Inside the Cypherpunks Cult

[Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>]

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At 11:49 PM 8/19/97 -0700, Kent Crispin wrote:

>It's actually closer to a cult -- a small group with it's own shared
>reality -- a reality quite at variance with societal norms.  The cult
>has its own terminology, and an underlying dogma to which these code
>words refer.  The cult has "special knowledge" that has been revealed
>to them concerning massive changes that will happen to society --
>changes that will usher in a new world order.  These changes may 
>involve the world going through a cleansing fire of war of war and 
>destruction. 

One minor difference is that most cults don't manage to convince the head of 
the FBI and various other national leaders that their scenario is possible.  
[I'm not saying that we actually convinced anyone ourselves but we certainly 
share a vision of a possible future with Freeh and various intelligence 
types.]  They talk about their fears of digital anarchy all the time.  I 
don't remember the FBI director talking about the Lamb and the Book of Rev 
like Koresh or about the saucer behind Hale-Bopp like Heaven's Gate.

Not an ordinary cult.

DCF

"If Vince Foster had a gun he'd be alive today."
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