Cult

===Terrorist cults===
{{further information|Terrorism}}
In the book ''Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History'', [[psychiatrist]] [[Peter A. Olsson]] compares [[Osama bin Laden]] to certain cult leaders including [[Jim Jones]], [[David Koresh]], [[Shoko Asahara]], [[Marshall Applewhite]], [[Luc Jouret]] and [[Joseph Di Mambro]], and he also says that each of these individuals fit at least eight of the nine criteria for people with [[narcissistic personality disorder]]s.<ref name="piven">{{cite book |last=Piven |first=Jerry S. |title=Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History |publisher=iUniverse |year=2002 |pages=104–114 |isbn=0595251048}}</ref> In the book ''Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society'' authors Goldberg and Crespo also refer to Osama bin Laden as a "destructive cult leader."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goldberg |first1=Carl |last2=Crespo |first2=Virginia |title=Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society |publisher=Praeger/Greenwood |year=2004 |isbn=0275981967 |page=161}}</ref>

At a 2002 meeting of the [[American Psychological Association]] (APA), [[Anti-cult movement|anti-cultist]] [[Steven Hassan]] said that [[Al-Qaeda]] fulfills the characteristics of a destructive cult, adding, in addition:<ref name="dittmann">{{cite news|last=Dittmann|first=Melissa|date=10 November 2002|title=Cults of hatred: Panelists at a convention session on hatred asked APA to form a task force to investigate mind control among destructive cults.|volume=33|page=30|work=Monitor on Psychology|publisher=[[American Psychological Association]]|number=10|url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov02/cults.html|access-date=18 November 2007}}</ref>

{{blockquote|We need to apply what we know about destructive mind-control cults, and this should be a priority in the [[War on Terror]]ism. We need to understand the psychological aspects of how people are recruited and indoctrinated so we can slow down recruitment. We need to help counsel former cult members and possibly use some of them in the war against terrorism.}}

In an article on Al-Qaeda published in ''[[The Times]]'', journalist [[Mary Ann Sieghart]] wrote that al-Qaeda resembles a "classic cult:"<ref>{{cite news|last=Sieghart|first=Mary Ann|author-link=Mary Ann Sieghart|date=26 October 2001|title=The cult figure we could do without|work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Al-Qaeda fits all the official definitions of a cult. It indoctrinates its members; it forms a closed, [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] society; it has a self-appointed, messianic and charismatic leader; and it believes that the ends justify the means.}}

Similar to Al-Qaeda, the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] adheres to an even more extremist and [[Puritans|puritanical]] ideology, in which the goal is to create a [[Sovereign state|state]] governed by ''[[shari'ah]]'' as interpreted by its religious leadership, who then [[Brainwashing|brainwash]] and command their able-bodied male subjects to go on [[Suicide attack|suicide missions]], with such devices as [[car bomb]]s, against its enemies, including deliberately selected civilian targets, such as churches and [[Shia Islam|Shi'ite]] [[mosque]]s, among others. Subjects view this as a legitimate action; an [[obligation]], even. The ultimate goal of this [[Stratocracy|political-military]] endeavour is to eventually usher in the [[Islamic eschatology|end of the world in accordance with their Islamic beliefs]] and have the chance to participate in their version of the [[Last Judgment#In Islam|apocalyptic final battle]], in which all of their enemies (i.e. anyone who is not on their side) would be annihilated.<ref>Barron, Maye. 2017. ''18JTR'' 8(1).</ref> Such endeavour ultimately failed in 2017,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/21/isis-caliphate-islamic-state-raqqa-iraq-islamist |title=Rise and fall of Isis: its dream of a caliphate is over, so what now? |work=The Guardian |last=Burke |first=Jason |date=21 October 2017 |access-date=22 July 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021230705/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/21/isis-caliphate-islamic-state-raqqa-iraq-islamist |archive-date=21 October 2017 }}</ref> though hardcore survivors have largely returned to [[insurgency]] terrorism (i.e., [[Iraqi insurgency (2017–present)|Iraqi insurgency, 2017–present]]).

The [[Shining Path]] [[guerrilla]] movement, active in [[Peru]] in the 1980s and 1990s, has variously been described as a "cult"<ref>Stern, Steven J., ed. 1998. ''Shining and Other Paths: War and Society in Peru, 1980–1995''. Durham, NC: [[Duke University Press]].</ref> and an intense "[[cult of personality]]".<ref>Palmer, David Scott. 1994. ''Shining Path of Peru'' (2nd ed.). New York: [[St. Martin's Press]].</ref> The [[Tamil Tigers]] have also been described as such by the French magazine {{Lang|fr|[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]}}.<ref>[[Gérard Chaliand]]. "[http://livres.lexpress.fr/entretien.asp/idC=8382/idR=5/idTC=4/idG=0 Interview]." ''[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]'' {{in lang|fr}}</ref>