The Rapture of Omega (25 page)

In 1999, the FBI released the written analysis,
Project Megiddo.
A comprehensive look at religious cults and militias nationwide, it was their strategic assessment of the potential for what has become domestic terrorism. Even prior to September 11, 2001, the FBI has been actively tracking what they deem to be threats to our national security. While most of us think of religious cults, such as The Branch Davidians and The People’s Temple, as nothing more than groups of apocalyptic visionaries, the FBI classifies them as terrorists that pose a threat to our daily existence.

Militias, along with the legendary “doomsday” cults, are no longer separate. They each hold a significant threat to the well-being and structure of our society. Since Y2K came and went without any world-disrupting events, the believers in the New World Order conspiracy theory merely faded away. However, groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, Christian Identity Churches, Aryan Nation, The Order, Concerned Christians, Phineas Priests, The House of Yahweh, the Black Hebrew Israelites, and the Posse Comitatus continue to exist in a well-organized, and well-funded manner. In 1998, even The Church of Scientology faced allegations of member suicides, deaths, and psychotic breaks. Only when Germany refused to
recognize the cult as a true religion, and claimed it a threat to democracy, did it ultimately cause international diplomatic tensions. While in Clearwater, Florida, recently, I observed a front-page headline that accused Scientology members of aggressively trying to recruit new members, including allegations of assault.

A former law enforcement instructor of mine had the honor of knowing a sheriff that had been shot and killed by the leader of the Posse Comitatus. As I listened to him speak of the incident, I was clear on one important detail. These militias, cults, domestic terrorists, or whatever you choose to call them have one common denominator. They answer to no one, law enforcement included, and all are on a quest for nothing more than retribution and redemption; loss of life is nothing but a roadblock on their way to a greater salvation.

According to
Project Megiddo,
there are approximately 1,000 cults operating in the United States. Cult expert Dr. Margaret Singer estimates that 5,000 economic, political, and religious groups have used tactics of coercive mind control to deceptively influence 20 million victims in the United States alone in the last ten years, including 2.5 million at any given time. Worldwide figures are even greater. And Dr. Paul Martin, cult expert and director of Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center in Ohio, deduced that, “The cult problem is so prevalent, the chances of a family member joining a cult are greater than a family member catching chicken pox, four times greater than contracting AIDS, 90 times greater than contracting measles, and 45,000 times greater than contracting polio.”

I had initially put this particular story line for CeeCee much farther down the road. Always anticipating a plotline involving a religious group, I happened upon a newspaper
last summer that headlined the execution of the leader of the Kirtland, Ohio, cult murders, Jeffrey Lundgren. I began to research the story since I didn’t remember much about it. I had only been a junior in high school when the murders occurred in 1990. After seeing a documentary on The People’s Temple (Jonestown) suicides, I was thoroughly disturbed, especially for the children. What makes a human being stand by while another takes the life of their child? These were the minds I wanted to get inside of. I attempted to interview Jeffrey Lundgren’s son, Damon, inside of the Mansfield Correctional Institution, where he is currently serving a life sentence for murder. I can only assume he didn’t care to talk to me about his experience.

The subject of global warming was brought forth when I was thinking of a motive for Illeana Barron; some type of reasoning behind her actions. A brief news clip featuring global warming as an “apocalyptic era” put the story in motion. During my research, I found many of the aspects of global warming quite unsettling.

Although it is merely fiction for entertainment purposes,
The Rapture of Omega
portrays the realistic threat that domestic terrorists pose to all of us, especially when humanity is faced with the unknown. Sporadic doomsday cults are already beginning to surface with the end of the Mayan calendar—December 21, 2012. Some feel this is the true end of time, while others quickly dismiss it. Regardless, there are those out there, like Illeana Barron, who are quietly preparing.

Clearly, there is no logical explanation for the actions of these people. Whatever it is that makes a grown man, or woman, succumb to the misguided and psychopathic teachings of another, and cause them to take their own
life or someone else’s, will always remain a mystery. But, there is one regrettable fact that holds true: history
does
repeat itself and this
will
happen again.

—
Stacy Dittrich

THE BODY MAFIA

MARY JANE’S GRAVE

THE DEVIL’S CLOSET