This essay applies sociologist John Hall's theoretical framework — comprising six internal preconditions and three external precipitating factors — to explain why certain new religious movements resort to mass violence and suicide. Using Hall's analysis of the 1978 Jonestown Massacre as a foundation, the paper then examines Jean-François Mayer's account of the Order of the Solar Temple killings (1994–1997) to demonstrate that the Solar Temple progressively satisfied each of Hall's preconditions throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, before state investigations and internal defections supplied the precipitating factors that drove the group toward its apocalyptic conclusion.
Of the many new religious movements that arose over the course of the twentieth century, only a few resorted to violence and mass suicide. Perhaps the most famous of these, the so-called Jonestown Massacre, resulted in the deaths of over nine hundred people, and serves as the basis for John Hall's examination of the particular preconditions and precipitating factors that lead one cult or new religion toward violence rather than another. Hall's theory is applicable beyond the case of Jonestown, and may in fact be used to better understand the motivating factors behind the mass murder-suicides committed by the Order of the Solar Temple in the 1990s. In particular, by considering Hall's theory in conjunction with Jean-François Mayer's analysis of the Solar Temple deaths, it becomes clear that each of the six preconditions and three precipitating factors Hall defines as necessary for the outbreak of large-scale violence were present in the Order of the Solar Temple.
Before examining the case of the Order of the Solar Temple, it is useful to briefly address Hall's consideration of the Jonestown deaths in his essay "The Apocalypse at Jonestown," in order to explain the necessary preconditions and precipitating factors that may lead to this kind of violence. The six necessary preconditions are "a charismatic religious social movement; an apocalyptical ideology; a form of social organization adequate to maintain solidarity; legitimacy enough among followers to exercise collective social control over the affairs of the community; sufficient economic and political viability; [and] life within strong social boundaries in cognitive isolation from society at large" (Hall 203).
In addition to these internal preconditions, there are three external precipitating factors that help to catalyze a preconditioned group into actually committing violence. As Hall notes, even if "the preconditions are particularly conducive to violence, they are hardly sufficient" (Hall 203). The three precipitating factors observable in both Jonestown and the Order of the Solar Temple are the "mobilization of a group of cultural opponents who possess a high degree of solidarity; the shaping of news media coverage through the cultural opponents' frame of interpretation about 'cults'; [and] the exercise of state authority" (Hall 203). Before attempting to locate these preconditions and precipitating factors in the case of the Order of the Solar Temple, a review of how Hall demonstrates their presence in the events surrounding Jonestown will make the subsequent analysis clearer.
Hall notes that "this general causal explanation" is clearly exemplified by the murders and suicides at Jonestown, because each of the preconditions was met by Jim Jones and the People's Temple. Congressman Ryan's fact-finding mission then provided the perfect combination of all three precipitating factors: the Concerned Relatives (factor one), the news media (factor two), and the appearance of Ryan himself (factor three) served to catalyze Jim Jones and his preconditioned group, so that "rather than submit to external powers that they regarded as illegitimate, they chose to stage the airstrip murders as revenge and shut out their opponents by ending their own lives" (Hall 203).
In much the same way, the history of the Order of the Solar Temple may be viewed as a process of establishing the necessary preconditions within the group before mounting external pressure — in the form of state action and the defection of key members — led the core group to enact the apocalyptic narrative they had previously envisioned.
In her essay "'Our Terrestrial Journey is Coming to an End': The Last Voyage of the Solar Temple," Jean-François Mayer analyzes the murders and suicides of the Order of the Solar Temple, which began in 1994 and continued through 1997. Almost immediately, her analysis demonstrates that the first two of Hall's preconditions were met by the group. She notes the details of the group's beliefs, including the fact that "the core members of the group understood themselves as an elect people who had incarnated periodically on Earth since ancient times in order to fulfill a cosmic mission [....] and were ready to sacrifice their lives for its sake" (Mayer 208).
The charismatic dimension of the Order was provided by Luc Jouret, because "Jouret had charisma and, being a physician, would be taken seriously; therefore, he should be pushed into the limelight," such that after his initial introduction to the Order in 1982, "from that moment on, Luc Jouret became the propagandist for the group," giving lectures and talks (Mayer 210). The Order was tightly-knit and sustained itself through members' contributions, with individuals sharing ownership over the community such that "collective social control over the affairs of the community; sufficient economic and political viability; [and] life within strong social boundaries in cognitive isolation from society at large" were all maintained (Mayer 209–210; Hall 203).
"Evolving doctrine and external pressures toward violence"
As Mayer notes, "compared with other controversial groups, the Solar Temple encountered very modest opposition; it would be excessive to use the term 'persecution'" (Mayer 217). Nonetheless, the core members believed "themselves the object of omnipresent police control and the victims of traitors who had infiltrated the movement," so that any encounter with official authority or any instance of internal dissent was ultimately interpreted as an attack on the movement. Thus, in the form of police investigations and the desertion and denunciation of former members — including internal dissent from Di Mambro's own son, Elie — Hall's precipitating factors acted upon a group already preconditioned for their "transit" (Mayer 212, 217).
Not only does the case of the Order of the Solar Temple fit Hall's theory of apocalyptic violence, but the ample recordings and recollections left behind by the Order serve to reveal this fact in even starker detail. One may trace the development of the necessary preconditions beginning with the group's roots in the 1970s, its evolution over the course of the 1980s, and the legal, cultural, and internal problems that ultimately worked together to precipitate the group's eventual destruction in the 1990s. Scholars studying new religious movements and violence have increasingly drawn on frameworks like Hall's to explain how ideology, social structure, and external pressure interact in these tragic outcomes.
Not all new religious movements that resort to violence and suicide are exactly the same, but they do share specific characteristics that may be identified in order to explain the occurrence of this violence. Specifically, the group must have a charismatic, apocalyptic ideology; it must be so tightly-knit that social, ideological, political, and monetary control remains with the core members; and finally, this group must be motivated to action by the real or perceived aggression of an oppositional group or the state itself. John Hall identifies these necessary preconditions and precipitating factors in his analysis of Jonestown, but the theory is applicable elsewhere, including in the case of the murders and suicides committed by the Order of the Solar Temple. By analyzing Jean-François Mayer's account of the Solar Temple deaths in conjunction with Hall's work, this essay has demonstrated how the Order gradually evolved to meet all of the necessary preconditions for violence, even as external state investigation coupled with internal dissent pushed the group toward the apocalyptic conclusion it had ultimately been planning for some time.
Hall, John R. "The Apocalypse at Jonestown." Cults and New Religious Movements. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. Print.
Mayer, Jean-François. "'Our Terrestrial Journey is Coming to an End': The Last Voyage of the Solar Temple." Cults and New Religious Movements. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. Print.
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