A Quebec man who belongs to a New Age cult that believes the world will end in 2012 is being investigated by France for allegedly using the internet to encourage people to commit suicide.
CBCNews.com is reporting that the man, known only as “Flot,” is being investigated by France’s Interministerial Mission for Monitoring and Combatting Cultic Deviances after some of the messages he sent on social networks to followers in France were brought to their attention.
According to the agency, Flot frequently suggested that his “divine children” experience “a divine relationship” with him and join him in “an ascent to . . . leave this world for a new universe.”
“In New Age language, that means ending your days on Earth to reach another universe,” said the organization’s secretary-general, Hervé Machi.
The man also wrote on the web that his followers were ready to take off and move towards a vessel of light before a certain date.
In preparation, Flot asked his followers to undergo a “mental preparation” and some of them had already made funeral arrangements.
According to Machi, French judicial authorities have opened a preliminary investigation into Flot for possibly provoking suicide. They have also notified Canadian police about the case.
The prediction that the world is going to end on December 21, 2012, is being made by various cults who follow the Mayan calendar, which will reach the end of its 5,000 year existence in 2012. Many have interpreted this to mean that the world is going to end in some kind of cataclysmic event such as a planetary collision, spontaneous combustion, gravitational reversal, black-hole disappearance or any of a variety of other fiery predictions.
Unfortunately for France, Flot’s cult isn’t the only 2012 suicide sect causing problems. The London Daily Times is reporting that the French government believes the country is at risk for mass suicides ahead of 12/21/12 because of the various apocalyptic scenarios being presented on the internet. This includes one cult with a following in France that believes people will only be safe by traveling to a tiny town in southwest France known as Bugarach.
The website December212012.com reports that “Bugarach and its rocky outcrop, the Pic de Bugarach, have attracted an influx of New Age visitors in recent months, pushing up real estate values and also raising the threat of financial scams and psychological manipulation, according to the French government agency Miviludes.”
Apparently, Bugarach is considered “magical” because of what locals claim is an “upside down mountain” where the tops of the rocks are older than the lower ones. Internet rumors are circulating a variety of myths about the place, such as that it is surrounded by a magnetic force, that it is the site of a concealed alien base, and that it may contain underground access to another world.
With the day of doom looming ever nearer, French authorities are beginning to worry about the fallout, especially in light of the fact that public polls show France as being one of the most pessimistic countries in the world. For instance, just 17 percent of the population between the ages of 16 and 29 think the future looks promising, compared to 34 percent in Britain.
As Miviludes president George Fenech told Reuters, “I think we need to be careful. We shouldn’t get paranoid, but when you see what happened at Waco in the United States, we know this kind of thinking can influence vulnerable people.”
