As we move into the new year, we will see a growing number of this type of anti Y2K awareness raising / preperation hype. Christian, survivalists, Y2K exponents etc will be lumped together with the fringe element and be discredited in the eyes of the general population right up to the day the systems start to spit the dummy.

How this will play out in real-time is spectulative, but IMHO those who are actively seen as promoting Y2K awareness / preperation will come increasingly under fire as anti social terrorists [for want of a better word]

any ideas or views on this topic.

Timothy J Wilbur

Doom cults Australian alert By CHRIS GRIFFITH 10jan99

DOOMSDAY cults will head to Australia for "the end of the world" as Year 2000 approaches, cult watchers warn.

They say Australia should expect a surge of religious extremism and even terrorism.

Federal and state police and other agencies stepped up cult monitoring last week after Israeli police arrested 14 members of a US-based doomsday cult in Jerusalem.

Acting Prime Minister Tim Fischer told The Sunday Mail yesterday: "It's getting crazier month by month in the lead-up to the new millennium."

But he was confident Australian authorities could "pick the loonies and deal with them".

AFP spokesman Terry Brown said federal police would act if national security was threatened, but their hands were tied until the cults broke the law.

Israeli authorities claim the Concerned Christians cult hoped to trigger the second coming of Jesus Christ and Armageddon by massacring people at holy sites across Israel.

However, Queensland cult specialist Jan Groenveld said the doomsday merchants were more likely to come to Australia.

"If it's a biblical cult, they may go to Israel, but eastern, Nostradamus-based and UFO-based cults believe the southern hemisphere, in particular Australia, may suffer less or later damage as the end approaches."

Cult leaders had predicted humanity would be annihilated after nuclear warfare, natural disasters such as floods, asteroid and comet strikes, economic ruin, and civil chaos sparked by the Y2K bug.

Mr Brown said in some cases, such as the Heavens Gate cult, the group had acted legally until the final moment when they committed suicide en masse.

In cases like these, police had little legal leeway to act.

Mr Fischer said he personally had closely monitored the activities of the Concerned Christians.

"It could become a worry (here). I have followed with interest the developments in Jerusalem.

"I hopeful violent cults overseas won't be mirrored in Australia."

Mrs Groenveld's theory is backed by Garry Greenwood, once the second highest ranking official of the Mahikari movement in Australia.

He is an expert on Mahikari and its deadly sister cult Aum Shinri Kyo, which was behind the 1995 Tokyo subway nerve gas attack that killed 12 people.

"Both sects believed an Armageddon war would soon annihilate Japan and much of the world, and that they needed to establish safe havens in the southern hemisphere, which is why they ventured to Australia," he said.

In 1996, Mahikari was reported to have 10 centres and about 2000 active members in Australia.

Aum Shinri Kyo also had bought a 200,000ha sheep grazing property, Banjawarn, about 640km north-east of Perth where a loud explosion and fireball event were recorded in 1993.

Observers claimed the cult used the property as a training ground for its terrorism activities.

But low-key, home- grown doomsday cults in ordinary suburban houses were as much a concern, Mrs Groenveld said.

One called The Group, on Brisbane's southside, claimed to be "God's executioners", alert and ready to rid the scourge of humanity.

"They have a stash of guns they continually move and the leader himself has a samurai sword."

-- Timothy J Wilbur (timkaz@nor.com.au), January 11, 1999

Answers

Timothy,

You haven't been carrying a samurai sword around lately, have you? C'mon, 'fess up! :-)

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 11, 1999.

If "they" start trying to "bother" people who are preparing, they may run out of manpower. They may also have to arrest their mothers. I refuse to spend much time or energy worrying if Uncle Sam wants to shut my mouth or take my rolled oats.

-- Sue (conibear@gateway.net), January 11, 1999.

Community preparedness activities including representatives from local chapters of the American Red Cross, Town Council's, local Fire Department, Water Department, etc. are not a "threat."

They are encouraged. (Also easier to get local newsmedia coverage for the meetings, so you leverage the help to others and increase local awareness).

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 11, 1999.

Timothy,

Thanks! Can you tell us what the average "person on the street" take is down under in your area lately? What is the government doing openly?

Thanks again.

Mike ===================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 11, 1999.

I have no doubt that some people would jump at the chance to start a cult with Y2K. But like drugs, cults can't be pushed on people who have no need for them.

"Government cults" are dangerous though. I feel sorry for countries who trust their government too much.

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), January 11, 1999.