THE POWER AND THE GLORY
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The Power and the Glory
Coulter Baker
Sheridan College
THE POWER AND THE GLORY
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Table of Contents
Abstract
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Introduction
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The Corruption Continues
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Scientology
5
The Jonestown Massacre
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The Westboro Baptist Church
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Jim Bakker
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Conclusions
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References
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Abstract
This report explores various organizations in which religious leaders have
manipulated their followers in order to acquire personal power and wealth.
Scientology, the Westboro Baptist Church, the People’s Temple, and the Praise
the Lord Club are examples of how hatred, greed, and death can result from a
religious leader’s desire for power and glory.
The purpose of this report is to prove that religion is a powerful tool that
can be used by its leaders to bring power and glory unto themselves, and
manipulate and harm others.
Based on research and examples, this report demonstrates that:
1. Religion is a powerful tool for controlling people through playing on their
fears and hopes.
2. Religion can be used to bring wealth and power to religious leaders.
3. People unwittingly allow themselves to be manipulated by religious leaders
because they want to be part of something greater.
4. Some religious leaders use their power to manipulate those around them,
acquiring wealth and power at the expense of their followers.
The information in this report was gathered from such publications as
Time, People, the Globe and Mail, and major news stations.
THE POWER AND THE GLORY
The Power and the Glory
"I’d like to start a religion. That’s where the money is." L. Ron Hubbard, 1949
A Neanderthal shaman chanting burial rites before wide-eyed onlookers
gathered in the freezing cold of Palaeolithic Europe; an Aztec high priest slicing
open the chest of a captive warrior, pulling his still-beating heart from his chest
and raising it to the sky in grim offering; the Roman Catholic Pope riding past
hundreds of thousands of adoring Christians, surrounded by a thick shield of
bulletproof glass: though worlds and millennia apart, these men enjoy
something in common. Each is the respective master of his religion and holds in
the palm of his hand the great power and glory his religion promises.
Promises whom? Many of those who seek to become the leaders of
religion, or form their own religions, are in all probability in search of nothing
more than the wealth and power it will bestow upon them. This religious
corruption can be explored through four specific examples: the Church of
Scientology, the Jonestown Massacre, the Westboro Baptist Church, and
defamed televangelist, Jim Bakker’s Praise the Lord Club.
Religions often claim to be sources of hope and salvation for those within
their circles—places of fellowship and peace. Why, then, do such organizations
terrorize those who do not fall in line with their beliefs, or spend money
extravagantly rather than use it to aid the poor and sick they so care for? Why
would leaders claiming to be seeking or leading others to salvation request
money and servitude from their followers? It is because, to many, religion is a
tool to bring power and wealth to those who can wield it.
As far back as the days of ancient Babylon, the king’s high priest stood just
under him in power. In ancient Egypt, the Pharaohs often claimed to be
descendants, or the physical incarnations of the gods themselves. It’s a simple
premise, really. From a human standpoint, a mortal leader is fallible,
corruptible, and can be usurped; whereas, an immortal one, responsible for all
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of creation, is infallible, incorruptible, and ineffable, and the one who speaks for
him enjoys similar privileges.
This report explores the moral leadership of four modern religious
groups— Scientology, the Westboro Baptist church, the People’s Temple, and
the Praise the Lord Club—to prove that these trends run just as strong today as
ever.
The Corruption Continues
Scientology. The Church of Scientology was founded in the 1950s by L.
Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer, who went on to try his hand at religious
scripture. Hubbard’s founding philosophy is that all human suffering is caused
by the souls of aliens who were dropped into volcanoes aeons ago by an evil
alien overlord, and that the way to true happiness is to make lots of money.
Since then, his church has become a lucrative business, essentially charging
people to learn the path to happiness in one of the most blatant money grabs in
religious history. Members of the Church of Scientology are encouraged to
make more money and to become noticed in the public eye, as the church has
come to view material gains as a form of spiritual development.
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Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:L._Ron_Hubbard_
in_1950.jpg
L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the
Church of Scientology, 1950.
Before starting the church,
Hubbard pioneered the study of
Dianetics, a form of therapy he
invented, focusing freeing the
mind of subconscious stress.
When Dianetics fell, Hubbard
would see the Church of
Scientology rise from its ashes.
(Wikipedia)
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Leah McLaren, a columnist for the Globe and Mail, outlined the possible
repercussions the recent break-up of famed scientologist Tom Cruise and his
wife could have on the public image of scientology’s Project Celebrity
(McLaren, 2012). The plan, devised by Hubbard in the 50s when the church was
still in its infancy, discusses the obvious ends of adding those “to whom
America listens,” meaning celebrities, to the church’s ranks. The church’s
purpose is apparent in this quote from its esteemed founder in a 1972
communications policy letter: "Make money. Make more money. Make other
people produce so as to make more money.” (Hubbard, 1972)
The Jonestown Massacre. On November 18, 1978, the world was stunned
by the tragic events that transpired in Jonestown, Guyana, when over 900
members of the People’s Temple Agricultural Project, or Jonestown cult as it is
now more commonly referred to, committed suicide. Most met their demise via
drinking Flavour Aid laced with cyanide. It is a compelling example of how
religion can be used to feed one man’s thirst for power. Jim Jones took
everything from those who followed and believed in him—their possessions,
their homes, their children, and finally, their very lives.
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A picture of the late Jim Jones, leader of
the People’s Temple Agricultural Project.
Source: httpimg.timeinc.nettimephotoessays2008jonestownjonestown_01.jpg
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Time magazine conducted an interview with journalist Tim Reiterman, a
reporter who was present on the day of the massacre, and who has since written
a book on the tragic event. The interview reveals a good deal as to the pathology
of the cult’s embittered leader. Reiterman explains that Jones had always had a
fascination with religion, or perhaps more accurately, with the power it gave
him over others. Jones sought out community through the church, and while our
parents might have been playing cowboys and Indians, Jones was playing
preacher, conducting little church services in the loft of his family’s barn.
Even at that young age, Jones had a way of ‘capturing’ his audience, often
locking them inside the barn. By the time Jones had begun his preaching in
earnest, and started the Jonestown cult, he had adopted more malicious and
effective ways of keeping a faithful audience than merely locking them in barn:
He found ways to take control of and isolate his members from their
families and from the outside. One of the things that he did was press
them to give up their belongings, sign over their houses in some cases,
and sign over custody of their children. One of the cruellest things, I
thought, was that he had them sign false confessions that they had
sexually molested their children—which, of course, left those members
vulnerable and bound them in a perverse way to the church. (Sachs,
2008)
Eventually, Jones would take his parish and followers to Jonestown,
Guyana, hoping to avoid the scrutiny of the American government. That is
where Congressman Leo Ryan came in, along with a team of reporters,
Reiterman among them, hoping to investigate the People’s Temple. Initially, all
went well enough, but the trouble started when over a dozen members of the
Jonestown cult, some of them long-time followers, defected, choosing to return
to the U.S. with Ryan and the reporters.
In response, Jones ordered a group of armed gunmen to go after the
defectors and reporters, and kill them. As they reached the plane, Jones’s
gunmen arrived in a temple tractor and opened fire, killing the congressman and
four others. Reiterman also sustained injuries. Meanwhile, Reiterman explains,
Jones announced to his people, “Now some among us have done something
that's going to cause the army to come in here and nobody will be safe. Let's
bring forward the potion, and let's bring the children first” (Sachs, 2008). This
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was a highly effective show of manipulative power by Jones; he exploited an
event he had orchestrated to force his followers into suicide:
I believe that this was a mass murder. First of all, there were over 200
children who could not have formed the intent to commit suicide.
Second, Jim Jones had isolated his people and conditioned them through
suicide rehearsals and mock sieges to accept death. Third, he orchestrated
the events on that final day, so that the outcome was never in doubt
(Sachs, 2008).
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An aerial view of the carnage at
Jonestown, where over 900
people committed mass suicide
by drinking cyanide-laced Flavor
Aid, often incorrectly referred to
as Kool-Aid, so strong was
Jones’s grip on his followers,
that the phrase “Drink the KoolAid” has become a pop
metaphor used to refer to “a
person or group holding an
unquestioned belief, without
critical examination.”
(Wikipedia)
Source: httpimg.timeinc.nettimephotoessays2008jonestownjonestown_06.jpg
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Jones’s love of power is apparent even in the manipulative order of the
suicides, “Let's bring the children first” (Sachs, 2008). Reiterman explains that
in having the children die first, Jones was assuring that the parents would have
nothing left to live for, thereby ensuring their compliance.
The Westboro Baptist Church. Indoctrinating children with religious
dogma is a common ‘power play’ by religious leaders, and for good reason.
Manipulating the mind of a child, while it is still uncertain and malleable, can
THE POWER AND THE GLORY
be used to ensure his/her compliance and faithfulness later in life. Nate Phelps,
the estranged son of Reverend Fred Phelps, founder of the infamous Westboro
Baptist Church, saw through the dogma and eventually broke free of its power.
In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Nate Phelps revealed that his father
exercised power over his wife and children both physically and verbally.
“Phelps-Roper admits that they were all beaten as children as part of the
Biblical edict, ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child,’ and recalled, ‘tapes rolling in my
head of my old man so critical of and hateful of any projection of positive
feeling or emotion.’” (Hampson, 2010).
Phelps’ virulently anti-gay church consists mostly of family members. It is
generally despised for frequenting the funerals of soldiers, gays, and even
children, with picket signs bearing such cheery phrases as, “Thank God for
9/11,” “Thank God for dead soldiers,” and “God hates fags.”
Westboro Baptist Church members claim that God hates the United
States because of its support for gay rights; they picket the funerals of
soldiers killed in Iraq with signs saying the deaths are God's
punishment (Hampson, 2010).
Their blatant hate mongering serves to draw press to events, and though it
is negative attention, it is powerful. Even though Nate Phelps managed to break
away from his family’s hateful dogma, the power of his father’s words is still
apparent:
Once Mr. Phelps had left his father's control, he would interpret every
event as evidence of God's wrath—something as simple as a speeding
ticket would be a sign of his impending damnation, he explains. Even
though he understands that homosexuals don't choose their sexuality,
doubt creeps into his mind when he defends them. “It isn't an intellectual
thing. It's an emotional thing. It's what was hard-wired into my brain.
And it whispers, 'What if I'm wrong?'” (Hampson, 2010).
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Westboro supporter picketing Pope
Benedict XVI outside the United
Nations in 2008. (Wikipedia, 2012)
They have been entirely banned
from the UK, and even fellow hate
groups such as the KKK have
distanced themselves from the
Westboro Baptist church.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Westboro_Baptist_Church_in_New_York_by_David_Shankbone.jpg
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The Phelps family’s ultimate goal to obtain power and public glory was
clearly observed in January 2011, when the church called off a planned protest
at the funeral of a 9-year-old Arizona girl killed in a shooting rampage—in
exchange for airtime on a Toronto radio show. The show’s host, Dean Blundell,
explained his reasoning:
That little girl didn't have a chance. If we can offer up some radio time
and let Phelps talk silliness, we're more than happy to do it if he
promises not to hurt anybody (Canadian Press, 2011).
A family of lawyers, the Phelps appear to invite the attention of court cases
by those they have wronged, and call upon the U.S. Constitution’s First
Amendment, the right to freedom of speech, to defend themselves and sue for
damages (Stone, 2011).
Jim Bakker and the Praise the Lord Club. While the Westboro Baptist
Church seems to lack the congregational success to reap any substantial
monetary gain, some groups have a strong propensity towards ‘tangible’ glory.
In 1989, disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker stood trial and was convicted of 24
counts of fraud and conspiracy surrounding the gluttonous overselling of shares
in a hotel at his Christian theme park, as well as embezzling over 4 million
dollars from his TV show, the Praise the Lord Club (People, 1989).
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According to People magazine, in September of 1989, rather than shouting
damnation into the faces of the public, or blackmailing his followers, Bakker
used his manipulative talents to open the waterworks, and the cash would came
flowing in. Sometimes, Bakker would even go so far as to curl up into a fetal
position. The 1989 article uses testimony from individuals close to Bakker to
collaborate their case, including his mistress, Jessica Faye, who stated that
Bakker would opt for the fetal position whenever “…there’s been a very
desperate situation where he needs people’s sympathy. He’s a master of
manipulation” (Brower, 1989). It was Bakker’s ticket to wealth and power.
_______________________________________________________________________
Jim and Tammy Bakker, during their
peak as televangelists.
In conversation with Marni Walsh,
an Ontario teen during the Bakker
era, she recalled the ridiculous
onscreen antics of the evangelist
couple and remembered her mother
referring to them as “crooks” long
before Jim Bakker’s eventual fallout
and scandal in 1987. (M. Walsh,
personal communication, October,
2012).
Source: http://ki-media.blogspot.ca/2012/07/ever-heard-of-jim-and-tammy-fayebakker.html
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Even after his conviction, Bakker had the power to control the media.
People magazine noted that even those usually distrustful of Bakker bought into
his breakdowns during the trial. This is evidenced by the article’s testimony
from Charles Shepard, a reporter deeply involved in the investigation of
Bakker’s scandals: “His pain appeared genuine, so genuine I couldn’t even ask
him questions. Neither did the TV reporters” (Brower, 1989). However, even as
Jim’s ship sank, his wife was onscreen, still raking in the sympathy money from
whatever supporters they had left.
THE POWER AND THE GLORY
Conclusions
There has never been a more powerful tool than religion. It plays on the
deepest fears and hopes of mortal beings: our own mortality, what lies beyond
death, and our instinctual need for community and a desire to be part of
something greater. So profound is our desire for these largely abstract ideals
that we are often willing to listen and follow without question, providing
religious leaders with power and glory they seek.
In his controversial film, Religulous, Bill Maher (2008) observes, “Most
people would think it's wonderful when someone says, "I'm willing, Lord! I'll
do whatever you want me to do!" Except that since there are no gods actually
talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and
limitations and agendas.” The leaders of Scientology, the People’s Temple,
Westboro Baptist, and the PTL Club have wielded their words as the words of
God, and through corrupt manipulation, grasped in their hands the power and
glory of the one they claimed to speak for.
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References
Brower, M. (1989, September). Unholy roller coaster. People, Vol. 32 No.
12. Retrieved from
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20121210,00.html
Canadian Press (2011, January). Radio host persuades church to drop
funeral protest. CTV News. Retrieved from
http://www.ctvnews.ca/radio-host-persuades-church-to-drop-funeralprotest-1.595895
Charles, L. (Director). (2008). Religulous [Motion picture] United States:
Sony Pictures.
Hampson, S. (2010, June). After years of silence, Nate Phelps faces off with
his anti-gay father. Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/after-years-of-silence-natephelps-faces-off-with-his-anti-gay-father/article4323112/
Lloyd, E. (1983) Over my shoulder: Reflections on a science fiction era,
Retrieved from http://www.xenu.net/archive/infopack/5.htm
McLaren, L. (2012, July). The TomKat split: Is Hollywood getting a divorce
from Scientology? Globe and Mail, Retrieved from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/celebrity-news/the-tomkatsplit-is-hollywood-getting-a-divorce-fromscientology/article4394740/?page=all
Sachs, A. (2008, November). Q&A: A Jonestown survivor remembers.
Time, Retrieved from
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1859903-1,00.html
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Stone, A. (2011, March). Fred Phelps' daughters may misread Bible but they
know the law. AOL News, Retrieved from
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/03/fred-phelps-daughters-maymisread-bible-but-they-know-the-law/
Drinking the Kool-Aid. (2012, October 26). Wikipedia. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_the_Kool-Aid
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