Week 1 Research Tasks

Conduct some individual research into one of the following.

1. The Beslan Siege
2. Men who kill their partner and children (Kate Hilpern article)
3. The Heaven’s Gate Cult
4. Contemporary martyrs (people willing to die for their beliefs)
5. The Bridgend Suicides

Be prepared to give a brief verbal presentation to the group, summarising what you have learnt and your reaction to the material.

Keep in touch with what the rest of the group is up to

Relevent Websites

Dead Soldiers - Beslan


Stills montage Beslan


Anti-Islamic site


Official site of suicide cult Heavens Gate


Initiation tape – Heaven’s Gate


David Cass Article


Christopher Foster Article


Diarmuid Flood article


Brian Philcox


Die-4-Christ

Paradise Found Introduction

Ever believed in something so much it was worth dying for? If you could create paradise would you be willing to sacrifice those who stood in your way? If you had power over the future, what world would you create? Are you the centre of your own universe?

Paradise Found looks at belief systems and convictions and imagines what world we could create if we had the power of a God – or all the resources of humanity. The creative starting point will be personal desires, fears and leaps of the imagination. The initial research task will be to look at recent attempts to define and create paradise: looking at extreme actions motivated by intense convictions such as the Beslan siege, religious fundamentalism and personal relationships.