They Were Seeking Something More

Trying to Understand the Ritual Human Sacrifice at Pathways Ministries in Albion, Jamaica (Part 2)

Photo by Isaac Davis on Unsplash

I’m writing a series of essays on cults in an effort to try to understand the ritual human sacrifice of Tanika Gardener, a congregant of Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries (Pathways), at the church’s compound in Albion, Jamaica, just outside Montego Bay. As reported by The Daily Beast, Pathways’ leader pastor Kevin Smith, described Gardener as a “goat” that had to be sacrificed. Smith ordered another congregant, Andre Ruddock, to murder Gardener by cutting her throat. Ruddock complied. I find that baffling, particularly when I consider that, according to witnesses, Smith made the same demand of other church members, who refused. Ruddock had the example of others presenting a clear choice of morally right action. In addition, Gardener herself knelt willingly to be killed by Ruddock’s hand — a particularly distressing detail.

As part of my journey to learn more about cults that culminate in death, I recently watched the four-part HBO documentary, Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults, which discusses the so-called “UFO Cult,” whose members died by suicide in 1997 in Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego, California. The members believed a spaceship would arrive and take them to heaven. The 39…