Aum Shinrikyo: The Making of The Cult & Religion Behind It

Aum Shinrikyo: The Making of The Cult & Religion Behind It



In the year of 1955 a newborn baby boy was brought into the world by the name of Chizuo Matsumoto. As just an infant his eyesight was damaged by glaucoma, and at the age of six was sent off to a school for the blind, and never lived with his family again. Little would we know Chizuo would later become Shoko Asahara the founder and leader of a doomsday cult: Aum Shinrikyo.
While attending a school for the blind it has been said that a child with any sight at all has a great advantage over the others (Walsh). This position of power sadly bred some abuse. Although he was often looked at as a social outcast at the school he was also seen as a bully. One of his ex-teachers recalled that when once punished, he threatened to burn down the dormitory, and then quibbled that he could not be punished for just saying something (Lifton 22). Another child suffered from a broken eardrum at his hands.
Following his...