Search results

The present study breaks new ground in the field of radical cults as it provides a contemporary insight into three cult leaders; Jim Jones, Shoko Asahara and Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. This comparative analytical study will assist national and local government agencies with the identifying the relations between those leaders and their conclusions of terrorism, which in turn, had led to the mass death of cult adherents. Terrorism is a major, and growing, concern in the world today as it relates to security, safety, and the efficient operation of the most important service sectors in any state. The personalities of Jones, Asahara and Al-Baghdadi have made of them sect leaders from three very different religions: Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. Therefore, religion is not the source of radicalism/mass death as the similarities and commonalities exist among those three different groups. Eminently, this study has emphasized on the answers analytically to the research query through academic process supported by refereed articles and real-life occurrences.

This highly acclaimed study describes Aum Shinrikyo's history, examines the various conflicts it was involved in, and discusses the contents of Asahara's sermons and prophecies. The March 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway system killed 12 people and injured thousands. Massive police raids and the subsequent investigation linked this attack (plus a variety of other criminal activities including murders) to Aum Shinrikyo, a small religious movement whose leader, Asahara Shoko, had prophesied that Armageddon was at hand. Many questions have been raised by the Aum affair. What were Aum's spiritual roots and the focus of Asahara's teaching? Why did a religious movement ostensibly focused on yoga, meditation, asceticism and the pursuit of enlightenment become involved in violent activities? What factors brought Aum into conflict with society at large, caused it to believe it was the victim of a huge conspiracy to destroy it, and impelled it to experiment with making nerve gasses, build weapons and form its own 'alternative government'? Ian Reader examines these questions by describing Aum's history, examining the various conflicts it was involved in, and discussing the contents of Asahara's sermons and prophesies. In so doing, he points to a combination of factors which together took Aum down a path of violence. Suggesting that the Aum case is not unique, he shows how it displays similarities with other cases of violence and conflict among religious and political movements in Japan and elsewhere.

Nachdem am 20. März 1995 bei einem Anschlag auf die Tokyoter U-Bahn 12 Menschen durch das Nervengas Sarin getötet wurden, wurden die japanischen Behörden und die Öffentlichkeit erstmals auf die bis dahin kaum bekannte Sekte Aum Shinrikyo aufmerksam, deren Führer Asahara Shoko die bevorstehende Vernichtung des modernen Gesellschaftssystems durch einen letzten Krieg ("Armageddon") prophezeit hatte. Mehrere Razzien und anschließende Ermittlungen ergaben, daß die Aum-Sekte nicht nur mit der Produktion und dem Einsatz des Nervengases, sondern auch mit zahlreichen anderen Verbrechen bis hin zu Mordfällen aus dem Jahr 1989 in Verbindung steht. Die Kopenhagener Studie untersucht Hintergrund und Geschichte der ursprünglich auf Yoga, Meditation, Asketentum und die Suche nach Erleuchtung ausgerichteten Sekte sowie die Lehren und Prophezeiungen ihres Führers und versucht, den Weg nachzuzeichnen, der Asahara und seine Anhänger in den Konflikt mit der japanischen Gesellschaft und zur terroristischen Gewalt geführt hat. (DGA-Ktz)

Abbas, Muhammad "Abu" -- Abdel Rahman, Omar -- Abdullah, Abdullah Ahmed -- Abu Nidal Organization -- Abu Sayyaf Group -- Ação Libertadora Nacional -- Achille Lauro Hijacking -- Adel, Saif al -- Aden-Abyan Islamic Army -- Afghan Arabs -- Afghanistan War -- Agricultural Terrorism -- Air India Flight 182 Bombing -- Airport security -- Ajaj, Ahmad -- al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades -- al Asifa -- al Jihad -- al Muhajiroun -- al Qaeda -- al Qaeda in Iraq -- al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb -- al Shabab -- Alex Boncayao Brigade -- Ali, Ahmed Mohamed Hamed -- Anarchism -- Anderson, Terry A. -- Animal Liberation Front -- Animal Rights Movement -- Ansar al Islam -- Anthrax -- Anti-Abortion Terrorism -- April 19 -- Arab Revolutionary Brigade -- Arafat, Yasir -- Armed Forces of National Liberation -- Armed Islamic Front -- Armed Islamic Group -- Armed Revolutionary Nuclei -- Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia -- Army for the Liberation of Rwanda -- Army of God -- Army of Mohammed -- Army of the Righteous -- Arocena, Eduardo -- Aryan Nations -- Aryan Republican Army -- Asahara, Shoko -- Asymmetrical Warfare -- Atef, Muhammad -- Atlanta Centennial Park Bombing -- Atta, Mohamed -- Atwa, Ali -- Atwah, Muhsin Musa Matwalli -- Aum Shinrikyo -- Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia -- Awdas, Abd al Aziz -- Awlaki, Anwar al -- Ayyash, Yahya -- Baader, Andreas -- Baader-Meinhof Gang -- Bakunin, Mikhail -- Bali Nightclub Bombing -- Banna, Sabri al -- Bashir, Abu Bakar -- Basque Fatherland and Liberty -- Basque Separtists -- Berenson, Lori -- bin Laden, Osama -- Biological Terrorism -- Birmingham Pub Bombing -- Black Panther Party -- Black September -- Bloody Sunday -- Bombings and bomb scares -- Boudin, Katherine -- Branch Davidian Compound Siege -- Brigate Rosse -- Brooklyn Bridge Shooting -- Brüder Schweigen -- Buckley, William -- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives -- Canary Wharf Bombing -- Centennial Park Bombing -- Central Intelligence Agency -- Chechen Terrorism -- Chemical Terrorism -- Chesimard, Joanne -- Chlorine Bombings, Iraq -- Christian Identity -- Chukaku-ha -- Cicippio, Joseph -- Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) -- Continuity Irish Republican Army -- Copeland, David -- Coronado, Rodney -- Counterterrorism -- Covenant, the Sword and the Army of the Lord, The -- Criminal Prosecution of Terrorists -- Cyberterrorism.

At the height of morning rush hour on March 20th, 1995, the deadly nerve gas sarin poured into the Tokyo subway system, killing 12 people and injuring 6,000 more. This horrifying attack on the public was carried out by the Aum Supreme Truth cult, a high-tech billion-dollar empire of New Age zealots led by Shoko Asahara, a charismatic charlatan. The story of Aum reads like science fiction or horror, but it is shockingly true. The cult recruited some of Japan's brightest

Capital punishment has been carried out in Japan since ancient times. Although ancient Japan uniquely suspended executions for several centuries towards the end of the first millennium, today the death penalty is firmly established in Japan. This volume explores the current state of capital punishment, the domestic discussion on the subject, and the influence of the political orientations of the governments of recent years. The treatise is of current interest especially because of the Aum cult, whose leader Shoko Asahara is at present tried in Tokyo. If found guilty, he may be sentenced to death. After a three years' interval (between 1989 and 1993), Japan is nowadays undergoing a capital punishment "renaissance" with 39 executions between 1993 and 2000

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Why Is Religion Violent and Violence Religious? -- Part I. Religious Justifications for Violence -- Introduction to Part I -- 1. Kautilya -- 2. Sun Tzu -- 3. The Bhagavad Gita -- 4. Soho Takuan -- 5. The Hebrew Bible -- 6. The Qur'an -- 7. Thomas Aquinas -- 8. Reinhold Niebuhr -- 9. Michael Bray -- 10. Abd al-Salam Faraj -- 11. Meir Kahane -- 12. Shoko Asahara -- 13. 9/11 Conspirator -- Part II. Understanding the Religious Role in Violence -- Introduction to Part II -- 14. Émile Durkheim -- 15. Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss -- 16. Sigmund Freud -- 17. René Girard -- 18. Walter Burkert -- 19. Maurice Bloch -- 20. Georges Bataille -- 21. Karl Marx -- 22. Nancy Jay -- 23. Elaine Scarry -- 24. Jean Baudrillard -- 25. Ashis Nandy -- Closing Comments: The Connection between War and Sacrifice -- Selected Bibliography -- Permissions -- About the Editors -- Index

In the study of religion and terrorism, one of the most familiar incidents is the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995. With the execution of Shoko Asahara and his close associates in the summer of 2018, it would appear that the last chapter in this tragic tale has finally been written. I would argue, however, that there are still lessons to be learned from this event. In the present article, I describe the complexity of the epistemic situation in which I found myself when I finally met AUM Shinrikyo in the spring of 1995. In addition to misunderstandings arising from monolithic inferences regarding AUM's membership, I came to feel that certain anomalous items of information were swept under the rug—information that hinted at a more complex array of factors influencing AUM Shinrikyo and the subway attack.

Terrorism in the world, today and yesterday -- What is terrorism? definition and classification -- Strategy, tactics, weapons, and targets -- State sponsors and supporters of terrorism -- Religious justification for terrorism -- Ethnic and national bases of terrorism -- Terrorism and ideologies of the left -- Terrorism and ideologies of the right -- Terrorism and multiple motivations -- State use of domestic terrorism instead of repression -- Countries with multiple crises of terrorism -- Counterterrorism -- Terrorism: a continuing phenomenon -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- THE EVOLUTION OF TERRORISM AS A STRATEGIC THREAT -- A WORD ABOUT SCOPE AND TERMS -- THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK -- CASE SELECTION -- OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS -- CHAPTER ONE: Decapitation: Catching or Killing the Leader -- WHAT DECAPITATION MEANS -- THE ARREST OF TOP LEADERS -- Abimael Guzmán and Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) -- Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdistan Workers' Party -- Mickey McKevitt and the Real Irish Republican Army -- Shoko Asahara and Aum Shinrikyo -- ASSASSINATION OR "TARGETED KILLING -- The Philippines' Abu Sayyaf -- Russia and Chechen Leaders -- Israel's "Targeted Killings -- HOW DECAPITATION ENDS TERRORISM -- CHAPTER TWO: Negotiations: Transition toward a Legitimate Political Process -- WHY GOVERNMENTS NEGOTIATE -- WHY GROUPS NEGOTIATE -- CASE STUDIES OF NEGOTIATIONS -- The Northern Ireland Peace Process -- The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process -- The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers) -- PROMISING AND UNPROMISING CIRCUMSTANCES FOR NEGOTIATIONS -- Stalemate -- Strong Leadership -- Sponsors -- Suicide Campaigns -- Splintering -- Spoilers -- Setting and Story -- HOW NEGOTIATIONS END TERRORISM -- CHAPTER THREE: Success: Achieving the Objective -- WHAT DOES "SUCCESS" MEAN? -- Survival -- Achievement of Objectives -- CASES OF SUCCESS -- Irgun Zvai Le'umi (Irgun or IZL) -- The African National Congress and Umkhonto -- Other Notable Cases -- HOW SUCCESS ENDS TERRORISM -- CONCLUSIONS -- CHAPTER FOUR: Failure: Imploding, Provoking a Backlash, or Becoming Marginalized -- IMPLOSION: MISTAKES, BURNOUT, AND COLLAPSE -- Failure to Pass the Cause to the Next Generation -- Infighting and Fractionalization -- Loss of Operational Control -- Accepting an Exit -- MARGINALIZATION: DIMINISHING POPULAR SUPPORT