Evidently, the erecting in the Nuremberg stadium of 144 pillars was no numerical accident. Biblical language and symbolism was obviously incorporated by Hitler in Nazi doctrine and party beliefs.One of the most shocking news to make the newspaper headlines in 1978 was the horrible tragedy in Jonestown, Guyana. It was likened to the 960 Jewish zealots at Masada who preferred death to surrendering and being in slavery to the Romans; also, to the 1,000 Japanese civilians who hurled themselves from a cliff in Saipan as the American troops took the island. The Guyana tragedy was featured day after day in newspapers worldwide. First, the death toll was 400, then 500, then as high as 780 and next: “GUYANA TOLL IS RAISED TO AT LEAST 900 BY U.S., WITH 260 CHILDREN AMONG VICTIMS AT COLONY.” Finally, the number rose to 913. Rev. Jim Jones called himself the reincarnation of Jesus, then later started calling himself God. He said he was the actual God who made the heavens and earth. Also, at his Guyana commune he was said to keep shouting out “I am the Alpha and the Omega!”At times, apocalyptic vision gives rise to apocalyptic events: a mass suicide by Heaven's Gate members in a mansion in California. An inferno at the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas. Indeed, some right-wing militia groups use biblical imagery to justify violence. The Christian Identity movement, for example, believes that Christians will face violent persecution before Jesus returns. Says Charles B. Strozier, a psychoanalyst and history professor at the City University of New York, They arm themselves, because they want to "shoot it out with the beast of Revelation, to fight true evil with their Uzis." Common belief in a prophecy will be a strong binding force. One of the principal attractions of the first Christian sects was that they offered salvation from a threatening disaster. This no doubt has been the general lure of such individuals as Hitle...
