Religious Mass Suicide before Jonestown: The Russian Old Believers

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Abstract
Over a period of several decades in late seventeenth and early eighteenth century Russia, tens of thousands of “Old Believers” committed suicide, generally by self-immolation. Most of the suicides were not individual acts but transpired in the context of catastrophic collective events at hermitages or monasteries. In several instances the number of persons who perished at a burned-out settlement far exceeded the number of deaths at Jonestown. Convergences with the People's Temple holocaust include: a general climate of apocalyptic excitation; a sectarian mani-chean outlook which perceived absolute evil triumphant in the world, and in which “political” themes became more prominent over time; and a conviction of imminent armed assault by hostile forces. Both the Old Believers and the People's Temple experienced difficulties in resolving the tension between the impulse to violently confront a demonic state and the desire to develop a communal refuge where they could live according to their faith. Marked divergences include the degree of actual persecution, and the post-holocaust survival and growth of the Old Believers.

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