered the mass suicide by cyanide-laced Kool-Aid.

Jim Jones was an avowed communist and atheist. Jones rationalized that what better institution to infiltrate than the Church? He mainly masked his Marxist views and built a small (about 3000 people) but tightly controlled congregation in San Francisco. He moved to Guyana to have more control without outside interference.