Cult homicide - Definition and Overview

A small minority of religious groups have been known to engage in murder.

The Aum Supreme Truth cult is a well-publicized homicidal cult, some of its members having released bags of toxic chemicals into the center of the Tokyo subway on March 20, 1995, killing twelve people and injuring more than five thousand.

Charles Manson, inspired by a bizarre misinterpretation of the Beatles' song "Helter Skelter", led a group he called "the Family" to murder several people including Sharon Tate, the wife of film director Roman Polanski.

Many religions have practised human sacrifice, examples are:

• The cult of Thuggee in India murdered hundreds of thousands of people in 19th century.
• Hawaii as recently as the early 1800s.
• The Aztecs

The controversial distinctions between cult and religion and between sacrifice and terrorism become problematic in many cases.

See also

• Cult suicides
• Destructive cult
• Dirty Jew
• Dirty negro
• Communist whacko
• Dago
• Offensive language
• Bigotry
• Religious intolerance