To preface this post I would like to say that the following subject is somewhat provocative and gruesome. Throughout this post I will be focusing on The Ant Hill Kids, an infamous Canadian cult (or NRM – New Religous Movement) and detailing some of the occurrences that they are known for. You might be interested as to why I am posting on such a rousing topic, and the reason is I am currently participating in a unit in my PLP class about extreme beliefs and the psychology behind them.

Before we get into The Ant Hill cult however, we first must define what a cult is. Popularly, the word cult is simply used to mean “religion I don’t like” but in fact, a cult has a few defining characteristics that separate it from any old crazy spouting off prophecies. First of all, to be a cult, a group must be comprised of first generation members. Converts are always going to be fervently passionate and therefore will be easier to mold into blind devotees. Next, cults always market towards a certain demographic. This doesn’t necessarily mean everyone in the cult will fall inside the target audience but as a rule of thumb, most members share something in common (socio-economic status, race, gender, religion)  Thirdly, and arguably most importantly, all cults have a charismatic leader. The charisma is essential in attracting new members, keeping belief of current members and rationalizing radicalization within the movement.

In the case of The Ant Hill Kids, every one of these things was true. The Ant Hill Kids, who were originally members of the seventh day Adventist church in Quebec, were converted into The Ant Hill Kids by a charismatic leader by the name of Roch Thériault. Roch lead the group with beliefs of relinquishing physical possessions, especially intoxicants like tobacco and alcohol. Persuading followers they were starting a purer way of life. The Ant Hill Kids beliefs do stem from Christianity but quickly develop into an alternate narrative, turning into a Roch worshipping cult as he declares himself to be in direct contact with god.

Roch was born on May 16th, 1947 and in his early life was considered a very intelligent kid. As a child he was beaten by his father, which is a possible root for his violent fantasies and sociopathic narcissism. He grew up Catholic but strangely dropped out in 7th grade to pursue his interest in the Old Testament. It is believed that his future views grew from this initial interest. From this point on he would talk frequently about the end of the world and the battle between good and evil. Roch then converted to a seventh day Adventist, only to soon find out Adventism did not uphold his radicalized morals.

In 1976-1977 Roch started to build his own NRM. With his seemingly infinite persuasive skills he convinced several other members from his local church to join him. As a common NRM tactic, he convinced his followers to start a new life with him in a commune in northern Quebec. The goal of taking followers to a commune is the isolation that it offers. No outside influence or sane voices will any longer contribute to the thoughts of followers. Anything that Roch says at this point is taken as fact, especially as he cements his role as the new messiah. The Ant Hill Kids are named as such because Roch noted how his followers were like ants and kids, doing whatever he said (kid) and not having personal value (ant). While the commune does start peaceful, the normalcy quickly deteriorates as Roch begins claiming it is his religious right to have sex with every women in the cult, and also starts to prophesize about the soon coming “end of the world”. As the commune reaches the latter half of its roughly decade long run, several members try to escape but are all killed or brutally maimed. Finally, one woman escapes, fearing for her own and her child’s safety. When the police are alerted the commune begins to fall apart, with Roch going to prison and eventually meeting a bloody end while incarcerated in 2011. After a full scale investigation, bodies of several adults (mostly men) as well as children were found.

At this point, I think it’s pretty obvious how cult-like the Ant Hill Kids are but to reiterate, the Ant Hill Kids are NRM composed of all first generation members (except for babies), Which means they have the religious fervency to radicalize. They are all 7th day Adventists, which is the key demographic of the Ant Hill Kids. The Ant Hill Kids also have one of the most effective, charismatic leaders I’ve seen in NRM’s as Roch was able to summon a strong belief so quickly and powerfully. By the set definition, The Ant Hill Kids are Definitively a cult.

From a more speculative point of view, I believe the reason these people were so attracted to the cult was because of its small size. Due to the low membership count, Roch was able to have a deeply personal and paramount relationship with everyone in his NRM. This essentially encouraged snitching from group members to Roch, allowing complete interpersonal control of everything happening within the compound. I also think Roch was in the upper echelon of manipulation and persuasion, even in comparison to other NRM leaders.

In conclusion, I believe this is an example of an NRM which was never the largest or most impressive, but outlines what one can expect from a radicalized, isolated group with extreme beliefs. The Ant Hill Kids do a great job of outlining the phases a cult goes through on a smaller scale without alienating from the expected behaviours of larger new religious movements. At first the cult starts small and understandable but quickly becomes distant from common society both ideologically and geographically.