The attack by aum shinrikyo it was march 20, 1995 and the time was 0800 hours, when the city of tokyo was subjected to a terrorist act by a radical religious group. Since the earliest moments of recorded history, prophets and gurus have foretold the worlds end, but only in the nuclear age has it been possible for a megalomaniac guru with a worldending vision to bring his prophecy to pass. Psychological aspects of the aum shinrikyo affair psychology in. The aum shinrikyo case the 1995 tokyo subway attack is an important event in the study of terrorism. Aum shinrikyo also incorporated elements of taoism in an eclectic mix along with its own more original ideas. Aum shinrikyo currently aleph signs and symbols of. Seven members of the aum shinrikyo doomsday cult which carried out a deadly chemical attack on the tokyo underground in 1995 have been executed, including. National book award winner and renowned psychiatrist robert jay lifton reveals a world at risk from millennial cults intent on ending it all. Metraux the shocking attack allegedly made by aum shinrikyol assailants on three tokyo subway lines in march 1995 that killed twelve commuters and injured nearly 6,000 raises many questions but few answers. He was the fourth son of seven children five boys and two girls.
By analyzing the psychological aspect of the aum shinrikyo affair, we can learn more about the goals and motivation of terrorists in general. Terrorism has become recently a subject to research in many fields of knowledge. Aum shinrikyo, biological terrorism, chemical terrorism, sarin terrorism, shoko asahara, tokyo subway attack, tomomasa nakagawa. Aum shinrikyoaleph is a syncretic belief system that draws upon asaharas idiosyncratic interpretations of elements of early indian buddhism and tibetan buddhism, as well as hinduism, taking shiva as the main image of worship and incorporating millennialist ideas from the christian book of revelation, yoga, and the writings of nostradamus. Pdf aum shinrikyos rise, fall and revival researchgate. It was only after the tokyo subway attack that aum shinrikyo was discovered to be behind the matsumoto sarin attack. The radical religious group aum shinrikyo was founded in japan in the 1980s and grew rapidly in the 1990s. Asahara was born on march 2, 1955 as chizuo matsumoto in yatsushiro, japan. Religious terrorism is a type of religious violence where terrorism is used as a tactic to achieve religious goals or which are influenced by religious identity in the modern age, after the decline of ideas such as the divine right of kings and with the rise of nationalism, terrorism has more often been based on anarchism, and revolutionary politics. Christian evangelical books in america the global jihad within islam and the japanese cult aum shinrikyo jones develops a masterful. Cries out from the earth the psychology of religious terrorism read the book on paper it. This chapter traces the movement of aum shinrikyo from a yoga and meditation center, indistinguishable from countless other new age centers in japan and north america, to a cult that released deadly nerve gas in a tokyo subway. Chronology of aum shinrikyos cbw activities introduction six years ago, on march 20, 1995, five members of the japanese cult aum shinrikyo supreme truth boarded subway trains in tokyo, japan, and released the deadly chemical nerve agent sarin. Lifton would have had to invent them would probably be terribly unfair.
Introduction the aum shinrikyo is a japanese new religious movement organisation but they are also labelled as a terrorist organisation in many countries across the world. Aum shinrikyo insights into how terrorists develop biological and chemical weapons second edition december 2012 2 about the authors richard danzig is the chairman of the board at the center for a new american security, a consultant on terrorism to u. While all religious groups have been affected by the postaum reform of the religious corporations law, the emphasis in the media on the notion of cults has impacted widely on any group that appears in any way to challenge social norms. But even though numbers have dwindled after the groups 1995 nerve gas attack, aum shinrikyo continues to draw followers. Reviews this dark, enthralling book not only documents the global rise of religious terrorism but seeks to understand the odd attraction of religion and violence.
To say that if asahara and aum shinrikyo didnt exist robert j. This is the cutting edge of hightech terrorism for the year 2000 and beyond. Aum shinrikyo, apocalyptic violence, and the new global terrorism kindle edition by lifton, robert jay. Arefu, formerly aum shinrikyo is a japanese doomsday cult. Kaplan and marshall allege in their book that aum was also connected with such activities as. Background of the cult a case study on the aum shinrikyo. In december 1994 and january 1995, masami tsuchiya of aum shinrikyo synthesized 100 to 200 grams of vx which was used to attack three persons. Aum, a religious cult with an apocalyptic ideology, recruited scientists and engineers to help the group acquire. Jul 06, 2018 the culprits were aum shinrikyo, an obscure religious group who believed the end of the world was coming. Feb 27, 2012 aum has, indeed, been stripped of its status as a registered religious corporation. Even in its early years, aum shinrikyo showed sigsn of extreme guruism, intense apocalypticism, and the violent potential in both. Psychological aspect of religious terrorism in japan. Religious terrorists and violent extremists share the decision to interpret religion to justify violence over the peaceful messages of their religion. Aum shinrikyo and al qaeda, have demonstrated a commitment unmatched by other organizations.
In his later sermons and books beginning from 1991. Aum shinrikyo was founded in 1984 as a yoga and meditation class, initially. The tokyo subway sarin attack subway sarin incident, chikatetsu sarin jiken was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated on 20 march 1995, in tokyo, japan, by members of the cult movement aum shinrikyo. At its peak, aum reportedly claimed 10,000 believers in japan at its peak and tens of thousands more in the united states, russia and elsewhere. A profile of the japanese religious cult that carried out the 1995 subway sarin attack. Senator nunn redirected the staff to focus upon the ongoing activities of the aum shinrikyo as a case study of what can happen when a fanatical group with financial resources obtains sophisticated. During 1999 to 2001, microbiologic tests were conducted on a liquid environmental sample originally collected during the 1993 incident. Various avenues of explanation for this transition are explored, and aum is compared with other.
Bacillus anthracis bioterrorism incident, kameido, tokyo. A disciple came to understand that without the guru nothing was possible, but with him there opened up a path. At its peak membership, aum shinrikyo had perhaps 9,000 members in japan. Aum shinrikyo july 2011 insights into how terrorists develop biological and chemical weapons 2 about the authors richard danzig is the chairman of the board at the center for a new american security, a consul tant on terrorism to u. A religious organization basing many of its teachings on. After years on death row, the cults leader shoko asahara was put to death on 6 july. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading destroying the world to save it. Aum shinrikyo insights into how terrorists develop biological. Aum shinrikyo aum shinrikyo, a cult founded in 1985 by shoko asahara, perpetrated the 1995 sarin gas attack on the tokyo subway that killed 12 people. Tokyo subway sarin attack by aum shinrikyo in 1995 is. The culprits were aum shinrikyo, an obscure religious group who believed the end of the world was coming.
Aum shinrikyo was not a clearcut buddhist sect, and while it borrowed some ideas from buddhism, the cults chief deity was the hindu god shiva. In the modern age, after the decline of ideas such as the divine right of kings and with the rise of nationalism, terrorism has more often been based on anarchism, and revolutionary. Blood that cries out from the earth the psychology of religious terrorism free download get pdf book jan 25, 2020. Arefu, formerly aum shinrikyo, oumu shinrikyo, is a japanese doomsday cult founded by shoko asahara in 1984. In the modern era, religious terrorism has increased in its frequency, scale of. Andrew marshall, coauthor of the cult at the end of the world. The primary example in the 20th and 21st century is in sri lanka, where sinhala buddhist groups have committed and encouraged violence against local christians and tamils. The cults major tenets are drawn from a wide spectrum of religions.
The religious beliefs of aum shinriko are a mixture of hinduism, buddhism, christianity, and new age religions. Pages in category aum shinrikyo the following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total. His latest book, inside terrorism, was pub lished by columbia. Aum shinrikyo insights into how terrorists develop. Religious terrorism is a type of religious violence where terrorism is used as a tactic to achieve religious goals or which are influenced by religious identity. In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on three lines of the tokyo metro then part of the tokyo subway during rush hour, killing people. Pdf in march 1995, the tokyo subway attack by aum shinrikyo signaled the emergence of a new global trend in chemical. It carried out the deadly tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for another smaller sarin attack the previous year. A free powerpoint ppt presentation displayed as a flash slide show on id. Aum shinrikyo, apocalyptic violence and the new global terrorism. His family was poor, his father being a tatami mat maker. Beginning in the early 1990s, aum, a religious cult with an apocalyptic ideology, recruited scientists and engineers to help the group acquire chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.
The longer entries of a page or two, often authored by scholars other than lewis, are for groups that are controversial or have made the news recently. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Political violence, threats, and insurgency summer 2015 dr. Religious terrorism in japan the fatal appeal of aum shinrikyo daniel a. However, recent events from japan overtook the investigation and, last june, senator nunn redirected the staff to focus upon the ongoing activities of the aum shinrikyo as a case study of what can happen when a fanatical group with financial resources obtains sophisticated technical abilities and decide to utilize weapons of mass destruction in. In the 1990s, groups motivated by religious imperatives, such as aum shinrikyo, hizballah, and alqaida, have grown and proliferated. Aum shinrikyo, apocalyptic violence, and the the new global terrorism by lifton, robert jay, 1926. We still remember the sarin gas tragedy which was sown by the aum shinrikyo group of buddhists or shintos in tokyo in march 1995, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000 people kyle b. Jul 06, 2018 aum shinrikyo is designated as a terrorist organisation in the us and many other countries, but aleph and hikari no wa are both legal in japan, albeit designated as dangerous religions subject. The attack consisted of members of aum shinrikyo releasing poisonous gas into the crowded subway system. Aum shinrikyos next major act of violence would serve as a wakeup call to the world regarding the prospects of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. The strengths of his work lie more in his discussions of how enclosed groups can create a reality within their environment that becomes an. Nakagawa the author obtained valuable inside information about aums chemical and biological weapons programs.
Nakagawa, one of the senior members of aum shinrikyo. Aum shinrikyo currently aleph signs and symbols of cults. Directory of books about japanese religious cult aum shinrikyo. Aum is a sanskrit word meaning the powers of destruction and creation in the universe, and shinrikyo means supreme truth. The following is a chronology of events related to the aum shinrikyo doomsday cult and its founder, shoko asahara, whose real name was chizuo matsumoto. In july 1993, a liquid suspension of bacillus anthracis was aerosolized from the roof of an eightstory building in kameido, tokyo, japan, by the religious group aum shinrikyo. Asahara was spoken of and addressed as sonshi, meaning revered master, or exalted one, a highly worshipful term not ordinarily used in japanese buddhism. Aum identified russia as a potential source of nuclear weapons, and cult members made numerous overtures to senior officials and scientists. The primary deity in aum is shiva, the god of destruction this deity embodies aums main focus, the creation and destruction of the universe. This group was aum shinrikyo, when translated mean supreme truth.
On the morning of march 20, 1995, packages were placed on five different trains in the tokyo subway system. Dec, 2010 aum shinrikyo s next major act of violence would serve as a wakeup call to the world regarding the prospects of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. Oct 06, 2014 pages in category aum shinrikyo the following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total. The organization came to public attention when it was learned that several of its top leaders had perpetrated the tokyo subway attack of 1995. The encyclopedia of cults, sects, and new religions.
The aum shinrikyo supreme truth was founded in 1987 by shoko asahara, a fortyyear old legally blind former yoga teacher. The attack was carried out by the japanese religious movement aum shinrikyo aum supreme truth as it termed itself in english, led by its charismatic leader asahara shoko. The incredible story of aum, says they were arguably not helped by a the cult at the end of the world. Jim gallagher august 30, 2010 the attack by aum shinrikyo it was march 20, 1995 and the time was 0800 hours, when the city of tokyo was subjected to a terrorist act by a radical religious group. The tokyo subway sarin attack was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated on 20 march 1995. Aum shinrikyo is a japanese religious organization, better known for its terror. Two persons were injured and a 28yearold man was killed. In august 1989, the group was granted official religious corporation status by the. Based in 1984 as a small yoga club in the suburbs of tokyo, in 10 years aum shinrikyo became a.
It was one of the most famous attacks by a religious. Aum shinrikyo, apocalyptic violence, and the new global terrorism. Current political and economic issues succinctly explained. Ppt aum shinrikyo powerpoint presentation free to view. The nuclear terrorism threat and the aum shinrikyo cult. It started as a cult where the founder and leader, shoko asahara, promised followers that they would have the power to hover or levitate if they joined. As such lifton treats aums religious nature more sceptically than many other commentators. While it is not surprising that the actions of this japanese religious cult have been the subject of much discussion, those doing the talking have come to disparate conclusions as to just what aum shinrikyo s activities prove or disprove regarding chemical and biological terrorism.
590 874 1118 197 337 1129 1249 182 703 1396 1516 1350 1615 634 561 57 1509 445 382 346 723 1019 1581 552 1101 1184 593 1517 155 955 117 1200 1160 1159 315 1272 411 753 870 549 1472 1139