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The Gospel According to Some Guy
Last November 35 members of the “True Russian Orthodox Church”, a generic extremist sect that believes in the imminent apocalypse and thinks that barcodes are the mark of the Beast, etc etc, barricaded themselves inside an underground cave in Russia to shelter from the coming apocalypse. They threatened to set themselves on fire if any attempt was made to remove them by force. The date set for the apocalypse was May, according to Pyotr Kuznetsov, the group’s leader. He is said to have ordered his followers into the cave but he didn’t join them, having been taken into custody for psychiatric evaluation.
Negotiators and local priests tried to talk to the cult members, not least to warn them that the cave was unsafe and in danger of collapsing, but communication was sporadic and hostile. Then, towards the end of March, the cave partially collapsed and began to fill with water. Kuznetsov, by now diagnosed schizophrenic, was brought along to negotiate with his flock. Seven female members were persuaded to leave the increasingly unsafe cave, although they were granted their wish to remain isolated until the world ends in May. More cult members followed them over the next few days, along with the four children they had taken with them. It was at this point that Kuznetsov said he realised he had been wrong about his prediction and tried to commit suicide, apparently by laying his head on a tree stump and striking it with a large plank.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the True Russian Orthodox Church stayed in the cave, being either faithful hardcore zealots or dead. The hardcore zealots made it clear that they would not leave despite worsening conditions, while the dead consisted of one woman who had already been very ill with cancer and another who had “fasted too intensely”. Two weeks later the remaining cult members resumed negotiations, saying that they were now running out of water and could they please have some. It’s something of an anticlimax to read that they are said to be preparing to emerge on 27 April.
The fact that the sect leader is demonstrably mentally ill, has recanted his apocalyptic predictions and indeed now faces charges for his activities is no bar to other sect members dreaming of inheriting his mantle. Vitaly Nedogon, one of the cultists who quit the cave in early April and then shut himself away ready for May’s rollercoaster ride, has told Russia Today: “There are signs I am to be the new prophet and the one to bear the cross... but I’m in no position to judge.” Go Vitaly! After all, God’s got to speak through someone.
Moral: It’s as important as ever to respect other people’s firmly held religious beliefs.
Negotiators and local priests tried to talk to the cult members, not least to warn them that the cave was unsafe and in danger of collapsing, but communication was sporadic and hostile. Then, towards the end of March, the cave partially collapsed and began to fill with water. Kuznetsov, by now diagnosed schizophrenic, was brought along to negotiate with his flock. Seven female members were persuaded to leave the increasingly unsafe cave, although they were granted their wish to remain isolated until the world ends in May. More cult members followed them over the next few days, along with the four children they had taken with them. It was at this point that Kuznetsov said he realised he had been wrong about his prediction and tried to commit suicide, apparently by laying his head on a tree stump and striking it with a large plank.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the True Russian Orthodox Church stayed in the cave, being either faithful hardcore zealots or dead. The hardcore zealots made it clear that they would not leave despite worsening conditions, while the dead consisted of one woman who had already been very ill with cancer and another who had “fasted too intensely”. Two weeks later the remaining cult members resumed negotiations, saying that they were now running out of water and could they please have some. It’s something of an anticlimax to read that they are said to be preparing to emerge on 27 April.
The fact that the sect leader is demonstrably mentally ill, has recanted his apocalyptic predictions and indeed now faces charges for his activities is no bar to other sect members dreaming of inheriting his mantle. Vitaly Nedogon, one of the cultists who quit the cave in early April and then shut himself away ready for May’s rollercoaster ride, has told Russia Today: “There are signs I am to be the new prophet and the one to bear the cross... but I’m in no position to judge.” Go Vitaly! After all, God’s got to speak through someone.
Moral: It’s as important as ever to respect other people’s firmly held religious beliefs.