Nothing chills my bones more than groupthink,
whether that be the next fall fashion,
or a bloodthirsty cult transfixed on world domination.
Since I don't know a lick about what leggings to pair with your pumpkin spice latte,
I'm going to give you a list of five deadly cults.
Let's try to start this one off easy.
Number Five is Heaven's Gate.
I love aliens, you love aliens, everyone loves aliens.
Unfortunately, the leaders of Heaven's Gate monopolized that
then turned it into something a lot more sinister than E.T.
Marshall Applewhite, who had a history of mental illness
and always looks like he just shit himself,
proposed that there was a U.F.O. and the only way to get aboard that U.F.O is to kill yourself.
The Devotees put on their matching Nikes and drank a truly disgusting mix of vodka and poison,
and guess what? Didn't meet any damn aliens!
Never trust a man giving out free Nikes,
[buzzer] I promise there's always a catch.
Number Four is Branch Davidians.
the Branch Davidians were a fundamentalist group based in Texas.
They believe that Scripture was to be adhered to strictly and to be taken literally.
I'm not here to yuck anybody's yum,
but it would take a lot more than eternal damnation to keep me away from bacon cheeseburgers.
This spooky group was led by creep Master General David Koresh, who was basically
just the human incarnation of this sound:
[strange laughter-like moaning]
This awful human led his followers to believe that he spoke to God directly,
and apparently, God wanted them to give him all of their women and children
for reasons I will not say into a camera.
Along with all the disciple abuse, Koresh was stockpiling firearms,
which led to a federal arrest warrant in late 1993.
When agents tried to enter the compound, the Branch Davidians fought back.
A 51-day siege ensued, which left four law-enforcement agents dead, and
82 Branch Davidians dead as well.
Number Three! The Manson Family.
Let me paint the scene. It's the late 60s,
the air is thick with free love and weed smoke.
A fast-talking, long-haired musician comes up to you
and invites you to his ranch filled with giggling girls with long armpit hair.
I don't know about you, but this seems like a heaven to me.
Unfortunately, this breezy musician wasn't breezy at all.
He was a demon con-man named Charles Manson.
[ominous music]
He called his followers "The Manson Family," although none of them were actually related.
Manson lured people back to his compound,
and once they were nice and sedated, he filled their brains with thoughts of chaos.
The Manson Family became obsessed with the idea of the world burning to the ground,
which manifested in multiple murders.
They murdered seven people, most notably Sharon Tate,
who was a rising star and pregnant at the time.
Charles Manson orchestrated these murders, but wasn't present at any of them.
He's currently rotting in jail and carved a swastika into his forehead.
[chuckles] What a delight.
Number Two is Jonestown.
Jim Jones designed Jonestown as a safe haven for his followers, which was conveniently located
way outside of society and was encircled by armed guards who wouldn't let any of the members leave.
U.S. Representative Leo Ryan heard about the perpetual shade of Jonestown, so came by to check it out.
He said that it was fine, albeit very creepy.
Until... they were at a community dinner, when somebody slipped him a note
with a list of people who wanted to escape.
Leo Ryan managed to get the people who wanted to escape onto a truck on route to the airport,
but they were gunned down at the tarmac by members of Jonestown.
Five of them were murdered, including Leo Ryan,
and the rest were terribly wounded. On the heels of this attack, Jones spoke to his "congregation,"
and said that the government was trying to kill their babies!
He proposed a mass suicide.
They drank a Lethal mix of Kool-Aid, and cyanide, and valium,
which, by the way, is where the term "Drink the Kool-Aid" comes from,
which is super morbid.
The death toll came to 912, 276 of whom being children.
Seems like a weird way to save your babies,
but I'm not here to judge, I guess.
Number One is Scientology.
Scientology is a religion . . .?
L.L. Cool Ron wrote "Dianetics," which is the basis of Scientology.
The editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association calls Dianetics
"unworthy of discussion or review," which seems like--
[crackle]
[cheery music]
Just kidding! Nothing to talk about here! Everything is normal... Hail Xenu...
♪ ♪
[crackle]
Just kidding, guys.
I'm okay. Thank you so much for watching!
Let me know what you want me to talk about in the next Dark 5 in the comments,
and also be sure to check out the other videos, which are below me.