Far Cry 5s real life counterparts (OC)

Having played and enjoyed Far Cry 5, I kept thinking: A religious cult having total control over a large area of land and quite a number of people, forming militias and luring people into their ranks, creating their own society with a charismatic leader convincing them to kill and be killed for him – all of this inside the USA – surely not? This couldn’t happen, right?

But how far fetched is it?

Ubisoft didn’t pull this out of thin air. Joseph Seed and Project Eden’s Gate is inspired by several real life historical figures. Here’s two very obvious ones.

Joseph Smith Jr. (1805-1844)

First off, Joseph Seed shares name with the charismatic leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an obvious nod to Joseph Smith. Smith was also in his mid-twenties when he founded his church in 1830, so I think Seed and he are roughly the same age. And the similarities go on:

-They both start a religious following centered around themselves as a person.

-They both claim to be spokespersons for God, and that their words have God’s authority.

-They both used their siblings as religious authorities, Seed with John, Jacob and Faith, Smith with his brother Hyrum.

-They both add to/replace the Bible as scripture, Smith with The Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price and Doctrines and Covenants, Seed with his own “Book of Joseph”. (I found the scene where a Bible is replaced with the Book of Joseph when someone is about to be sworn in to be very telling.) Ubisoft has released a physical version of the Book of Joseph, and while I haven’t read it, the layout of it is clearly based on the classic Book of Mormon look.

-They both set up communities/societies. Seed in Hope County, of course, and Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois – and his successor Brigham Young in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-They both had their own militia. Joseph Smith organized his “Nauvoo Legion”, which he himself was in charge of, to protect the land they had settled. At a time when the entire US Army numbered about 8500 troops, the Nauvoo Legion was 2500 men strong. Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo Legion clearly was a force to be reckoned with.

When Smith declared martial law and used his legion to destroy a printing press that was used to defame him, he was arrested along with his brother Hyrum. The prison they were kept in was stormed by a mob, and the brothers were killed.

I’ve often wondered: Had Smith not been killed, how far could he have gone? Could he have created his very own country or state in North America, separate from the Union, where he ruled? Could he have run for president? When compared to Joseph Smith, the scenario with the Peggies in Hope County doesn’t seem so far off.

One huge difference between Seed and Smith is of course that Smith lived in a time when there was still much land up for grabs. Smith lived in the wild west. The United States as we know it today, was not yet consolidated. It was a time of “manifest destiny”, of expansion westwards and setting up land for yourself. It was also not a time of the communication and infrastructure that Seed lives in. And, honestly, I thought the level of infrastructure the Peggies had at their disposal without the government intervening was ridiculous.

But could something like this happen in this day and age? I’m so glad you asked. Let’s take a look at Jim Jones…

Born in Indiana in the 1930s, he was a pastor who founded the cult The People’s Temple in the 1950s. The People’s Temple was a communist movement, and claiming that he wanted to set up a settlement that was safe from the threat of nuclear war, a place in Guyana, South America, was set up. Jones mixed communism, religion and the fear of nuclear war into a dangerous cocktail.
In 1974 a settlement was started by Jones and his followers, deep in the jungles of Guyana. It was an agricultural project, called “The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project”, and the likeness to Far Cry 5’s “Project Eden’s Gate” is obvious. The settlement was called informally called Jonestown, and just shy of a thousand people moved there.

Meanwhile, Jones came under the scrutiny of the media. Relatives and authorities were concerned about the wellbeing of the members – as well as the obvious unpopularity of communism amongst American authorities.
A group of officials and reporters travelled to Jonestown in November 1978. While there, some of the members of The Temple told the officials they wanted to defect and return to the US with them. As the group was set to leave by plane, a group of the Temple's Red Brigade security squad attacked the plane before it took off, killing and wounding several of both the original group and the defectors.

That evening Jim Jones assembled his flock, and telling them that Jonestown now would be dismantled by the authorities and that their children would be brought up to be fascists, he made them commit “revolutionary suicide” by drinking a cyanide-poisoned beverage. Over 900 persons died there, Jim Jones himself was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.

Part of the speech Jones made that night was recorded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkookcrAnSE

There are of course several similarities to Jim Jones and Joseph Seed. Jones was yet another charismatic leader bending people to do his will. This time, however, in our modern times.

-Both built up communities around themselves, sealed off from the rest of the world.

-Both had their own militia, making people shoot and kill innocent people.

-Both binding people so much to their own person that they literally decided whether their disciples lived or died.

Anyhoo. These are two prime examples of cultism from our own times and history that I think demonstrates that Far Cry 5’s scenario isn’t all that crazy. There are other examples, sadly, like the Waco siege in 1993 and the Tokyo subway attacks in 1995. Look it up.

Story/ending aside (no spoilers in comments, people, not everyone has finished the game yet), I found the premise to be thought provoking and interesting. I thought Ubisoft did a good job with this game, and I recommend it.

TL;DR: The Far Cry 5 scenario isn’t that far fetched, and is very much inspired by real events.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauvoo_Legion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauvoo,_Illinois
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown
Book of Joseph physical copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDSgqzT7z84
The game Far Cry 5, obv…

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FP edit: I'm just glad you guys took time to read and upvote, it took a bit of time (and my mad MS Paint skillz) to put this post together. Thanks a lot!
Also, I love reading all your comments on this, both on the game and on secterism. Thanks again :)