Has there ever been a mass suicide attempt or action promoted by a religion, denomination, or specific church?

Yes, there have been several instances of mass suicide attempts or actions that were promoted by a religion or specific religious group. One of the most well-known examples is the Jonestown massacre, which occurred in 1978 in Guyana, South America. This was a mass suicide and murder of over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, a religious cult led by Jim Jones.

The members were instructed to drink a cyanide-laced drink, which led to their deaths. Jones had convinced his followers that the only way to escape persecution and ensure their place in the afterlife was to commit this act of mass suicide.

Another example is the Heaven’s Gate cult, which was a religious group founded in the 1970s that believed in extraterrestrial life and that the Earth was about to be “recycled.” In 1997, 39 members of the group committed suicide in San Diego, California by ingesting a mixture of phenobarbital and vodka, in the belief that their souls would leave their bodies and ascend to a spacecraft they believed was following the Hale-Bopp comet.

These tragic events demonstrate the dangerous consequences that can arise when religious beliefs are taken to an extreme and when individuals are subject to charismatic and manipulative leaders who exploit their followers’ faith for their own purposes. It is important to recognize the potential dangers of religious extremism and to promote tolerance, respect, and critical thinking in matters of faith.