Salvation

Salvation and dangers

Nazism.

"My topic was called: the future or ruin. I began to speak..." (20).

Sokagakkai.

"In the struggle for kosen-rufu they cannot lose, for if they lose, all of humanity will be plunged into eternal darkness" (22)

It is well known that the paranoid universe is riddled with enemies, diseases and catastrophes, so that everything seems doomed to destruction or, in any case, to deterioration. It is natural, then, that the greatest aspiration of the PI should be to live in a world free of hostility and danger.

Paranoia. Clinical case.

- What I want is to live in peace and to be left in peace.

Consequently, the PCG elaborates an alternative and becomes convinced that a happy future can exist.

Erotomania.

"The components of the feeling that generates the postulate are Pride, Desire and Hope" (8).

Paranoia. Clinical case.

"He finds special confirmation of his views in the fact that he soon realizes that, even in the hospital, there is no shortage of allusions to his brilliant future" (25).

Maoist Leninism.

"The world progresses and the future is bright; no one can change this general trend of history." (32).

In some paranoid patients, messianism (in the broad sense of the term, not restricted to the Messiah of the Jews) constitutes the central argument of their delusions. Something similar occurs in the subjects that Dide called passionate idealists (12) and in a large part –if not in all– of the PCGs.

A term that appears with striking frequency in the texts of the PCGs, with which the messianic component of paranoid thinking is usually alluded to, is salvation.

Sectarian groups. The Patriarch.

"So, if you like poetry, I ask you to enter a truly poetic struggle, which is that of saving the future, of saving the youth, saving your children, saving your country and all other countries" (14).

Sokagakkai.

"You can already see the disaster that exists in the world today. The Korean people are suffering cruelly; conflict is commonplace everywhere. Who do you think is going to save humanity from the painful conditions of today? I will tell you who: Sokagakkai and the Buddhism it professes. Since the days of our late leader Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, every day I have had the conviction that this is our destiny" (22).

Messianism is also expressed in allusions to perfect happiness. A good number of APs promise a personal state or a collective future of well-being and the eradication of human miseries.

Sokagakkai.

"- My dear young friends: The efforts that politicians, economists, educators and cultural authorities have made up to today to save Japan are doomed to failure, since the fields in which they work are incapable of bringing about what must be done, unless they are grounded in True Buddhism. Only True Buddhism can save our society and make people know happiness" (22).

Sectarian groups. Children of God.

"[...] it is a shame to live in unhappiness, when just around the corner your lives can be exciting, fulfilled and wonderful beyond all expectation!" (35).

It must not be forgotten that the backdrop against which salvation is achieved and happiness is attained is fraught with risks and threats, and that when the IGP saves itself or others, it is saved from something that constitutes a danger. Thus, messianic thinking has that twofold component of utopianism and the overcoming of multiple threats, whether these come, indiscriminately, from other human beings, from animals, from cancer cells, from nature or from incorporeal beings.

Sectarian groups. Moonies.

"We believed wholeheartedly that by selling those articles we were saving the world from Satan and from communism, and that we were giving people the opportunity to help the Messiah in the creation of the Garden of Eden on Earth" (17).

Sectarian groups. TFP.

"It will come for the men of the twentieth century, if they do not renounce impiety and corruption, if they do not fight especially against the self-demolition of the Church, the accursed smoke of Satan which, as Paul VI said, has penetrated the sacred precinct.

There is still time, then, to halt the punishment, reader, female reader!" (4).

Crisis cults. The Puget Sound Shakers (19th century).

"They also had the custom of exchanging handshakes and making the sign of the cross continuously as a kind of apotropaic rite to ward off misfortune..." (27).

Indeed, from the rejection of the redeeming paranoid contagion group and its teachings, nothing but calamities follow.

Gnostics.

"[...] Samael affirms, without hesitation, that ants were once a millennial human civilization, which appreciably devolved over the course of centuries, until becoming what they now are, having engaged in practices contrary to Gnostic teachings" (37).

As for the utopian component, this constitutes the most optimistic and agreeable side of paranoid thinking, and surprises the observer with its naivety.

Paranoia. The Aimée case.

"He expresses himself on these subjects with extreme repugnance, and it is only almost after a year of his admission to the ward that one day he confides in us, on the condition that we avoid his gaze during his declaration. He then reveals his dreams, which make palpable not only his puerility, but also some kind of enthusiastic candor: 'It was to be the kingdom of children and women. They were to dress in white. It was the disappearance of the kingdom of pettiness on Earth. There would be no more wars. All peoples were to be united. It would have to be beautiful, etc." (28).

Nationalist utopia. The social contract.

"When suffrage and lot are combined, the former should be used to fill positions that demand particular talents, such as military offices; the latter serves to provide for those in which only good sense, justice, and integrity are needed, such as judicial offices, for in a well-constituted State such qualities are common to all citizens" (41).

(sic). Furthermore, the utopian idea frequently possesses a high degree of fancifulness.

Other paranoid groups. Tata Dios.

"When this condition was fulfilled, his prophecy would come true and the earth would open up, giving rise to an enchanted city" (46).

Sectarian groups. TFP.

"A spectacular apparition of the Virgin, bestowing lightning graces, will put an end to the Bagarre. The survivors will gather to celebrate the opening ceremony of the Kingdom of Mary, the first act of which will be the election of a new Pope, perhaps through a direct descent of the Holy Spirit. This will be followed by the election of an Emperor. In the Kingdom of Mary, 'astride the temporal and spiritual powers,' the TFP and its Founder will be positioned, acting as a mediator who balances the two powers.

One of the hallmarks of the Kingdom of Mary will be a taste for sumptuousness, for luxury. Magnificent cathedrals will be built" (38).

Sectarian groups. TFP.

"In the Kingdom of Mary there will be no horrible things such as electricity or petroleum. Surely no energies other than natural ones will be used, and it is possible that travel will be accomplished by means of flying carpets" (38).

Salvation does not derive exclusively from the desire to put an end to all kinds of threats, but rather reflects another paranoid tendency universal: the pursuit of perfection.

Paranoid personality. Millon (2004).

"Paranoid subjects often have compulsive and rigid traits, especially perfectionism and a sense of integrity" (33).

Let us examine below what these fantasies consist of, and what are the particularities that make them so attractive to the IGP.

Utopian contents

Vague and rhetorical salvation

Some writings present salvation with a flowery rhetoric that does not go into detail. The reader thus has a wide margin of freedom to let their imagination run wild.

Sokagakkai.

"The philosophy of unity between subjective existence and the objective environment will be constituted as the great practical and saving philosophy of humanity when we have discovered the way to employ our vital force to create and advance life both at the human and cosmic level, as well as the way to live in true harmony with the universe" (21).

French imperialism.

"In August 1797, Bonaparte's Courrier de l'armée d'Italie was already able to proclaim, with that self-congratulatory complacency so irritating that always accompanied the French military presence: 'Every step of the Great Nation is marked by benefits! Happy is the citizen who is part of it! Happy is he who can say upon seeing our great men: these are my friends, my brothers!'" (53).

Sokagakkai.

"... Josei Toda himself expressed the same hope in a poem:

To the peoples of Asia

So eager to see the moon

Hidden behind the clouds

We will send them the light of the sun" (23).

Peace and equality

But, setting aside the stars and being somewhat more concrete, what is it that can free the IPP from suffering if not the absence of enemies and dangers? Such security can only be produced in a situation of total isolation (a recurring tendency in paranoid thought and paranoid behavior) or in a world in which human nature has undergone a total metamorphosis. In paranoid utopias, men are often transformed into kindly, angelic beings.

Sectarian groups. The Patriarch.

"I am totally convinced that the fundamental purpose of our aim consists in a new form of non-selfishness, of non-egocentrism, or in a kind of altruism that reaches out elsewhere but that always seeks to drive others forward..." (14).

Sokagakkai.

"And he understood that someday it would be necessary to form a political party that would bring together honest and vigorous statesmen, eager to give everything for the general welfare.

Drawing on his personal experience, he was acquainted with the evils implicit in political power. But the universally applicable doctrines of True Buddhism can conquer these evils and transform the innermost nature of humanity" (22).

And, consequently:

Reformers.

"[...] admitting that one day —and that day will come— prisons and infamous punishments will be abolished" (12).

In Rousseauian thought, this transformation signified a return to the state of simplicity of the primitive peasant, a bucolic simplicity that would have been lost through the devastating action of civilization.

Nationalist utopia. The social contract.

"As long as several men assembled together consider themselves as a single body, they have but one will in relation to the common preservation and the general good. Then, all the springs of the State are vigorous and simple, its ideas clear and luminous; there is no confusion of interest nor contradiction; the common good shows itself everywhere with evidence, requiring nothing more than good sense to be known. Peace, union, and equality are enemies of political subtleties. Upright and simple men are difficult to deceive as a consequence of their simplicity. Neither sophisms nor refined cleverness manage to seduce them. When one sees how, among the happiest peoples of the world, a gathering of peasants settled the affairs of the State beneath an oak tree, always conducting themselves wisely, can one help but scorn the refinements of other nations that make themselves illustrious and wretched with so much art and so much mystery?" (41).

In fact, the edifice of his Republic rests upon a radical transformation of human nature that, in reality, never came to pass. However implausible such a metamorphosis may seem to our eyes, in its time it was the ideal and the firm conviction that drove the first patriots to work toward the erection of their respective Nation-States.

Spanish nationalism.

"In the countries where freedom reigns, love of one's homeland is the dominant affection and the foremost necessity of citizens: an affection that purges souls of all the pettiness of whim and vanity" (31).

According to Jehovah's Witnesses, a similar mutation will affect the great predators, who will coexist peacefully with humans and with herbivorous animals (I am unaware of what their diet will consist of).

The least that can be expected in a world populated by good beings is the disappearance of war, and the APs show themselves confident that it is within their power to put an end to it. For the Sokagakkai, the question of world peace constitutes one of their leit motiv.

Sokagakkai.

"Josei Toda approved the popular petition against nuclear weapons that was signed in Japan at that time. The number of subscribers reached 670 million worldwide when it was presented at the Conference for the Abolition of Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, held in Hiroshima on August 6, 1955. But Toda knew that only True Buddhism could bring about lasting peace. According to Buddhist doctrines, the human mind is governed by a fickleness that cannot be controlled. The manifestation of vital force governs the states of the human mind, and a lasting and sincere desire for peace can only come from an absolutely peaceful state of life. This state —Buddhahood— is achieved solely through faith and the practice of the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin" (22).

Sokagakkai.

"The other great rallying banner is 'working for world peace'. The NSA leads its followers to believe that only their chanting can save humanity from destruction. But apart from attending the demonstrations sponsored by the NSA (rejected by the main pacifist groups), members do very little in favor of peace" (17).

Sokagakkai.

"The foundations of the new civilization of the twenty-first century are already in place, in which the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin will make all men understand the irreplaceable value and dignity of life. My work in this book and the travels I have undertaken to various parts of the world in recent years are the preparations for the construction of an indestructible world peace based on these teachings" (22).

Sokagakkai.

"Only the Nichiren Shoshu can rescue the world from the threat of nuclear holocaust posed by atomic weapons. Only the Nichiren Shoshu can open humanity's eyes to the horror that lies before it, and lead it to true peace and happiness" (22).

But Sokagakkai is not the only one to offer a future without wars.

Herderian nationalism.

"These Herderian conceptions were part of a worldview that necessarily passed through the idea of a humanity coexisting in peace and harmony. It was not difficult for Herder, within the context of his time, to attribute to nations and homelands the cause of peace as the primary objective, while at the same time considering that wars were the patrimony of princes and states" (36).

Maoist Leninism.

"When human society reaches a stage in which classes and States have been eliminated, there will be no more wars, counterrevolutionary or revolutionary, unjust or just. That will be the era of eternal peace for humanity" (32).

When the devastation of war is taken as inevitable, the AP can at least offer its followers salvation from it.

Sectarian groups. Reverend Jones's People's Temple.

"1965. Jones claims to have had a vision of the nuclear holocaust that was to occur on July 15, 1967. Citing an article from Esquire magazine, Jones claims that Northern California will be saved from the explosion of bombs and from destruction by nuclear war. He relocates, with one hundred and fifty of his followers, to Ukiah, California..." (26).

Of course, war is not the only form of aggression among human beings, and in the messianic universe other expressions of violence must also disappear. For example, bearing in mind that inequalities (of wealth, of power, of hierarchical position…) inexorably bring with them a certain degree of hostility, even if contained, it is logical to think that the utopian world will also be characterized by equality.

Sectarian groups. Reverend Jones's People's Temple.

"Jones has always had the dream of creating an interracial, egalitarian, and peaceful society —said Tropp—. Here we have the opportunity to create human institutions in the most literal sense, from the cradle to the grave" (26).

Nationalist utopia. The social contract.

"I will end this chapter and this book with a warning that must serve as the foundation of the entire social system, and it is: that instead of destroying natural equality, the fundamental pact substitutes, on the contrary, a moral and legitimate equality for the physical inequality that nature had established among men, who, though they may differ in strength or talent, all become equal by convention and right" (41).

This egalitarian aspiration does not prevent the fact that, as a consequence of its own paranoidization, the paranoid contagion group is in fact an extraordinarily hierarchical group in its internal functioning, combining dreams of future equality, through contradictory twists and turns, with extreme doses of authoritarianism and inequality de facto.

Of the same standing as the faith in peace and forthcoming equality, is the faith in a civilization founded on complete solidarity.

Sectarian groups. The Reverend Jones's People's Temple.

"The reverend declared himself the heir to the spirit of Lenin, of Jesus Christ, Buddha, and the executor of universal brotherhood" (26).

On the individual level, we know that the thoughts of obsessive personalities frequently revolve around the great questions of peace, equality, and solidarity. This is the case, almost by definition, among reformers, but the rest of the obsessive personalities also concern themselves greatly with the major social issues.

Factor QIV of the 16PF test.

"[...] great concern for social progress" (24).

Querulants

"The litigants also expressed the view that they were doing it not only for themselves but also for the general good of society" (42).

It may be argued that these are universal and normal human aspirations, and that is true. But what is not so normal is the morbid fervor with which the IP devotes himself to these noble causes, to the striking detriment of his personal well-being or the well-being of his loved ones, gradually abandoning any other interest and ultimately resorting, in the worst of cases, to violence as excessive as it is futile.

Hypochondriac salvation

Jehovah's Witnesses.

"Nevertheless, Adam chose to transgress divine law. His premeditated disobedience and rebellion against the Creator constituted a sin, and, consequently, he lost perfection, became vulnerable to disease, and subsequently died. Sin, therefore, was the cause of Adam's illness and death.

[...] Included in God's will for the Earth is that, during the reign of the [already imminent] heavenly Kingdom, the health of humankind will improve spectacularly.

[...] Conversely, perfect health will be a reality under God's Kingdom.

[...] Request a free, in-home Bible study course from Jehovah's Witnesses. They will be happy to teach you more about the splendid divine promises. By doing so, you will take the first step on the path that leads to perfect health" (43).

Mystical delusion. Clinical case.

"A patient of Bigot's had discovered in the reading and meditation of holy books a formula of religious love superior to that of Catholicism; it provided him with peace and happiness and he claimed to heal through prayer as Christ had done; and, in fact, he had an audience — this unfortunate man was persecuted for the illegal practice of medicine and mockery of the Catholic religion — a hundred individuals came to testify that they had been cured by him. A hundred cures in a short time in a village! One can understand why our colleagues were alarmed by such an unusual situation" (12).

There is a certain parallelism between the typical contents of messianic ideas and those of the risks perceived by IPs. Thus, the reverse of the frequent hypochondriac fears are the prophylactic and therapeutic megalomaniac ideas (ideas of immunity to diseases and pathogenic agents as well as healing powers, all of them astonishing).

Sokagakkai.

"A middle-aged contractor who had just become a member recounted that he had been injured in several work-related accidents, but that after having joined he had fallen from a tall ladder and had not even bruised himself" (34).

Sectarian groups. Scientology.

"The supposed potency of this method should be evident in the announcement that the cult makes in its pamphlet 'The Purification Rundown and Atomic War' (1980). In it one reads that 'Completely apart from the physical revival experienced on the Purification Rundown, when properly and completely done, there is a secondary benefit in diminishing the consequences of future exposure to radiation'.

This offers the interesting probability that those who have done a complete and competent Purification Rundown will survive others not so fortunate" (39).

Sectarian groups. Reverend Jones's People's Temple.

"He boasted of divine powers to heal the sick…" (26).

Mental illnesses also do not escape the extraordinary therapeutic capacities of some APs.

Sectarian groups. Scientology.

"Hubbard claimed to have found the origin of all human unhappiness. Dianetics would eradicate depression, and 70% of all ailments which, according to Hubbard, had a mental, or 'psychosomatic' origin" (1).

And in addition to preventing illness, paranoidization sometimes makes it possible to escape death.

Crisis cults. The Melanesian cargo (19th c.).

"Those who followed him and drank the water from the 'fountain of life' would enjoy eternal life" (6).

Sectarian groups. Reverend Jones's People's Temple.

"[...] but Jones continues visiting the Temple, in Indiana, where he claims to resurrect the dead and cure cancer in believers" (26).

Jehovah's Witnesses.

"[...] The perfect health we will enjoy under God's heavenly Kingdom will mean that we will no longer have to die, as we do now" (43).

Society as a whole can also be saved from extinction.

Sokagakkai.

"In the commentary on the Sutra of Nirvana contained in the Gosho there is a passage that tells us that when a society is based on the propagation of Buddhism that society and its people are indestructible, regardless of everything that may occur" (23).

Prosperity

Salvation likewise allows one to escape from poverty, from the painful state of material deprivation, and to access a future filled with prosperity. This means that the IGP expects to receive money in abundance…

Paranoia. Clinical case.

- I am waiting for one million dollars to be deposited in my bank account.

Folie à deux. Case of monozygotic twins.

"They believed themselves to be in possession of great wealth and thought that their family had allied with the communists to seize their fortune" (47).

Folie à deux. Clinical case.

"Daughter X... does indeed have a plan to which she has drawn in her mother. Somewhere there exists a Dubois succession, or as the mother says (translating her daughter's claims into her own words) an asset that comes from the Dubois. The origin and the amount of said inheritance are unknown, but it is known to be substantial. A relative, brother of one and uncle of the other, was supposed to be the heir, although one cannot guess why, since he does not bear the name of the alleged testator, but had supposedly gathered the papers and made arrangements that death interrupted" (29).

(…) or great treasures and material riches…

Crisis cults. The Melanesian cargo (20th century).

"That flag would stop hatred and war, and would revolutionize the economy with abundant cargo for everyone" (7).

Messianic movements. Juan Santos Atahualpa (17th century).

"Atahualpa is a typical product of colonization. An insignificant Indian with no past, he was from childhood the servant of a Jesuit. The clergyman, a kind-hearted man, took him along when he had to return to Spain.

Thus, our messiah had plenty of time to educate himself and, above all, to mingle with white men.

Upon returning to his homeland, he presents himself one day before the Campa as a fugitive being pursued by the Spanish on account of a crime he did not commit. When he is brought before the village chief, he immediately announces to him that he is a true descendant of the Inca sovereigns and that he was abducted in childhood by the colonists. And he reveals his 'true' name: Santos Atahualpa Apu Inca. He then claims to know where the secret treasures of his people are hidden and that he will disclose their location once he has recovered his rightful throne" (5).

Other paranoid groups. The sebastianisms of Pernambuco (19th century).

"The prophet, whom his disciples called master Quiom, preached the resurrection of King Don Sebastián and promised fabulous riches to all who would follow him" (46).

(…) or simply food, which is no small matter for those who are starving.

Crisis cults. The Delaware prophet (19th century).

"But if all the Indians united and drove the whites back to the country that had been assigned to them, the Great Manitou would send game again in great quantities..." (27).

Utopias need not be confined to a single subject matter, and may combine several messianic contents. Thus, the world for which the Sokagakkai believes it is working appears to be the most perfect of all imaginable ones.

Sokagakkai.

"At the end of the RAR, Nichiren gives an idea of what the worldwide paradise will be like. It will be a kingdom that does not suffer from the seven calamities and is protected by good gods. The country will be safe and peaceful, there will be no natural disasters, harvests will be generous, and all people will live together in great happiness and harmony, with peace assured in their present and future lives..." (34).

Circumstances of utopia

The agent of salvation

The leader and his group form an inseparable unit that is the usual protagonist of the saving action. However, the emphasis may be placed preferably on one or the other. Sometimes, what is highlighted is the role of the group as a whole as the agent of salvation.

Sokagakkai

"Certainly the Gakkai has aroused suspicions with its description of the means to be used to achieve its remote ends. Statements such as 'In the near future the world will venerate the Gohonzon, and the Japanese people must soon make it a reality' and 'Japan is the savior of the world and Sokagakkai is the savior of our country' are not reassuring to those who remember the last attempt to extend its influence to other shores" (52).

Sokagakkai

"So the presence of Komeito is crucial. Only its philosophy 'has the immanent power to guide politics, economics, education, and culture... to instruct all aspects of society and life and lead them to the highest state [of development].' Only Komeito, which has obtained a broad electoral base, can speak for all the people. And among Japanese political parties, only Komeito has the special cultural integrity that flows from the indigenous root of its beliefs and its origin among the Japanese masses" (52).

On other occasions what stands out is the role of the leader.

Sectarian groups. Moonies

"The only salvation for the world lies in Moon and in the establishment of a theocratic form of government to replace secular democracies" (17).

As for the IPs, they are distinguished by the following two traits:

a greater proclivity to expect and believe in solutions to problems based on blind faith in messianic leaders, and

a greater tendency to feel the call of messianism and to convince themselves of their destiny as great saviors.

Delusion of vindication

"Sometimes it is not even a personal grievance that troubles him, but injustice in general. He sets himself up as a champion of rights, as a defender of the oppressed; his egocentric delusion is transformed into an altruistic delusion" (49).

Maoist Leninism

"Mao had an almost mystical faith in his role as the country's leader. At no point did he come to doubt that his leadership, and his leadership alone, could save and transform China. He was the Stalin of China and everyone knew it. He himself shared the popular image that he was the country's messiah" (13).

It remains something of a mystery why some of these liberators end up in psychiatric hospitals or on the margins of society while others amass a following of unconditional supporters.

Maoist Leninism

"I would look at my older brother and be mesmerized by that utopian dream, that of a rich, prosperous and once again sovereign China, with equality and justice for all. I devoted myself to devouring the books he gave me: the History of the First Five-Year Plan, the novel by Nikolai Ostrovski How the Steel Was Tempered and a book by the French journalist Henri Barbusse in which he praised Stalin's contribution to the revolution. My brother taught me that only communism could save China, and that there were two men —Zhe De and Mao Zedong— who were leading the country toward that goal. They were China's salvation. We called them Zhe Mao, as if they were a single person, and from then on I began to regard them as the messiahs of the country, a belief that was reinforced when I learned that my favorite writer, Lu Xun, was also an admirer of communism" (13).

But bicephalous leadership is infrequent and usually a transitory phenomenon, given that the very paranoid dynamic leads paranoid contagion groups to settle on a single leader.

A characteristic figure is that of the coming messiah, always on the verge of making an appearance to establish utopia. An appearance that is always ultimately postponed.

Crisis cults. Keekhwei: prophetess ramkokamekra (20th century).

"From these prophecies a messianic uprising arose, and it was a Native woman, Keekhwei, who took charge of leading it, claiming that she carried within her womb the sister of Aukhe. On the day the girl was born, the hero would return to restore justice on earth..." (46).

The beneficiary of salvation

Some IGPs have a universalist vocation. Their ultimate objective is the redemption of humanity as a whole.

Sectarian groups. TFP.

"To the distinguished Catholic champion, Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira:

Whose masterful works 'Revolution and Counter-Revolution' and 'Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites' constitute precious and decisive bonds of union between the Christendom that emerged from the Discovery of America and the new Christendom that, starting from the Ibero-American bloc, shall illuminate the world in the Third Millennium" (10).

Sokagakkai.

"Nichiren Shoshu is the Buddhism that suits everyone and the compassion of Nichiren Daishonin is offered equally to all peoples" (23).

French nationalism.

"The representatives of Napoleon and his closest collaborators expressed their belief that France was offering other states the possibility of benefiting from its success in creating a model for the future" (53).

As is well known, the main objective of the Napoleonic conquests was the European continent, but in the name of principles that, ultimately, held universal validity.

Declared enemies may find themselves deprived of the liberating action of the IGP, but quite frequently the circle of the excluded is broader and contains all those who do not serve in the group. The enjoyment of the utopia is reserved for a small elite.

Other paranoid groups. The Sebastianisms of Pernambuco (19th century).

"The prophet, whom his disciples called Master Quiom, preached the resurrection of King Don Sebastián and promised fabulous riches to all those who followed him" (46).

Fortunately, the possibility of joining this select elite is usually open to anyone who wishes to do so. Although this is not always the case. In some APs, only individuals who meet certain requirements (racial, sexual, ethnic…) may join. And some small sectarian groups close in on themselves entirely, denying entry to any possible candidate. In the utopia of complete happiness in a perfect marriage that erotomania sufferers dream of, there is room only for themselves and their respective lovers/beloved.

Of great interest are those APs that combine extreme catastrophism ("end of the world") with the conviction that only their own followers will survive the cataclysm. These tend to be organizations with a high level of collective paranoidization, which experience what we might call the Noah complex and which may lose their momentum when apocalyptic predictions fail and they are unable to renew them.

Sectarian groups. Gnostics

"The Gnostics gradually influence you, little by little, until they make you possess an exacerbated fear of the end of the world, from which only a few chosen ones will be saved, who will survive on a deserted island, protected by their masters, while the rest of the planet will perish engulfed in terrible cataclysms. They base their claims about the end of humanity on the approaching of a planet called Hercólubus..." (37).

Alongside universal salvation and group salvation, there exists a third variant: individual salvation, in which access to perfect happiness is individual. This is the case for some introverted IPs, absorbed in religious, esoteric, and purification practices. It is also the case for some APs whose aim is simply to offer the means for each individual to achieve happiness by themselves and for themselves.

The moment of salvation

Portraits of an idyllic future have at all times constituted the great attraction of fanatical and totalitarian movements. It must be borne in mind that the time in which the PCG places the consummation of its messianic idea is a near future.

Sectarian groups. TFP.

"It was supposed that by the year 2,000 the Kingdom of Mary should already be established" (38).

Leninism

"The victory of the proletarian revolution throughout the world —Lenin would comment in the closing speech of this first congress [of the Comintern]— is assured. The formation of the international Soviet republic is drawing near" (45).

Sectarian groups. Shiloh.

"[...] Stanford directed his energies toward Jerusalem, where Christ would soon return. Together with his most loyal and devoted followers, Stanford abandoned Shiloh…" (16).

A future that can be so near that at times we should say, rather, immediate, like the one awaited by a small group of American citizens, mostly Californians, who stripped themselves of their earthly body, convinced that they had the privilege of having been the chosen ones to board Halley's Comet, bound for a stellar destiny filled with happiness…

Crisis cults. The Melanesian cargo (20th c.).

"He led a group of about fifteen people to a lake called Tindipa and told them that they would find in the water the path to the future world, a paradise. He told them that if they threw themselves into the water they would go there and would not drown. Like most people in that area, they did not know how to swim. The group linked arms placing themselves at the edge of the lake and I. and two assistants held a cloth that surrounded them. At I.'s signal they leaped forward pushing the people into the lake where they drowned" (50).

On the contrary, the paranoid deactivation of any paranoid contagion group becomes evident when the consummation of the utopia begins to be postponed to an increasingly distant and nebulous future.

The utopia can be lived in the present, in a certain way, by creating and recreating time and again the salvific alternative in the realm of fantasy, an activity to which the paranoid contagion group devotes a good part of its energies.

Paranoia

"[...] the tacit hope of an immense happiness, which sometimes contents itself with imagining unreal situations in detail and with building richly colored castles in the air..." (25).

For example:

Sectarian groups. TFP

"A final question. That great Hispanic or Iberian bloc that could have developed on both sides of the Ocean, could it still be recreated, in some way? For example, in the form of a new and original political entity? Perhaps that of a new Holy Empire, constituted, under the patronage of the Most Blessed Virgin and for Her glory, in the era of the apogee of the Church that will be the Reign of Her Immaculate Heart, promised at Fatima? An empire made of spiritually renewed nations, in which — just as the facets of a diamond reflect in diversely splendid ways a single light — each of its peoples would reflect certain psychological and moral aspects of the same perfection of the Mother of God? To what forms of spiritual elevation and cultural richness could such a political entity, collectively oriented in that direction, not attain? And what superlative role could then fall to its traditional elites, from the moment they are faithful to their mission in the critical circumstances that must precede that triumph of the Church?

The future belongs to God; but, as the third millennium of the Era of Salvation draws near, it is not superfluous to let this digression conclude in such luminous questions..." (11).

Among the APs, utopia also takes shape in the present, sometimes, in small communities isolated from their surroundings, preferably rural ones, which are conceived as the seed of the future civilization.

Other paranoid groups. The sebastianisms of Pernambuco (19th century)

"This man, who had been forbidden to preach in Alagoas, went to settle in the Serra do Rodeador, located in the municipality of Bonito (Pernambuco), where he founded the city of 'paradise on earth" (46).

However, in these small earthly paradises the same pettiness and unhappiness that reign in the rest of society, denounced for its depravity, always end up prevailing. The resolution of this paradox demands a powerful self-deception, which we will elaborate on in another chapter.

In the less fortunate cases, the IPP contents itself with fighting for utopia, leaving its enjoyment for others

Nazism.

"I want to become, in a new world, everything that it is not possible for me to be today. And if that comes too late for me, it is nonetheless great and beautiful to be one of those who cleared the way for the achievement of that great era" (3).

The place of salvation

The location in which utopia will be established also varies. In APs of a religious orientation, it is common for it to be a place that can only be reached post mortem.

Sectarian groups. The Davidians.

"... Koresh's followers consider him the messiah who will open the 'seven seals' that will allow them entry into heaven when the end of the world begins" (40).

As a curious note, some ufological APs dream of the imminence of a relocation to another planet, where life will be pleasurable and one will not have to endure the adversities of our existence on Earth. And there are, of course, utopias that can be enjoyed without the need to die or board a spaceship.

French nationalism.

"With the exception of marginal cases, the territories incorporated into French Europe were conceived as constituent elements of a new form of State and society that was to characterize the new era.

[...] The deep belief in the possibility of creating a Europe in France's image guided Napoleon's reconstruction of Europe" (53).

It is curious how, sometimes, earthly paradises are projected at a certain distance from the point of origin of the paranoid contagion group, which necessitates migrations, whether individual or collective.

Other paranoid groups. Sebastianisms. António Conselheiro (19th century).

"In response, the messiah declares one day that the Republic is nothing but the reign of the Antichrist. The introduction of new taxes is the spark that ignites the fire on the plain.

One day, Antonio, after gathering all his people in the market square of Bom Conselho, burns the tax payment notices before heading into the hills with two hundred followers. He walks northward along the Monte-Santo road and heads toward arid and uninhabited regions. But the troops give chase and at Massète thirty policemen attempt to block his path. A grave mistake! The republican authorities have underestimated the group's capacity. The public force is crushed and has no choice but to retreat in disarray.

Meanwhile, the believers and their messiah finally reach their destination. Their promised land is an abandoned territory known by the name of Canudos. They settle there in 1893 and transform the desert into a paradise" (5).

Reformers. Cabet.

"A disciple of Cabet, Sully, departed for Texas on December 2, 1847 to establish the center of the future colony. On February 3, 1848, Gouhenant departed with sixty-nine Icarians…" (12).

Messianic movements. Claas Epp (19th century).

"Displaying great precision, he announces at the same time that Christ will appear on exactly March 8, 1889.

The prophet bases his predictions on an old clock hanging on the wall of his house, whose hands point obstinately toward the 8 and the 9. He then leads his Mennonite disciples on a painful wandering that invariably carries them eastward, in the direction of the Muslim region of Khiva. Claas, indeed, is convinced that Christ will reveal himself nowhere other than Central Asia. However, when the 'Church of Philadelphia' reaches the heart of the steppes in 1889, no messiah appears in the sky" (5).

A variant of messianic migration is the en bloc relocation of the entire population settled in a given territory.

Nazism

"I have read a report by the gauleiter Frauenfeld on South Tyrol. He proposes transporting the South Tyroleans en masse to Crimea. I think this idea is excellent. There are few places on earth where a race can maintain its integrity for such a long time. The Tatars and the Goths provide us with living examples of this. Another argument is that the climate and landscape would suit our Tyroleans perfectly. Moreover, compared to their current homeland, it will be like the land of Canaan, where milk and honey flow in abundance.

The transfer of that population presents no difficulty, either on the material or the moral plane. It suffices for them to travel down a German river, the Danube, and they will have already arrived" (18).

Characteristics of utopia

Exclusivity

Maoist Leninism

"Without the efforts of the Communist Party of China, without Chinese communists as the backbone of the Chinese people, it is impossible to achieve the independence and liberation of the country, its industrialization and the modernization of its agriculture" (32).

Sokagakkai

"We know that only the Soka Gakkai can decide whether man is saved or perishes. We hold the key" (22).

The salvation brought to us by the GCP is distinguished, furthermore, by its exclusive nature. No one, except the GCP itself, holds in their hands the key that opens the doors of utopia. In the literature of the APs, however, this exclusivity may remain somewhat masked.

Sectarian groups. Hermetic Philosophical Institute.

"The only solution is moral physics..." (2).

That is, the Hermetic Philosophical Institute.

Sectarian groups. El Patriarca

"A man who steals, lies and causes suffering lives in profound helplessness and feels condemned. Therefore, only identification with other human beings who are acquainted with the same torments and have been freed from drugs, leads the addict to rediscover the resources necessary for his recovery, surrounded by his peers" (14).

That is, in El Patriarca.

Sokagakkai

"The only infallible remedy for the ills that plague modern civilization consists in establishing Buddhist teachings in the heart of each living individual" (21).

And so on. On other occasions it is the leader who holds the exclusive power to save…

Reformers. Cabet

"[...] was rejected by 'his people' in 1856, in a certain sense deposed, and left to die alone, defeated, some months later in St. Louis (November 8, 1856). His moral hypertrophy was such that he did not believe in the possibility of his work continuing without him, and before dying he had the Illinois courts dissolve the community of Nauvoo" (12).

Sokagakkai.

"If kosen-rufu is not achieved, the future of humanity will be truly dark. If I knew there was someone willing to take my place in this work, I would not worry about what happened to me. But at this moment there is no one. I have no other alternative than to live with this reality and continue devoting myself to my mission, however hard it may be, and no matter what others may say or think. My only strength lies in knowing that Nichiren Daishonin is aware of this, and that he is watching over me" (22).

(…) or it is the IP.

Erotomania

"De Clérambault also identified secondary common themes such as the object never being able to be truly happy without the patient's love" (47).

Utopia and the past

Utopia can also be conceived as a return to a distant and mythologized past.

Serbian nationalism.

"On June 28, 1389, Tsar Lazar led his armies to the Field of Blackbirds, a wide valley in southern Serbia, today between Mitrovica and Kosovo Polje. He wanted to halt the expansion of the Turkish military tide that was gaining ground day by day throughout the Balkans. Lazar, Tsar of the Serbs, at the head of a mixed army of Slavic Christians and pagan mountain Albanians, faced the formidable troops of Sultan Murad on that great plain. The latter was struck down and killed in his tent by the Serb Miloš Obilić, who had presented himself before him as a deserter. But the Turkish army inflicted a terrible defeat on its enemies.

Tsar Lazar was captured and beheaded. Thousands of bodies remained forever on the Field of Blackbirds on that day of Saint Vitus, Vidovdan, as the Serbian epic songs and medieval poems recall.

... But the Serbs regard and feel those most distant events as the provisional end of an era of greatness, wealth and harmony that will return, by historical imperative, when all Serbs find themselves living within a single State" (51).

On the contrary, the new order brought to us by the paranoid contagion group can be absolutely innovative and without historical precedent.

Italian Fascism.

"And that dizzying mobilization is oriented no longer toward the simple restoration of a limited and superseded social order, but, on the contrary, toward a revolution from which there would emerge, little by little, yet unequivocally, a better, more just social order, and above all an order that would recognize itself as new. In each and every one of the cases an order never before experienced" (18).

A novelty that presents itself in opposition to an execrable past/present.

French nationalism.

"On the other hand, the French administrative system, developed over the years, constituted a uniform and increasingly mandatory model whose application was meant to result in a stable and modern society, freed from the dross of the past" (53).

The path to salvation

The transition to utopia is not without risks and difficulties, as the forces of evil always stand in its way…

Sectarian groups. The Patriarch.

"If no one put obstacles in our way -writes Engelmajer in his book For drug addicts: hope-, we would soon have in Spain one million young people and fifty thousand centers upon which to base a new type of society without drugs, without politics, only with good and happy people" (15).

(…) that there is no choice but to eliminate.

Maoist Leninism.

"In order to build a completely new social system in the place of the old system, one must clear the ground" (32).

Consequently, messianic thinking (in the mentally ill and in paranoid contagion groups) leads to the use of violence…

Leninism. Shining Path.

"The ones who have been hit are the financial centers. The losses they say we cause are not that great, but the military and political effect is very important. So much so that it has had repercussions in the United States.' He then insists on the need to develop the war, because 'there is no other way to save the country" (9).

Maoist Leninism.

"We are in favor of the abolition of war; we do not desire war. But war can only be abolished through war. To put an end to guns, one must take up the gun" (32).

(…) what causes the PIG to become dangerous.

Delusion of grievance.

"Frequently, their exaltation, their attachment to utopias they seek to carry out by any means, makes them dangerous (fanatics of every kind, mystics, anarchists, regicides and tyrannicides)" (49).

Now, not in all cases does the PCG confront its enemies openly and directly. Sometimes they can be overcome by other, less harmful means.

Crisis cults. Overá, Guaraní leader (16th century).

"One fine day, he has visions and begins to evangelize neighboring tribes. His message is typical: he claims to have been born of a virgin. Furthermore, he is the 'liberator of the Guaraní people'.

He soon becomes an object of worship. His followers shower him with offerings and bring him numerous concubines, with whom he dances and sings continuously. This practice is not without purpose. Obrera explains to his disciples that songs and dances hold a subversive value: they will bring about the change of the world and the destruction of white domination" (5).

Small noble causes

It must be stressed that, at least among the IP, the saving vocation does not take shape, most of the time, in the design of grand utopian plans for humanity as a whole, but rather in the pretension of providing solutions to more circumscribed problems. In this case, if they are distinguished by anything, it is by the disproportionate importance they attach to such problems and by the determination, zeal, and constancy they bring to resolving them.

Querulants. Clinical case

"A married 67-year-old male employed as a gardener initiated a series of legal complaints in relation to the theft of a birdbath and a bench from a park belonging to the local authorities.

[...] One day, he saw his foreman driving a van through the park above the permitted speed limit. He thought it was a danger to the children, but when he pointed this out to the foreman, an argument ensued. He reported it to the superintendent, but the complaint was not accepted. He discovered that the foreman had a birdbath and a bench in his garden, which he claimed belonged to the local authority. After photographing them, he accused the foreman of theft, believing that this would expose the 'corruption' in the department" (42).