Rogue Messiahs by Wilson
Rogue Messiahs: Tales of Self-Proclaimed Saviors (2000)
by Colin Wilson
274 pages - Hampton Roads Publishing Company
Colin Wilson takes a look at the phenomenon of cults and cult leaders, and how the stories often end in tragedy and violence. A lot of the famous names are here, such as Charles Manson and David Koresh and Shoko Ashara, but the author also profiles lesser-known figures, such as the phenomenon of Sabbatai Zevi in 1666, and the LeBaron family which headed a break-away Mormon sect. Wilson also includes figures who follow the same pattern, but did not end quite so sensationally, such as Auguste Comte, who created his own 'rational religion', and Sigmund Freud and the psychoanalysts who followed him. I also found interesting the amount of Canadian content in the book; the story of Brother Twelve, who built a mini-Jonestown in British Columbia, and Rock (Roch) Theriault, who tended to isolate himself with a small group of followers in the woods, and actually presided over some incredibly gruesome and savage things just a few hours away from here. Eeep.
I started reading this because I was re-interested in the works of Colin Wilson after reading his autobiography, but as I read on I was surprised that this book was quite a bit better than I was expecting, and I mostly put all the rest of my reading aside until I finished it. I think Wilson takes a fairly unique approach as he doesn't echo the sort of view you hear people throw around; that these cult leaders are just out to make money, and that the people that follow them are just really stupid. Wilson acknowledges the religious impulse as something that is intrinsically a part of humanity, and he also believes that it's quite possible that at the beginning these leaders are able to demonstrate some degree of unusual psychic powers. What is remarkable is how often these movements start off with strong initiative and good intentions, before they spiral downward into conflict and sexual over-indulgence and violence and psychosis.
Wilson comes to the conclusion that what these people, both leaders and followers, are trying to do is to compensate for some inadequacy in 'real' life by creating an entire world which is more suitable to them. At some point, the imaginative powers of the mind, or the unconscious, actually create this world for a person or group, so that it truly becomes the only reality that they know. As always, Wilson sometimes seems a bit too ready to embrace every new idea that he hears, but I don't think that you need to agree with all of the author's conclusions, or even any of them, to get something out of this book.
by Colin Wilson
274 pages - Hampton Roads Publishing Company
Colin Wilson takes a look at the phenomenon of cults and cult leaders, and how the stories often end in tragedy and violence. A lot of the famous names are here, such as Charles Manson and David Koresh and Shoko Ashara, but the author also profiles lesser-known figures, such as the phenomenon of Sabbatai Zevi in 1666, and the LeBaron family which headed a break-away Mormon sect. Wilson also includes figures who follow the same pattern, but did not end quite so sensationally, such as Auguste Comte, who created his own 'rational religion', and Sigmund Freud and the psychoanalysts who followed him. I also found interesting the amount of Canadian content in the book; the story of Brother Twelve, who built a mini-Jonestown in British Columbia, and Rock (Roch) Theriault, who tended to isolate himself with a small group of followers in the woods, and actually presided over some incredibly gruesome and savage things just a few hours away from here. Eeep.
I started reading this because I was re-interested in the works of Colin Wilson after reading his autobiography, but as I read on I was surprised that this book was quite a bit better than I was expecting, and I mostly put all the rest of my reading aside until I finished it. I think Wilson takes a fairly unique approach as he doesn't echo the sort of view you hear people throw around; that these cult leaders are just out to make money, and that the people that follow them are just really stupid. Wilson acknowledges the religious impulse as something that is intrinsically a part of humanity, and he also believes that it's quite possible that at the beginning these leaders are able to demonstrate some degree of unusual psychic powers. What is remarkable is how often these movements start off with strong initiative and good intentions, before they spiral downward into conflict and sexual over-indulgence and violence and psychosis.
Wilson comes to the conclusion that what these people, both leaders and followers, are trying to do is to compensate for some inadequacy in 'real' life by creating an entire world which is more suitable to them. At some point, the imaginative powers of the mind, or the unconscious, actually create this world for a person or group, so that it truly becomes the only reality that they know. As always, Wilson sometimes seems a bit too ready to embrace every new idea that he hears, but I don't think that you need to agree with all of the author's conclusions, or even any of them, to get something out of this book.