ABSTRACT
As Aum became obsessed with conspiracy theories, persecution and spies, and as it developed its programme of chemical and other weapons, it issued a number of videos outlining the dilemma the movement faced. One such video reiterated the conspiracy themes outlined in Chapter 6, complaining of constant attacks on Aum using poisonous gases and of a co-ordinated campaign by the USA and its co-conspirators to subjugate Japan and to strike at Aum. It also accused the media of complicity in a vicious campaign to ‘brainwash’ the general public so as to allow the massive conspiracy for world government to achieve its ends. The title of the video asked whether it was time for Aum to ‘fight or be destroyed’. 1 In January 1995, the mass media had hinted that Aum Shinrikyō was manufacturing sarin and that it was the culprit behind the June 1994 attack in Matsumoto. In response the movement had mounted a ferocious counter-offensive in which it complained of conspiracies against it and stated that its enemies were making ‘attacks’ on it using poison gases. The video Aum released at this time played on the ‘lamb’ imagery derived from Christianity that had previously featured in Aum’s rhetoric of sacrifice, mission and persecution, by describing Aum’s followers as ‘slaughtered lambs’ (hofurareta kohistuji – the title of the video itself). 2
