Aumism :Cult leader's statue demolished

CASTELLANE, France (AP) -- Armed with high-powered jackhammers and dynamite, French police on Wednesday began demolishing a giant concrete statue of a cult leader built illegally in the hills of the French Alps.

Dozens of police entered the mountain retreat of the Mandarom sect at dawn with court papers authorizing the destruction of the 32.6-metre-tall statue that has been the focus of an ongoing legal battle between cult members and residents.

The painted concrete statue was built in 1993 to honour the secretive group's now-deceased leader, Gilbert Bourdin, who referred to himself as the "Cosmic Christ." The statue, adorned with a flowing white robe and a golden crown, depicts Bourdin with fluorescent green eyes and holding two sceptres.

Many residents in Castellane, in southeastern France, object to the statue and have fought for years to have it removed on the grounds that it was built without a permit.
(...)

Bourdin, a self-proclaimed messiah who claimed he shielded the world from extraterrestrial invasions, died in 1998 at the age of 72. He had suffered from diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

A former teacher from the French Caribbean island of Martinique, Bourdin founded the Mandarom cult in 1969. Followers are strict vegetarians who wear loose-fitting tunics and keep their heads shaved.

A 1996 French parliamentary report

said the group had engaged in "insidious recruitment" practices and cited a police investigation of rape accusations brought against Bourdin by five former cult members.

France began cracking down on religious sects in recent years in response to groups such as the Order of the Solar Temple, which lost 74 members in mass suicides in France, Switzerland and Canada between 1994 and 1997.
[...more...] [Need the full story? Read this]

Cult leader's statue demolished

Bourdin referred to himself as the 'Cosmic Christ'