Destroying the world to save it : Aum Shinrikyo, apocalyptic violence, and the the new global terrorism

national Book Award Winner And Renowned Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton Reveals A World At Risk From Millennial Cults Intent On Ending It All. since The Earliest Moments Of Recorded History, Prophets And Gurus Have Foretold The World's End, But Only In The Nuclear Age Has It Been Possible For A Megalomaniac Guru With A World-ending Vision To Bring His Prophecy To Pass. Now Robert Jay Lifton Offers A Vivid And Disturbing Case In Point In This Chilling Exploration Of Aum Shinrikyo, The Japanese Cult That Released Sarin Nerve Gas In The Tokyo Subways. with Unprecedented Access To Former Aum Members, Lifton Has Produced A Pathbreaking Study Of The Inner Life Of A Modern Millennial Cult. He Shows How Aum's Guru Shoko Asahara (charismatic Spiritual Leader, Con Man, Madman) Created A Religion From A Global Stew Of New Age Thinking, Ancient Rituals, And Apocalyptic Science Fiction, Then Recruited Scientists As Disciples And Set Them To Producing Weapons Of Mass Destruction. Taking Stock As Well Of Charles Manson, Heaven's Gate, And The Oklahoma City Bombers, Lifton Confronts The Frightening Possibility Of A Twenty-first Century In Which Cults And Terrorists May Be Able To Bring About Their Own Holocausts. bold And Compelling, Destroying The World To Save It Charts The Emergence Of A New Global Threat Of Urgent Concern To Us All. publishers Weekly lifton's Book About Japan's Aum Shinrikyo Cult Is Less An Exploration Of Terrorism Than A Look At The Psychological Traits Of The Mostly Educated Followers Of Aum's Guru, Asahara. As A Psychiatrist, Lifton (death In Life; The Nazi Doctors; Etc.) Is Well Equipped To Explain The Siren Call Of Apocalyptic Gurus And The Psychology Of Disaffected Groups Seeking To Cleanse And Reinvent The World. He Shows How Aum Shinrikyo Appropriated Eastern Wisdom, American New Age Elements And Modern Technology In Order To Spiritualize Violence Into A Form Of Altruistic Murder. In 1995, Members Of The Group Released Deadly Sarin Gas In A Tokyo Subway, Killing 11 People, Injuring Thousands And Terrifying The World. Lifton Describes The Psychohistorical Past Of Japan (the Move From Feudalism To Modernism, The Emperor System, Hiroshima) To Show Why 23,000 Religious Groups In Japan Have A Total Membership Of 200 Million Japanese--even Though The Population Of Japan Is Only 130 Million. Though He Focuses On Aum, Lifton Believes That The Conditions That Made Aum Possible Exist Throughout The Developed World. Today's Postmodern, Posthistoric Times Have Left Many In A Kind Of Nothingness, In A More Or Less Permanent Postmortem And Therefore Susceptible To The Lure Of End-of-the-world Extremism. The Book Ends With Shorter Analyses Of American Cults Such As Heaven's Gate, As Well As An Exploration Of The Fringe Apocalypticism Of The Radical Right (e.g., That Of Timothy Mcveigh). In His Effort To Address So Many Manifestations Of Apocalyptic Intoxication, Lifton's Reach Slightly Exceeds His Grasp. The Book Is Not As Coherent As It Might Have Been, Though It Does Offer Localized, If Not Systematic, Insight Into The Apocalyptic Mindset. (oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

National Book Award winner and renowned psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton reveals a world at risk from millennial cults intent on ending it all.

Since the earliest moments of recorded history, prophets and gurus have foretold the world's end, but only in the nuclear age has it been possible for a megalomaniac guru with a world-ending vision to bring his prophecy to pass. Now Robert Jay Lifton offers a vivid and disturbing case in point in this chilling exploration of Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that released sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subways.

With unprecedented access to former Aum members, Lifton has produced a pathbreaking study of the inner life of a modern millennial cult. He shows how Aum's guru Shoko Asahara (charismatic spiritual leader, con man, madman) created a religion from a global stew of New Age thinking, ancient rituals, and apocalyptic science fiction, then recruited scientists as disciples and set them to producing weapons of mass destruction. Taking stock as well of Charles Manson, Heaven's Gate, and the Oklahoma City bombers, Lifton confronts the frightening possibility of a twenty-first century in which cults and terrorists may be able to bring about their own holocausts.
Bold and compelling, Destroying the World to Save It charts the emergence of a new global threat of urgent concern to us all.

National Book Award winner and renowned psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton reveals a world at risk from millennial cults intent on ending it all. Since the earliest moments of recorded history, prophets and gurus have foretold the world's end, but only in the nuclear age has it been possible for a megalomaniac guru with a world-ending vision to bring his prophecy to pass. Now Robert Jay Lifton offers a vivid and disturbing case in point in this chilling exploration of Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that released sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subways. With unprecedented access to former Aum members, Lifton has produced a pathbreaking study of the inner life of a modern millennial cult. He shows how Aum's guru Shoko Asahara (charismatic spiritual leader, con man, madman) created a religion from a global stew of New Age thinking, ancient rituals, and apocalyptic science fiction, then recruited scientists as disciples and set them to producing weapons of mass destruction. Taking stock as well of Charles Manson, Heaven's Gate, and the Oklahoma City bombers, Lifton confronts the frightening possibility of a twenty-first century in which cults and terrorists may be able to bring about their own holocausts. Bold and compelling, Destroying the World to Save It charts the emergence of a new global threat of urgent concern to us all. "With unusual access to former Aum members, Lifton has produced a study of the inner life of a modern millennial cult, offering a subtle portrait of how guru and disciples reinforce each other's wildest destructive fantasies. Lifton offers a sobering exploration of how Aum's guru, Shoko Asahara - charismatic leader, con man, madman - created a religion from a global stew of New Age thinking, ancient religious practices, and apocalyptic science fiction; of how he recruited scientists as disciples and set them to producing the "poor man's atomic bomb" (chemical and biological weapons). Through Aum, Lifton explores a historically unprecedented phenomenon, a twenty-first century in which cults and terrorists may be able to create their own holocausts."--BOOK JACKET. "Taking stock as well of Charles Manson, the Heaven's Gate cult, and the Oklahoma City bombers, Lifton argues that Aum Shinrikyo was not just a "nightmare of Japanese religion," but a global nightmare that revealed a world unexpectedly at risk."--BOOK JACKET. "On March 20, 1995, members of the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo released sarin nerve gas into the Tokyo subway system, killing 11 people and injuring 5000. Lifton (The Nazi Doctors) provides a psychological examination of the motives of the group and its founder, Shoiko Asahara. Lengthy interviews with ten former low-level Aum members give fascinating insight into the appeal of Asahara's combination of Buddhism, New Age thinking, and apoplectic visions; daily life within Aum Shinrikyo; and their own attempts to rationalize or reject the group's actions. Lifton also discusses the characteristics of Aum that caused it to move toward violence. He closes by exploring the same themes among the cults of Charles Manson and Jim Jones, the Heaven's Gate cult, and American white supremist groups. " -- From Library Journal En analyse af den hinduistisk/buddhistisk funderede bevægelse Aum Shinrikyo hvis leder, Shoko Asahara, stod bag giftgas-udslippet i Tokyos undergrundsbane i 1995