American Family Foundation
Cultic Studies Review An Internet Journal of Research, News & Opinion Volume 2, Number 3 2003
In Memoriam Herbert L. Rosedale, Esq. Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph.D. David Halperin, M.D.
Between November 4, 2003 and December 3, 2003 AFF lost three of its directors and Cultic Studies Review editorial board members, including AFF‘s president, Herbert L. Rosedale. We have posted memorial information on one of our Web sites. You will find a memorial index page at: http://www.cultinfobooks.com/pub_affnb/obit/idx_obit.htm
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 2
CONTENTS Print Version Articles Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Group Psychological Abuse Scale Carmen Almendros José Antonio Carrobles, Ph.D. Álvaro Rodrigues-Carballeira, Ph.D. Josep Maria Jansả, M.D.
6
Japanese Activities to Counter Cults Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Esq.
20
Writing Down the Pain: A Case Study of the Benefits of Writing for Cult Survivors K. Gordon Neufeld
23
A Psychoanalytic Look at Recovered Memories, Therapists, Cult Leaders, and Undue Influence Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W.
32
News Summaries Attleboro Sect Aum Shinrikyo Awaiting Christ Black Hebrews Child Abuse Church of God in Upland Creffield, Franz Cult Education Emankaya Four Winds Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints General Assembly and Church of the First Born God‘s Creation Outreach Ministry House of Prayer Kabbalah Centre Kids of North Jersey, Inc. Lord‘s Resistance Army LaRouche Magnificat Meal Movement Mujahedeen Khalk One Love Family Pathways Church Polygamy Puchon Sect Rael Rajneesh Reiki Repressed Memories Sikh Scientology Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 3
43 43 44 45 45 45 45 46 46 46 47 47 47 48 48 49 50 51 52 52 53 53 53 54 54 55 55 55 55 56
Transcendental Meditation Tvind Unification Church United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors Word of Faith Fellowship
59 59 60 60 61
*Note: these pages referenced are different than the original published journal. Please check the end of each article for the original pagination.
Additional documents on www.culticstudiesreview.org *Note: at the time of original publishing, these articles were available on the above web site. They are included at the end of this document, as listed below.
Articles 2002 Report Attention and Research on Social Addictions (AIS)
63
Extrapolation, Exaggeration, or Exculpations? Herbert L. Rosedale, Esq.
69
Book/Film Reviews The Matrix Cults – A Film Review Reviewed by Vladimir Tumanov
71
In the Shadow of the New Age: Decoding the Findhorn Foundation by J.P. Greenaway Reviewed by Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
76
The Religion that Kills: Christian Science, Abuse, Neglect, and Mind Control by Linda Kramer Reviewed by Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
79
The Church Universal and Triumphant: Elizabeth Clare Prophet’s Apocalyptic Movement by Bradley C. Whitsel Reviewed by Joseph Szimhart
80
Holy Madness: the Shock Tactics and Radical Teachings of Crazy-Wise Adepts, Holy Fools, and Rascal Gurus; The Mystery of Light: The Life and Teaching of Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov by Georg Fuerstein Reviewed by Joseph Szimhart
84
Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American Guru by Andre Van de Braak Reviewed by Joseph Szimhart
89
News Items
91
All Stars Project, Alien Harrod/Child Abuse, Amish, Amish-Mennonite, Aum Shinrikyo, Bountiful Community, Charles Manson, Christ‘s Churchy/International Church of Christ, Faith in God Christian Deliverance Church, Fundamentalist Child Abuse, Christian Zionists, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church of the Firstborn, Community of Free Spirits, Davis, Henry/Child Abuse, Deeper Life Christian Church, Destiny House (Word of Life International), Elizabeth Smart, Executive Success Programs/NXIVM, Faith Healing, Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith, False Memory, First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty, Forest Hills Baptist Church, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 4
Day Saints, God‘s Creation Outreach Ministry, Hare Krishna (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Harmony Worship Center Church, House of Prayer, Jehovah‘s Witnesses, Jonestown (Peoples Temple), Kids of North Jersey, Inc., LaRouche, Latter-day Church of Christ, Life Space, Lord‘s Resistance Army, Magnificat Meal Movement, Malvo, Lee Boyd, Nation of Islam, NXIVM Programmes Ltd/Exegesis, One Love Family, Pana Wave Laboratory, Polygamy, Prophet Hut, Rebirthing Therapy, Satanism, Scientology, Seventhday Adventist, Social Therapy, Solar Temple, Strategic Management Works, Superior Universal Alignment, Tekely, Alan, Theophostic Ministries, Tvind, United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, Voodoo, Waldorf Schools, Weigh Down, Werewolves, World Ministries, Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools.
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 5
Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Group Psychological Abuse Scale Carmen Almendros José Antonio Carrobles, Ph.D. Universidad Autonoma de Madrid Álvaro Rodríguez-Carballeira, Ph.D. Universidad de Barcelona Josep María Jansà, M.D. Atención e Investigación de Socioadicciones Abstract This paper presents preliminary results for the adaptation of the Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA) (Chambers, Langone, Dole & Grice, 1994), a measure of group psychological abuse, to a Spanish population. This scale is unique in assessing the varieties and extent of psychological abuse in group contexts. The Spanish translation of the scale has been administered to 61 self-identified former members of diverse manipulative groups who had involvements with any of a total of 21 different groups. The findings on the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of this scale indicate that it is a reliable and valid instrument that reveals a structure of group psychological abuse composed of three factors: Compliance, Mind Control and Exploitation. Key Words: Psychological Abuse; Psychological Persuasion; Emotional Violence; Mind Control
Manipulation;
Coercive
The existence of dogmatic groups with a certain paranoid component arouses considerable social unease (Jordán, 1991; Rodríguez, 1994). In these groups some people, who adopt beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that would have been strange to them in the absence of psychological manipulation, place themselves at the service of a doctrine used as an instrument by the leader and/or group. In this context, a motivation and justification is found for the performance of sometimes illegal, social actions. Given the ―ambiguity‖ of the concept ―cult‖— "secta," "secte," "setta," "sekta" are the preferred terms in Europe— (Langone, 1994) and the caution that is advised when applying the term to a specific group (Langone, 2001), the concept of psychological abuse is crucial to delimit and differentiate coercive cults from other minor and legitimate groups that do not employ techniques of psychological manipulation.i The concept of psychological abuse, according to Langone (1992), refers to practices through which people are treated as objects to be used and manipulated, instead of subjects whose mind, autonomy, identity, and dignity must be respected. Depending on the use, frequency, and intensity of abusive methods, distinctions can be made between manipulative and benign groups (Chambers, Langone & Malinoski, 1996). The Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA) (Chambers, Langone, Dole & Grice, 1994) constitutes an empirical approximation of the characterization of group contexts as a function of the varieties and the extent of psychological abuse. This scale has been used with North American subjects, with former members of different manipulative groups (Chambers et al., 1994; Aronoff, Marshall, Whitney, Malinoski & Martin, 2001) and with former members of the same manipulative group together or compared to former members of non manipulative groups (Adams, 1998; Gasde & Block, 1998; Langone, 1996; Malinoski, Langone & Lynn 1999). Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 6
In order to generate the items of the scale, the investigators considered: (a) a Delphi study conducted by Dole and Dubrow-Eichel (1985) that examined the perceptions different experts had on cults; (b) Langone's (1992) theoretical analysis of psychological abuse; and (c) a review of the clinical literature on cults and thought reform programs. Afterwards, a factor analysis of the mail responses given by 308 former members of 101 different groups to 112 descriptive items was performed. Subjects were contacted through lists provided by associations that provided educational programs on cults, ex-member organizations, and professionals. This paper presents preliminary data on the adaptation of the GPA to the Spanish population. Besides contributing to the need for a reliable instrument that could evaluate psychological abuse in group contexts, this study, by looking at group psychological abuse across different cultural groups, lays the groundwork for comparative studies that may provide a multicultural knowledge base, which would be more valuable than knowledge based on a single culture. Method Subjects The Spanish version of the GPA scale was administered to 61 subjects from different provinces within Spain. These subjects were contacted through data provided by associations working on information, education, and advice on group psychological manipulation (42.6%), mental health professionals, who were not necessarily in touch with the subject matter (21.3%), and some former members, who were taking part in this study and facilitated contact with other former members (36.1%). The inclusion criterion was that subjects identified themselves as former members of groups using manipulative methods to attract, indoctrinate, and keep members inside the group. This criterion implies a feeling of belonging or of having been a member of the group and excludes those who had just a brief contact. Out of the 61 selected subjects, 68.9% (42 subjects) participated in the interviewer‘s presence, whereas 31.1% (19 subjects) completed the Scale through ordinary mail. A total of 34 subjects (55.7%) were male, and 27 female (44.3%). Participant‘s mean age was 44.33 years (SD = 11.0). They had belonged to one of a total of 21 different groups. They got in touch with the groups at a mean age of 29.04 years (SD = 12.10) and joined them at a mean age of 29.58 years (SD = 11.13), ranging, in both cases, from a minimum age of 3 years to a maximum of 56 years. The average length of membership was 8.75 years (SD = 7.96), with a range of 0.33 to 31.25 years of membership since they first met their groups. The average length of time between exiting the group and participating in the study was 6.50 years (SD = 7.11), with a median of 3.58 years and a range of 0.25 to 33.33 years. Instruments Spanish version of the Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA). Developed by Chambers, Langone, Dole & Grice (1994), the GPA Scale is a standardized measure used to evaluate psychological abuse in group environments. It is a self-administered instrument, easily understood and quickly completed by subjects. It consists of 28 items, 7 for each of the four subscales: Compliance, Exploitation, Mind Control, and Anxious Dependency. Each item is rated on a 1-5 Likert scale ranging from 1= not at all characteristic to 5 = very characteristic, with a possible range for each subscale from 7 to 35, and for the global measure a range from 28 to 140. Scores above the midpoint—21 for each subscale and 84 for the global scale—are considered positive, indicating that the subject perceived the group as abusive. The reliability coefficients identified in the original work were, according to the authors, satisfactory, varying from 0.70 for Mind Control to 0.81 for Compliance.
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Adaptation process For the Spanish adaptation of the GPA scale, we followed the international methodological standards recommended by the International Test Commission (ITC) in order to adequately adapt instruments from one culture to a new one (Hambleton, 1994; Hambleton, 1996; Muñiz & Hambleton, 2000). Specifically, we followed these steps: 1. Ensure that the constructs used in different languages and cultural groups of interest were equivalent. For this purpose, we were assisted by a team of six researchers of renowned experience in the subject matter, who were interviewed in order to evaluate whether the constructs measured by the instrument in the original language and group, could be found in a similar form and frequency in the target group to which the adapted instrument was aimed. 2. We decided to adapt an existing instrument instead of developing a new one, due to the interest shown in previous occasions to carry out transcultural studies, which means using common instruments adapted to different languages. 3. We selected two qualified translators, one of them Spanish and the other North American, both with experience in translations from American English into Spanish, and vice versa, and a wide knowledge of both involved cultures. Both had lived for long periods of time in the country different from the one they originally came from. Before reviewing the scale, both translators went through individual training sessions on the constructs being evaluated and on test construction (i.e., multiple response choices, etc.) 4. The GPA scale was translated by the Spanish translator (see Figure 1: Translator A) from the original source language into Spanish. After being reviewed by one of the constructors of the Spanish version, and with the agreement of the team of researchers, the instrument was back-translated by the North American translator into American English (Translator B). 5. The adapted version of the instrument was then reviewed and went through the necessary corrections. First, the team of experts evaluated the equivalence of the instrument by comparing both English versions: original and back-translated versions. According to that, the Spanish version was reviewed, and slight modifications were introduced in the Spanish version. A pilot study was then carried out with the adapted instrument being administered to a sample of 20 former members of diverse manipulative groups, who were also interviewed in order to get their opinion on the different aspects related to the understanding of instructions, item‘s writing, etc. As a consequence, and together with the psychometric results obtained, some modifications were again introduced in the final Spanish version of the instrument. 6. Finally, this last version was administered to 61 subjects, who identified themselves as former members of diverse manipulative groups. We then analyzed the psychometric results obtained and, following a new revision carried out by the team of researchers, we got the final Spanish version of the instrument. (See Appendix) Procedure The evaluations were carried out in 13 different provinces inside Spain, corresponding to the different places of residence of the subjects who took part in the study. Certain characteristics of some members of the sample, i.e., difficult to get in touch with, a reluctance to attend an interview in person, geographical distance, made us consider two different ways to take part in this study: one was physical attendance, and the second was by ordinary mail. In both cases, a qualified interviewer informed the subjects about the Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 8
characteristics of the study (those who participated via ordinary mail were informed by phone), and once they gave their informed consent to take part in it, they were provided with the necessary instruments to be completed and returned. Analysis Statistical analyses were carried out using the statistical program SPSS-PC, version 10.0 for Windows, as follows: First, the Student‘s t distribution helped us examine the existence of statistically significant differences among the global scores of the Attending and Mail samples. The following analysis focused on the psychometric characteristics of the Spanish version of the scale, taking as a reference the original structure. Next we used the Principal Components Factor Analysis with Oblimin rotation to examine the construct validity of the scale for the Spanish sample and observed psychometric properties for the new factorial structure. Finally, taking the average scores for each item in the Spanish and North American samples, we used the Mann-Whitney U test to compare the mean of the average scores related to the new subscales found in the Spanish sample. Results The 61 participants were initially assigned to two different groups depending on the kind of participation: Attending (n=42) and by Mail (n=19). As no significant differences (t=1.150; p=0.255) were found between both groups in the global scores for the GPA scale, from then on both groups were considered together for the rest of the analysis. Item analysis We analyzed the 28 items of the original GPA scale. In Table 1, there is an English language description of the items and the average, standard deviation and the item-total correlation for each item. Items 1, 5, 21, 22, 25 and 26, which inversely evaluate the construct they refer to, are shown in this table previously recodified. As it can be observed, three of the items show a low correlation with the total of the scale, in particular item 5 (―medical help okay‖), whose index (-0.044) indicates that it is barely related to the rest of the items, and that this almost non existent relation goes in the opposite direction to that of the rest of the scale. Similarly, items 6 (―politics major goal‖) and 22 (―can think critically‖) take the values of 0.16 and 0.17 respectively. According to the original authors of the scale, these three items are related to the following subscales: Item 5 to Anxious Dependency, Item 6 to Exploitation and Item 22 to Mind Control. Correlations between each item of the test and its corresponding subscale were also calculated, showing an average item-subscale correlation of 0.45 for Compliance, 0.40 for Exploitation, 0.32 for Anxious Dependency, and 0.43 for Mind Control. The average itemglobal scale correlation was 0.48, which is higher than the same correlation obtained for the original North American sample (0.42). Table 1 Mean, standard deviation (SD) and item-total correlation (rjx) Item description
M
SD
rjx
R1. sex lives not dictated
3.30
1.70
0.24
2. women seduce for group
1.67
1.27
0.30
3. breaking law okay
3.03
1.63
0.48
4. sacrifice own goals
4.03
1.40
0.69
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R5. medical help okay
3.15
1.46
-0.04
6. politics major goal
2.56
1.53
0.16
7. leaving is damnation
3.43
1.70
0.58
8. no negative emotions
4.02
1.31
0.51
9. members part of elite
4.61
,92
0.51
10. criticism is evil
4.16
1.43
0.55
11. coercive persuasion
4.49
1.01
0.49
12. violence to outsiders
2.31
1.49
0.36
13. group lives together
3.38
1.67
0.56
14. intimacy dictated
3.77
1.64
0.52
15. stay because deceived
4.18
1.19
0.64
16. exercises remove doubt
4.00
1.37
0.35
17. no medical help
2.49
1.55
0.25
18. serve leaders
4.25
1.29
0.55
19. money major goal
4.08
1.28
0.61
20. critics threatened
3.03
1.47
0.53
R21. members make decisions
4.08
1.39
0.36
R22. can think critically
4.13
1.42
0.17
23. leader is divine
4.11
1.40
0.39
24. mind control used
4.34
1.09
0.34
R25. little psychological pressure
4.08
1.39
0.38
R26. criticism rare
3.51
1.53
0.51
27. recruiting major goal
4.66
,91
0.36
28. members must consult
4.18
1.22
0.58
Taking the original structure of the instrument, and in order to examine its reliability, we calculated the internal consistency using Cronbach‘s Alpha index. The values found show, in general, an adequate internal consistency of the scale for the Spanish sample (α =0.87), which is even higher than the consistency showed by the original scale (α =0.81). As far as the subscales are concerned, values are, in almost all cases, less than those obtained by the authors of the original scale, especially for the subscale Anxious Dependency (α =0.59), which shows an alpha index considerably lower than the same subscale in the original North American sample (α =0.72). The Mind Control subscale, however, shows a higher value for the Spanish sample (α =0.76) with regard to the original (α =0.70).
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Pearson correlation coefficients were also calculated between the subscales and between subscales and the global scale. In both cases, the correlations reached the significance level of 0.01. Validity Analysis The construct validity, or the organization and precision of the constructs analyzed within a coherent theoretical framework (Muñiz, 1998), was examined through an exploratory factor analysis. This analysis helped elicit latent variables, which were lying under the group of observed variables (García, Gil & Rodríguez, 2000). This method has become one of the most frequently used alternatives when there is an absence of a pattern or criterion, as in our case. The extraction method used was Principal Components and Oblimin rotation. Table 2 shows, first, the factors obtained, as well as the percentage of the variance attributable to each of them, and second, the eigenvalues of the rotated factors. As can be observed, three factors accounted before rotation for 42.3% of the total variance. Factor 1, labeled Compliance, explains 26.6% of the variance; Factor 2, Mind Control, explains 8.7%; and Factor 3, Exploitation, explains the remaining 7.01%. Table 2 shows as well the results of the factor analysis. When considering the direction in which items saturate, it is necessary to remember that items 1, 5, 21, 22, 25 and 26 inversely evaluate the construct they refer to. The direction of the items of the second factor, known as Mind Control, shows that it refers to the positive aspect in the sense of psychological autonomy. Regarding item 9, with almost identical saturation for factors 1 (0.410) and 2 (-0.408), we have decided to keep it in Factor 2. Item 5 which, as previously noted, was scarcely related to the rest of the items has been removed from Factor 2, where it shows a slightly higher saturation, because of its discordant behavior with the rest of the items which compose Factor 2. Item-subscales correlations Given the new subscales, correlations between each item of the test and its corresponding scale and subscale were calculated. Table 3 shows the range of item-scale correlation values (out of 27 items, not including item 5) as well as item-subscales, average and number of items belonging to each of the subscales (n). Item-subscale correlations were all over 0.20 for all of the items, with the average values higher than those obtained in the original distribution of the scale. Reliability Analysis We also analyzed the reliability of the three subscales by calculating the internal consistency using Cronbach‘s Alpha Index. Table 3, contains the internal consistency values obtained for each subscale. As it can be observed, all the values are above 0.70, showing an adequate internal consistency for each of the three subscales. On the other hand, the final 27-item scale (once item 5 was removed) produced an alpha index of 0.88.
Table 2 Factors, with eigenvalue and percentage of explained variance. Factor Label
%Variance
Eigenvalue
1 Compliance
26.56
5.99
2 Mind Control
8.71
3.58
3 Exploitation
7.01
4.55
2
3
1
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Item 18
,769
Item 7
,700
Item 27
,695
Item 10
,676
Item 19
,662
Item 4
,615
Item 23
,614
Item 28
,497
Item 8
,485
Item 9
,410
-,408
Item 21
,758
Item 22
,711
Item 25
,628
Item 16
-,534
Item 5
,453
,470
Item 15
-,468
Item 11
-,356
Item 1
,283
Item 24
-,283
-,125
Item 20
,696
Item 12
,666
Item 13
,646
Item 2
,566
Item 14
,480
Item 3
,429
Item 26
,324
-,426
Item 17
,385
Item 6
,359
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Table 3 Item-scale correlations and Cronbach’s Alpha values Nr of Correlation Mean Alpha ite range ms GPA
27
,24
,73
,50
,88
Compliance
9
,47
,70
,60
,86
Mind control
9
,24
,57
,43
,74
Exploitation
9
,21
,64
,44
,76
Scores in the GPA Spanish Version The average score of this 27 item Spanish version of the GPA scale was 99.82 (SD=18.66) for the sample of 61 Spanish subjects. As far as the 9 item subscales are concerned, Mind Control showed the highest average score (37.21; SD=6.65) followed by Compliance (36.91; SD=8.34), and Exploitation with the lowest average score (25.75; SD=8.07). Taking the average scores for each item in the original North American and Spanish samples, we used the Mann-Whitney U test in order to analyze whether there were statistically significant differences amongst means of the average scores obtained in the North American and Spanish samples in the Spanish version of the scale and subscales. Figure 2 shows the means obtained in both samples and the Mann-Whitney U test values for the global scale and for each subscale. There were no statistically significant differences either among means of the average scores obtained in both samples for the total scale or for any of the subscales. Although the means for the Spanish sample were slightly lower, a similar pattern can be observed for the varieties of psychological abuse. Discussion Results obtained in the present work, though preliminary, show an adequate validity and reliability for the Spanish version of the GPA scale, with enough empirical evidence to support its appropriateness for evaluating psychological abuse in group contexts. Of the three subscales found for our sample, the first, Compliance, refers to a relationship of submission where the subject bows to the group‘s will and/or the leader, who favor a strong dependency among members. This dependency is emotionally expressed towards the leader, who is regarded as a superior being, not subject to criticism or negative expression. Fear of the consequences if they dare to leave the group generates insecurity and becomes a factor that justifies any instruction given by the leader. In this way, compliance becomes a behavior in the shape of servitude towards the leaders and their instructions, even with sacrifice of personal goals and belongings, which leads to final acceptance and dissemination of the doctrine. The second subscale, Mind Control, refers to members' regarding themselves as a part of a special elite group and to the use of coercive persuasion by the group, that is, the use of deceit and psychological pressure, members' inability to make their own decisions or independent, critical judgments, and the use of thoughtstopping techniques. The third subscale, Exploitation, describes the relationship with the outer environment of the group. In this sense, there is a clear isolation from the outside; groups are closed; members live together; and even intimate relationships, if allowed, are controlled. This subscale also includes a component of deviation from the norm, that is, the behavior of the group regarding people who are not related to it (threats, violence) or the
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environment (breaking the law). So far as behaviors inside the group are concerned, this subscale refers to a certain despotism towards the members, who are criticized or led to certain activities or attitudes such as prostitution or rejection of medical care. When comparing this factor structure to the one found by the original authors, there are similarities in the dimensions for both versions. The subscale Compliance in the Spanish sample is mostly the product of elements of two subscales, Compliance and Anxious Dependency, in the original version. In this sense, we understand that both original subscales are conveniently expressed under the term Compliance, taking into consideration that the construct refers both to items describing submission and obedience to an authority figure (leader/s or group), as well as extreme dependency to it. Thus, in the new subscale, Compliance, we find the four items from Anxious Dependency that mainly accounted for the covariance in the original subscale, those with the highest values of item-total correlation (Items: 7, 8, 10 and 23; Values: 0.49, 0.34, 0.54 and 0.39 respectively). The remaining three items of Anxious Dependency: 5, 16 and 17, had lower values for the item-total correlation (0.03, 0.19 and 0.25). Item 5 was excluded from the scale as it hardly related to the global scale. We are of the opinion that item 16 (―exercises remove doubt‖), that has been moved to the subscale Mind Control for the Spanish sample, refers better to this one than to Anxious Dependency because, although the exercises described in the item are driven by negative emotions (fear, guilt) experienced by the members, the item does not ask about them, but refers to the purpose of those exercises (cognitive control). Finally, we also consider that item 17 (―no medical help‖) is better placed in the subscale Exploitation, to which it is moved for the Spanish version, as it represents an action carried out by the group to the detriment of its members. As far as the subscale Mind Control obtained in the Spanish version is concerned, it corresponds almost perfectly with the same subscale in the original instrument. Finally, the subscale Exploitation has remained almost the same as in the original. In our study we have observed an important fact, which is the similarity of the varieties of psychological abuse shown by former members of different manipulative groups in two cultural contexts: North American and Spanish. When comparing the average scores for both samples, we found that in both cases the subscale with the highest average score was Mind Control (Spanish average: 37.21; North American average: 39.70), followed by Compliance (Spanish average: 36.91; North American average: 37.36) and finally the subscale Exploitation (Spanish average: 25.75; North American average: 30.13). All this strengthens the hypothesis that the most consistent factor in abusive groups is mind control, leaving at a second level other aspects like isolation, which is more characteristic of other kind of organizations or of brainwashing processes, mentioned by Lifton (1961) in his initial studies. Among the limitations of this study, we could mention the difficulty in verifying the representativeness of the sample regarding the universe of different situations of people who have been involved in manipulative groups. All this is due to the difficulty, usual in this kind of study, of getting in touch with former members of manipulative groups in a way that produces adequate sample sizes and permits the use of probabilistic methods, especially when, as in our case, 68.9% of the sample were interviewed, with just a few subjects being surveyed after information was provided by phone (Almendros, 2001; Langone, 1994). Our sample of 61 subjects is not the most adequate in size for the kind of analysis we have used, especially if we consider the large number of items in the original scale (28 items). Therefore the data obtained should be viewed as preliminary. However, the ratio subjects/items in our study is similar to the one in the original study (308/112). In future studies, it will be helpful to analyze the diagnostic validity of the Spanish version of the scale, using as comparison a group of former members of non manipulative groups. Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 14
This has been done in two published North American studies (Adams, 1998; Langone, 1996; Malinoski, Langone & Lynn, 1999) and one unpublished study (Mascarenas, 2003). References Adams, D.L. (1998). Perceived Psychological Abuse and the Cincinnati Church of Christ. Brief Report. Cultic Studies Journal, 15(1), 87-88. Almendros, C. (2001). Investigación en el ámbito de las sectas coercitivas. In Asesoramiento e Información sobre Sectas (Ed.), Jornada trastorn de la dependència grupal en els grups de manipulació psicològica o sectes coercives (pp. 39-50). Barcelona. Aronoff, J., Marshall, R., Whitney, J., Malinoski, P.T., Martin, P.R. (2001). Psychological Research. AFF 2001 Annual Conference. Video production. Chambers, W.V., Langone, M.D., Dole, A.A., & Grice, J.W. (1994). The Group Psychological Abuse scale: a measure of the varieties of cultic abuse. Cultic Studies Journal, 11(1), 88-117. Chambers, W.V., Langone, M.D., & Malinoski, P.T. (1996). The Group Psychological Abuse Scale. Presented to Division 36 (Psychology of Religion) American Psychological Association Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2001, from http://www.csj.org/studyindex/studyresearch/study_ gpa.htm Dole, A.A., & Dubrow-Eichel, S. (1985). Some new religions are dangerous. Cultic Studies Journal, 2(1), 17-30. García, E., Gil, J., & Rodríguez, G. (2000). Análisis Factorial. Cuadernos de Estadística,7. Madrid: Editorial La Muralla. Gasde, I., & Block, R.A. (1998). Cult Experience: Psychological abuse, distress, personality characteristics, and changes in personal relationships reported by former members of Church Universal and Triumphant. Cultic Studies Journal, 15(2), 192-221. Hambleton, R.K. (1994). Guidelines for adapting educational and psychological tests: a progress report. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 10(3), 229-244. Hambleton, R.K. (1996). Adaptación de tests para su uso en diferentes idiomas y culturas: Fuentes de error, posibles soluciones y directrices prácticas. In J. Muñiz (Coord.), Psicometría. Madrid: Universitas. Jordán Villacampa, Mª.L. (1991). Las sectas pseudorreligiosas. Ministerio de Justicia. Secretaría General Técnica. Centro de Publicaciones. Madrid. Langone, M.D. (1992). Psychological abuse. Cultic Studies Journal, 9(2), 206-218. Langone, M.D. (1994). Investigación sobre los cultos destructivos. In Asesoramiento e Información sobre Sectas (Ed.), II Congreso Internacional sobre Grupos Totalitarios y Sectarismo (pp. 63-83). Barcelona. Langone, M.D. (1996). Study reveals cultic group‘s abuses Boston Church of Christ / International Churches of Christ Movement. AFF. Cultic Studies Study Resources. Research. Retrieved November 7, 2001, from http://www.csj. org studyindex/studyresearch/study_reshboston.htm Langone, M.D. (2001). Cults, psychological manipulation, and society: International perspectives - an overview. Cultic Studies Journal, 18, 1-12. Lifton, R.J. (1961). Thought reform and the psychology of totalism. New York: W.W. Norton. Malinoski, P.T., Langone, M.D., & Lynn, S.J. (1999). Psychological distress in former members of the International Churches of Christ and noncultic groups. Cultic Studies Journal, 16(1), 33-51. Muñiz, J. (1998). La medición de lo psicológico. Psicothema, 10(1), 1-21. Muñiz, J., & Hambleton, R.K. (2000). Adaptación de los tests de unas culturas a otras. Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, 2(2), 129-149. Rodríguez, P. (1994). Tu hijo y las sectas Madrid: Ediciones Temas de Hoy. Zablocki, B. (1997). Paper presented to a conference, ―Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues,‖ May 31, 1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 15
Addendum: Figures Figure 1
GPA (Original V.) Monolingual Constructor Revision
Translator A:
Team Consensus Conceptual
Translation
Equivalence
Version 1 I - Translator B:
II – Specialists Team
III – Pilot Study
Back-translation
Version 2 Psychometric Study
Team Revision
Final V. 3 Figure 1: Adaptation process
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MEAN SCORES 5 4 3 2 1 Spanish mean USA
Complianc e 4.1 0 4.1 5
mean
Mind C.4.1 3 4.4 1
Exploitatio n 2.8 6 3.3 5
GPA (27 items):
Z=-1.68; p=0.09
Compliance:
Z=-0.53; p=0.60
Mind Control:
Z=-1.86; p=0.06
GP A3.7 0 3.9 7
Exploitation: p=0.14 Figure 2: Differences between meanZ=-1.46; scores of the Spanish and North American samples. Appendix: Spanish Version of GPA Scale A.1. Instructions:
Esta escala ha sido diseñada para evaluar determinadas características de los grupos religiosos, psicoterapéuticos, políticos y comerciales, entre otros. Por favor, evalúe lo mejor que pueda el grado en que las siguientes afirmaciones caracterizan el grupo que está usted considerando. Evalúe retrospectivamente cada afirmación de acuerdo con su experiencia y sus observaciones sobre cómo funcionaba el grupo en la práctica. Si su grupo tenía distintos niveles o jerarquías de pertenencia, con claras diferencias entre ellas, por favor, aplique sus evaluaciones al nivel sobre el que tenga un mayor conocimiento. Piense cuidadosamente cada respuesta de modo que proporcione la evaluación más apropiada. Rodee con un círculo el número correspondiente.
A.2. Response choices: 1 – Nada característico; 2 – Poco característico; 3 – No podría decir/ No estoy seguro/a; 4 – Bastante característico; 5 – Totalmente característico. A.3. Items: 1. El grupo no indica a sus miembros cómo comportarse sexualmente 2. Se dan directrices a las mujeres jóvenes para que usen sus cuerpos con el propósito de manipular o de reclutar nuevos miembros. 3. El grupo aboga por o da a entender que transgredir la ley es adecuado si sirve a los intereses del grupo.
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4. Se espera que los miembros pospongan o renuncien a sus metas personales, vocacionales y educacionales con el fin de trabajar para el grupo. 5. El grupo anima a los miembros que estén enfermos a buscar asistencia médica. 6. El logro de influencia política constituye una meta fundamental para el grupo. 7. Los miembros creen que abandonar el grupo supondría la muerte o daño irreparable para ellos o sus familiares. 8. El grupo dificulta que los miembros expresen emociones negativas. 9. Los miembros sienten que son parte de una elite especial. 10. Se enseña que las personas que son críticas con el grupo se encuentran bajo la influencia de fuerzas demoníacas o dañinas. 11. Se utiliza la persuasión coercitiva y el control mental. 12. El grupo aprueba algún tipo de violencia contra personas ajenas al grupo (Por ej.: contra ―comunistas satánicos‖). 13. Se espera de los miembros que vivan con otros miembros del grupo. 14. Los miembros deben seguir las normas del grupo a la hora de salir con personas del otro sexo o de tener relaciones íntimas. 15. Las personas que permanecen en el grupo lo hacen porque están engañadas y manipuladas. 16. El grupo enseña prácticas especiales (meditación, cánticos, hablar en lenguas...) para apartar las dudas o los pensamientos negativos de la conciencia. 17. Se desaconseja la atención médica, aunque pueda existir un problema médico real. 18. Se espera que los miembros sirvan a los líderes del grupo. 19. Recaudar dinero constituye una meta principal para el grupo. 20. El grupo no duda en usar la amenaza frente a personas ajenas que critican al grupo. 21. Se espera que los miembros tomen sus propias decisiones sin consultar con el/los líder/es del grupo. 22. Los miembros mantienen la capacidad de tener un juicio crítico e independiente, como antes de unirse al grupo. 23. El grupo cree o da a entender que su líder es de naturaleza divina o muy superior. 24. Se utiliza el control mental sin el consentimiento consciente de los miembros. 25. Los miembros son sometidos a poca presión psicológica por parte de los líderes. 26. El/los líder/es del grupo raramente critica/n a los miembros. 27. Una meta importante para el grupo es la de reclutar miembros. 28. Se espera que los miembros consulten a los líderes antes de tomar la mayoría de las decisiones, incluyendo las que tienen que ver con el trabajo, la educación de los niños, el visitar o no a la familia, etc. Acknowledgements This work has been possible thanks to the participation of people who have taken part in it and/or have encouraged others to participate, as well as the fine work of our two translators: Montse and James. It was financially supported in part by the American Family Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 18
Foundation (AFF) under the project title, ―Spanish Adaptation of the GPA Scale‖. The authors appreciate the comments and suggestions made by Peter Malinoski, Ph.D. and Michael Langone, Ph.D. The paper is a slightly edited translation of the original Spanish version of the paper, "Adaptacion Psicometrica de la Version Espanola de la Group Psychological Abuse Scale Para la Medida de Abuso Psicologico en Contextos Grupales, which was published in Psicothema, Vol. 15, No. 4 (2003), pp. 132-138, and is translated with that journal's permission.
1
For the purposes of this paper, the term "cult" ("secte," "secta," "setta," and "sekta") will be defined according to Zablocki (1997): "an ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and demanding total commitment." This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Review, 2003, Volume 2, Number 3, pages 203-224. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
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Japanese Activities to Counter Cults Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Esq. In this brief paper I will discuss Japanese responses to three areas pertinent to cults: (1) judicial standards in cases involving donations; (2) the position taken by the French National Congress; and (3) Falun Gong. Judicial Standards in Cases Involving Donations In the Japanese civil courts over ten cases found the Unification Church liable for activities related to persuading people to make donations. Several other organizations were also ordered to pay compensation to victims because of the illegal activities of demanding donations from new followers. Plaintiffs have lost cases against religious cults for two reasons. First, the activities of the religious members were declared legal due to lack of evidence. Second, their activities were not found to be illegal because the plaintiffs had been willing to pay donations at the time. What is the standard for civil courts to decide legal vs. Illegal? There is obviously a fine line between right and wrong, legal and illegal. And this is when social norms must be considered. But what is considered a social norm by the Japanese courts? Recently, Japanese courts have identified three objective elements by which to judge relevant social norms: 1. Intention. When the aim of activities is mainly for raising money, these activities tend to be considered illegal. 2. Methods used to get money, including (a) how long pressure was put on victims for donations; (b) how many members were involved in each incident of pressure and what kind of place this pressure took place in; (c) what is revealed by the organization‘s instructional manuals. 3.
Effect, e.g., the amount of money donated.
Cultic religious organizations as defendants try to insist that the victims as plaintiffs were willing to donate, or emphasize that members did not use forceful methods. However as Japanese courts consider the objective elements and objective evidence of each case to be more important than the psychological elements and subjective opinions of the defendants, the activities of Moonies, for example, have often been ruled illegal on an objective basis. Using these objective standards the Japanese civil courts have often ruled that the organized activities of Moonies are illegal and The Unification Church is liable (see Appendix 1). Position Taken by the French National Congress My colleagues and I strongly admire the stance on cult issues of the French National Congress with its passage of the Anti-Sect Law in May 2001. We are sure that this will protect citizens from the poison of destructive cults in that it prohibits dangerous activities, mind control techniques, and other mind-abusing activities of cults. However, the adoption of such an approach in Japan is likely to be obstructed for the following reasons: 4. Japanese citizens don‘t trust the police or the government. In contrast, French people seem to rely on the police. In Japan there is the fear that the empowerment of the police force may lead to violations of human rights and discrimination of minorities.
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5. In Japan several large religious organizations were established around 1860. If the Japanese Diet attempted to make a similar law to that in France, these large organizations could possibly obstruct the introduction of such a law. 6. It can be difficult to define which activities are crimes. Moreover, the kinds of activities that are illegal would be clearer in the criminal court than in the civil court. Currently in Japan, the civil courts have handled such cases and established standards but not yet the criminal court. Therefore, we need to make a clear standard for the definition of illegal activities, not only in the civil courts but also in the criminal courts. Falun Gong in China Many Japanese opinion leaders criticize the Chinese government's policies regarding Falun Gong, claiming that these policies are a breach of international human rights. The corruption of the communist bureaucrats is clear in Chinese society. Such corruption has led many Chinese citizens to rely on new religious movements, such as Falun Gong. The negative impact of new religious movements on the power of the Emperor of China approximately 200 years ago is likely the main reason for the current Chinese Governments fear of new religious movements. Hence, many Japanese people believe that the Chinese government's reaction to Falun Gong is based on a fear of losing control to new religious movements. However, the actual activities of Falun Gong are not clear, even in Japan. There are rumors that Falun Gong uses mind control techniques and that Falun Gong demands too much money from followers. But there is no objective evidence to prove these rumors either way. Neither the Chinese government nor the Falun Gong organization has given any clear objective evidence to support their subjective opinions. We are afraid of being used and misled by both sides. Consequently, we are unable to officially make a statement concerning Falun Gong. We have been and will continue to watch both sides carefully. Appendix 1 Judgments handed down by courts in Japan against the Unification Church include: 1. Judgment by the Fukuoka District Court, May 27, 1994; Upheld by the Fukuoka High Court, February 19, 1996; Finalized by the Supreme Court, September 18, 1997 The Fukuoka District Court, High Court and Supreme Court all ruled that the Unification Church is liable for the unlawful procurement of monetary donations from plaintiffs (two widows). The Unification Church was ordered to pay the plaintiffs the sum of $300,000. 2. Judgment by the Tokyo District Court, October 24, 1997; Upheld by the Tokyo High Court, September 22, 1998; Finalized by the Supreme Court, March, 11, 1999 The Tokyo District Court, High Court and Supreme Court all ruled that the Unification Church is liable for the unlawful procurement of monetary donations from the plaintiff (a woman). The Unification Church was ordered to pay the plaintiff the sum of $210,000. 3. Judgment by the Nara District Court, April 16, 1997; Upheld by the Osaka High Court, June29, 1999; Finalized by the Supreme Court, January21, 2000 The Nara District Court, and the Osaka High Court and Supreme Court all ruled that the Unification Church is liable for the unlawful procurement of monetary donations from the plaintiffs (two women). The Unification Church was ordered to pay the plaintiffs the sum of
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$70,000. In addition, the Nara District Court recognized that the Unification Church has been perpetrating unlawful acts as a religious corporate body. 4.
Judgment by the Takamatsu District Court, December 3, 1996.
The Unification Church was ordered to pay the plaintiff the sum of $60,000. 5. Judgment by the Sendai District Court, March 23, 1999; Upheld by the Sendai High Court, January 16, 2001; Finalized by the Supreme Court, June 8,2001 The Sendai District Court, High Court, and Supreme Court all ruled that the Unification Church is liable for the illegal practice of selling "ginseng extract" to the plaintiffs (three women). The Unification Church as the defendant was ordered to pay the plaintiffs the sum of $67,000. 6. Judgment by the Fukuoka District Court, December 16, 1999; Upheld by the Fukuoka High Court, March 29, 2001; Finalized by the Supreme Court, October 16, 2001 The Fukuoka District Court, High Court, and Supreme Court all ruled that the Unification Church and its business front company "Happy World" are legally liable for the illegal practice of selling such items as marble towers, Buddha statues and ginseng extract to the plaintiffs (two women). The Unification Church was ordered to pay the plaintiffs the sum of $500,000. See the English Web site of the National Network of Lawyers Against the Spiritual Sales: http://www.mesh.ne.jp/reikan/ Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Esq. is an attorney with Tokyo Kyodo Law office in Tokyo, Japan.
This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Review, 2003, Volume 2, Number 1, pages 225-229. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
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Writing Down the Pain: A Case Study of the Benefits of Writing for Cult Survivors K. Gordon Neufeld Calgary, Canada Abstract Cult survivors are often urged to write down what they remember about their cult experiences as a way of resolving the ongoing harmful effects of those experiences, yet little has been written about why this is helpful. In this paper, I will demonstrate the benefits of writing by providing examples of how doing so assisted me in my own life. I was a member of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon‘s Unification Church, popularly known as the ―Moonies,‖ for ten years. The Unification Church is the organization more properly known as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, which was founded in Korea in 1954 by Moon, a charismatic evangelist who claims to be the Messiah. In reflecting on my life during and since my time in the Unification Church, I can definitely see that writing benefited me greatly, not only after I left the cult, but also for a period of approximately six years before my decision to leave. In 1976—the same year I joined the Unification Church—I graduated from the University of British Columbia with an undergraduate degree in English. I chose that university specifically because it has a Creative Writing program. Yet, as soon as I got caught up in the Unification Church, which I encountered by chance while passing through San Francisco in August, 1976, I put aside all my ambitions to become a writer. Church leaders told me that when the Ideal World came, and everyone believed in Unificationism, then there would be time for me to develop my writing talents; but in the meantime I should dedicate myself 100 percent to carrying out the will of ―True Father‖ (that is, the Reverend Moon). So I abruptly stopped writing, and for the next four years I wrote only letters to my family and a few fairly prosaic essays for my classes at the Unification Theological Seminary in upstate New York. The first part of this article deals with this period when I had few opportunities for writing or creative expression. But, as I will relate in more detail later, during my fourth year as a Unificationist, which was also my second year at the Seminary, a seemingly insignificant event suddenly reopened my urge to express myself in ways that put me sharply at odds with church authorities. For the next six years, then, until I finally quit the Unification Church, I wrote often—beginning with sermons for the Seminary, and then journal and diary entries, and finally articles for two grass-roots Unificationist publications that briefly flourished in the mid-1980s. I will be quoting from some of these sources to show how writing helped me clarify the single biggest issue within myself: that is, the question of whether I should permit myself to feel my real feelings, or whether I should obey the demands of church leaders by completely repressing them. The second part of this article deals with this period of vacillation, when I was still a Unificationist but had started to pull away. Even after I finally concluded I could not hold back my real feelings, and that therefore I must leave the Unification Church—which I finally did in 1986—the struggle was not over, because I still had not settled the question of whether my choice was the right one—the one that God wanted me to make. It took me another six years, and a near-return to the Unification Church, before I could settle that question.
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In the third part of this article, then, I will look at the role that writing played in helping me to reconcile myself, post-cult, to my decision to leave the Unification Church. Indeed, initially it was not writing itself, but merely the goal of becoming a writer, that helped me resist on that one occasion when I nearly returned to the Unification Church. And, subsequently, it was writing in all its forms—not just autobiography, but also short stories, poems, and a novella—that helped me to be able to see that I had, indeed, made the right decision by leaving the Unification Church. Part One: Repression As a Way of Life, 1976 to 1980 Ironically, the reason I was traveling through California in August of 1976 when I encountered the Unification Church was that I was investigating primal therapy, a therapy first described by its inventor, Arthur Janov, in his famous book, The Primal Scream. I had gone to California to look at Janov‘s original Primal Institute and also some other organizations that offered imitations of Janov‘s techniques. The situation was ironic because the whole idea behind Janov‘s therapy is to break through emotional repression, yet, after I became caught up in the Unification Church, I was required to engage in near-total repression of my feelings. Repression, therefore, became a way of life throughout the first four years of my involvement with Moon‘s organization. And although I was not aware of this at the time, the thought-reform techniques that the Unification Church used on me at the indoctrination camp in Boonville, California conformed in every respect to the eight criteria for a thoughtreform program identified by Robert Jay Lifton in his 1961 study, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism. The use of these techniques quickly changed me from a nonreligious person into a dedicated believer in Moon and his teachings, the Divine Principle. I came to believe that my feelings were liable to be ―invaded by Satan‖ and should be treated with utmost suspicion. I was urged to work frenetically from early in the morning to late at night, to pray and chant constantly during my waking hours, and to fixate all my thoughts on Reverend Moon and his wife, whom we called the True Parents. We were to think only of how to please Father, and it was presumed that God could not be happy unless we expended every effort to serve Father. Members would often counsel each other to ―just cut‖ from their feelings, and when they said this they would use a karate-chopping gesture to demonstrate the idea, similar to the hand-chopping gesture that Moon often uses in his public speeches. Under the pressure of my newly frantic schedule, I stopped writing almost completely except for occasional letters to my family in Calgary. During my first four years as a member of the Unification Church, I was sent all over the United States, first to Los Angeles for the International One World Crusade, then to New York to do recruiting, and then to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to do full-time fundraising (which in the Unification Church is called M.F.T., meaning ―mobile fundraising teams‖). Such teams would travel all around in vans to sell flowers, candy, and costume jewelry at greatly inflated prices in parking lots, residential neighborhoods, and commercial districts. It was during my time on M.F.T. that I experienced emotional repression in its most complete form. Such repression was essential just to survive the M.F.T. This is how I describe my own M.F.T. experiences in my new book, Heartbreak and Rage: Ten Years Under Sun Myung Moon: I had finally achieved what Father demanded above all else from his followers—I had become total action without reflection—pure doing. This, in fact, was what Father had in mind when he insisted that Seminarians should first go to the M.F.T. He wanted them to have the experience of totally emptying their minds, and of thinking of nothing except obedience to him. Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 24
Then, later, when they would find themselves in an intellectual environment like the Seminary, they would never let mere ideas get in the way of unthinking loyalty and obedience. (Neufeld, 89) Only, finally, when I was sent to the Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown, New York, in the fall of 1978, did I experience a let-up in the demands imposed by the Unification Church for complete emotional repression. At the Seminary, Moon expected his followers to study a variety of religious ideas and systems and to become able to counter believers in those systems with Unificationist theories that would win them over to Moon‘s views. In such an environment, there was less insistence on constant frantic activity, and so there was time for students to reflect and to form deeper friendships. At the Seminary—to again refer to Lifton‘s model for thought reform—I experienced a relaxation of ―milieu control.‖ And although the effect was not instantaneous, by the end of two years in that environment, I had become more favorable to emotional expression and had concluded that repressing feelings is not always appropriate, despite what the larger church continued to urge. Many of the other Seminary students likewise experienced a gradual loosening up of their mental processes, and for this very reason the Seminary was regarded with suspicion or disfavor in other parts of the church, where seminarians were sometimes nicknamed ―cemetarians.‖ Nevertheless, the Seminary continued to enjoy the whole-hearted support of Moon himself during that era. In my own case, the change that brought me to this new way of thinking occurred suddenly, due to the friendship and kindness of another Seminary student. Part Two: Vacillating Between Repression and Expression, 1980 to 1986 Late one night in November 1979, after I had been a Seminary student for more than a year, a well-meaning young woman, also a Unification Church member and a Seminary student, approached me with words of friendship. I had slept briefly that night, and then I woke up to study from midnight to 4:00 A.M. because I could find no other way to keep up with the many demands placed on my time. Because I was a loyal follower of Sun Myung Moon, I felt it would be shameful to even think any complaining thoughts about these extreme demands. Whenever I felt a hint of complaint, I was expected to repress it at once and substitute a feeling of gratitude at how ―Father had saved me.‖ Like most long-term members, I had become so good at doing this that I had completely lost touch with my own real feelings. I wasn‘t even aware that I was having a hard time until this well-meaning young woman pointed it out to me. (For the purposes of this article and my book, I have called her Fran). It is important to understand that Fran‘s act of kindness did not, in one swift stroke, ―snap‖ the effects of mind control. Mind control should not be regarded as something that is either completely present or totally absent. Rather, mind control persists in a faded form even in the minds of those who have long since left a totalist environment, and, as such, it often causes emotional difficulties for years until it has been identified and resolved. In my own case, Fran unknowingly stumbled across the key to unlocking my real feelings again. She pointed out to me that I was ―having a hard time,‖ and she offered to be a special friend to help me through this ―hard time.‖ This was not intended as a romantic proposal; it was simply an offer of deep friendship. But I was profoundly touched by Fran‘s offer; it was so different from the usual advice I received from church leaders, who would generally say something like this: ―Having a hard time? Well, buck up! Think of Father‘s much greater suffering in the early days of the church!‖ Instead of being told to repress my feelings, Fran was asking me to go ahead and feel them, and to talk about them to her. This had the effect of plunging me into a profound turmoil as I tried to decide whether God actually wanted me to feel these feelings, or to lock them away again.
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If my ―mission‖ (that is, my assigned role in the church) had been anything other than the Seminary, I would have been compelled by my church superiors to repress my feelings again. However, because I was at the Seminary, where Unificationists were expected to wrestle with intellectual questions, I was not compelled. At first, I was so euphoric about the rediscovery of my own real feelings that I set out to spread the word to the entire Seminary. So I wrote a heartfelt, poetic sermon titled ―Seeking the Oasis,‖ which I gave first to my Homiletics class, and then to the entire Seminary. I still have a copy of this sermon, and I will quote from the last page because this is probably the first piece of writing I produced since joining the Unification Church that proceeded from my own authentic thoughts and feelings: No one had ever penetrated to touch that depth of my heart before, and I cried in gratitude to God that He had taken such special interest in me as to even find a way to look after me I hadn‘t realized I needed. My tears were like a small rivulet from the great, broad river flowing from the heart of God. If we can open our hearts to it, then this river of love can wash over the roots of our being, bringing forth even the Tree of Life from out of the desert sands. All we need to do is to find the time and take the risk to bare our hearts to our brothers and sisters. Our hearts may be as dry and thirsting as the most barren ground without our even knowing it. Replenish them with the nourishing water of your tears, and from the seed of your liberation will sprout the sturdiest tree to give shade and comfort to all who come after you there, with sunbaked, parching lips, seeking the oasis. For the next six years, the more I tried to remain loyal to these ideas, the more I found myself being pushed to the fringes of the church, and eventually out. Yet, throughout this entire time, I continued to fear that I was straying from the straight and narrow, and I struggled with the question of whether I should force my feelings back down again. (At one point, I even considered voluntarily returning to the M.F.T.). In the summer of 1980, I started a diary, which in my book I called the Boston Diary, because I started it while I was in Boston as part of a contingent of seminarians in the new three-year Divinity program who were expecting to return to their studies in the fall. The Boston Diary demonstrates very clearly my divided state of mind, as I swung back and forth between my authentic self and my cult self. This is how I describe the Boston Diary in my new book: I still have this diary, the only one of the many diaries I kept during my Unification Church years that I did not later destroy in a fit of self-reforming zeal. This one was special to me because the entries in it are so heartrending, so full of lacerating pain and desperate questioning, that I could not bring myself to repudiate it. It is a small book with cream-colored pages, covered with brown cloth, in which I wrote in ball point pen, my handwriting sometimes scrawling and expansive, sometimes cramped and mechanical, as I vacillated between the two sides of myself. (Neufeld, 111) My inability during that summer in Boston to voluntarily repress my feelings made it almost inevitable that, upon my return to the Seminary, I would be swiftly shown the door. However, because of the high regard that Sun Myung Moon had for the Seminary during that era, I received different treatment than I might have received if I had been an ordinary member. The usual way to handle members who are having problems is to send them to a Divine Principle workshop; if that doesn‘t work, they may be placed in a demanding mission such as the M.F.T.; or, if all else fails, they are sent home to their parents. But instead of Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 26
any of these courses of action, I was allowed to decide for myself what I would do next, provided the choice included leaving the Seminary as soon as possible. Therefore, I chose to move to Los Angeles in 1980, so I could undertake Arthur Janov‘s primal therapy, the same therapy that had interested me in 1976. I could never afford to complete this therapy. And although the combination was unusual, I remained an active member of the Unification Church throughout the time of my primal therapy treatments (this flies in the face of Janov‘s general view that religious beliefs are artifacts of emotional repression that will fall away after treatment). In fact, I even interrupted my primal therapy treatments so I could participate in the mass wedding that Moon staged at Madison Square Garden in 1982. One might conclude from this situation that primal therapy was ineffective in breaking through my cultic mindset, though this ineffectiveness might simply be due to the fact that I couldn‘t finish the therapy. It took, therefore, more than six years from the day Fran reawakened my real feelings until I was finally ready to leave the Unification Church. Throughout that interval, I continued to explore my feelings in many journals and diaries; as well, during the final months of my ten-year membership in the Unification Church, I began to write articles and humorous stories that appeared in The Round Table and in Our Network, two grass-roots Unificationist publications that sprang up and briefly flourished in the mid-1980s. These two informal publications—what are sometimes called ―zines‖—were put out by disaffected members of the Unification Church without the consent or approval of their church superiors. They were mailed free of charge to anyone who requested them. The Round Table was sent out monthly or bimonthly from the New York area. The Round Table was a serious-minded publication that saw itself as trying to spark a reform movement in the Unification Church. Its logo included a drawing of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church. The other newsletter, Our Network, was much more quirky and informal. True to stereotype, this one came out of California. It included cartoons, poetry, and comedy lists among its offerings. For Our Network, I wrote satirical pieces. In one of them, I imagined myself going to ―Honest Dave‘s Used Theology Lot‖ to try to trade in Moon‘s Divine Principle for an alternate belief system. In another, I pictured the world in 2084 after the Unification Church had finally taken over, making joking parallels to George Orwell‘s Nineteen EightyFour. My final article for The Round Table bore the title ―The Benefits of Repression.‖ I did not intend this title ironically. I was genuinely trying to argue for the benefits of repressing feelings; yet, at the same time, I wanted to put forward the idea—which was considered subversive in the Unification Church—that repressing feelings is not invariably beneficial; sometimes it is merely a habit, what I called ―institutionalized repression.‖ ―The Benefits of Repression‖ appeared in The Round Table in November of 1986, the same month I became an ex-member of the Unification Church. Writing that piece had been a last-ditch attempt to try to see things the church‘s way, but now I was out. To many people, the fact that I even wrote these pieces for The Round Table and Our Network is proof that I could not possibly have been under the influence of mind control. I believe, however, that although these writings were written in defiance of the Unification Church hierarchy, I was still very much under the influence of mind control, and these writings were merely the final stages of a prolonged, six-year inner struggle. Right up to the final month of my cult involvement, the thought of actually leaving the church remained a terrifying and unthinkable prospect. Writing helped me throughout the six years from 1980 to 1986 while I sought unsuccessfully to reconcile the church‘s insistence on emotional repression with my own Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 27
insistence on feeling my real feelings. My writings during that period reflected my split personality, in that they often tried to endorse both viewpoints. Even though I was terrified of the idea of leaving, it became more and more evident that I was being pushed to the margins of the church because of my insistence on staying in touch with my feelings. Finally, late in 1986, after an explosive argument with another church member, I felt there was no point in continuing to stay in the organization. I knew I could no longer be happy as a member, and if I stayed I would be merely hanging on grimly, while feeling miserable the entire time. Therefore, I borrowed some money from an acquaintance and took the bus home to my family. Part Three: Triumph of Expression over Repression, 1986 - 1992 Following my return to my parents‘ home and to the city where I grew up—Calgary, Alberta—I had vague plans of applying to study journalism, but I was turned down by the universities to which I applied. While trying to come up with an alternative plan, I took temporary jobs as a clerk typist and later as a word-processing operator, because typing was the only job skill I still possessed after ten years in the Unification Church. I got an apartment in downtown Calgary and prepared to settle into a life that seemed shallow and empty compared to the apocalyptic fervor of my former cult life. But, eventually, unhappy with the routine of my fairly ordinary jobs, I sought out a conventional counselor (which is to say he was not an exit counselor), and he encouraged me to return to my original ambition to become a writer of novels and stories. In 1990, I applied to the highly regarded Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. Around the time I made my application to U.B.C., I received a surprising letter from the woman to whom I had once been engaged by Moon through his arranged-marriage process. She was someone I had not known before we were engaged, but who I came to love as I got to know her better. She was from England, and during the time I knew her she lived in one or the other of England, Scotland, or France. We were never permitted to live together. (I have called her Eleanor for the purposes of this essay and my book). Eleanor quit the Unification Church in 1984—two years before I also left, so our ―marriage‖ had never really gotten off the ground. But now, some six years later, she had returned to the Unification Church in London. Eleanor hoped to revive our relationship by drawing me back into the church. I agreed to visit her. During my time in London, Eleanor and the other Unification Church members persuaded me to abandon my plans to return to school in favor of rejoining the church and emigrating to England. If I had gone through with this plan, church authorities would have eventually allowed the two of us to live together, but probably not for a few years. Why would I even agree to such an arrangement? I suppose mainly because I had not arrived at a complete resolution of my cult experience, so one part of myself still felt that I should have remained loyal to Moon; therefore, if an opportunity that was at least marginally bearable came for me to ―go back to Father,‖ I was still vulnerable to being persuaded that I was morally obligated to go back. As well, I still felt some fondness for Eleanor personally. Fortunately, when I returned to Canada intending to wind up my affairs, I also returned— with difficulty—to my senses. I was feeling very uneasy about giving up my plans to study writing, because this was something I had become more and more excited about. At last, I called Eleanor and emphatically broke it off between us. When I finally did return to the university, in September of 1990, I had no intention of writing about my cult experiences. I felt that that my Unification Church involvement was behind me, and I should move on with my life. The first poems and stories that I produced Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 28
for creative writing classes didn‘t even touch upon my cult background. However, a professor at U.B.C. urged me to write about my cult experiences. Eventually, I obliged him by writing a short story titled ―Partings,‖ about two teenage girls who leave Calgary on a bus trip to California, and, after they meet the Moonies, one of them gets caught up in the cult, while the other returns home. At the time I wrote this story, I didn‘t believe that mind control existed, so to explain the difference between the two girls‘ responses to the indoctrination camp, I set up the story so that one girl was more psychologically vulnerable than the other, and it was the emotionally needy one who got drawn in. The other girl narrates the story. Here‘s the closing paragraph from ―Partings‖: I got on the bus and sat by the window, and in the last light of the evening I saw her walking up the hill again to join the group of people who were staying for the week. They had formed a big circle around a campfire and were singing a lot of loud, happy songs, with Jacob playing his guitar as usual, and everybody clapping in time. As she got closer to them, she suddenly broke into a little run, and jumped into the circle, clapping her hands in time with the others. I think that‘s what she loved the best about them: just the simple things, like holding hands and singing songs about the Ideal World and acting out all the words like some big grown-up kids. For a moment the campfire flared up and caught her little dark face in its glow, and she was really smiling now, like I almost never saw her smile, and in that moment, I knew how much I loved her, and that I might not ever see her again. Later, I wrote another short story in which I sought to recreate, as accurately as possible, a typical day in the life of a fundraiser on the M.F.T. That story was eventually published in the Baltimore City Paper in 1993 under the title ―True Father Knows Best.‖ Even though it was written before I understood mind control and therefore contains some logical problems, it remains one of the best things I have ever written about my Unification Church experiences. The story is shot through with the haunting refrain, ―There was no time to waste,‖ and it records one very long day in the life of a young man fundraising for the Unification Church in Baltimore. Near the end of his fundraising day, he is given a chance to make an emotional connection to a young woman on his fundraising team who is having problems, but he rebuffs the opportunity, because he is afraid of where this might lead. Here are the final paragraphs of that story: Reinhard turned onto the expressway and drove silently for some time. There was a dull strain of tension in the air. Nobody joked, nobody told an inspiring testimony. The pale wash of the streetlights swept repeatedly over the seven faces in the van, first Reinhard and Harumi-san, then Hilda, then the brothers. Everyone was thoughtful, or praying, or staring out at the lowering landscape. When he finally spoke, Reinhard looked up at the rear view mirror. Our eyes connected in the glass. His eyes were as gray and cold as I‘d ever seen them, and his words were flat and toneless. ―Margaret wasn‘t at her pick-up point,‖ he said. ―I asked inside the restaurant where she starts her run, and they said she asked for directions to the bus depot. She said she was going back to her family in Chicago. She gave them her flowers, and left. When I got to the depot the bus was already gone.‖ So that was it. Margaret had left. She‘d joined the ranks of the unbelievers— the walking dead. To keep Reinhard from noticing the tears that came to my eyes, I put up my hands and began to pray. Only now that she was gone, could I finally let myself feel that I loved her. I prayed that she would realize her mistake and come back to the True Family. I promised to God that I would work even harder as a heavenly soldier for Father. And then I turned Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 29
my thoughts to preparing the product for the next day. There was no time to waste. Both these stories were good attempts to process my cult experience, but they were deficient because they were based on the false premise that mind control did not exist and that people joined the Unification Church based solely on their emotional need. However, in 1992, as I was planning a novel that would include a forcible deprogramming— a procedure to which I was strongly opposed—I realized that I understood very little about the rationale behind deprogramming and why anyone might attempt to do this. I decided that even though I had an intense phobic reaction to the mere idea of reading books by former Unification Church members, I was unlikely to be able to write convincingly about a deprogramming unless I read something about it. So one day I noticed a copy of Steven Hassan‘s book, Combating Cult Mind Control, in a bookstore, and after much hesitation I reluctantly bought it and began to read. To my own amazement, I was completely won over by Hassan‘s arguments. Reading that book opened the floodgates for me—soon after that, I read Lifton‘s study of thought reform, and I began to devour all the published accounts written by former Unificationists. I realized that mind control was a real thing that I had personally endured, and I began to recast my writing to take this new understanding into account. It was only after I reached this key understanding that I stopped writing about my cult experiences exclusively in fiction and poetry and also began writing about them in non-fiction articles for the Vancouver Sun newspaper. Later, when it became clear that no newspaper article or personal essay could answer all the questions people have about my cult experiences, I decided to write the entire story from start to finish in a book-length memoir. That project eventually became Heartbreak and Rage: Ten Years Under Sun Myung Moon. Conclusion For twelve years, from 1980 to 1992, writing encouraged me to engage in emotional expression in situations in which I was constantly being told, and I generally believed, that I had a moral obligation to repress my deepest thoughts and feelings. This is not to say that it is impossible to write entirely out of a cultic mindset, but such writing tends to read more like propaganda than serious literature. Consider the artistic style known as Socialist Realism, which was once the official style for artists in the former Soviet Union—and then consider how little art of merit was ever produced using that style. Serious personal writing, by contrast, puts a person back in touch with his or her real feelings, and therefore provides the tools for him or her to escape the maze of cultic thinking and repression. Henriette Klauser, PhD, in her recent book, With Pen in Hand: The Healing Power of Writing, offers a number of helpful tips for using writing as an aid to emotional healing. The most helpful suggestion for the purposes of cult survivors is probably the one that appears at the close of Chapter 13, in which the struggles of Mike, a Vietnam War veteran, are described: Consider writing a memoir about an important event in your life. Not for publication, but for yourself, to name what shaped you, and perhaps to share with a few select close friends and family members. Mike told the people he shared his story with, ―If you want to understand me, here it is—this is what I went through.‖ Be honest; write continuously, without worrying about style or grammar. The more you write, the more you will remember. Just start. (Klauser, 218)
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Bibliography Hassan, Steven. (1988). Combating cult mind control. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press. Janov, Arthur. (1970). The primal scream: Primal therapy, the cure for neurosis. New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam‘s Sons. Klauser, Henriette Anne. (2003). With pen in hand: The healing power of writing. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Publishing. Lifton, Robert Jay. (1961). Thought reform and the psychology of totalism. New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Neufeld, K. Gordon. (2002). Heartbreak and rage: Ten years under Sun Myung Moon, a cult survivor‘s memoir. College Station, Texas: VirtualBookworm.com, Inc. Note This paper is based on a talk given at AFF's June 2003 conference in Orange, California.
This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Review, 2003, Volume 2, Number 1, pages 230-245. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
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A Psychoanalytic Look at Recovered Memories, Therapists, Cult Leaders, and Undue Influence Lorna Goldberg, MSW Abstract There has been a dramatic increase in recovered memories of sexual abuse. A continuum of influence is presented, focusing on the high degrees of influence in cults, to understand how therapists can easily influence their patients to recover memories of sexual abuse. Historical evidence is given for a better appreciation of how this present atmosphere has developed. Finally, the role played by the psychoanalyst when dealing with recovered memories is examined. Case material is presented to highlight the differences between the traumatist‘s and the psychoanalyst‘s approach. KEY WORDS: memory-recovered; memory-false; cults; traumatists; abuse. Introduction During the last fifteen years, there has been an explosion of recovered memories of sexual abuse. After examining how this explosion has affected the author‘s patients, causative factors for this explosion will be addressed. Next, a variety of conditions that might lead a patient to ―recovered‖ memories of abuse that never occurred will be described. Finally, the paper will focus on the psychoanalyst‘s stance in the face of recovered memories. I have been a clinical social worker since 1970 and, in 1984, received certification as a psychoanalyst. In the twenty-five years that I have been seeing patients, there were many times that patients came to therapy with memories of sexual abuse. These never forgotten memories of sexual abuse in childhood or during adolescence were accepted by them and by me as historical truths. In addition to this, some patients have recovered memories of sexual abuse, previously forgotten, in this clinical setting. My course, as a clinician, was to inform patients that it was hard to distinguish whether recovered memories were memories of fantasies, because unconscious wishes and fears could influence memory. Recovered memories can be viewed in the same manner as dream material—that is, as screen memories. However, I never discounted this possibility of the historical truths embedded in these memories. During the last few years, my caseload has been affected by a new phenomenon. Since the mid-seventies, I have specialized in working with former cultists. This area of specialization has given me a rich appreciation of the power of influence. In an article published in 1989, William Goldberg and I described the plight of a family whose son had what was thought to be a unique and bizarre complaint. He had ―discovered‖ through hypnosis that he had been sexually abused by his mother and older sister. The incredulous family denied that any such behavior ever took place; but their son refused to listen to their denials and cut off all communication with them, saying that he could not speak to such monsters. Both the therapist/cult leader and the young man traveled throughout New Jersey speaking publicly about the horrors of childhood sexual abuse. What concerned us was the fact that all of this therapist‘s patients appeared to be recovering from memories of childhood sexual abuse and that this therapist seemed to be encouraging her clients to break off ties with their families and to increase their tie to her as their new parental figure. Normal therapeutic boundaries appeared to be broken as this therapist seemed to control every aspect of this young man‘s life. His total devotion to her and dependency on her was familiar to us. It appeared to be similar to the relationship we saw between other cult leaders and followers. Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 32
We wrote this description as an example of the extent to which one cult leader went to discredit the parents of one of her members (Goldberg and Goldberg, 1989). We were used to parents telling us that their cult member children were exaggerating and distorting problems and issues from their past (minimizing the good memories and maximizing the bad ones), but had never before encountered parents who said that their child had, with the ―help‖ of a cult leader, completely fabricated a past. It would be unfairly biased to totally discount the idea that this young man might be telling the truth. However, we were dismayed to learn that all of this therapist‘s patients had memories of abuse and that this therapist appeared to be using narcissistically her patients for her own dog-and-pony show and encouraging her patients to break all ties with family members. Therefore, we hypothesized that this young man was likely to have responded to this therapist‘s suggestion that he had been abused. Since that incident the author has heard the same story from many parents. Their adult son or, more commonly, daughter, announces to the family that with the help of a therapist she has recovered previously repressed memories of being sexually abused, sometimes while she was an infant, sometimes over many years, usually by her father. She presents the accusation as a fact and states that if her father denies the ―fact‖ or gets angry, she will leave and the family will never hear from her again. Having been pre-empted from any kind of natural response, the parents are left speechless. Eventually, and almost inevitably, she does cut off ties with the parents, because it has been suggested to her by her therapist that this is an act of empowerment and growth. Contact with siblings is usually also stopped unless the brothers and sisters acknowledge the validity of the accuser‘s claims. Thus, the daughter (or, sometimes, son) simultaneously ensures the fact that she will hear only one version of her supposed past and cuts herself off from the very people who would be most likely to support her through a difficult period of her life. The author had no idea at the time that she first heard this story of the young man and his publicity-seeking therapist that these were the early signs of a new phenomenon and that it would be so widespread as to be given a clinical title, the False Memory Syndrome, by some clinicians and family members. In my chapter on ―Guidelines for Therapists,‖ in the book, Recovery from Cults (Langone, 1994), I described a twenty-eight year old woman who came to see me one year after she had left her cult. When this woman was a teenager in the cult she had been seduced by the group‘s leader, who told her that it was G-d‘s will that they have sex. Believing him to be speaking for G-d, the woman entered into an ongoing secret sexual relationship with him, only to discover, many years later, that he was having a similar relationship with at least twelve of the women in the cult. This discovery propelled her to leave the cult. The young woman was filled with self-loathing and shame when she left and she sought out therapy with a woman who claimed to be an expert in the area of sexual abuse. Either being ignorant of the powerful effect of persuasion and mind control in cults or ignoring the literature on it (Lifton, 1961, Ofshe and Singer, 1986, Hassan, 1988), this previous therapist told the young woman that it was clear that she was reenacting a situation from her childhood, otherwise she would not have permitted the cult leader to abuse her in this way. She told her that, in all probability, her father had been the original perpetrator and that her memories of a happy childhood were the result of denial and repression of childhood sexual abuse. Although the patient was unable to recall any such abuse, she was placed in a group for incest survivors and was told to participate in group guided imagery exercises to help her recall the abuse that the therapist surmised was there. At first, she recollected feeling uncomfortable when an alcoholic uncle bugged her after he had been drinking. She was convinced that more memories would come in time. It was only after she attended a seminar on cults and came to understand the phenomenon of mind control (intense power of influence by a charismatic anti-social and/or narcissistic leader in a closed environment) Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 33
that she recognized another plausible explanation for why she had permitted herself to be exploited by the cult leader. The author worked with another woman who was involved with an isolationist psychotherapy cult in the Northwest. The group preached hatred of men and, by extension, of society. Through the use of group processes, every single member of this cult discovered that she had been sexually abused by her father and cut herself off from the family. Another patient, who had experienced a gang rape while in college, decided to attend a group for rape survivors in New York City. After getting a brief history of this patient, including a history of depression and of an eating disorder, the group therapist asked her if she had been sexually abused in childhood. This patient had no memory of such abuse. The therapist informed her that she had all the ―classic symptoms‖ of someone who was sexually abused and that she probably had repressed those memories. As Freud (Freud, 1921), Lifton (Lifton, 1961), Ofshe and Singer (Ofshe, R. and Singer, M.T., 1986) and Hassan (Hassan, 1988) explain, an authority figure can have tremendous influence over group members. The process whereby this influence can be attained will now be examined. Authority Figure Influence on Group Members In 1921, upon publishing Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, Freud was among the first to study the powerful influence that group leaders can have over group members. In his paper, Freud referred to the contagious and regressive nature of groups described by LeBon and McDougall, but he added the dimension of intra-psychic cathartic shifts that could occur in groups. Freud described the similarity of such groups as the Catholic Church and the army with the hypnotic situation. In all of these situations, there is a leader and one or more followers. The follower obeys the leader and gives up his own superego and ego ideal as he identifies with the leader‘s superego. Freud also compared the psychological changes occurring in group members to changes that occur to those who fall in love. In both cases, the ego can disregard the previous standards of the superego, because it gains a sufficient amount of narcissistic support and gratification of instinctual wishes elsewhere. After the Korean War, under assignment by the U.S. Army, Lifton Singer, West, and others studied the effects of mind control techniques on the returning POWs. They described how these soldiers had been influenced to accept communist ideology while captive. They explained how these techniques of coercive persuasion went beyond normal group influences described by Freud through the use of deliberate manipulation processes that increased guilt, shame, and anxiety in the POW‘s (Singer and Ofshe, 1990). These mental health professionals were the first to describe the fact that some of the same mind control dynamics are used in modern day cults. Today there is a recognized body of literature by mental health professionals about mind control techniques used in cults. Of course, in addition to examining the coercive techniques, the clinician must examine the vulnerability of the cult recruit. Individuals become vulnerable to cults at times of stress, particularly during periods of transition (e.g., when dealing with loss of a relationship or employment). The large majority of people who join cults do so in late adolescence or early adulthood. With puberty, there is an increase in the sexual and aggressive drives. Along with this, there is a revival of oedipal feelings and, therefore, there is a need for distancing from the oedipal objects of childhood. Parents are de-idealized and healthy young adults attempt to develop a vision of the world that is different from their parent‘s view. Also, during this time, there often is physical distance from the family. This distance and the concomitant feelings of separateness it engenders may trigger pre-oedipal anxiety and/or depression. Additionally, there are specific personality dynamics of late adolescence which were first described by Anna Freud—intellectualization, asceticism and idealism—which make adolescents vulnerable to cults (Freud 1966). Furthermore, the adolescent superego Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 34
is highly susceptible to environmental influences as a result of parental de-identification. Therefore, this is a time of life that the group or group leader can have a powerful influence. Adolescents and young adults also are in a period of transition and may desire a sense of community and acceptance at a time in their life when they are experiencing uncertainty and/or anxiety about their identities and their futures. Therefore, this is a stage of development wherein group membership and the new identifications made with group members can be a progressive step of separation from the object, of childhood. As mentioned previously, an adolescent becomes particularly vulnerable to cult recruitment at a time when he or she is dealing with external and/or internal losses. Those who are particularly susceptible to groups that turn out to be cults are typically those who are in order to attack the recruits‘ identity and belief system; and (6) pressuring recruits to meet a new standard of perfection. These influence techniques attack the recruit‘s identity structure, formed from identifications made with important figures in the recruit‘s life. That is, without conscious awareness of this process, individuals are induced to let go of their original identity and take on a new cultic identity and, by doing so, enter into a dissociative state. This cultic identity enables the recruit to better cope with this recruitment process. In viewing this situation psycho dynamically, it could be said that with the absence of an anchor in the past, recruits defend against feeling anxious, overwhelmed, exhausted, and confused by forming an identification with the cult leader—identification with the aggressor. Anna Freud coined ―identification with the aggressor‖ in The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, to describe how a child ―introjects some characteristic of an anxiety object and so assimilates an anxiety experience which he has just undergone‖ (Freud, 1966, p. 113). This defense was not only used to describe a process of childhood, but was seen as a defensive maneuver used at later periods of life when the individual was undergoing high levels of stress. For example, the defense of identification with the aggressor was later used to understand how Jews imprisoned in concentration camps sought out discarded insignias and torn shreds of SS uniforms with which to adorn their rags (West and Martin, 1994). If this process is prolonged, the new cultic personality, initially formed as a role played in response to stressful circumstances, will be superimposed upon the original personality which, while not completely forgotten, will be enveloped within the shell of the new cultic personality (West and Martin, 1994). This new cultic identification encapsulates the general regression that occurs in recruits to cults. The pre-oedipal cult world is seen as black and white and objects as good and evil. This view, which defines the cult world as the only true path and the outside world (often including family and friends) as satanic, further binds the recruit to the cult. This also has implications for memory of past relationships and events. Typically, over time, life prior to the cult begins to be seen in a more negative light. Furthermore, there is a sense of omnipotence gained by sharing with the all-powerful cult leader (mother). This sense of omnipotence is experienced as euphoria by the recruit. The boundaries have blurred and the recruit‘s sense of individuality is weakened. Cult members become aware of the positive effect of belonging to a single-minded community. Whitsett describes how this sense of belonging can be used as a powerful tool to keep recruits in cults (Whitsett, pp. 363-375). However, the pressure for uniformity has a regressive influence on the ego, precluding any type of critical assessment of this coercive and highly suggestive experience. Recruits are actively discouraged from differentiating their own thoughts and feelings from those of the group. This single-mindedness is reinforced through a strict system of reward and punishment. There is constant pressure to be obedient to the cult leader. If recruits have doubts or go against the cult leader‘s wishes, they are humiliated or, worse, threatened with excommunication—which cult members come to believe is being damned to Hell. Furthermore, their doubt is defined as a reflection of their personal problems, not as reflection of deficiencies within the leader or the ideology, Therefore, by punishing any expression of doubt, the leader induces cult members to Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 35
become more and more dependent on receiving his approval through obedient behavior. In this way, ego functions that interfere with group functions are attacked and diminished. The cult member becomes child-like and suggestible. Therefore, in order to continue to feel good the recruit must continually be locked into an idealizing transference the cult leader, which never ends and never is interpreted. It was understandable how anti-social and/or narcissistic cult leaders will use suggestion of childhood sexual abuse as a technique for further separating cult members from their parents. It was harder to understand how well-meaning therapists could suggest this to their patients. The suspicion is that some therapists are not aware of how much influence they have over their patients. Only a very small minority of therapists consciously and deceptively employs some of the techniques used by cult leaders. However, there is a continuum of influence and, although therapists do not have the degree of influence over patients that cult leaders have over their followers, all therapists should recognize that their behavior and attitudes do have some degree of influence on their patients. Before this concept is developed further, an historical overview of recovered memories will be explored. Historical Overview of Recovered Memories In the late nineteenth century, while working with his first patients, who were displaying hysterical symptoms, Freud suspected that the causative factors for these symptoms were sexual seductions from early childhood. When his patients reported recovered memories of childhood sexual seductions, he believed them without qualification (Freud, 1893-1895). However, in analyzing his own dreams, investigating children‘s behavior, and in gaining an appreciation of the power of transference, it became clear to Freud that human behavior was much more complex than he had originally believed. Freud began to theorize that memory could be influenced by unconscious sexual and aggressive fantasies. He noted that hysterical symptoms, like dreams, represented fantasized wishes and conflicts about these wishes rather than only traumatic memories. Symptoms were based on psychic reality rather than simply objective reality. Therefore, he considered the possibility that some—not all—childhood memories were screen memories rather than being historical in every detail. Freud developed the more complex theory that children have sexual as well as aggressive feelings from early life and these basic feelings stimulate fantasies and, therefore, can have an impact on memory. Freud never abandoned the idea that children could be, and often were, sexually abused. However, Freud began to credit children with a complex mental capacity by recognizing their ability to wish, invent, and fantasize, and he recognized that this ability shaped and influenced memory (Freud, 1905). Freud developed the seduction theory prior to his formulation of his ideas about transference. As he developed his ideas about transference, he further was able to see how transference reactions could influence historical reports. That is, he began to consider that some of his patients, under sway of positive transference feelings, might unconsciously be reporting material that they felt would please him and, therefore, give him the material for which they felt he was looking. Along with this insight, Freud began to see transference reactions as a defense against conscious awareness of intrapsychic conflicts. Therefore, for Freud, identifying and understanding transference reactions became a central route along with dreams, to gaining an understanding of the patient‘s true history. Unfortunately, many in the mental health community viewed Freud‘s insights as an indication that all memories of childhood sexual experiences were fantasies. There was a tendency for many clinicians to look intrapsychically to the exclusion of outward reality. This attitude led to the mental health community‘s virtual abandonment of victims of childhood sexual abuse. One of the positive outgrowths of the feminist movement in the ‗70s and ‗80s was the exposure of the reality of spousal and child abuse. Women talking to one another in groups shared painful experiences of abuse. They demanded services for abused women and Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 36
children, (e.g., shelters for battered women, counseling for rape victims, and counseling for victims of sexual and physical abuse) (Herman, 1992). The recognition that sexual abuse of children is much more prevalent than had previously been acknowledged was a necessary rectification of a problem that existed in the profession and in our society for many years. Social work always has been a profession sensitive to environmental issues. In the late ‗70s, as social work training incorporated the findings of the feminist movement, social work students were trained by individuals concerned about abuse issues. After reports of abuse had been discounted for decades, social workers saw the importance of believing children and women who had been abused. In 1984, Masson wrote The Assault on Truth: Freud‘s Suppression of the Seduction Theory in which he posited that Freud cowardly retreated from his seduction theory because it was criticized by the medical community. This book was cited by some social workers, among others, to assert that Freud was bowing to society‘s need to deny the truth and discount women and children by disavowing his trauma theory. By endorsing Freud‘s seduction theory these individuals moved from a more complex to a more simplistic notion of the causative factors of mental illness (Saari, 1994). The influence of the recovery movement in the mental health field was also felt in the 1980s. Kaminer points to the simplistic notions of the recovery movement (Kaminer, 1992). Unfortunately, these simplistic notions gained more widespread appeal and credibility as those ―in recovery‖ entered various mental health fields to become therapists. The recovery movement encouraged the notions of victimization and regression by defining practically everybody as survivors who should get in touch with their ―inner child.‖ Kaminer questions: What are the political implications of a mass movement that counsels surrender of will and submission to a higher power describing almost everyone as hapless victims of familial abuse? What are the implications of a tradition that tells us all problems can be readily solved, in a few simple steps—a tradition in which order and obedience to technique are virtues and respect for complexities, uncertainties, and existential unease are signs of failure, if not sin? The notion of selfhood that emerges from recovery . . . is essentially more conducive to totalitarianism than democracy, (p. 152) Television talk shows and books gave victims of and leaders in the recovery movement a widespread audience. False Memories of Sexual Abuse As a result of the events previously described, numerous traumatized victims of sexual abuse felt less isolated and more understood. However, the terrain was fertile for the development of false memories of sexual abuse. Some clinicians became ―trauma therapists,‖ experts on abuse. The work of Fredrickson influenced therapists who reasoned fallaciously that one could presume that patients were sexually abused in childhood based upon symptomotology. In her book, Repressed Memories: A Journey to Recovery from Sexual Abuse, Fredrickson provided therapists with a checklist of aftereffects (Fredrickson, 1992). Entire clinical categories (e.g., depression, eating disorders, etc.) were interpreted as symptoms of abuse. Fredrickson also described specific methods for retrieving memories of sexual abuse, which included guided imagery, dream work, journal writing, body work, hypnosis, art therapy, and rage work (Fredrickson, 1992). The theories of the trauma therapists had a great influence on their patients. The patient‘s initial idealizing transference reactions, seeing the therapist as an all-knowing expert, gave the therapists tremendous power over patients. As with the cult leaders, if the idealizing transference was never interpreted, patients were kept in a childlike, dependent position. The traumatist‘s ―suspicion‖ of sexual abuse, based on a variety of symptoms, often was expressed in the first session with a patient who had come to therapy with no such memory of abuse. This early diagnosis often was supported by self-help books, such as The Courage Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 37
to Heal (Bass and Davis, 1988) and Secret Survivors: Uncovering Incest and Its Aftereffects in Women (Blume, 1990), which patients were encouraged to read. These therapists typically used suggestion to ―recover‖ lost memories of abuse. As mentioned previously, hypnotic techniques such as guided imagery, and drugs such as sodium amytal, were sometimes used to elicit supposedly repressed memories. There was no recognition that hypnosis and soporific drugs render a patient more open to suggestion. Some studies have shown that hypnosis does not necessarily help subjects to remember accurately, but that its use increases the subject‘s belief that what they have ―remembered‖ is accurate (Yapko, p. 56). These therapists often placed their patients into groups for survivors of sexual abuse. Similar to the dynamics of cult groups, peer pressure and the resulting tendency towards uniformity of thought can interfere with critical thinking. Therapists would interpret dream material and physical symptoms, along with recovered memories, as scientific evidence of traumatic memories of sexual abuse and they would interpret recovered memories as scientific evidence of abuse (Yapko, 1994). Their stance was, ―All recovered memories are reality.‖ The patients of trauma therapists, particularly those who were more anxious and suggestible, often accepted the suggestion of abuse, because it became the simple causative answer for all their problems and pain. In this way, these patients were similar to those who were recruited successfully into cults. Simple answers for life‘s difficulties can be very reassuring. Furthermore, Brenneis, writing in a recent JAPA article, has indicated that the anxious patient seeks comfort and direction from, and affiliation with, a perceived expert. Suggestion operates in areas of doubt and uncertainty. The force of {the therapist‘s} convictions creates for the patient what amounts to a stacked deck: solace and direction require affiliation, and affiliation in turn requires some measure of agreement or acceptance of the beliefs of the analyst. (Brenneis, p. 1034) Brenneis also points out that both the therapist and the patient gain what they are seeking: The therapist gains confirmation of her/his beliefs and the patient gains ―cognitive clarity and affiliation with an accepting authority figure‖ (Brenneis, 1035). Ganaway states that the new belief system becomes the substitute for the symptoms that had brought the patient to the therapist. While the patient may gain a new identity and satisfy a desire for affiliation by being a member of the abuse survivor movement, the therapist has diverted the patient from an understanding of the true, more complex meaning of the symptoms and their underlying defenses (Ganaway, 1994). Many of these patients would become increasingly angry over time. This increased anger may have been generated because these patient were not feeling better emotionally since real issues were not being addressed and, for some, there was a loss of the support system of the family. Also, contagion might exist as the patient‘s anger is set off exacerbated by the anger of the believing therapist and/or group members. Therapists often would join with the patients against the ―abusers. They would abandon their neutral stance and encourage patients to take action against the abusers (including lawsuits). This joining with the patients‘ actions against the abusers, usually the parents, was fed by the countertransferential reaction to keep the anger away from the therapists (Hedges, L., 1994). Cutting off the relationship with family members also served to increase the patient‘s dependency on the therapist. Hearing about these incidents was disturbing. Psychoanalysts believe that recovered memories may be reconstructions rather than exact reproductions of past events and experiences. These memories are continuously influenced by conscious and unconscious fantasies, beliefs, moods wishes, etc. (Ganaway, 1994). The patients need not be believed (traumatists were insisting), but needed to be taken seriously (Hedges 1994). Memories could be seen as metaphors for boundary violation from the past and present (Spence, Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 38
1982). Furthermore, the literature on experiments in cognitive psychology showed memory to be highly plastic and highly susceptible to influence and suggestion (Loftus, 1993]. Additionally, Ceci‘s research with children indicated how easily young children can be influenced to remember differently from week to week (Ceci, S.J., Ross, D.F., and Toglia, M.P., 1987). Therefore, how could recovered memories from early life be accepted as accurate without question? Conclusions There is no doubt that childhood sexual abuse exists. In many cases, those who have gone to trauma therapists have experienced childhood sexual abuse. However, it is problematic to discern the veracity of recovered memories of sexual abuse, particularly those memories that did not arise spontaneously within the confines of a therapeutic relationship, but which were induced through suggestion, hypnosis, soporific drugs or peer pressure. As reported in this paper, memories can easily be re-shaped by both external and internal forces. The appropriate role for the therapist is to explain this fact to the patient and to take a waitand-see approach. As Esman states, the ―empathic‖ acceptance of all material can lead to iatrogenic suggestion. Esman recommends that, ―Neither unquestioning credulity nor categorical disbelief, but a properly scientific attitude of enlightened skepticism would seem to be in order‖ (Esman, 1994. Letter, JAPA, 43: 1, 195-296). Uncertainty is uncomfortable. However, both patients and therapists need to be able to tolerate complexity and uncertainty in life and resist the need for closure. It is unrealistic and harmful for patients to see their therapists as all-knowing human beings. Of course, all of this needs to be explored in the context of the therapeutic relationship, particularly focusing on possible transference and counter transference reactions. Questions to explore might include the following: Why is this memory surfacing at this point in the therapy? Has this memory been influenced by a recent event occurring inside or outside a therapeutic session? How is the patient feeling towards the therapist and how is the therapist feeling towards the patient? What is the meaning of this memory to the patient? How does the patient expect the therapist to receive this material and how does she/he react when the therapist takes a wait-and-see approach? Certainly therapists are induced to feel that patients who suspect they were abused need us to believe them. It is important for therapists to be sensitive to all material presented in therapy sessions, especially when traumatic events are shared. However, in the face of recovered memories that formerly have been repressed, is the therapist responding empathically by automatically believing? Is it more important to believe our patients in all matters or to be the voice of reality? It has been pointed out by Galatzer-Levy that the parents‘ failures to respond empathically when bad things happen frequently have a more profound impact on the child than the event itself. Therefore, the therapist‘s desire to avoid repeating this response may lead him/her to prematurely appreciate the patient‘s experience of the event. As Galatzer-Levy notes, ―Paradoxically, this very process may subtly repeat the parental failure to understand. It invites assumptions of understanding that the analyst may lack‖ (Galatzer-Levy, 3. 998). The more ―empathic‖ response is to be a concerned, careful, and caring listener who informs the patient of the difficulty in knowing the historical truth when memories are recovered. However, as Galatzer-Levy has noted, the emphasis should be on the meaning of the recalled memory as it relates to the past, as it relates to the transference, as it relates to other experiences with important figures and events from the past, and as it relates to the patient‘s fantasy life. A case may illustrate some of these points. A woman, 62 years of age, came to see the author two years after her husband‘s death, because she continued to feel depressed. In early sessions she quietly extolled her happy life with her husband. He was described as very ―proper‖ and this propriety had attracted her to him. She had believed that she would feel ―safe‖ with this successful businessman. After several sessions, she admitted with extreme shame and trepidation that she Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 39
shoplifted. She seemed to come to life as she described the most recent episode, which had a cloak and dagger quality to it. I noted, from the way she described these shoplifting episodes, that they were exciting to her. However, they also appeared to fill her with shame and trepidation. I questioned whether her need was for me to see her as a criminal and punish her for engaging in such an exciting act. The patient admitted that she was externalizing her own guilt. Although she loved her husband, her life with him had been somewhat restricted. Now that he was dead, she was afraid that she was returning to her childhood impulsive ways. She was afraid that she would stop being the proper upper middle class suburban matron and turn into a whore. When I explored what being a whore signified to her, she told me that she had seen her husband as quite different from her bawdy and loud family. She really did not approve of her parents, particularly her father, who was bad tempered and a failure as a provider. Her mother saved the family from poverty by successfully running the family store. This patient described her early years as very chaotic and had never forgotten memories of sleeping with her parents until she was ten. At this point, she shared a bed with a young man who worked in her parents‘ store. She began wondering if she had forgotten sexual experiences while she was in bed with these adults. She wondered if she was treated like a ―whore.‖ She began to bring in dream material that included recreations of sexual experiences. As with all patients, I told her of the difficulty of distinguishing recovered memories from fantasies. I described how children have sexual and aggressive feelings and fantasies that continue into adulthood. I let her know that I felt she clearly had been over-stimulated sexually as a child, but it was hard to know the extent of her childhood sexual abuse. (I was also aware of the libidinal gratification gained from these recalled memories, particularly now that her husband was dead.) She accepted this notion and continued to report dream material and recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse. Although I did not verify these recovered memories as historical truths, I continued to be empathic and interested in what she had to say. Furthermore, we began to understand how these recovered memories or fantasies had shaped her character. Gaining a better understanding of herself by exploring the transference, as well as the meaning of the recovered memories allowed the recovered memories to continue even though they were treated as screen memories. As she felt less judged by me (we discovered that this was a maternal transference reaction as well as a projection of her own moralistic attitude), she became less inhibited in general. She began to see how her shame of her past and her own rich fantasy life had left her quite restricted in adulthood. In fact, she began to see her continued depression about her husband‘s death as, in part, stemming from her need to punish herself for her anger towards him regarding his need to have such a conservative and proper wife. As she felt less shame about her inner life, she was able to be more open and colorful and this ability was reflected in her writing. Instead of limiting her writing to scientific journals, she began working on fiction. She also stopped shoplifting, as she had less of a need to act out her conflict in this self-destructive way. The issue for this patient centered more on how she felt about her inner life than whether or not all her revived material was true. Her feelings about her inner fantasy life had a tremendous impact over her character, which was inhibited and intensely proper throughout her early and middle adulthood. Over time, my acceptance of the material from her inner life allowed her to loosen her defense of reaction formation. She became less inhibited and more able to gain access to the creative and colorful part of herself as she identified with the therapist‘s superego, which was less punitive than her own. Growth occurs from the therapist‘s attempt to be with the patient, to see the experience from the patient‘s point of view and to help the patient expand her cognitive abilities, particularly by examining transference and counter transference reactions. This examination includes a toleration of ambiguity and an understanding that behavior is complex and Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 40
multidetermined. This approach is more valuable than simply validating all that the patient says. References Bass, E., & Davis, L. (1988). The courage to heal: A guide for women survivors of child sexual abuse. New York: Harper and Row. Blos, P. (1976). The split parental image in adolescent social relations. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 31: 7-33. Blume, E. S. (1990). Secret survivors: Uncovering incest and its aftereffects in women. New York: Ballantine. Brenneis, C. B. (1994). Belief and suggestion in the recovery of memories of childhood sexual abuse. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 42: 1027-1054. Ceci, S.J., Ross, D.F., & Toglia, M.P. (1987). Suggestibility of children‘s memory: Psychological implications. J. Exper. Psych.: General, 116: 38-49. Esman, A. (1995). Letter. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 43: 295-296. Fredrickson, R. (1992). Repressed memories: A journey to recovery from sexual abuse. New York: Fireside/Parkside, S & S. Freud, A. (1966). The ego and the mechanisms of defense. New York: I.U.P., Inc. Freud, S. (1983-1895). Studies on hysteria, S.E., 2. Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. S.E., 7. Freud, S. (1921). Group psychology and analysis of the ego. S.E., 18. Galatzer-Levy, R. (1994), Editorial: Children, bad happenings, and meanings. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 42:997-1000. Ganaway, O.K. (1994). When memories interfere with insight in psychotherapy. Paper presented at conference of False Memory Syndrome Foundation and Johns Hopkins Medical Institution on Memory and Reality: Reconciliation, Baltimore, Maryland, December 9-11. Ganaway, G.K. (1994). Transference and counter transference shaping influences on dissociative syndromes. Dissociation. New York: The Guilford Press. Goldberg, L., & Goldberg, W. (1989). Family responses to a young adult‘s membership and return. Cultic Studies Journal, 6: 86-100. Goldberg, L. (1994). Guidelines for therapists. In Langone, M. (Ed.). Recovery from Cults. New York: W. W. Norton and Co. Hassan, S. (1988). Combating cult mind control. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press. Hedges, L. (1994). Remembering, repeating, and working through childhood trauma Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson Inc. Herman, J.L. (1992). Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books. Kaminer, W. (1992). I‘m dysfunctional, you‘re dysfunctional: The recovery movement and other self help fashions. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc. Lifton, R. (1961). Thought reform and the psychology of totalism. New York: Norton. Loftus, E. (1993). Reality of repressed memory. American Psychologist, 48: 518-537. Masson, J. (1984). The assault on truth: Freud‘s suppression of the seduction theory. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Ofshe, R„ & Singer, M.T. (1986). Attacks on peripheral versus central elements of self and the impact of thought reforming techniques. Cultic Studies Journal, 3:3-24. Saari, C. (1994). Educational issues in social work. Paper presented at False Memory Syndrome Foundation and Johns Hopkins Medical Institution Conference on Memory and Reality: Reconciliation, Baltimore Maryland, December 9-11. Sargant, W. (1957). Battle for the mind: A physiology of conversion and brainwashing New York: Penguin. Shevrin, H. (1994), Editorial: The uses and abuses of memory. J. Amer. Psychoan. Assn., 4 991-996.
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Singer, M„ & Ofshe, R. (1990). Thought reform programs and the productions of psychiatric casualties. Psychiatric Annuals, 20:4:188. Spence, D. P. (1982). Narrative truth and historical truth: Meaning and interpretation in psychoanalysis. New York: Norton. Yapko, M.D. (1994). Suggestions of abuse. New York: Simon and Schuster. West, L.J., & Martin, P. (1994). Pseudo-identity and the treatment of personality change in victims of captivity and cults. Dissociation. New York: The Guilford Press. Whitset, D.P. (1992). A self-psychological approach to the cult phenomenon. Clinical Social Work Journal, 20:4:363-375. http://www.blgoldberg.com/
Acknowledgment This article was originally published in Clinical Social Work, volume 25, number 1. It is reprinted with permission. This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Review, 2003, Volume 2, Number 1, pages 246-264. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
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News Summaries Attleboro Sect (The Body) Mother Accused of Murder Finally Speaks A mother accused of starving her son to death when she was a member of a small Attleboro, MA, Christian sect has for the first time made a statement about her experience. Karen Robidoux, whose husband Jacques is serving life imprisonment for the crime of allowing their child to starve to death, said of her involvement in the death: ―My inner feeling that I want to express to the world is that I know that I did all that was in my power and ability to stop what was happening to Sam. Those who controlled the group made my efforts impossible and created this tragic result." Her trial date has been postponed to allow for court-ordered evaluation of her ability to take the stand. Robidoux‘s attorney, Joe Krowski, says that he is not trying to make his client appear to be a ‖victim‖ when he asserts that she was in no way responsible for the death — solid food was withheld from her infant following a ―revelation‖ from God. He and other observers believe that she was duped and manipulated into acquiescing. (Alison Bologna, News Channel 10, Internet 8/4/03)
Aum Shinrikyo Doctor Sentenced to Death Tomamasa Nakagawa, a physician and former senior leader of Aum Shinrikyo, has been sentenced to death for helping make the sarin gas used in the 1995 attack on the Tokyo subway. He is the tenth Aum member to be sentenced to death. Aum once claimed 30,000 members but now, under the new name Aleph, has about 1,000. (AAP, Internet, 10/29/03) Ex-Follower Assesses Asahara Ikuo Hayashi, a physician and former Aum member now serving a life sentence in prison, has written an analysis of leader Shoko Asahara saying the guru ―suffered from a narcissistic obsession,‖ and that ―several traumatic setbacks led him to nurse wild, destructive ambitions.‖ Asahara, born into a poor family, was sent to live with relatives when he was five and then to a boarding school for the blind when he was six. He told Hayashi that he cried every night for fear of dying in his sleep, and that most of his days were filled with tears. Hayashi believes that some unresolved ―grief‖ that Asahara experienced in the school‘s closed society festered and became a part of his psychology. But since he was not totally blind, his limited sight, physical strength, and quick mind gave him a feeling of power over the others, says Hayashi, and the ability to control others fed his already inflated ego. This developed Asahara‘s conviction that he was a ―special being.‖ After being arrested at age 27 for running a pharmacy that produced and sold fake medication, Asahara joined the Agonshu sect and learned how to run a spiritual movement and attract followers. Next he opened a yoga studio where he preached the mantra, ―To hold spiritual powers through endless spiritual training.‖ Soon, says Hayashi, Asahara envisioned leading an elite group in a terrorist campaign to take over Japan. According to Hayashi, Asahara cited sacred texts that sanctioned murder in the pursuit of enlightenment. The guru ruled by fear, and disobedient followers were killed. Hayashi says he joined Aum to achieve ‗virtue‘ and to do good and that he was taken in by Asahara‘s spiritual leadership and blinded by his charisma, which together destroyed Hayashi‘s ego.
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Hayashi adds that he wrote his analysis of Aum and Asahara so that the group‘s crimes would not be repeated. (Asahi Shimbun, Internet, 11/1/03) Woman Was Government “Mole” Kazumi Kitagawa, who recently sought asylum in North Korea, spied on Aum Shinrikyo for the Japanese government from within the group. Former Public Security Investigation Agency official Hironari Noda said Kitagawa sold information to the agency, which has been closely monitoring Aum for a number of years following the Tokyo subway attack. Aum formally complained about Kitagawa‘s spying in 2002, but the government, while acknowledging it, refuses further comment. Kitagawa, who joined Aum in 1995, after the gas attack, often told other followers that she was fascinated by North Korea and the Kim Il Jong regime and hoped to move there someday. (Hiroshi Matsubara, Japan Times, Internet, 11/6/03) “Killing Machine’s” Death Sentence Upheld The Tokyo High Court has upheld the death sentence of Yasuo Hayashi, 45, known as the ‗killing machine,‘ convicted of a number of Aum Shinrikyo-related crimes including the release of three bags of sarin poison gas inside Tokyo subway cars in 1995 that killed 12 and injured thousands. Hayashi‘s lawyers argued that he was only an accessory to leader Shoko Asahara’s plan to overthrow the government. (AFP on Yahoo! News Singapore, Internet, 12/5/03) Towns Can’t Deny Them Residency The Japanese Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling, decided that local governments cannot deny residency rights to members of Aum Shinrikyo. Aum had asked the courts to revoke the decisions of 16 local governments around the country not to accept members‘ applications for residence. Some local governments had refused residency because, they said, they had a duty of protect the health and safety of their citizens. One jurisdiction that has accepted Aum member residency subsidizes other local residents to monitor the group‘s activities. (Mainichi Shimbun, Internet, 6/26/03) More Members in Russia Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Kiril, meeting with the ―chief priests of the six largest Japanese churches,‖ says there are more Aum Shinrikyo members in Russia than in Japan. Both he and the Japanese delegation agreed to wage a campaign against cults that ―could facilitate Russian-Japanese rapprochement.‖ (Daily News Bulletin (Moscow), Internet, 8/12/03)
Awaiting Christ Arrested for Illegal Burials Fifteen members of Awaiting Christ have been arrested in Mandela Park, Umtata, South Africa, and charged with burying followers illegally. Sinoxolo Dukuza says that a woman claiming to be a prophet ―convinced my mother, two of my brothers, and my two sisters to give up everything and join her church. She told them that Christ was coming in December and that they would only be saved if they joined.‖ Dukuza said that when she tried to persuade family members to leave, ―I was accused of being the devil, and my family was warned to keep away from ‗worldly people‘ . . . My mother and my brothers have been brainwashed. They still believe Jesus is coming to fetch them.‖ Mandela Park community leader Chief Jonas Ndzambule said Awaiting Christ does not believe in medical treatment and would not let its children attend school or allow members
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to work. He added that those who deny health care to people who then die are committing murder. (Jonathan Ancer, The Star, Internet, 6/26/03)
Black Hebrews New Status in Israel The Black Hebrews, vegetarian polygamists from the U.S. who settled here more than 30 years ago, were recently granted permanent residence status in Israel. The 1,500 strong community, living in the southern desert town of Dimona, began with 350 followers of Ben Carter — now Ammi Ben-Israel — a Chicago bus driver who says the angel Gabriel told him that he was God‘s representative on earth. Believing that African-Americans are one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel, the Black Hebrews established businesses in crafts and tailoring, started a tofu ice cream factory, and set up several vegetarian restaurants. They were given temporary resident status in 1990 on condition that no more followers come to Israel. (AP, Internet, 7/29/03)
Child Abuse Children Kept in Cells at Islamic School Police raided an Islamic School in Lusaka, Zambia, and charged two directors with unlawful confinement and abuse of 280 students. The children, all boys between the ages of four and ten dressed in robes and Muslim caps and housed in a warren of small rooms, said that they wanted to leave because they were sometimes fed on rotten food kept in a sewer manhole. They claimed that they were not allowed to speak any local language in school, and that ―a breach of the rule attracted capital punishment.‖ Sports and Child Development Minister Gladys Nyrongo said that the children were reportedly to be sent out of Zambia when they had been educated in Islam and learned an Eastern Language. ―We don‘t want to have another al-Qaeda network in Zambia,‖ she added. (Bob Sianjalika and Kaiko Namusa, Times of Zambia, Internet, 7/3/03)
Church of God in Upland Couple Sentenced in Faith Healing Death Richard and Agnes Wiebe, members of the Church of God in Upland, have been sentenced to a year in jail and five years‘ probation by San Bernardino (CA) County Judge Gerard Brown for allowing their sick baby to die of bacterial meningitis. The couple chose prayer alone to deal with the illness because their church shuns medical treatment. The Wiebes had pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child abuse. Their probation requires they attend parenting classes and refrain from associating with any convicted felons except Daniel Layne, the reformed heroin addict who leads their church. (AP, Internet, 9/15/03)
Creffield, Franz Franz Creffield “Lured” Women University of Toronto professors Jim Phillips and Rosemary Gartner have written a book about Franz Creffield, who in the early 20th century ―lured‖ a group of deeply religious persons, mostly women, away from their churches in Oregon to follow his brand of Christianity, which included simple living, belief he was the next Joshua (that is, the successor of Moses), and had the power to intercede between them and heaven. Followers lay on the floor for hours hoping to bring in the Holy Spirit. Many burned their possessions and lived communally. A group of local men eventually tarred and feathered Creffield before driving him out of Corvallis to Seattle, but he continued to meet with his Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 45
followers in Oregon. He was soon convicted of adultery with a follower, igniting rumors that he had slept with other female members of his sect. Now, male relatives of the ―dishonored women‖ began hunting him down, and he was eventually shot and killed by George Mitchell, the husband of one of the women. With wide public and press support for his action, Mitchell was acquitted, using an insanity defense. But on his release, he was shot and killed by his own sister, who had remained a devout Creffield follower. She escaped justice altogether; the same judge who decided the Mitchell case wanted to avoid another sensational trial and declared her unfit to face the court. The case, say the authors [they do not provide the book title], reveals a frontier in transition slowly moving away from an ―eye for an eye‖ vigilante justice to our contemporary system. (Kari Wergeland, Seattle Times, 12/7/03)
Cult Education Death of Professor Claire Champollion, Educator and Researcher Dr. Claire Champollion, leading European educator on the problem of destructive cults, died recently in Paris at the age of 83. A professor of history, Madame Champollion became involved in cult-related issues when the Unification Church recruited her son Yves. In 1974, she and her husband, Dr. Guy Champollion, founded ADFI (Association for Defense of the Family and the Individual), which has chapters throughout the French-speaking world that provide information and assistance to the cult-involved and press for government intervention against illegal cult activities. Dr. Champollion was also involved, whether formally or informally, in the work of cult research and education organizations in other countries. These included the Dialogue Center International, in Denmark; the Dialog Center, in Berlin; the American Family Foundation, in the U.S.; FAIR, in Britain; and FECRIS, the European association of national organizations dedicated to alerting the Council of Europe to the problems caused by cultic groups. The Rev. Thomas Gandow, head of the Berlin Dialog Center, who worked closely with Dr. Champollion, said that ―she had a clear understanding of modern totalitarian movements as a political menace to our societies,‖ and that ―her wisdom, her maternal advice, and friendly criticism was always helpful.‖ (Cultic Studies Review NewsBriefs, 8/9/03)
Emankaya Prison for Sheltering Girl Four members of the Randers, Denmark, Emankaya sect have been sentenced to prison for sheltering a 17-year-old girl from her parents and authorities. The girl wanted to stay in the sect‘s collective. The group‘s original leader, Uffe Hove, was sentenced to seven years in jail for beating a 50-year-old woman to death during a sado-masochistic ritual. (Copenhagen Post, Internet, 10/23/03)
Four Winds Commune Up for Sale The Prince Edward Island Four Winds commune, formerly headed by nun Lucille Poulin, who was convicted of the ―scripturally sanctioned‖ beating of children in the group she led, is up for sale at $500,000. The property includes a home, a farm house, and a fullyequipped restaurant. (Charlottetown Guardian, Internet, 6/11/03)
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Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Safe Haven for the Abused Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard has called for the establishment of a safe haven for underage brides and abused children in Colorado City, since ―the nearest (Child Protective Services) station is 30 miles away, and that‘s unconscionable given what we know today.‖ Goddard said the recent conviction of Deputy Marshal Rodney Home for bigamy and sex with a minor sent a message. ―A lot of what was supposed to be protective armor in that part of the world has been chipped away. Freedom of religion does not protect you from tax evasion, welfare fraud, and child abuse." Many in the town are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, which practices polygamy. A church attorney said the safe haven idea is silly, and that people in Colorado City, which is admittedly isolated, can come and go as they please. He said Goddard was "trying to set up police like an occupying army.‖ (Beth DeFalco, AP in Casper Star Tribune, Internet, 10/29/03) Underground Railway for Child Brides People once associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have founded ―Help the Child Brides,‖ an organization devoted to assisting young girls to escape arranged marriages to older men in the polygamous sect. Bob Curran, of St. George, UT, describes the church as ―a country within a country. Where there was once religion, sadly it has degenerated to sex, power and money.‖ He added that authorities have been lax in prosecuting underage marriage, incest, and white slavery. (Kingman Daily Miner, Internet, 5/15/03)
General Assembly and Church of the First Born Third Child Dies from Lack of Medical Care The Tulare, CA, County District Attorney has filed charges of involuntary manslaughter and child abuse against Wesley and LaRonda Hamm following the death of their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, who died while suffering from flu-like symptoms, without medical care. The Hamms join fellow members of the General Assembly and Church of the First Born in shunning physicians in favor of prayer. Jessica is the third of the Hamm‘s children to die of illness without medical intervention — the first died when they lived in Arkansas, the second when they resided in Indiana. Authorities are trying to decide whether or not to remove the three remaining children from the Hamm home for their own safety. The church has 60 families in Tulare County and some 10,000 nationwide, according to the Hamms‘ attorney. The Assistant DA says religious belief is not a defense against the charges, as it is in some states. ―In California, parents have an obligation to provide for their children the basics of living — food, shelter and care, including medical care.‖ (Tim Sheehan, Fresno Bee, Internet, 10/3/03)
God’s Creation Outreach Ministry Mother Pleads Guilty in Death of Son Christy Edgar, on trial with her husband Neil for abusing and killing their 9-year-old son, Brian, pleaded guilty in court to felony first-degree murder even as her lawyer urged her not to do so. A week later, the jury found Neil Edgar and babysitter Chastity Boyd also guilty of the crime. Brian choked to death on his own vomit after a sock was stuffed in his mouth and he was wrapped like a mummy in duct tape. Witnesses testified that Brian and two adopted
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children were routinely tied up for minor transgressions such as talking back to adults and taking candy without permission. The Edgars founded the now defunct God’s Creation Outreach Ministry, in Kansas City, and married when she was 15 and he 17. She is reputed to have been a charismatic leader. Both she and Boyd, along with five other women, still face child abuse charges dating to their time in God‘s Creation Outreach Ministry. Neil Edgar defended himself saying he left discipline to his wife and that he would have stopped her from going as far as she allegedly did if he had seen what was happening. The defense spoke of how Christy Edgar was considered a prophet, and manipulated Boyd, a church member since the age of eight, into ―believing she was doing what God Almighty wanted.‖ Boyd‘s lawyer described her as a 20-year old woman who functions like a 12-yearold. A former church member said Christy Edgar told them that the idea of binding as punishment had come to her from God. It was, the lawyer said, a ―classic situation of brainwashing.‖ Prosecutors did not allege that Brian was intentionally killed, but that the defendants were guilty of first degree murder because the child died during an act of child abuse. The prosecution wanted the jury to consider a charge for less serious crimes, but the judge refused. (Tony Rizzo, Kansas City Star, Internet, 9/19 and 9/26/03)
House of Prayer Leader Arrested House of Prayer leader the Rev. Arthur Allen, Jr., convicted of child cruelty, has been sentenced to two years in prison for violating his earlier probation sentence. Allen was recently arrested after eluding authorities for five months following his failure to attend a hearing to determine if his probation should have been revoked. Allen and two other church members were convicted last year of cruelty to children in the beatings of two young boys in the congregation. He was sentenced to 90-days in jail and 10 years‘ probation but refused to attend anger management counseling and objected to a court order to stop whipping children with a belt. [Allen says that the harsh discipline he metes out is biblically sanctioned.] (Saeed Ahmed, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Internet, 8/19/03; AP, Internet, 8/25/03)
Kabbalah Centre Called Authoritarian The Kabbalah Centre, which popularizes the Jewish mystical discipline of kabbalah, and includes among its adepts a number of well-known entertainers and Hollywood personalities, is being accused by critics of high-pressure solicitations, ostracizing members who fall out of favor, and even undermining personal relationships. The singer Madonna says that kabbalah — which purports to teach anyone how the spiritual and physical laws of the universe work so that ―you will achieve greater harmony and balance, and ultimately gain more control over what happens to you — is ―very punk rock. It teaches that you are responsible for everything.‖ Marsha Tantros, 60, a retired mortgage broker from Media, PA, tells how she meditated on the names of God in kabbalah's mystical book, the Zohar, for insight into her bad feelings about an acquaintance. ―I was able to be detached,‖ she said, ―and get an ‗aha‘ moment, and release [the feelings]. I really feel that the [Hebrew] letters [in the Zohar] are alive.‖ Another student told how her business improved when she took a Centre course on ―increasing prosperity.‖ Berg claims that kabbalah study can ensure good health. Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 48
The latest book by Rabbi Yehuda Berg, who leads the worldwide operation with his two sons, is titled, The 72 names of God: Technology for the Soul. Joel Hecker, a professor of mysticism at a Jewish college, observes that scanning and meditating on God‘s names have precedents in classic kabbalah practice, but he finds the Centre‘s self-empowerment approach ―utilitarian‖ and ―troubling.‖ ―There were many checks and balances in the classic [kabbalah] system to prevent one from thinking you could manipulate divine energies to do your bidding,‖ said Hecker. Former practitioner Gary Wilson, of Mount Airy, PA, who like Tantros attended the Ardmore Centre in suburban Philadelphia, said that he was shunned, like others he knows, when he criticized the ―autocratic style‖ of the local leader. And Rick Ross, of the Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults, in New Jersey, says that some Kabbalah Centre staffers had advised students to leave a spouse or partner who resists its teachings, counseling that the critic is ―a negative spiritual influence.‖ A rabbi for Jews for Judaism, which monitors missionary groups and cults, said he had received complaints about the Centre‘s ―highpressure fundraising tactics,‖ in which people are told ―good things only come to them if money goes to the Centre.‖ (Jim Remsen, Philadelphia Inquirer, Internet, 7/31/03) Kids of North Jersey Inc. Cult Environment Alleged The approach of Kids of New Jersey rehabilitation center head Miller Newton was not, according to prosecuting attorney Philip Elberg, about ―tough love‖ but about ―destroying families as they existed and creating a new family with Miller Newton as the father and Ruth Ann Newton as the mother.‖ Dozens of teenagers with behavior problems who went through the center — which has now been closed following suits for Medicaid over-billing — have described the experience as a living hell. Elberg, who won a $4.5 million settlement for one of the teenagers in 1999, alleges now that Newton, a 63-year-old rehabilitation guru, violated client Lulu Corter‘s civil rights, provided treatment that deviated from standard care, and caused her emotional, physical, and psychological damage. A Utah prosecutor called the program Newton operated in his state ―a sort of private jail, using techniques such as torture.‖ Witnesses have supported the allegation that Lulu, who entered the facility with an eating disorder and compulsive behavior, was ―brainwashed.‖ They said that Miller routinely required patients to shun their families and families to shun children who left the program before graduating. Lulu, whose parents signed her into the program in 1984, when she was 13, and who ran from it in 1997, said that Newton discouraged her and her mother from attending her older sister‘s wedding because the sister had left the program too soon. Former patients who took the stand spoke of the center‘s rules and regulations. Initially, they had to sit ramrod straight for 12 hours of group therapy daily. They were prohibited from writing, making telephone calls, or going to the bathroom alone. Graduates were coerced to remain as staff members. Patients were returned to the earliest, harsh stage of treatment for the slightest infraction. Lulu said that she, like others, made up stories during therapy — saying she had sex with a dog and that her uncle had molested her — in order to advance toward release through the stages of the program without falling back. Staff psychiatrists say in their depositions that they rarely saw patients. Attorney Elberg says Newton ―rented licenses‖ and that peer counselors used rubber stamps to sign psychiatrists‘ names to reports in order to collect private and Medicaid insurance. Newton has a 1981 Ph.D. in public administration and urban anthropology from The Union Institute, in Cincinnati, which calls itself an ―alternative learner-directed‖ school without Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 49
classes or other attendance requirements. His resume says his degree is in ―medical anthropology‖ or ―clinical anthropology,‖ and that he is a ―board certified . . . medical psychotherapist,‖ which he says is a ―peer certification.‖ Elberg states that he decided not to use the term ―cult‖ for Newton‘s organization ―because that could have turned the trial into one about the meaning of a cult, rather than about this girl who was yanked out of school and forced to go through what she went through.‖ (Tim O‘Brien, New Jersey Law Journal, Internet, 7/7/03)
Lord’s Resistance Army Former Child Rebels “Haunted” It has been difficult for former child members of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to adjust to normal society since they escaped to freedom after being indoctrinated to kill or be killed by the anti-government rebel group in Northern Uganda. Charles Ojok, now training to be an auto mechanic, says: ―I feel frightened, I feel very afraid. I have returned only once to my real home [in the district where the LRA raids for recruits].‖ The newly freed are assisted at special government centers, but they distrust aid workers and give false names. They find healing, however, in contact with others who were also forced to kill and abduct. Some even meet their own abductors at the centers. Many returnees have nightmares and flashbacks while some are aggressive. But these symptoms subside by the time they return home, where some are nonetheless stigmatized and discriminated against. Psycho-social program manager Michael Oruni says: ―A child that has been abducted needs to be taken away from the situation of war. But the guns are still being shot, and that complicates the situation.‖ (Orla Ryan, BBC Monday, Internet, 1/5/04) Rebels Reportedly Withdrawing Uganda security forces report that the majority of Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, led by Vice-chairman Brig. Vincent Otti, have fled to Sudan to join leader Joseph Kony. They say the LRA has suffered major defeats in recent months. Sudan has been working with Uganda to defeat the rebels, and the impending peace between the Sudan government and its own rebels ―will mark the death of the LRA,‖ according to a Ugandan source. (Emmy Allio, New Vision, Internet, 1/14/04) Spirit Beliefs Aid “Brainwashing” According to aid workers counseling children freed from the Lord’s Resistance Army, leader Joseph Kony uses ―brainwashing‖ and [the traditional] belief in spirits to enhance his power over individuals. Within hours of a kidnapping, LRA leaders select for death a child who has tried to escape and order the others to kill him or her, on pain of death for not following the order. Aid worker Els de Temmerman, from Belgium, says Kony ―sees himself as the Acholi [ethnic group‘s] savior. . . He [Kony] says: ‗We have to cleanse out people so only the good, faithful ones remain. So we are not killing our people, we are cleansing them.‘ It‘s a cult pure and simple,‖ Temmerman concludes. Even after they have escaped, according to Temmerman, the children believe that Kony can read their minds and will track them down and kill them. They continue to believe that Kony has the Holy Spirit and supernatural powers. Many former fighters, especially those who spent years with him, think he is good but misunderstood. ―He is nice to children,‖ said one, adding: ―His only problem is the hard orders he gives to his commanders to kill. It‘s them who kill and torture children. They do it behind his back.‖ (William McLean, Reuters, Internet, 1/15/04) Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 50
Captives Freed The Ugandan army reports it liberated in December 374 people being held by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), killed 46 of the rebels, and took the surrender of eight more. [The anti-government LRA rebels, with bases in nearby Sudan, kidnap children from their home villages in the north of the country and turn them into soldiers, meanwhile sexually abusing and mutilating many of them.] (New Vision, Internet, 12/31/03) Child Victims of Cult-like Group The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), an anti-government group in Northern Uganda, kidnaps children from villages in the region, virtually enslaves them, and then throws out the badly damaged who do not die in the service of leader Joseph Kony. He is a former altar boy who reportedly has 60 wives, wears women‘s dresses, proclaims a connection with the angels, and believes that God has chosen him to overthrow the Ugandan government and make the Ten Commandments the law of the land. A 14-year-old in a hospital in Gulu that cares for LRA victims told how he was ordered to join others in killing, with clubs, another child who had disobeyed a random order not to eat at 4pm. The children were told the order was a message from the angels. Hospital patients injured by the LRA included a girl with a steel pin in her leg, one with spinal damage who may not walk again, and a girl terribly disfigured when other children were ordered to cut off her nose, ears, and lips as a warning to the Ugandan community not to fight the rebels. One result of the LRA terror is that thousands of Ugandan children are flooding into the towns to avoid kidnapping. (Hilary Andersson, BBC News, Internet, 7/5/03) LRA forces in mid-June attacked Adjumani Catholic Parish and abducted 15 children from the Redeemer Orphanage Centre. A previous attack on Adjumani took place in 1991. (Patrick Alioni and Dennis Ojwee, New Vision, Internet, 6/19/03) Children Rescued Following hard fighting, government forces freed over 100 children who had been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda. (Ali Mao, New Vision, Internet, 7/15/03)
LaRouche Recruit’s “Suicide” Questioned German police are reviewing their investigation of the death in March of Jeremiah Duggan, a British student, and Jew, who had traveled to Germany for what he thought was an anti-war conference run by the publication Nouveau Solidarité, only to discover that he had actually joined the Schiller Institute, led by the anti-Semitic Lyndon LaRouche. The LaRouche political organization is alleged to pressure young people to believe in a Jewish-American conspiracy to take over the world. Duggan died after reportedly running into the path of two vehicles. The police assumed it was suicide, but a report requested by British authorities indicates that no autopsy was performed and police took no official signed statements from witnesses, which were in any case contradictory. Duggan‘s family says that the 22-year-old was studying at the Sorbonne, in Paris, and that when he learned of LaRouche‘s anti-Semitic background he declared he was Jewish and fled the place he was staying with the group. But first, they say, he called his girlfriend in Paris saying he was ―under too much pressure.‖ Then he called his mother, again expressing his acute anxiety and wish to go home. As he was giving his location, the phone line was cut off. Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 51
When Duggan‘s mother finally reached the facility where her son had been staying, and before she learned of his death, she was told first that Nouveau Solidarité was a ―news agency‖ and did not take responsibility for individual‘s actions. She was told in a call several minutes later that ―Jeremiah had psychological problems.‖ The Duggan family lawyer says that the German authorities‘ investigation ―is totally inadequate. Jeremiah Duggan died in very suspicious circumstances. These call for a full and proper investigation,‖ the lawyer said. (Daniel Foggo, The Telegraph, 11/9/03) Getting Campaign Money The Wall Street Journal says a good reason to check ―no‖ on your tax return when it asks if you want to contribute to the federal election campaigns is that ―perennial crackpot candidate Lyndon Larouche will soon get a check for $840,000. That‘s more money than Al Sharpton, Dennis Kucinich or Carol Mosley Braun — all of whom have at least the pretense of being serious candidates — will get.‖ (Opinion, Wall Street Journal, Internet, 12/4/03)
Magnificat Meal Movement Former Irish PM’s Nephew Joins Movement Niall Haughey, the nephew of former Irish prime minister Charles Haughey, has given up his business and home and moved to Australia to live with the Magnificat Meal Movement (MMM). Sources say Haughey has handed over most of his money to MMM leader Debra Burslem, and will now live simply, working the group‘s land, in Queensland. Burslem, who claims she has visions of the Virgin Mary, owns property worth several million dollars. Irish cult expert Mike Garde says the group ―brainwashes‖ members, adding that some have sold their homes near the property and given 30 percent to Burslem, who tells them the Virgin Mary wishes them to do so. It is said that Burslem owns four Mercedes cars and is a director of at least 10 companies. Niall Haughey‘s father says, ―I am not worried about him at all.‖ (Sunday Irish Independent, Internet, 6/29/03)
Mujahedeen Khalk Dissidents Called “Cult” Nine members of the Iranian dissident group Mujahedeen Khalk have immolated themselves in front of TV cameras as a protest against a recent raid on their Paris headquarters by French police. A City University of New York professor who has written a book entitled ―The Iranian Mujahedeen‖ says that charismatic leader Massoud Rajavi closely controls members‘ behavior, ―who you sleep with, who you marry, who he sleeps with — everything. They stopped being a mass movement with Marxist roots and became basically a cult.‖ An Iranian National Council representative in London called the self-immolations the desperate actions ―of people who are willing to put everything on the line to liberate their countries.‖ He said that former members critical of the group are ―paid agents of the Iranian intelligence ministry.‖ Former members say that the Mujahedeen Khalk grew into a hermetic society when it lost support in Iran for siding with Iraq in its decade-long conflict against Iran. One former member says that followers had no contact with the outside world. ―They can‘t listen to news, read a newspaper, the Internet. During two years in Paris, I left the base just two days.‖ (Karl Vick, Washington Post, in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Internet, 6/29/03)
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One Love Family Nigerian Group in Britain The Lagos, Nigeria-based One Love Family of Satguru Maharajji, a 55-year-old Nigerian who has adopted the look of an Indian holy man, is being investigated after a follower said the group practices child sacrifice. Joyce Osagiede, who says that she and her husband had established British branches of the group, contends the headless torso found recently in the Thames was one such victim, and that her husband has committed a number of ―black magic killings‖ of followers‘ children. She has since denied the black magic charges, saying she made them up to gain asylum in Britain. Sam Osagiede is now in a Dubin jail contesting extradition to Germany on charges of ―human trafficking.‖ A former devotee says that Maharajji, acquitted in 2000 of murdering a Ghanaian who had accused him of holding his sister against her will, said five people have died in One Love Family initiation rites. Generally, he said, the heart, liver, and kidneys are removed from the dead and made into a drink taken during initiations. Ritual killings to ensure good fortune are said to be common in parts of Nigeria, and the body found in the river is allegedly the product of the human traffickers‘ wish for luck in their endeavors. An Elder from Benin City, Nigeria, the One Love Family headquarters, said: ―Ritual killings have nothing to do with our religion or beliefs. They are about greed and power.‖ (The Telegraph, London, Internet, 8/31/03)
Pathways Church Ex-Pastor Mounts Takeover Bob Allen, recently expelled founder of Pathways Church, in Brentwood, CA, recently took over a service at the church, apparently trying to regain control of the congregation, many of whom got up and walked out. Allen and the church faction that opposes him are now in civil litigation over control. The area‘s Delta Ministerial Association began in mid-2001 investigating allegations of manipulation and emotional abuse by Allen and other leaders of the Pathways Church. (Rowena Coetsee and Melissa Moy, Contra Costa Times, Internet, 1/14/04)
Polygamy Belief but Not Practice Allowed The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that polygamist Tom Green, now serving a prison sentence for felony bigamy and rape, has the right to hold his religious beliefs in plural marriage but he cannot practice them. Utah Assistant Attorney General Laura Dupaix, acknowledging Green‘s right, remarked: ―But there‘s a point where religious beliefs do not justify you engaging in socially harmful conduct,‖ even though ―the defendant is saying, ‗Because I believe as part of my religion I should practice polygamy, I should be exempt from the bigamy statute.‘ ‖ She added that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against that position in 1878 and ―it is still good law.‖ Dupaix said the state has an interest in discouraging relationships that encourage dependence on public funding. The state‘s brief in the case contends that a ―disproportionately high percentage of polygamous families in both Utah and Arizona rely on government benefits for support.‖ (AP, Internet, 6/13/03) “Polyamory” Among Unitarian Universalists The Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory, claiming 72 members in the U.S., recently held a workshop in Boston to promote ―responsible non-monogamy,‖ or the potential for loving Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 53
more than one person at a time in enduring relationships. One representative said that she hoped Unitarians would one day accept ―polyamorists‖ as they now do homosexuals. A spokesman for the Family Research Council said that a polyamorist lifestyle would put children in jeopardy. (AP in New York Times, 4/7/03)
Puchon Sect Murders Admitted Members of a Puchon, South Korea, sect led by Cho (only his last name is known) have admitted to following his orders to kill nine other followers between 1992 and 1994 because they questioned his authority. Members of the group, which has branches in major cities, believe that they will gain eternal life by observing Cho‘s 131 commandments, including avoidance of sexual relations during marriage. (Yoon Ja-young, Korea Times, Internet, 8/14/03)
Raël Inside Look at “Atheist” Religion Raël, former race-car driver Claude Vorilhon, the leader of the Canada-based worldwide sect that promotes sexual liberation and human cloning, is surrounded by a fanatically devoted circle of followers who will allegedly give up their lives — some of them sign a contract promising this – to keep the CIA and French secret service from killing him. University of Montreal psychologist-criminologist Dianne Casoni, who has studied cultic groups, says: ―What worried me most is when conspiracy theories develop. The group says to itself, ‗We‘re in danger, we have to protect ourselves,‘ and sometimes it becomes, ‗We have to fight back,‘ and that‘s when things can go on the skids.‖ Raël also seems to be tightening his control over disciples — his creation of the Order of the Angels among female followers is an example — and increasing his authority, according to University of Laval sociologist Alain Bouchard. This trend also worries Mike Kropveld, head of Montreal‘s Info-Cult/Info Secte information center. For now, says Bouchard, ―The members are afraid; it‘s created a thrill and cohesion in the group so everyone is satisfied. When they begin to construct bunkers, that‘s when we should be worried.‖ Core supporters live in condos at ―UFOland,‖ in Maricourt, near Montréal. Raël teaches that human beings are clones of aliens. Bouchard says the Raëlians have stagnated in the past 20 years, and Casoni believes things could become complicated when the leader faces the crumbling of the movement. Raël will have two choices — accept the dissolution of the group, or continue with only his core followers. ―In the end, with the Order of the Solar Temple [a number of whose members died in murder-suicide incidents in the mid-1990s in France and Canada], only the most committed members killed themselves.‖ But for now, the commitment to die for Raël seems symbolic, says Bouchard. Kropveld believes, moreover, that there is nothing to be concerned about. ―It‘s one of the most transparent movements that I know.‖ Former Raëlians say attractive members cruise strip clubs and bars in Montréal offering free sex to the lonely as a recruiting tool. The Raëlians are famous for their extreme free-love philosophy and the attempt to foster the attitude and approach among Canadians. A man formerly with the group for five years says: ―It wouldn‘t be such a bad place if you‘d leave all the sex out. I don‘t like all the exposing of genitals or all the focusing on the anus.‖ Kropveld says some become members after attending ―touchy-feely‖ Raëlian meetings, and that women in the sex and stripping trades join because the Raëlians support their lifestyle.
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Annual membership payments for dues to the national organization, meeting space, religious regalia, books, and tapes, can reportedly amount to 10% of take home pay. Teaching that ―loving is giving and expecting nothing in return,‖ the movement collected some $1.8 million in dues last year — $600,000 from Asia; a Japanese woman gave $57,000 — down 11% from the preceding year, and has some $13 million in assets. The authors of the recent Sun Media [of Canada] exposé [which this report summarizes] say they paid about $2,000 during the nine months they were associated with the group, undercover. (Bridgette McCann in Edmonton Sun and Sun Media, Internet, 10/7,8, 10/03; Kevin Connor, Sun Media, 10/11/03)
Rajneesh Spreading Ideas in Nepal Swami Anand Arun, a 59-year-old civil engineer and disciple of the late Osho Rajneesh, who has established a number of prosperous centers in Nepal devoted to the teachings of the late guru, now plans to focus on starting centers in India. Regarding reports of Rajneesh‘s extravagant lifestyle, free sex in his Ashrams, and criminal activities of some of his disciples in the U.S., Arun says: ―People thought he was corrupting us. But then, it‘s the lot of every master. Even Jesus was accused of corrupting the morals of the youth.‖ (Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Internet, 1/6/04)
Reiki Members Allegedly Harass Fellow Exxon Lab Employees A former Exxon Mobil Corp. employee is suing supervisors at the Baytown, TX, facility whom he alleges harassed and fired workers who rejected efforts to recruit them for a Reiki ―cult.‖ Technician William McCracken, 63, complains of religious discrimination in the activities of the defendants who, he says, ―adhered to certain spiritual, religious teachings (of the cult leader) and a ‗new age‘ belief system, including a practice known as Reiki.‖ (One of many Reiki Web sites defined it as ―a method of natural healing based on the application of Universal Life Force Energy.‖) McCracken says a co-worker was fired after she refused to let a supervisor, allegedly the cult leader, treat her cervical cancer. He alleges another colleague was terminated for refusing to attend meetings at the supervisor‘s home. ―Favorable treatment‖ for Reiki followers was the norm, and others were treated ―unfavorably,‖ he said. (Harvey Rice, Houston Chronicle, Internet, 12/18/03)
Repressed Memories Brain May Be Able to Bury Unwanted Memories A team of researchers says in the January issue of Science that unwanted memories can be expunged from the brain through the action of a particular circuit that is activated when a person tries to forget something. The findings support the theory that memories can be repressed and buried in the subconscious. Dr. David Spiegel, a professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said the study supported the idea that people can suppress traumatic memories and regain them later. (Anahad O‘Connor, New York Times, 1/9/04)
Sikh Canadian Leader Excommunicated ―The Body of Sikh Holy Men in Punjab‖ has excommunicated British Columbia-based Harnek Singh Grewal, controversial leader of the Nanaksar sect, which has congregations in Canada, the U.S., England, and India, for allegedly drinking liquor and Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 55
having sex with parishioners despite sect rules that prohibit drinking and enforce celibacy. The decree has led to conflict over the sect‘s assets in both Canada and India. Last year, Nanaksar dissidents petitioned the British Columbia Supreme Court to remove Grewal, saying he used temple funds to build a large house for himself and a woman from India, promoted the belief that free sex was a path to enlightenment, and gambled in Las Vegas. The court ruled the dispute was a religious issue and refused to get involved. (Fabian Dawson, CanWest News Service in National Post, Internet, 1/7/04)
Scientology Members Release Group from Liability for Spiritual Healing Scientology requires members who receive the church‘s ―spiritual assistance‖ to sign a release form and contract consenting ―to participate in Scientology Religious Services and receive Spiritual Assistance under the terms, conditions, covenants, waivers, and releases I agree to by signing this contract.‖ The release was crafted in response to the wrongful death suit brought against Scientology by the family of Lisa McPherson, who died after 17 days in Church care for psychiatric problems [following her removal from a hospital to which she had been taken for evaluation]. The signatory agrees that Scientology is exclusively religious in nature and ―unalterably opposed, as a matter of religious belief, to the practice of psychiatry‖ and that mental problems are spiritual and should not be treated in non-religious ways. The contractor also agrees ―to memorialize my desire to be helped exclusively through religious, spiritual means and not through any form of psychiatric treatment,‖ and not to be denied this no matter what the government, doctors, or family members say. Moreover, if forced to undergo any confinement or treatment, the signatory wants it understood that ―I fully desire and expect that the Church or Scientologists will intercede on my behalf to oppose such efforts and/or extricate me from that predicament.‖ The signatory also agrees that if it is determined he or she should need psychiatric treatment, the treatment should be Scientology-based, which includes ―being isolated from all sources of potential spiritual upset, including but not limited to family members, friends, or others with whom I might normally interact.‖ The signatory also agrees to the 24-hour presence of Scientologists during such treatment, which is indeterminate in length, and ―I accept and assume all known and unknown risks of injury, loss, or damage resulting from my decision to participate in the Introspection Rundown and specifically absolve all persons and entities from all liabilities of any kind, without limitation, associated with my participation or their participation in my Introspection Rundown.‖ Finally: ―I fully understand that by signing below, I am forever giving up my right to sue the Church, its staff, and any of the releasees named in the General Release I signed, for any injury or damage suffered in any way connected with Scientology religious services or spiritual assistance.‖ (Harper’s Magazine, Internet, 11/1/03) Scientology Declared Not Tax-Exempt The Dutch High Court has ruled that the Church of Scientology is not ―an institution for the common good‖ and is therefore not tax exempt, and payment to Scientology for courses or donations is not tax deductible. ―Potential believers as well as full-fledged Scientologists from now on [according to this report] will think twice before they pay tens of thousands of Euros for Scientology courses.‖
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The revenue service considers Scientology a business, regardless of whether or not it is a church, that the high rates charged for Scientology courses demonstrate a commercial intent, and that the way it recruits students can also be considered commercial. But the main reason revenue inspectors gave for the denial of exemption was that the ―intent‖ and ―content‖ of the courses aims mainly to solve ―personal problems.‖ This means the goal is ―individual‖ and for ―personal benefit,‖ rather than the ―common good.‖ Scientology argued that, with 19,000 members in Holland, it served the common good. But recent apostates say the number of active members is around 150. The High Court said further that it was up to Scientology, not government authorities, to prove that it serves the common good. Scientology is appealing the High Court decision to the European Court in the Hague (which rejected a similar appeal in the mid-1980s). (Sladjana Labovic and Bart Middelburg, Het Parool, Internet, 12/11/03) Mongolia Using Hubbard-Inspired Program Representatives of Applied Scholastics (AS), in response to a request from the Speaker of the Mongolian Parliament, Tumor Ochi, have presented the learning methods developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard for use in the Asian country. S. Krishnan, the executive director of AS in Malaysia, says his office will work closely with the Mongolian Ministry of Education to develop an implementation strategy. (The Star, Malaysia, Internet, 10/19/03) Exodus from Netherlands Group Fifty of some 150 core members of the Church of Scientology in the Netherlands have left the group, and high ranking Scientologists from overseas have flown in to deal with what Scientology documents allegedly call a ―mutiny.‖ One cause of the recent exodus is reportedly a split between those who think only Scientology as it is now constituted can properly convey the teachings of founder L. Ron Hubbard, and those who think that Hubbard‘s way can be achieved better, more enjoyably, and for less money, outside the church‘s constraints. The ―Independents‖ have started a movement with a website named www.ronsorg.nl, which stands for ―Ron‘s Organization and Network for Standard Tech.‖ A third group has left because Scientologists in commercial concerns in the Netherlands and elsewhere have allegedly swindled hundreds of thousands of people. Caspar de Rijk, a founder of the Netherlands branch of Scientology, says that Scientology was for a long time able to keep members from communicating among themselves or with family and friends by threat of heavy sanctions. But the Internet has helped change the situation. ―What Hubbard one day started is now being reduced again to normal proportions.‖ Former members who come to a meeting of the independent grouping ―realize they can practice the principles but without all that indoctrination and intimidation,‖ says de Rijk. De Rijk reports that when he refused to take a lie detector test for suspected ―bad intentions‖ — he told them he had none — he was transferred to a ―rehabilitation project,‖ a kind of re-education camp, which he refused to attend. Because he was a ranking member, higher officials saw de Rijk as a threat, so they threw him out of Scientology. Now, a number of Dutch Scientology leavers have been declared ―suppressive persons,‖ which means, according to Scientology protocol, that they can be ―tricked, prosecuted or lied to, or destroyed according to internal ethics.‖ The number of those excommunicated in Holland has been limited, says de Rijk, because it would be difficult to explain to remaining members that more than a third of the active following has suddenly become ―suppressive.‖
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The rebel Ronsorg group warns the many ex-members now seeking refunds of money spent on Scientology courses that Scientology ―will try to make you change your mind by pushing all of your buttons.‖ This allegedly includes the threat to use against them personal information — about spousal infidelity or drug use, for example — gleaned in years of Scientology counseling (auditing). (Sladjana Labovic and Bart Middleburg, Het Parool, Internet, 10/25/03) Michael Jackson Raising Money for Group Michael Jackson has designated Scientology‘s HELP program as one of the recipients of money he planned to raise in October through a worldwide download of his charity single, ―What More Can I Give?‖ HELP, which is connected to the Scientology offshoot Applied Scholastics, uses techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. Many well known performers were to have joined in the recording with Jackson, who was married briefly to Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley in the late 1990s. (Roger Friedman, Fox News, Internet, 10/27/03) Anti-Psychiatry Exhibit Controversy The City of Chicago ordered removed from the Loop‘s Thompson Center in early December an anti-psychiatry exhibit when it learned it was mounted by Scientology’s Citizens Commission on Human Rights. The exhibit, up for only a day, called psychiatry a wicked profession with ties to Nazi Germany, a view rejected by a representative of the American Psychiatric Association as a religious belief with no scientific basis. [Scientology, which employs a unique form of counseling, has carried on a campaign against psychiatry and therapeutic drug use for decades.] (John Chase, Chicago Tribune, Internet, 12/3/03) However, less than a week later the Blagojevich administration reversed after conferring with state lawyers about an appeal by the national headquarters of the Citizens Commission. The administration said it no longer thought a controversial Scientology-linked exhibit blasting psychiatry promoted a religious philosophy and would therefore allow the exhibit to be displayed next month in the Thompson Center. The exhibit was entitled, "Destroying Lives: Psychiatry Exposed." State rules forbid religious groups from renting display space in state buildings to promote their beliefs. The exhibit is expected to return to the Thompson Center for a week, beginning Jan. 5, Central Management spokeswoman Pam Davies said. The same display has been located outside the state Capitol in New Hampshire, inside Georgia's Capitol and in a state office building in New York, said Marla Filidei, international vice president of the Citizens Commission. Davies said the state plans to change procedures for future applicants who wish to rent space in state buildings by asking them to disclose any connections to religious organizations. Had that requirement been in place, she said, the Citizens Commission exhibit would have been allowed but the state would have known about the group's ties to Scientology and been able to study the display before it was erected. (John Chase, Chicago Tribune, Internet, Dec. 9, 2003) Loses Copyright Case The Dutch Court of Appeal has rejected Scientology’s claim that writer Karen Spaink, Internet service provider Xs4ALL, and ten other ISPs acted illegally in publishing the church‘s copyrighted materials on the web. The material had actually become public in the course of a court case against Scientology in 1994. The Court also denied the contention
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that linking to material that infringed a copyright was actionable. (Jan Libbenga, The Register, UK, Internet, 9/6/03) Former Member’s Suit Settled Former member Mary Johnson has settled her suit for damages against Scientology, ending a Dublin, Ireland, trial in which she characterized the organization as a ―cult.‖ It is unclear why Scientology, ―probably the most litigious ‗religious philosophy‘ in the world‖ [according to this account] decided to settle (on terms the litigants agreed not to disclose). Johnson, who says Scientology techniques ―are extremely coercive, manipulative, and dangerous, and bind people,‖ graduated from Trinity College Dublin after majoring in languages, played squash for the province of Leinster, and ran a sporting goods store in Dublin. When she was 29, a friend suggested that she try Scientology ―auditing‖ [counseling], and she did, although she says she was not particularly ―angst‖ ridden at the time. In these intense sessions with trained Scientologists, Johnson examined repetitively her past traumas, including deaths in her family, and two abortions which she was forced to reveal in the trial. She says the Scientologists eventually knew more about her personal life than anyone else. After she sued, anonymous letters circulated demeaning her character and asserting the Catholic Church had excommunicated her. A man called her shop asking questions about her, and another photographed her in a pub. Auditing, Johnson says, ―created in me a feeling of euphoria, so it became like an escape mechanism after a hard day.‖ She became so deeply involved that she signed up with Scientology for ―a billion years‖ [sic], became alienated from friends and family — ―suppressive‖ persons to be avoided if they disapproved of her new associations — and eventually lost her critical faculties. Only the continued persistence of her sister, which led to an ―epiphany,‖ freed Johnson from her pathological attachment to Scientology. In the midst of the trial, Johnson was diagnosed with breast cancer, but went forward nonetheless, despite the ravages of chemotherapy, to achieve a settlement that seems to her to justify the effort. (Maeve Sheehan, Sunday Times, Irish Edition, Internet, 7/27/03 and News Review 5, 7/28/03)
Transcendental Meditation Sponsor Withdraws Support of TM-based Course International accounting firm KPMG has withdrawn financial support for Transcendental Meditation’s CIDA course in Johannesburg, South Africa, after some students, refusing to attend compulsory morning TM classes, said the requirement violated their freedom of religion. One student said they were told not to return the following year because they refused to sign a form agreeing to accept TM teaching. CIDA has since made the TM element voluntary, but KPMG has not renewed its support. The CIDA course, widely supported by the business community, provides disadvantaged individuals with the opportunity to earn business degrees and aims to promote the development of black accounting professionals. Both KPMG and the students who have left in protest believe that the course is otherwise worthwhile. (Financial Mail, Internet, 8/29/03)
Tvind Clothing Sales Putting Africans Out of Business Sales in Africa of donated used clothing collected in the industrialized countries by the Tvind organization are driving textile companies in Malawi, Mozambique, and Kenya out of Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 59
business because they can‘t compete in the local market. Tvind (known in Malawi as DAPP) is an international charitable organization that has been characterized as a cult that allegedly brainwashes young people to become disciples of what is essentially a moneymaking enterprise. Tvind head Amdi Peterson has been charged in Denmark with fraud and tax evasion. (Chronicle, Lilongwe, Malawi, Internet, 12/22/03)
Unification Church Archbishop Milingo Reportedly with Another Woman Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, who was living near Rome after renouncing his marriage to Unification Church member Maria Sung last year, has reportedly moved to the Lombardy region to stay with the painter Alba Vitali, a female friend. Vitali says Milingo was a ―prisoner‖ at a Catholic religious community and ―the Vatican never really cared for him or provided proper treatment.‖ [It was alleged that the Unification Church at one time wanted to make Milingo head of a new church in Africa and that Sung was part of their plan.] (Webster Maliofo, The Post, Lusaka, Internet, 1/1/04) Moon Follower Affair with Party Leader Tokyo District Court has ruled that a magazine report of an alleged affair between a Unification Church member and Taku Yamasaki, Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party, is not defamatory, nor was the statement that he is not qualified to be a politician. The Shukan Bunshun article of April 2002 said that Yamasaki, who strongly influences the Defense Agency, could have leaked sensitive defense information to the woman. He visited her five times from January to March 1992 at her home, which is owned by the Unification Church. (Mainichi Shimbun, Internet, 9/8/03) Call for Action against Moon’s Church A commission advising the Armenian president urges strict measures to end Unification Church (UC) activities in Armenia. It called the church a totalitarian sect that recruits young people with deceit and brainwashing and said the situation merits criminal prosecution. Activist Aleksander Amarian said the UC ―affects peoples‘ brains and destroys families.‖ Critics say the Council of Europe believes the UC to be a threat to freedom. (Kairine Kalantarian and Emil Danielyan, Armenian News Network, Internet, 7/25/03) Awards to Samoans The Unification Church’s International Federation for World Peace (IFWP) — active in a number of Pacific island countries in recent years — has presented Peace Ambassador awards to nine Samoans at a ceremony in Apia, Samoa. The event was part of a seminar held at a local hotel attended by Prime Minister Yuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi and members of his government. Master of ceremonies Dr. Leulu Unasa Va said that the seminar, which concerned leadership training, opened his eyes to moral dictates and principles. (Malia Sio, Samoa Observer, Internet, 8/7/03)
United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors York Trial Gets Underway District Attorney Stephen Kelley says he may prosecute members of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors who marched in the Brunswick Christmas parade handing out literature and asking whether people believe Malachi York is innocent or guilty. Meanwhile, police are investigating the group‘s giving children documents containing profanity. Parade organizers said the Nuwaubians identified themselves as Masons. York is being tried on federal charges of child molestation and avoidance of financial reporting. (Josh Rayburn, Brunswick News, Internet, 12/8/03) Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 60
York asked that the charges be dismissed because publicity surrounding his earlier guilty plea — subsequently rejected by a judge — will prevent him from getting a fair trial. A federal judge ruled that York supporters would not be allowed to demonstrate outside the courthouse during the trial, but said anyone could watch it on closed-circuit TV on a separate floor of the building. (AP in 11 Alive News, Internet, 12/31/01) Claiming $1 Billion Using documents based on ―common law,‖ frequently used by anti-government militias to harass public officials, supporters of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors have sued Putnam County, GA, officials for $1.069 billion. Nuwaubian leader Dwight York was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted on 200 counts of child molestation. A colony of Nuwaubians until earlier this year lived on a 476-acre compound west of Eadenton where, while battling continuously with local officials and regulations, they erected pyramids, a sphinx, and other Egyptian-style structures. (Rob Peecher, Macon Telegraph, Internet, 10/23/03) Leader Says He’s Not Subject to Federal Law United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors leader Malichi York said at a recent hearing on his child molestation and fraud conviction that he is a sovereign Indian Chief — a ―Moorish Cherokee‖ — and therefore not subject to federal law. Some 200 of his followers supported the claim by appearing in American Indian-looking clothing. York‘s organization has in the past claimed heritage from or religious affinities to Egyptians, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Shriners, and Masons. Once, the Nuwaubians dressed like cowboys and York declared that he was from outer space. U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson has refused to accept York‘s agreement with a lower court that calls for a 15-year prison term in return for a guilty plea. The judge said that York‘s post-plea behavior has not indicated acceptance of his guilt or consideration of the effect of his conduct on the victims. (Rob Peecher, Macon Telegraph, Georgia, Internet, 7/1/03)
Word of Faith Fellowship Suing Social Services for Taking Children Nineteen members of the Spindale, NC-based Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF), have filed a federal lawsuit against the Rutherford County Department of Social Services (DSS) for harassment and conspiracy. The suit is a response to the Department‘s taking into custody several children of a former member who says the church family with whom she had temporarily left the children is involved in psychologically damaging religious practices. A local judge ruled the DSS action justified, saying the WOFF environment was abusive to children. The plaintiffs claim that DSS, in pursuing its goal to ―shut the church down,‖ has investigated the church because of its ―Biblically-based and non-violent practice of ‗strong‘ or ‗blasting‘ prayer, and on the peaceful practice of ‗discipleship,‘ consisting of quiet religious study, and have threatened to remove the children of (church) members from their parents because of these religious practices.‖ The suit also says the DSS has forced church parents to sign ―Safety Assessments‖ limiting parents‘ use of strong prayer, attempted to turn children against their parents so they can be deprogrammed, ―engaged in highly intimidating and psychologically traumatizing ‗interviews‘ in which defendants attacked and ridiculed (WOFF) religious beliefs and practices,‖ and conspired with the ―anti-cult movement.‖
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The suit says strong prayer, which the WOFF believes is Biblically mandated, refers to ―any strong demonstration of the Holy Spirit . . . including supplication, petition, weeping, groaning, travail, crying out, praying in tongues, and shrill cries for Christ to be formed in you and to come against the works of the devil.‖ The suit maintains that discipleship, ―contrary to false allegations . . . does not involve isolation from peers, friends, or family, but such contact may be limited during the in-school period of the discipleship training. Separately, parents may also seek to place additional limitations on their children‘s contact with friends outside of school in response to bad behavior.‖ WOFF believes also that corporal punishment is Biblically mandated. But ―both the child and the adult performing the spanking are taught to cry out to Jesus and to mix faith with the spanking, asking God to change the child‘s heart.‖ (Michael Gavin, Daily Courier, Internet, 12/10/03) Child Custody to DSS The children of ex-member Shana Muse have been taken from the Covingtons, a Word of Faith Fellowship family in Rutherford County, NC, and given over to the custody of the Department of Social Services. Muse, once a member of the group, left her children with the Covingtons when she went to seek treatment for personal problems. But the family refused to return the children when Muse returned from a stay at an Ohio facility that helps former cult members. [Muse calls the Word of Faith cultic.] The Covingtons, who have appealed the judge‘s ruling, are not allowed to visit the children, who are in a safe house in another county. But Muse‘s sisters, both WOFF members, are allowed supervised visits. (Jerry Stensland, Daily Courier, Internet, 10/18/03) [See CSR NewsBriefs 2.4c for background on this story.] Daughter Happy in Group Sixteen-year-old Sarah Muse, whose mother is seeking her custody, has told a court hearing that she is happy living with a Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF) family, away from her estranged father‘s alleged abuse and the effects of her mother‘s drug problem. Shana Muse left Sara with the church family when she went to seek treatment so that she could deal with her problems, and the family has now refused to return her. Shana Muse, who says that Rutherfordton, NC, WOFF is an abusive, cult-like environment, spent several weeks at an Ohio rehabilitation facility for cult leavers. Sarah says residing with the WOFF family ―has been the best time of my life . . . and the happiest I‘ve ever seen my brothers. For the first time in my life, I have someone who will love us and will always be there for us. For the first time in my life I feel safe.‖ Sarah, now taking classes at a local community college, spoke of the church‘s spanking discipline, and of the ―blasting‖ prayer directed at members, including very young children, who commit rules‘ infractions. She said that receiving discipline was voluntary, and that she loved it, that ―it has changed my life . . . You‘re never praying at a person, you‘re praying together.‖ She says her mother complained, during court-ordered visits, that WOFF was a ―cult‖ and that ―we are brainwashed. She keeps saying she will take us to Wellspring[the Ohio facility] and deprogram us.‖ A psychologist who tested the children at the request of the church couple said they have benefited from their new situation and would be psychologically harmed if they were removed. (Jerry Stensland, Daily Courier, Internet, 9/12/03)
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Electronic Version Additional documents were published on www.culticstudiesreview.org at the time of the print version.
2002 Report Attention and Research on Social Addictions (AIS) Editor's Note: We share this report with our readers in order that they may better appreciate the professionalism and depth of experience of our colleagues in Barcelona. We thank AIS. for translating their report into English. A.I.S. used to be known as Asesoramiento e Informacion sobre Sectas, but is now know as Attention and Research on Social Addictions. A.I.S. is located at Diagonal 430, 1º 1ª, Barcelona 08008, Spain. Its Web site is: www.ais-sectas.org. Purpose of the Association The purpose of AIS is to widen the knowledge and social, health, legal and preventive response of anomalies caused by social-addictions, understood as dependence disorders not linked to the intake of chemical substances. Services 1. Information and advice: Telephone information service directed to: General public interested in the phenomenon. Target public. Acceptance and advice for people affected: Sufferers with general information requests or regarding specific groups. If necessary, connect with experts like lawyers, psychiatrists, social workers, Minor Protection Unit and police forces, among others, that may help to solve the problem in those situations going beyond the services directly offered by the Institution. 2. Information campaigns and participation in the media. 3. Prevention campaigns (civic centres, schools associations of parents of pupils (AMPAS).
and
secondary
education
institutes,
4. Research and training of students (practical work) and professionals (doctoral theses) in collaboration with university centres, foundations, and other teaching centers. 5. Preparation and publication of scientific and technical studies regarding the phenomenon. 6. Therapeutic aid to family members, addicts and ex-addicts. 7. Legal advice related to the phenomenon. 8. Documentation: an archive is available with 13.260 documents, a library with 1.021 books, 150 videos and 700 audiotapes corresponding to 122 identified groups working in our country and 422 groups under observation.
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Organisation The Association is directed and administered by a presidency and the board (voluntary posts, without compensation and selected by vote in the members assembly). AIS activity is divided as follows:
Information service (1 clinical psychologist and 1 webmaster).
Therapeutic service (1 doctor, 1 clinical psychologist and 1 psychiatrist)
Legal service (1 lawyer).
Documentation service (1 documentation expert and 1 assistant)
Administration (1 clerk)
Scholarship holders and students doing practical work: coming from the Faculties of Psychology, Sociology, Law, and Journalism.
Volunteers: developing support tasks in the different departments.
Summary of Activities Performed by AIS during 2002 At an Institutional Level
For the second year running, the Collaboration Agreement between AIS and the Ministries of Presidency, Social Welfare, Justice and Home Office, Health and Social Security, Home Affairs and Institutional Relations, Employment, Universities, Research and the Information Society of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, was renewed, the aim being the encouragement of actions of a social, preventive, training, and informative nature related to our institution‘s activities.
As a consultant institution, AIS participates in the creation of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Study and Follow-up of the situation of psychologically manipulative groups in Catalonia, in compliance with an agreement of the Catalonian Parliament. This Commission, presided by the General Youth Secretary and integrated by the Conselleries (Ministries) of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, referred to in the previous section, the College of Psychologists and other experts, was incorporated on October 29th 2002.
At a local level, contacts and exchanges have been made with those responsible for social welfare and other Departments (Culture, Personal Services) of different Catalonian and Spanish Town Halls.
AIS has contacted different Catalonian political groups providing information of the work performed and about psychological manipulation groups.
At the University Level
Within the collaborative framework with the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the study ―Research Work on the Legal Implications of the Psychologically Manipulative Group Phenomenon‖ completed by a group of researchers from the civil, penal, and international departments of the Law Faculty has been finished, the final document having being submitted.
Relation with Public Institutions
The Civil Rights Department of Barcelona Town Hall has financed an information and prevention campaign, consisting of the distribution of printed material published by AIS and directed to young people using the civic and cultural centers and youth associations of Barcelona.
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The personal services of Barcelona Town Hall have subsidised the publication and distribution of two issues of the magazine Infosect, which intends to report the phenomenon of psychologically manipulative groups. The campaign was directed at experts and users of civic and cultural centers and youth associations of Barcelona.
The Ministry of Social Affairs has subsidised a part of the salary of an AIS documentation service worker, recognizing the importance of this service to the many inquirers reaching the institution from all over Spain.
Relation with Private Institutions
The Sant Joaquim Foundation has economically supported AIS activities.
Relation with National and Autonomic Police Forces
Informative meetings have been held with Mossos de Escuadra, Ertzaina, Civil Guard, and National Police.
Clinical Care
Increase in the number of therapeutic computerized clinical history model.
visits:
implementation
of
the
new
Computerized database updating of therapeutic cases, maintenance and review of clinical histories and their statistical treatment.
Widening of the fields of AIS activities to other situations inducing dependency disorders (non-pharmacological addictions).
Research and Publication of Technical Work
Preparation of a proposal for a sociological study regarding the implementation and characteristics of psychologically manipulative groups in Catalonia: consensus of the initial proposal between AIS and the Institution AEP Desenvolupament Comunitari entrusted with the preparation of the study. Initial contacts with possible collaborating institutions were made.
Publication of three technical articles.
Participation of the AIS therapeutic team in three international conferences with seven papers.
Information, Prevention and Diffusion
Information and personalised telephone advice service, visits, and electronic mail, with a total of 2,591 inquiries attended to.
The documentation service finished the purging and classification process of the material available, the design and maintenance of documentation databases, and the physical organisation of the resulting documents.
AIS has completed three information campaigns of printed material with an informative and preventive character directed to young people and the public as a whole, distributing 28,000 copies.
Six monthly publications of the magazine Infosect, with an annual circulation of 1.000 copies.
Translation of 71 documents (articles, news, etc) from English and German.
Participation in 10 radio and television programmes.
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Collaboration providing information programmes on 102 occasions.
to
the
press
and
radio
and
television
Table Summarizing the Inquiries Attended to During 2002 by the AIS Services: Therapeutic Advice Service
New cases
Increase with respect to the previous year 8.6%.
101 Legal Advice Service
Enquires attended Increase with respect to the previous year 84 133.3%
Information Service
Enquiries attended 2,591
Increase with respect to the previous year 11.8 %
The personalized inquires attended to by the Information Service were distributed according to the means and reason for inquiry as follows:
Telephone Information Service Group Information
Number of Inquiries
Advice
319
Follow-up of Advice Inquiry
263
Follow-up of Information Inquiry
207
Student Information
89
Legal Advice
64
AIS Activities
57
General Information
42
Others TOTAL
12 1,635
Informative Visits
Number of Inquiries
Group Information
77
Advice
78
Student Information
71
Others
16
Legal Advice TOTAL
20 262
Electronic Mail Group Information General Information Student Information Advice TOTAL
Number of Inquiries 354 111 125 104 694
582
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Communication Field
The contents analysis of the communication plan and document incorporating the widening of goals and new services by the institution were finished.
The graphic design of new documents and materials was completed, pending graphic printing.
The communication campaign of the new stage of AIS, analyzing target public and groups is underway.
Legal Field
AIS has collaborated in the development of the legal study made by the Law Faculty of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
AIS offers a legal advice service specialised in the legal aspects related to and derived from the activity of coercive sectarian groups, both to professionals and the public at large. With respect to advice, this has increased by 133,3% (passing from 36 to 84), the Inquiries being made privately, by lawyers, National Police Forces, members of the Catalonian Parliament and Town Halls (Social Welfare and Culture departments). Inquires beyond Catalonia were also attended to.
Development of judicial and extrajudicial actions, both at the civil and penal levels.
Execution of expert opinions and drafting of documents.
In collaboration with the documentation service, the legal team has carried out a search of the legal rules and case law related to psychologically manipulative groups.
Analysis of the Spanish and autonomous provincial legislation with a comparative study of other countries.
Analysis of the sentences pronounced in the Spanish territory regarding psychologically manipulative organizations or groups, both at the civil and penal levels.
Training Field
On June 26th 2002, a theoretical training module was given for second-year medical and psychology interns (MIR and PIR) and in-house psychological residents (PIR) in the Health Study Institute (IES).
Advice to students doing practical work for different tasks, theses, and dissertations.
Talks in Secondary Education Centres directed to students older than 15 years old.
International Field
Organisation by the AIS of the Annual Meeting of FECRIS (European Federation of Research and Information Centres Regarding Sects) on May 10 th, 11th and 12th 2002 in Barcelona, with the attendance of 43 associations representing 28 countries. The support of the General Youth Secretariat of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia was fundamental in the success of the seminars. The therapeutic team of AIS participated in the delivery of two papers.
Participation of the therapeutic team of AIS in the Annual Conference, American Family Foundation, with the delivery of three papers on June 14th –16th 2002.
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Participation of the therapeutic team of AIS in The 16th conference of the European Health Psychology Society, on October 2nd and 5th 2002 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Permanent relation with experts and other institutions of different countries.
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Extrapolation, Exaggeration, or Exculpation? Herbert L. Rosedale, Esq. President, AFF It has always struck me that the issues at the forefront in dealing with cults have broad scale application and can be fruitfully considered in analogical contexts with those raised in other areas. This was most recently driven home to me by reading a number of books analyzing the works of Holocaust deniers. Professionals and academics often write these works, which are sometimes supported by well-financed ―institutes,‖ propounded in conferences run by alleged scholars, and published in widely circulated books and pamphlets. A recent work, Denying History, by Michael Schermer and Alex Grobman and published by the University of California Press, has a very enlightening analysis of some of the issues raised in an inquiry seeking to determine how and why those claiming that the Holocaust never took place or that its horrors have been deliberately exaggerated reached those conclusions. Reading this work, I was struck by how many parallels exist to criticisms of the ―anticult movement‖ or of scholars or professionals who describe the harms related to cult activities. In this piece, I would like to deliberate provocatively and cite some of the issues the authors of this work address and invite readers to recognize the analogies to the field of cults. I believe that the analogies may go both ways, relating sometimes to cult critics and sometimes to cult defenders. What stands out to me in this book‘s analysis is the strong propensity of Holocaust deniers to avoid intellectually honest discussion of differences and instead use numerous devices to denigrate the views or character of those with whom one disagrees. Holocaust deniers, for example, call Holocaust scholars ―extremists,‖ ―Holocaust hobbyists,‖ and assorted other names (p. xv). Does that remind you of the characterization of cult critics as ―religious bigots‖ or even, in at least one article, ―terrorists‖? Second, the Holocaust deniers rely on the incredulous nature of the asserted horrors in order to reject the personal reports of survivors and affirm the cynical assurance of perpetrators of atrocities that if the victims survived and told of the experience, ―the rest of the world would not believe what happened – and people would conclude that evil on such a scale was just not possible‖ (Terrence Despres, The Survivor in Denying History, p. 49). Does this sound like the denigration of ex-member reports by calling them ―atrocity tales‖? Holocaust deniers point to ―engineering studies‖ that claim it was impossible to construct crematories using poison gas, even though these ‗studies‖ were authored by persons having no qualifications. Does this not recall claims that Aum Shinrikyo could not have had the technical capability to produce Sarin gas? In analyzing why academics might be led to conclusions supporting Holocaust deniers, the authors of Denying History cite the studies of cult researchers Stephen Kent and Theresa Krebbs, noting that professionals might have found ―themselves the unwitting tools of religious groups striving for social acceptance and in need of an imprimatur of an academic‖ and showing how scholars‘ ―deception becomes self-deception‖ (p. 57). Schermer and Grobman also criticize the relativistic approach of historians who, for example, assert an afrocentric view of the origination of Aristotle‘s ideas in the face of fact errors (pp. 237-240) or that paleontologists and archeologists conspired to cover up Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 69
evidence that humans lived in a civilized state tens or hundreds of millions of years ago (pp. 240-241). There are other examples of pseudo-historical views propounded merely to support political or ideological conclusions. Do these unexpressed biases in evaluations of factual material sound familiar? And what about the motivation? Schermer and Grobman discuss a number of motivations unearthed in their analyses of the backgrounds of Holocaust deniers, including anti-Semitism, a ―germanophile‖ view of history, and religious zealotry associated with the Aryan Identity movement. Indeed, the authors maintain that a primary reason for the acceptance of such ideologically dependent views of history and the rejection of contrary views is the proponent‘s commitment to ―religion to anchor the belief system in a meaningful and significant history of faith‖ in support of which a useful lie might be accepted for the sake of the greater good. The authors discuss one of the most commonly used techniques of Holocaust deniers, namely, ―that these revisionists rarely say anything definitive about their own position and instead attack their opponents‘ weak spots or mistakes…they find errors made by scholars and historians and exploit these as if all historians‘ conclusions are wrong…they quote usually out of context leading mainstream figures to buttress their own position…they consciously turn debates on scholars on specific issues into debate of veracity of the entire field…and they focus on what is not known and ignore what is known, carefully selecting data to fit and ignoring data that do not fit their preconceived ideas‖ (p. 103). I‘m confident that cult critics can relate to this description of the means used to avoid genuine debate about issues such as the existence of undue influence or mind control, the harm cult zealots cause, and the need to balance freedom of religion with the rights of individuals to assert and carry out their own beliefs and not to impinge on others‘ freedom and well being. It may be that there are common dynamics influencing Holocaust deniers and certain scholars who seem never to see in new religious movements anything warranting criticism. Or it may be that, as Carl Popper suggested many years ago, the biases so blatantly demonstrated in these two fields reflect the influence that beliefs and backgrounds can have on the conclusions of all scientists. Hence, when we hear or read attacks on cult critics, we should pause and consider the personal biases and motivations that may drive the attacker so that we may disentangle what might be legitimate criticism from the distortions produced by ideological or other motives.
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Book and Film Reviews Film Review: The Matrix Cult Much of the semiotic discussion around the deeper structures of The Matrix has tended to center around positive ethical and philosophical systems. Thus, numerous critics have pointed out the Christian subtext in the film with Neo as Christ and Morpheus as John the Baptist (James L. Ford: 8). The Garden of Eden story has been superimposed on The Matrix as well with the implication that just as Adam's and Eve's awakening to knowledge makes Christianity possible, so too, Neo's awakening will lead to the salvation of humanity by a Christ-like figure (cf. James S. Spiegel: 13). Others have picked out connections with Joseph Campbell's monomyth concept where the hero must depart from the familiar world, go into a netherworld and return morally transformed (A. Samuel Kimball: 176, 198). There is also the Platonic interpretation where the passage toward the light from the famous cave allegory is read into the awakening process of The Matrix: "The theme of appearance versus reality is as old as Plato‘s Republic. And while perhaps no writer or artist has improved upon his cave allegory in presenting this theme, the Wachowski brothers‘ The Matrix might be as effective an attempt as any since Plato, in cinematic history anyway" (James S. Spiegel: 9). Buddhism and its notion that reality is illusion appears as an equally convincing model for reading The Matrix (James L. Ford: 10). Even Gnosticism has been used as an interesting semiotic framework for the film (Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel Wagner: 10-12). However, most of the authors mentioned above sooner or later end up dealing with the issue of violence in the Wachowski brothers' film. This violence seems to be at odds with the ethical principles inherent in the Christian, Buddhist or Gnostic interpretative models. In fact, the martial arts and bloodshed in The Matrix and in The Matrix Reloaded might move some viewers to discount whatever philosophical message(s) the films might seek to convey. If one is still bent on applying a positive semiotic model to the film, one may be tempted to make the argument that in the cyberworld of the Matrix the violence is as unreal as the residual images of the characters. This desire for moral consistency is undoubtedly what motivated the film's special effects supervisor John Gaeta and editor Zach Staenberg to make the following remark in the scene-by-scene commentary accompanying the DVD version of The Matrix: "Nobody actually dies. All these people are virtual. [...] [It's] a cathartic experience" (The Matrix DVD: Feature Length Audio Commentary). They are referring to the scene where numerous government security men are killed by Neo and Trinity as the two rebels try to rescue Morpheus. However, this attempt to pretend the violence is not real within the logic of the story does not stand up to scrutiny. As Morpheus trains Neo in a virtual reality program that resembles the Matrix, he explains the relationship that the rebels have with the inhabitants of the evil cyberworld: "The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. [...] [The people we're trying to save] are a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. [...] Anyone we haven't unplugged is potentially an agent" (The Matrix DVD: The Gatekeepers). Therefore, apart from the agents, the people with whom the rebels interact in the Matrix are computerized projections of those imprisoned in the pods, i.e., each individual within the Matrix is linked to a specific existing physical body that lives in the power plant. Neo is a case-in-point since his virtual self is not merely a bunch of numbers in a computer (as would be the case in a video game for example), but rather a bunch of numbers that represent a real person in a pod. Thus, the dwellers of the Matrix are virtual and real at the same time. What makes the reality of these people indisputable is that the death of a computerized self in the Matrix means the death of the body to which it corresponds. This is evidenced by the death of Mouse at the hands of government security men who are pursuing the rebels. Mouse's virtual self is shot by virtual bullets within the Matrix, and then we immediately see Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 71
his real body inside the hovercraft (i.e., in the real world) writhe in agony and bleed profusely out of the mouth. The same applies to Neo whose physical body in the Nebuchadnezzar dies (before his Christ-like resurrection) after his residual image is shot within the Matrix. Therefore, Zach Staenberg and John Gaeta are wrong in their assumption that "all these people are virtual" and so "nobody actually dies" (see above). If the real Mouse dies after being shot, then so do the real bodies of all the security men shot by Neo and Trinity in the government building. In this connection Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel Wagner wonder why the Wachowski brothers make the violence so real in the film: Indeed, the "violence" which takes place in the Niko Hotel could still be portrayed, with the reassuring belief that any "deaths" which occur there are simply computer blips. The fact that the writers so purposefully insist that actual human beings die (i.e. die also within the power plant) while serving as involuntary "vessels" for the agents strongly argues for The Matrix‘s direct association of violence with the knowledge required for salvation (53; also see Peter X Feng: 151). I would suggest that a shift in semiotic perspective occurs when we read The Matrix in this light. Instead of seeing the cyberworld as analogous to the Buddhist samsara — a world of illusion that every human must strive to overcome in order to access a higher reality (Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel Wagner: 26), instead of interpreting Morpheus's rebels as the enlightened ones of Mahayana Buddhism who give of themselves in order to guide the "blind" out of samsara and toward enlightenment (Frances Flannery-Dailey and Rachel Wagner: 30), I would propose the model of a modern aggressive, violent cult. The story of destructive fringe religious movements begins with the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. The author, John of Patmos, offers a reading of the Roman Empire not as a sociopolitical network that offered peace and relative prosperity to most of the world for the first time in human history. Instead, feeling disenfranchised as a member of a new religious movement that did not fit into any religious system of the times, John presents the entire world as an instrument of cosmic evil slated for destruction (cf., Adela Yarbro Collins: 141-142). The only exception is a small group of "saints" that follow John's understanding of Christianity. The method for legitimizing this stance is the projection of the social conflict in question to the transcendental plane where the in-group (John's Christians) are agents in the hands of God while the out-group (the rest of humanity) are representatives in the hands of Satan (cf. Adela Yarbro Collins: 148-150). This model went on to inspire various millenarian sects throughout the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, e.g., the Anabaptists. As Norman Cohn points out, one can recognize the paradigm of what was to become and to remain the central phantasy of revolutionary eschatology. The world is dominated by an evil, tyrannous power [ ... ] until suddenly the hour will strike when the Saints of God are able to rise up and overthrow it. Then the Saints themselves, the chosen, holy people who hitherto have groaned under the oppressor's heel, shall in their turn inherit dominion over the whole earth (4). The pattern of social turmoil which emerged as a result of this thinking worked as follows: A marginalized group (often consisting of peasants that flocked to medieval cities but could find no work or a social niche) dealt with its frustration by isolating itself from mainstream society exactly as John demands in Revelation. The group argued that society was part of a cosmically evil enemy deserving of utter destruction. Often violent acts (including the massacre of local Jews [Norman Cohn: 49-50, 61-2]) would be committed against society on the assumption that a divine agent would intervene and usher in the end of the unjust world (cf. Norman Cohn: 29-32, 253, 314). Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 72
When we consider modern cults, the same logic appears to be operating time and time again, with Jim Jones's People's Temple in Guyana or David Koresh's Branch Davidians in Waco being two striking examples (cf. David G. Bromley and Edward D. Silver: 58). John W. Morehead points out that the cosmic struggle element is standard in today's aggressive religious sects (article), and so is the need to refer to a sacred text: Their role in battle is symbolized by various scriptural or authoritative imagery that confirms for them the nature of the divine struggle. The ideology then provides the appropriate moral justification for violent acts against civilians who would not ordinarily be seen as combatants and appropriate targets for destruction. Let us recall in this connection the above-cited passage from The Matrix where Morpheus tells Neo that everyone in the out-group is the enemy. The scriptural equivalent in this war is the prophecy that drives Morpheus. Since there was a godlike individual who woke up from the Matrix and predicted his own return in the guise of The One (Neo), the struggle of the rebels in the Wachowski film shifts from the political sphere to the transcendental/cosmic one. Thus, anyone standing in the way of the rebels is preventing something sacred from being accomplished, which justifies all violent acts against innocent people in the out-group. Two attitudes toward the out-group seem to be combined in The Matrix. On the one hand, the unawakened population of the Matrix is the unquestionable enemy, a threat that must be dealt with decisively. This would be epitomized by Neo's well-known request that Tank provide him and Trinity with "guns, lots of guns." Such a position corresponds to that of the Japanese Aum cult, for example, regarding which John. W. Morehead writes: From within the mindset of terrorist ―cultures of violence‖ the world is already a hostile place, and the groups themselves, and those they represent, are the ones under attack. What those on the outside view as terrorism and unprovoked aggression, those perpetrating the acts consider self-defense. This difference of perspective is well illustrated by agent Smith who asks Neo to help in bringing "a well-known terrorist to justice." To Smith, Morpheus is a terrorist while to the rebel group Morpheus is a heroic liberator. The other attitude toward mainstream society is a paradox inherent not only in aggressive religious cults but also in many 19th and 20th century revolutionary movements. This is well illustrated by the lyrics of the Russian version of the Communist International: "The whole world of violence shall be destroyed by us down to its foundations, and then we shall build our own world..." (my translation: http://www.funet.fi/pub/culture/russian/html_pages/internatsional.html). As Herbert L. Rosedale indicates with respect to the Aum cult, In a recent work dealing with Aum Shinrikyo, Robert Lifton has commented on how the view of that cult was manifested in the apocalyptic goal of ―destroying the world in order to save it,‖ and the group‘s action in killing innocent non-believers was viewed as altruistic murder that benefited both the victims and their perpetrators. Morpheus's position is similar in that he too seeks to save the deluded population of the Matrix but considers every sleeping individual as a foe at the same time (see above). The disdain with which the out-group is viewed by the rebels in The Matrix is suggested by the term "coppertop." This is how Switch calls Neo in the car when she points a gun at him and tells him to lift up his shirt for debugging. Unawakened humans are treated like batteries by the machines, and the evil of that attitude is indisputable. But Switch seems to share in this dehumanization, demonstrating not compassion for the enslaved but a sense of haughty superiority. This social exclusivism can be traced back from the modern Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 73
cult to the Book of Revelation. To quote Adela Yarbro Collins, "The dualist division of humanity in the Apocalypse is a failure in love. [ ... ] One's enemies, including large numbers of unknown people with whom one supposes oneself to be in disagreement, are given a simple label, associated with demonic beings, and thus denied their full humanity" (170). After the events of 9/11 this assessment rings more true than ever: In-group morality [in Al Qaeda] was emphasized; there is no moral obligation to those outside the Ummah, or indeed to other Muslims outside the group. [...] Secularists and disbelievers are not even considered living. Mahmud Abouhalima, involved in the first World Trade Center bombing, described non-religious individuals as moving ―dead bodies‖ (Christopher M. Centner). Neo and Trinity have a stone-faced attitude toward murdering innocent security men in The Matrix. They kill as if they were part of an action cartoon with no emotion, no regret, no sense that (and this might have been somewhat mitigating) this murder is a horrible necessity. Trinity especially tends to move like a machine as she shoots people at pointblank range, puts knives in their foreheads and mutilates men who are convinced they are fighting dangerous terrorists the way real-life police officers would risk their lives to protect innocent civilians from... Al Qaeda! In The Matrix Reloaded the same approach to murdering unknowing security people is observed. After captain Niobe attacks and neutralizes a couple of policemen, her head shoots up in a jerky motion as if to stress the idea of a superhero's job well-done. Equally disturbing is the way in which a power plant is blown up right in the middle of a city in The Matrix Reloaded; the implicit countless civilian victims within the explosion radius are discounted by the film as not even worth thinking about. Christopher M. Centner's above-cited reference to "in-group morality," which amounts to the willingness to "trash" anyone in the out-group, is a position typical of aggressive cults and terrorist organizations with cult-like elements. This can be linked to Lawrence Kohlberg's discussion of moral development stages across cultures. Kohlberg outlines six stages through which a human being can progress in his or her conception of what is right and wrong. The first two stages are pre-social in that they make the creation of stable social units impossible and characterize mainly young children or psychopaths. Thus, stage one is about the simple avoidance of punishment while stage two is the conception of other people only in terms of what they can give in exchange for something (Lawrence Kohlberg: 17). It is only with stage three that a rudimentary social structure can emerge — on the basis of in-group and out-group morality. The in-group tends to be a smaller interest group, like a tribe, where justice is defined in terms of approval from the in-group. Such a position makes the creation of larger social structures problematic because the members of the in-group identify with a narrow range of goals rather than a broad social system that incorporates many interest groups or "tribes." (cf. Lawrence Kohlberg, p. 18-21) The members of Morpheus's rebel group appear to function at the level of Lawrence Kohlberg's third stage, and in this connection the parallels with cultic thinking appear very prominent. Since this morality violates that of mainstream society and age-old traditions, cults tend to focus on the figure of a charismatic leader in order to bolster their shaky ethical systems. In fact this goes back to medieval millenarian sects that normally centered around a prophet-like person or propheta (Cohn 43). Such a leader declared all conventional norms invalid and sanctioned violence meant to usher in the Millennium. Modern cultic leaders function the same way, e.g., Jim Jones and David Koresh claimed divine status and absolute trust as well as the absolute right to rule the in-group as they saw fit (cf. David G. Bromley and Edward D. Silver 44: 58). In The Matrix Morpheus is undoubtedly a prophet-like leader modeled on John the Baptist (see above). His superhuman nature is suggested in a scene from The Matrix Reloaded Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 74
where the ship's operator Link appears fearful of what is to come. The situation seems to be such that Morpheus's actions imperil the rebel group and all of awakened humanity. Instead of justifying his position by logical reasoning, Morpheus simply tells Link: "Trust me." In other words, Morpheus's authority is inspired/divine rather than human and open to questioning. To follow Morpheus is to believe in him. In fact reliance on belief, rather than logic, is what characterizes Morpheus and his relationship with the other rebels. Morpheus repeatedly talks not about what he knows or has experienced, but what he believes to be true. And the suspension of critical thinking is a sine qua non in the relationship between a modern cult's membership and its leader. Morpheus's special status is illustrated by the lobby shooting spree and the rooftop rescue in The Matrix. How does Neo justify the murder of many innocent people in the office tower during his attempt to save Morpheus? Morpheus knows the codes for accessing Zion, and, as Tank tells Neo, in the interests of awakened humanity, Morpheus's body should be disconnected and therefore killed before the agents pry the information out of his residual image. Therefore, the willingness to use "guns, lots of guns" against the security men cannot be justified even in terms of the rebel's practical goals. The justification for the ruthless rescue rests on Morpheus's special, semi-divine nature so typical of modern and medieval cult leaders. The welfare of the divine individual is by definition greater than that of ordinary humans (awakened or not). After all, the policemen killed by Neo and Trinity are just a bunch of coppertops whose value pales in comparison to that of a prophet. None of this is to suggest that the cultic model appears as an intentional semiotic structure of The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded. Many critics have pointed out that the Wachowski brothers were very deliberate in imbuing the film with Buddhist and other traditionally positive religious overtones. For example, this is how the directors sum up the film's implications in an interview: We‘re interested in mythology, theology and, to a certain extent, higher-level mathematics. All are ways human beings try to answer bigger questions, as well as The Big Question. If you‘re going to do epic stories, you should concern yourself with those issues. People might not understand all the allusions in the movie, but they understand the important ideas. We wanted to make people think, engage their minds a bit (Quoted in James L. Ford, 22). And indeed, it would be absolutely wrong to suggest that the Wachowskis fail in their attempt to convey such philosophic ideas. The obvious presence of the intended message explains the interest that this "action" film has aroused in the academic and philosophic community. The problem appears to be that the unintended cultic subtext is there at the same time as the intended subtext. And the result is a mix of discourses which amounts to a cacophony of values. Jim Jones, Bruce Lee and Buddha appear together on the same stage and inevitably sing out of tune. There is no denying that the bad guys are absolutely bad in The Matrix and in The Matrix Reloaded. The problem is that that the good guys are not good enough. Works Cited Bromley, David G. and Edward D. Silver. "The Davidian Tradition: From Paternal Clan to Prophetic Movement." In Stuart A. Wright Ed. Critical Perspectives on the Branch Davidian Conflict. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1995, 4372. Centner, Christopher M. "Cults and Terrorism: Similarities and Differences." Cultic Studies Review 2.2 (2003): http://www.cultsandsociety.com/csr_issues/csr_toc2003.2.htm (no paragraph numeration). Cohn, Norman. The Pursuit of the Millennium. New York: Harper and Row, 1961. Collins, Adela Yarbro. Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1984. Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 75
Feng, Peter X. "False Double Consciousness: Race, Virtual Reality and the Assimilation of Hong Kong Action Cinema in The Matrix." In Ziauddin Sardar and Sean Cubitt Eds. Aliens R Us: The Other in Science Fiction Cinema. London: Pluto Press, 2002: 149163. Flannery-Dailey, Frances and Rachel Wagner. "Wake up! Gnosticism and Buddhism in The Matrix." Journal of Religion and Film 5. 2 (2001): http://www.unomaha.edu/~wwwjrf/gnostic.htm (references to paragraph numbers). Ford, James L. "Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: The Dialectic of Myth-Making in Contemporary Cinema." Journal of Religion and Film 4.2 (2000): http://www.unomaha.edu/~wwwjrf/thematrix.htm (references to paragraph numbers). Kimball, Samuel A. "Not Begetting the Future: Technological Autochtony, Sexual Reproduction and the Mythic Structure of the Matrix." Journal Of Popular Culture, 35.3 (2001): 175-203. Kohlberg, Lawrence. The Philosophy of Moral Development. New York: Harper and Row, 1981. Morehead, John W. "Terror in the Name of God: The Rise of Religious Terrorism" Cultic Studies Review 1.3 (2002): http://www.cultsandsociety.com/csr_issues/csr_toc2002.3.htm (no paragraph numeration). Spiegel, James S. "Cinematic Illustrations in Christian Theology." Journal of Religion and Film 6.2 (2002): http://www.unomaha.edu/~wwwjrf/cinematic.htm (references to paragraph numbers). Wachowski, Larry and Andy Wachowski. The Matrix DVD Video. Village Roadshow Pictures. Warner Bros. Inc., 1999. Wachowski, Larry and Andy Wachowski. The Matrix Reloaded. Village Roadshow Pictures. Warner Bros. Inc. 2003.
Vladimir Tumanov,
[email protected] University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Greenaway, J. P. (2003). In the shadow of the new age: Decoding the Findhorn Foundation. London, England: Finderne Publishing. 385 page paperback. John Greenaway is a British lawyer whose interest in New Age religion took him to Scotland‘s Findhorn Foundation, considered by many to be Europe‘s Esalen. This book details his spiritual journey that included ―several short stays‖ at Findhorn, meditation with a Carmelite monk as ―spiritual director,‖ and ―supplementary direction from Tibetan Buddhist sources.‖ It is also a detailed history of the New Age from pre-World War II. Greenaway concludes that New Age religion is socially divisive, blocks understanding by those of differing spiritual paths, and undermines genuine spiritual renewal.‖ There is a lengthy 12-page Preface that could have been Chapter 1. There are 22 chapters of varying lengths from Chapter 8 at three pages and Chapter 15 at 70 pages. The bibliography uses an unusual 4-column format, and there is a detailed 13-page two-column index. Greenaway considers the Findhorn Foundation ―a highly distorted and commercialized version of the Ancient Wisdom‖ (p. 19). He describes a major weakness in many cults and sects, absolute certainty they have spiritual truth though it is based on very little or highly speculative data. ―Human potential practitioners make their own methods sound more unique than they actually are‖ (67). Most are actually spin-offs of historical Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 76
movements such as Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam but hybrid versions with very little originality or authentic historical concepts. Greenaway comments that the Findhorn Foundation was ―never any good at historical scholarship‖ (21) but followed the dictum ―we create our own reality,‖ a ―megalomaniac doctrine‖ of ―New Age psychospirituality, excited hyper-theosophy‖ and a ―wacky package‖ of ―California occultism‖ (21-25). Chapter 1 traces Findhorn‘s roots to Peter Caddy; this is useful information, but six pages are devoted to commenting on a 70-pound cabbage claimed to have grown ―by spirit force.‖ There are misleading examples or errors when the book wanders off its focus on New Age movements. Empedocles is linked to acupuncture, more Chinese than Greek, and Pythagoras to prana, shakti, and chi mixing Hindu and Chinese origins (13). Greek culture is said to have centered in Alexandria, Egypt not Athens, Greece (12). Chapter 2 is a historical overview of the New Age movement in four phases, from Blavatsky‘s theosophy to humanistic psychology then to the human potential movement in the 1960s and prosperity consciousness since the 1980s. Chapter 3 updates the Findhorn Foundation from the 3-year visit by David Spangler of California after Peter Caddy dropped out in 1979. Spangler introduced channeling and group consciousness. Greenaway feels Spangler‘s work resulted in disenchantment for many members who left the program. In Chapter 4 history is again reported but this time in waves. The first wave began 19141919 with Aleister Crowley and peaked in the 1950s. The second wave was in the 1960s energized by the ―third force‖ of humanistic psychology. The third wave began with Esalen‘s Big Sur program and continued in the 1980s prosperity consciousness. This material belongs in Chapter 2. There is more history in Chapter 5 but with some subjective bias. Maslow and Rogers are referred to as ―the seminal influences‖ of the human potential movement. Timothy Leary and others like him would have been better examples. He credits Rogers with developing group therapy (68), but he was but one of many who used group methods. He charges ―Rogerian attitudes hinder maturation and development ‗growth‘ workshops are supposed to be about‖ (68), but Rogers‘ major emphasis was on self-awareness and personal growth. Rogers takes another hit for espousing empathy and unconditional positive regard ―teetering on the edge of the manic‖ (72). Does this mean the Good Samaritan was just manic? ―We create our own reality‖ is misattributed to Maslow. It is a basic tenet of existentialism that preceded Maslow. Humanistic psychology and the human potential movement are criticized for ―a curious lack of foundation, a relative absence of historical sense and historically guided coordination despite much pre-occupation with groundedness‖ (71). Not true. They were ―the third force‖ against the first two, psychoanalysis and behaviorism, which denied or minimized free will and the potential to overcome instinctive drives and conditioning. Modern historical roots are Rousseau‘s ―noble savage‖ against Locke‘s mind as a blank slate and the Darwinian idea that we are monkeys' uncles. Ancient roots can be seen in Socrates‘ admonition ―know thyself.‖ It is charged they are anti-intellectual but ―the antiintellectualism of these people, nearly always intellectual themselves though prone to deny it, is by no means confined to the New Age, and paradoxically has intellectual roots‖ (72). Translation, please? Chapter 15 is 69 pages and the book‘s longest. Eight pages describe the relationship of Freemasons to Findhorn Foundation and how its ―structure and modus operandi imitates Masonry‖ (178). The author states that he is not a Mason and the only substantiating data offered is that some of Findhorn leaders were or are Masons. The chapter wanders through ―mystery traditions‖ such as the ―aeons‖ of Osiris and Horus, Ordo Templi Orientis, star Sirius, the Order of Melchizedek, and the Great White Lodge. Caddy, Crowley, Blavatsky, and Bailey are revisited adding little substance, though Alice Bailey‘s husband (Ahah!) was ―a respected Freemason‖ (195). More than half the chapter details Blavatsky‘s theosophy, Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 77
which ―has been a central influence in Foundation spirituality‖ (217) and ―what C. G. Jung calls ‗the shadow,‘ i.e., archetypal material pushing up from the unconscious‖ (218). The New Age is seen as ―a new paradigm‖ for ―an emerging global religion‖ and ―new root race‖ (189), a worldwide movement using ―paranormal techniques preserved from ancient times, including hypnosis, laws of forms, ritual, and behavior control‖ (190). Its aim is ―to restore the inner or esoteric dynamic‖ that Christianity has ―largely lost‖ (202). Chapter 16 explores ―the United Nations connection‖ in the Lucis Trust, originally The Lucifer Trust, but omits the etymology that Lucifer first meant light and in Britain, a match. Lucis ―appears to have a long term advisory connection with the U.N.‖ (238) and ―a sympathetic parallelism‖ with the Findhorn Foundation ―and its leading affiliates and writers‖ (239). Findhorn ―achieved three U.N. affiliations.‖ This may be evidence of a ―ramp, something between a paradigm and a conspiracy … a kind of group consciousness that is charged and selfish in nature‖ (240). This ramp is ―a mingling of Alice Bailey‘s theosophy with eccentric Freemasonry and an extreme development of Star Sirius lore‖ (247)." The ―U.N. bureaucrats do not appear to know what is going on in the engine room‖ (242). ―We are looking at an international network which has already acquired enormous power without revealing much of what it is about …‖ (248). Chapter 17 focuses on ―language games‖ such as the ―classic mind-trap‖ of Findhorn‘s ―we create our own reality‘‖ and ―democratic sounding terms such as ‗eco, group, community, village‘‖ (250). There is a change in direction that describes various Findhorn operations. Chapter 18 details ways Findhorn creates its own reality but its ―eco-village is but the ‗planetary village‘ of ‗Limitless Love and Truth‘ under a toned down title and expensive workshop spirituality … derived from New Age California and its distorted Theosophy‖ (263). The work of Singer, Lifton, Clark, and Langone on mind control are described and compared to Findhorn practices. Chapters 19, 20, and 21 describe various foundation activities over time. Chapter 22 summarizes the book and concludes ―Findhorn Foundation is not the exploration of Eastern religions or the Western mystery tradition‖ but ―a type of commercial spirituality‖ (356). It is ―genuine up to a point when seeking public recognition or applying for public money.‖ It is ―trying to re-invent itself as an international eco-center,‖ though it remains ―a hybridization‖ of New Age elements (356). The prefix ―eco‖ is ―a gift to word-spinners,‖ a ―chameleon word‖ for Findhorn ―a magical compression of its totalist mission‖ (356). Without data he again charges, ―Freemasonry allied to the New Age is a volatile and flaky departure from historical Masonry‖ and ―Christian churches have been almost mown down by the New Age phenomenon" (357). He describes New Age religion as a ―distorting prism‖ to ―first dive into our Self‖ to find ―pristine innocence ignoring Man‘s Fall‖ then to realize ―we are God.‖ In contrast, Christianity ―stands ready with natural powers at rest before a higher Power which lifts us up‖ but critical of it because its ―narrow doctrinal rationalism and legalism drives people out of existing churches by the million‖ (359). He offers ―two ways back to sanity,‖ recognizing ―a significant proportion‖ of New Age religions are ―exploitive,‖ and ―churches need to recover their history‖ including the ―healing traditions‖ and ―energy flow‖ of earlier Christian and Eastern ideas (358). He recommends ―a Western Christian ashram‖ such as Bede Griffith‘s in India and ―meditative prayer‖ to ―discourage crazes‖ (360). He considers the New Age not new at all but can be traced back to Virgil and 12 th century papal approval of meditative prayer ―nurturing the space before words‖ (361). He sees traditional religion as too restrictive of individual spiritual growth and New Age versions as too unrestricted and shallow. Despite some rambling, repetition, needless tangents, and a focus on relatively trivial facts this book contains much wisdom and insight. It would have benefited greatly from better organization and editing. Reading it is work but it is worth reading, a labor of love for the rich material to be mined. The author‘s search for truth is clear, his observations are Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 78
objective despite some factual errors, and his judgment sound, making it a useful model for others and a detailed account of Findhorn‘s history and program. Frank MacHovec, Ph.D. Center for the Study of Self
Kramer, L. S. (2000). The religion that kills: Christian Science, abuse, neglect, and mind control. Lafayette LA: Huntington House. 269 page paperback. This book describes ―the hidden world of Christian Science‖ from the author‘s experience from childhood through 30 years, as a member until she realized it ―operates from a flawed premise and falls short of its utopian premise‖ (11). There are 12 brief chapters arranged in two parts. Part One consists of four chapters on ―foundational issues.‖ The remaining chapters are in Part Two on ―Christian Science and mind control.‖ There is no bibliography. Three appendices consist of: A (Christian Science and the Bible), a 35-page discourse that could have been a chapter; B (My story, a journey to freedom), the author‘s religious autobiography that could have been the first chapter, and C (Resources), a 3-page list of 18 books and sources that could have been the customary references section. The preface contains material important to the book‘s purpose and should have begun Chapter 1. It is information about the founding of Christian Science and how it differs from mainstream Christianity. The introduction describes the author‘s experience as a Christian Scientist and its similarities to religious cults. Chapter 1 begins an explanation of the disillusionment of many who left Christian Science despite ―many good memories‖ and its ―solid moral values‖ (17). She views Christian Science as a cult that uses mind control, labels she uses reluctantly: ―They bother me, too‖ and she writes ―not to hurt anyone‖ but ―to help explain what happened to me‖ (19). Chapter 2 explains church doctrine, rooted in Genesis ―that since God is spiritual and made everything good‖ so everything created ―must also be spiritual and good‖ (22). We are spiritual, not mortal or material, and Christian Science is ―a scientific method of healing based on spiritual laws‖ (24). Sin and sickness are ―illusions‖ at a lower material level and we are ―saved as we gradually leave material beliefs behind‖ (25). Chapter 3 refers to books the author found helpful with her commentaries of them. At 47 pages, chapter 4 is the longest in the book and focuses on Mary Baker Eddy, her sickly childhood, home life, and adult years. Her ―semi-invalidism‖ (41) disappeared when Dr. Phineas Quimby, a mesmerist, treated her with reassuring talk and light physical therapy. It helped shape her understanding of the effect of spiritual belief on illness, though she had lifelong apprehension that mesmeric forces were used against her. Later, she fell on ice and ―was expected to die‖ but by reading the Bible she arose ―healed and free‖ on the third day (42). Her behavior is described, positive and negative, as a charismatic founder, leader, prophet, and healer. The chapters that make up Part Two examine Christian Science in the light of the literature on mind control. Church practices and its Manual of the Mother Church are critiqued with references from mind control sources such as Cialdini, Hassan, Lifton, Martin, and Singer. Lifton‘s eight criteria are applied in detail with examples from the author‘s experience, case histories, and accepted church practices. Christian Science ―differs from the more obvious mind control groups‖ because ―it does not need to break its members wills‖ (150). Instead, ―irresistible carrots – absolute truth, healings, a foolproof way to overcome life‘s problems, guaranteed salvation‖ (150). Individuality is subjugated to doctrine: ―The things that make us human are dangerous to Christian Science‖ (162). Everything experienced ―must be
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 79
spiritualized into something else‖ (198). Scientist‘s comment: ―It‘s nice to be real.‖
The book ends with a typical ex-Christian
This book is one of many written by former church, temple, or cult members describing their experiences before, during, and after their involvement. This one is specific to Christian Science and provides details of how it differs from traditional Christian belief and practice. It reflects more disillusionment than anger or resentment and is valuable in its insightful comparisons of church practices and their similarity to mind control techniques of other groups. It is clearly and concisely written, well referenced, and fulfils its goal to evaluate Christian Science ―from a secular psychological viewpoint‖ for readers who want to understand its ―stark realities‖ and to reassure ―those trying to recover from them‖ (p. 15). Frank MacHovec, Ph.D. Center for the Study of Self
The Church Universal and Triumphant: Elizabeth Clare Prophet’s Apocalyptic Movement By Bradley C. Whitsel Syracuse University Press (Religion and Politics Series: editor, Michael Barkun), 2003. 221 pages, $19.95 for paperback edition, ISBN 0-8156-3000-X (pbk.) For better or for worse part of my personal history is linked with the apocalyptic group, the Church Universal and Triumphant, comprehensively analyzed in this new book by Bradley Whitsel. In 1980 I ended my brief, fringe membership in CUT and began a controversial stint as a vocal critic of the group and as a ―cult deprogrammer‖ personally responsible for reversing the devotion of dozens of committed CUT members. CUT was only one of many groups that lost members due to my interventions, but few attracted my attention as much. So I begin my review, in fairness to the reader and the author, with the disclaimer that I hardly claim disinterest or lack of bias. I will also claim, however, that I have read and studied a wide variety of apologetic and critical material about CUT during the past 25 years, so my bias is relatively tempered. When I first browsed through Bradley Whitsel‘s study it impressed me with the author‘s choice and sequence of chapter topics, long list of references, a solid index, and extensive notes with easy page references. He began this project originally as a political science doctoral dissertation. The author visited the group headquarters in Montana in 1993 and interviewed members and defectors as well as the CUT Messenger, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, in 1994. His goal was to analyze CUT as a millenarian sect in its relationship to the outside world. He described CUT as an armed, apocalyptic, New Age religious sect prepared for survival and self-defense that recovered from an intense period of doomsday paranoia without a violent outcome. He also reports on several significant events that caused a radical decline in CUT membership and support in the decade following Elizabeth Prophet‘s March 15, 1990 doomsday prophecy. On that day thousands of anxiety ridden group members either descended into elaborately constructed (though not all habitable) underground shelters or personal survival spaces only to emerge the next day with essentially nothing changed in the world outside. Whitsel compares and contrasts CUT with several concurrent millennialist groups that did experience or perpetrate violence and death, i.e., Aum Shinrikyo, the People‘s Temple, the Order of the Solar Temple, Heaven‘s Gate, and the Branch Davidians. In Chapter Two Whitsel traces CUT‘s ideological roots in the ―I AM‖ Activity movement launched in 1934 by Guy Ballard and Edna Ballard. Mark Prophet had been a member of an ―I AM‖ splinter group in the 1950s before breaking away to start his own Lighthouse of Freedom, later named the Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 80
Summit Lighthouse. The ―I AM‖ assimilated fascist ideology from William D. Pelley‘s Legion of Silver Shirts. Both of these groups (as well as CUT) adapted many elements from Helena P. Blavatsky‘s Theosophical Society, especially the exclusive metaphysical contact (channeling) with Ascended Masters. According to Whitsel CUT ―exhibited tendencies commonly associated with millenarian movements‖ since its inception in1958, and the ―I AM philosophy…created the Summit Lighthouse‘s political orientation—a perspective defined by patriotism and staunch anti-communism.‖ Whitsel gives an overview of CUT‘s New Age milieu within which it operates and from which most of its recruits appear. Later in the book in Chapter Six however we learn from a 1994 interview the author conducted with CUT‘s leader, Elizabeth Prophet, that she had harsh criticism for New Agers as ―self-indulgent‖ and prone to ―adoption of shallow phenomena.‖ Whitsel refrains from cynical commentary, and properly so in keeping with his academic approach, but the irony was not lost on me. Nor will it be lost on anyone else familiar with CUT‘s history of bizarre self-purification rituals and claims to magical power in its decrees or high speed chanting rituals. In Chapter Five Whitsel reports CUT‘s rationalization of why the doom prophecy failed to materialize: The ―diligence‖ of group members who conducted spiritual warfare (decreed) and their hard work to build survival shelters mitigated the evil energy that would have produced the disaster. Doomsday groups have responded in erratic ways to their failed prophecies, but as one seminal study by Leon Festinger and others demonstrated, true believers will tend to reduce dissonance by some sort of rationalization rather than take the more painful, identity convulsing alternative of rejecting the beliefs. The study found that believers also reduce ―cognitive dissonance‖ by increased proselytizing. In Chapter Five our author refers to this study, When Prophecy Fails published in 1961, but finds that CUT showed no significant effort to immediately proselytize in 1990, thus not fully following the Festinger model. I would argue that Whitsel neglected to appreciate that CUT was much larger and far longer lived than the relatively tiny group in the Festinger study. By the time of the March 15 ―nonevent‖ (the author‘s characterization) CUT was among the major new religious movements with ―25,000‖ devotees worldwide. The Festinger study group called ―The Seekers,‖ headed by the charismatic "Marian Keech," amounted to a household size cult in ―Lakeland‖ that grew and dispersed within a year or so.* CUT, contrary to Whitsel‘s assertion (p.122), never ceased its proselytizing, so the Festinger model may still apply even though there was no immediate increase after March 1990. CUT has had extensive distribution of its books since at least the late 1970s, continued cable TV video presentations in many urban areas, and often had representatives at New Age or metaphysical fairs. The fledgling Keech group had none of this. Whitsel does report that CUT did reenergize its proselytizing years after its doomsday event by repressing its survivalist, patriotic image (communism was no longer viable as the ultimate evil enemy for CUT) and by reaching out to the New Age milieu with a more positive message about its teachings. Whitsel describes Elizabeth Prophet‘s appearance on radio in 1997 on The Art Bell Show to promote her worldview. Bell had a national audience interested in government conspiracies, UFO phenomena, and paranormal events. But the author neglects to mention two significant Prophet appearances on television shows: One was the MTV special with a relatively benign segment about CUT in ―New Religions: The Cult Question,‖ that aired many times since its release in 1995. The other was A&E Network’s ―Prophets & Doom‖ feature (from its series The Unexplained) that aired initially in 1997 and repeatedly through 2000. Both TV programs gave significant, balanced overviews of CUT. A third significant news event CUT hoped to use to improve its image not reported by the author regards a criminal trial of three ex-CUT members in Idaho in April 1993. Concurrently on trial in Boise was Randy Weaver, an alleged racist/survivalist who held antigovernment views, in the infamous ―Ruby Ridge‖ case. And it was in April that the WacoCultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 81
Branch Davidian debacle came to a tragic head in a holocaust. All of these cases had political implications that deeply affected CUT at the time. Whitsel mentions only the Branch Davidian event. After a failed attempt arranged by her family to deprogram a CUT member in late 1991, the three accused deprogrammers were arrested and later brought to trial in State of Idaho vs Szimhart, et al (yes, this writer was involved). A jury acquitted two us of all charges, while charges were later dismissed against the third defendant. In its longstanding battle against ―anticultists‖ CUT sent many operatives, including the current guardian of the disabled Elizabeth Prophet to closely advise the prosecutors with whom he sat throughout trial. The acquittals were another blow to the group‘s struggle to improve its post doomsday image. Whitsel does document other significant image improvement efforts and setbacks in detail, especially in Chapter Six. For example, Whitsel reports that Elizabeth Prophet‘s last major stump to recruit new members was a thirty three-day tour of South America in 1996. Prophet emphasized CUT teachings about reincarnation, not survival shelters. Unfortunately, as Whitsel surmises in Chapter Six, CUT may never reincarnate as the vital, thriving group it once was. He offers a host of factors, including the leader‘s decline in mental health—she was diagnosed with dementia by 1998 and stepped down officially as the group‘s spiritual leader in 1999. Whitsel reports that Prophet suffered from epileptic seizures from a young age, a fact not known to the general membership. During the 1990s after the failed prophecy, CUT began selling off assets and radically downsizing staff to curtail the shortfall in donations from the declining membership. Earlier in the book on page 157 Whitsel frames CUT as a ―totalist‖ sect whose ―[d]octrinal impenetrability allows the group to turn increasingly inward and further lock itself into its own belief structure.‖ He is absolutely correct as CUT‘s teachings are rarely understood well or completely even by long-term members who have had a difficult time keeping up with the stream of subtle changes in ―progressive revelations‖ from the leaders. A major reason I rejected it in 1980 was the long list of CUT‘s internal contradictions I encountered after getting past the ―impenetrable‖ language of the doctrine. Whitsel acknowledges that any group like CUT that defines the outside world as inherently evil tends to live in a paranoid state. Such groups necessarily attract suspicion and criticism, thereby bolstering their beliefs about outsiders. Whitsel loses me, however, when he appears to lay much of the blame for the group‘s negative image on something he and previous writers call the ―anticult movement‖ (pp. 48, 123, 133) as if the group‘s behavior was not responsible for its public image. Whitsel follows the opinion of a small group of scholars who have dominated sociological circles with a characterization of cult critics as monolithically naïve. For example, on page 48 the author states: ―Observing no distinctions among new religious groups, the anticultists pursued a policy of discrediting all organizations that deviated from the religious mainstream. For this reason, the Church Universal and Triumphant became a tempting target for their attacks. Anticultists subscribed to anachronistic theories of mind control and psychological coercion.‖ Whitsel never defines what or who constitutes the anticult milieu, but I suspect he is referring to elements of the old Cult Awareness Network and to paranoid evangelicals who regard everything other than fundamentalist Christianity as a ―cult.‖ Ironically, his overall analysis of CUT would satisfy those same ―anachronistic theories‖ that more sophisticated cult critics might use to characterize CUT as totalist and to explain how the group managed to keep such a tight bond around so many devotees for any time at all. For example, on pp.52-53 Whitsel discusses ―boundary control‖ citing a ―widely used‘ concept in social studies about groups: ―Just as the self-contained group raises its defenses against the perceived encroachments of the outside, the surrounding society forms a reciprocal set of attitudes that is hostile to the insulated social system.‖
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In Chapter Four we read about CUT‘s relocation from Southern California to Montana. The title, ―The Road to Armageddon,‖ is utterly appropriate. Whitsel sketches the intriguing details of group end-time philosophy stemming from its inception and reveals the then clandestine plans as CUT staff secretly moved a cache of weapons and eventually got caught illegally purchasing and transporting more guns. The book contains photo images of the huge underground shelters under construction. Whitsel explains how the community ―functioned more effectively as a self-contained social network‖ after the move. He describes the required and inadvertent information control as most members were just too busy and tired to read or watch any news had the ―Masters‖ even recommended it. This chapter and the following, ―The Apocalyptic Nonevent,‖ give the reader an in-depth view of how a large group of basically intelligent adults succumb to a frenzied preparation for an attack that was imaginary. I can understand why any writer might overlook or choose to omit a good portion of CUT‘s history, teaching, ritual, and belief—even with my extensive familiarity with the group I was regularly surprised by what new informants revealed. I am impressed with what Bradley Whitsel did manage to include as it gives any reader a solid basis from which to understand CUT. To his credit he avoids the apologetic, reactionary approach taken by the authors of Church Universal and Triumphant in Scholarly Perspective (1994) and he does mention the criticism of that pseudo-study by scholars who dropped out of the project. However, Whitsel neglected any mention of CUT‘s extensive use of and claims to the Theosophist teachings and illustrations of Nicholas and Helena Roerich. This late Russian couple who founded the Agni Yoga Society had a significant international following, especially from 1921 through 1955, the year Helena died. Elizabeth and Mark Prophet claimed that their youngest daughter, Tatiana, was Helena Roerich reincarnated, and they also claimed in their early book The Chela and Path that the Ascended Masters appointed them to continue the work of the Roerichs as well as of the Ballards. Several books from the Agni Yoga series were teaching tools only at the higher levels of CUT‘s Summit University, then a 12-week per level esoteric indoctrination program. Whitsel does not suggest that the CUT leaders were at all cynical. He never ventures to ask if Elizabeth or Mark, the Messengers, knew all along that they had no psychic contact with Masters or future events. Although his thesis was not about psychoanalyzing the Messengers, I believe Whitsel missed an important discussion about a pervasive character feature that helps explain group anxiety and the high turnover rate among CUT staff— Mark‘s and Elizabeth‘s volatile tempers. Emotionally unstable and insecure, these Messengers could not trust their alleged psychic abilities, so they often and irrationally berated the performance and misinterpreted the motives of the inner core staff. Whether they deserved it or not, targeted staff were demoted or dismissed if they had not already managed to slink away. Though the Messengers claimed to represent and communicate with the same Ascended Masters, CUT staff reported observing them argue and disagree about the sacred teachings especially while composing CUT‘s first testament, Climb the Highest Mountain. Not unlike an abusive spouse, the charismatic Messenger increased control of staff by not only keeping them very busy, but also with a labile, authoritarian style that kept sensitive devotees of the Masters back on their emotional heels. CUT members even had a label for the Messenger‘s outbursts—they called it ―blue-raying,‖ group jargon derived from CUT doctrine about blue rays of energy denoting the divine power they invoked daily in decrees and meditation. To place CUT‘s decline and domestication in context, Whitsel invokes a Weberian notion of ―formal rationality‖ when authority seeks approval from social systems. Without charismatic leadership CUT has entered a ―rational/legal‖ phase and is now led by a democratically elected committee of three. As he notes, CUT appears to be following the pattern of previous Ascended Master sects, especially the ―I AM,‖ which operates quietly today with a Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 83
small fraction of its peak membership while retaining significant properties. CUT continues to rationalize Elizabeth Prophet‘s dementia as a metaphor of ―forgetfulness‖ as it struggles to sustain the interest of current members and to attract new support during a ―second life cycle.‖ Despite my criticisms, I recommend this book by Bradley Whitsel as a must read for anyone interested in the nature and history of Church Universal and Triumphant. *The Festinger, et al study in When Prophecy Fails assigned aliases to the group characters, but my research indicates that that the group was a ―space brother‖ cult featuring Dorothy Martin (aka Sister Thedra, died 1992). Martin was a medium (not unlike Elizabeth Clare Prophet) who channeled Sananda and other Ascended Masters (she called them Space Brothers) who commandeered a space ship that was to materialize and save the group from a predicted catastrophic flood during 1956. Martin left ―Lakeland‖ (Chicago) soon after the negative publicity and failure to recruit any new members caused the group to disperse. Martin, who used several aliases, first resettled in Arizona where she briefly studied with the then very new Scientology movement, and she continued her idiosyncratic Sananda cult activities in Arizona and Mt. Shasta, CA till her death.
Joseph P. Szimhart
Fuerstein, Georg. Holy Madness: the shock tactics and radical teachings of crazy-wise adepts, holy fools, and rascal gurus; The Mystery of Light: The life and teaching of Omraam Mikhaёl Aïvanhov Holy Madness. Arkana: Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014, 1992 [1991 edition by Paragon House], 296 pages, ISBN 0-14-019.370-7 (pbk.). Mystery of Light. Integral Publishing, P.O. Box 1030, Lower Lake, CA 95457, 1998, 246 pages, ISBN 0-941255-51-4 (pbk.) This review of Holy Madness has lingered in my mind for ten years after I first read the 1992 Arkana edition by Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D.. My interest renewed recently when a client asked me about an obscure, Bulgarian spiritual teacher, Omraam Mikhaёl Aïvanhov (19001984). In my research I discovered that Feuerstein wrote a promotional biography about Aïvanhov published in 1998 by a company founded by the author. Feuerstein is an internationally known researcher and promoter of Yoga as well as an historian of religion with thirty books to his credit. He runs his Yoga Research and Education Center recently relocated to the Mt. Lassen area of Northern California (http://www.yrec.org). His interest in gurus goes further than merely academic—he indicates a youthful pattern of serious seeking for a teacher in his own right. His connection with Aïvanhov stems from his chance encounter with a book he read by the deceased Bulgarian in 1989 and liked very much. As a result of Feuerstein‘s quest for more books he met one of Aïvanhov‘s disciples, Therese Boni, who helped guide the biography, The Mystery of Light, and became his ―spiritual friend.‖ During 1984 Aïvanhov was on a speaking tour around the USA. Feuerstein had heard nothing of him at that time, but had he known, he says, ―I would gladly have journeyed from my home in Northern California to see him.‖ (Mystery, xv). In 1984 I had heard nothing of Aïvanhov either, but I had seen posters in Santa Fe, New Mexico, my home at the time, advertising his lecture tour. Santa Fe then, as it has been for a century, was a Mecca for artists as well as for a polyglot of spiritual seekers, traveling gurus, and New Age groups. When I arrived there in 1975 fresh out of art school, I became one of Santa Fe‘s seekers, looking especially into the Theosophy schools that had influenced many pioneer modern artists. Subsequently I read works from the Philosophical Research Society, the Agni Yoga Society, the ―I AM‖ Activity, the Rosicrucians, the Summit Lighthouse and other Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 84
schools that claimed to represent the teachings of the arcane White Brotherhood. After some years of hopeful if problematic involvement, I became a critic of the entire Theosophical cult of Masters by 1981. Meeting the living Aïvanhov, a ―living master‖ from that same system (one that he named Fraternité Blanche Universelle (FBU) after his master‘s group, Byalo Bratstvo (Bulgarian), a.k.a. the Universal White Brotherhood, impressed me quite differently than it might have Feuerstein. I was curious about Aïvanhov‘s view and that he established L‘École Divine around 1948 as belonging to his FBU (Mystery, 45).* Feuerstein wrote Holy Madness around eight years before his publication of The Mystery of Light. In the former effort he critically explores a host of cult leaders, crazy-wise adepts and gurus while examining the whys and wherefores of their influence. His knowledge of this fringe world is impressive—few religious scholars have bothered to take the recent rascal guru movements seriously, as they represent a kind of carnival sideshow in the history of religions. Due to my odd profession as a deprogrammer and cult specialist that spans over two decades, I have observed this sideshow as much out of career necessity as personal curiosity. I was very familiar with nearly every one of the main characters in his discussion, among them Gurdjieff, Da Love Ananda, Aleister Crowley, Bhagwan Rajneesh/Osho, and Chögyam Trungpa, but I was not familiar with Lee Lozowick. Feuerstein mentions dozens of other characters from eastern and western traditions, and he has a facility to support his arguments, quoting from the likes of K. Wilber, E. Underhill, E. Vaughn, W.B. Yeats, R.C. Zaehner, Plato, and St. Paul. His text examines issues of cultism and brainwashing, but questions the accuracy of certain anti-cult groups that see only harm in the tactics of rascal gurus. Holy Madness is written in three parts: In ―The Phenomenon‖ the author introduces the reader to these teachers with enough description to give the novice at least some idea of the crazy territory. In this book Feuerstein does not hold back when reporting on the abuse of sex, drugs, and power by these adepts. His references are many and solid. In ―Part Two: The Context‖ he takes us into more difficult territory as he looks into the spiritual practices with chapter headings that include: ―The Guru: The License to Kill‖, ―Discipleship: Spiritual Cloning or Brainwashing?‖ and ―God, Enlightenment, and Ego-Death.‖ In Part Three he examines ―The Significance‖ and enters into a more personal reflection in which he gropes quite eloquently for meaning in all this mess. Feuerstein states on page 188: ―Few of the groups or cults that have sprung up since the 1960s, which purport to break away from the mediocrity of mainstream religion and culture, are truly the alternative altars they claim to be. In most cases, it is a matter of old wine in new, sometimes quite weirdly shaped bottles.‖ Perhaps he meant wineskins, but his intent is nevertheless well taken. Feuerstein is interested in the phenomena of ―real self-transformation‖ as represented both by the western (Jewish/Christian/Muslim) mystical traditions and, what appears to be his personal leaning, the enlightenment process that pervades Buddhism, and more so the Sanatana Dharma of the Hindu-Vedic tradition. He is, after all, a teacher and researcher of Yoga. He represents a few of these odd teachers in a positive light, among them Meher Baba, Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo, and Aïvanhov. The latter he quotes once: ―Everyone has his own path, his mission, and even if you take your Master as a model, you must always develop in a way that suits your own nature‖ (Holy Madness, 144). Feuerstein very much wants the reader to grasp that despite the wicked behavior of some of these crazy-wise gurus, they are onto something—they are after all ―wise.‖ If nothing else, teachers like Da Love Ananda and Gurdjieff (who are pathological in their abusive teaching methods both from his description and their history) still serve a valuable function, according to the author. ―Crazy-wise adepts and eccentric masters in this book.…still serve a useful societal function: to act as mirrors of the ―insanity‖ of consensus reality and as beacons of that larger Reality [sic] that we habitually tend to exclude from our lives‖ (Holy Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 85
Madness, 259). Herein the author hints loudly as to his adopted philosophy, which explains how and why he finds value where I do not—my weltanschauung differs from his. Let me try to briefly elaborate. This difference goes beyond the social psychological approach differences, say, between sociologists of religion who study these groups ―objectively‖ and mental health workers or therapists who assist former members of abusive teachers. To say that there are different narratives between the anthropological model and the medical model is another way to state the above. But Feuerstein is after something more radical and spiritual. Persons as well as whole cultures adopt world views that become essential operating mythologies or cosmologies—frameworks that guide their thoughts about life experience, birth, death, and afterlife. When he talks about ―that larger Reality,‖ he specifically accepts the grand scheme of Advaita philosophy, the one that sees the essential ―self‖ as Atman, which is identical with the ground of being, Brahman. In other words, the human life force in its essence is uncreated and co-exists in eternity, albeit trapped in a ―fallen‖ or corrupted form—in ―ignorance.‖ Enlightenment is that state of awareness, not unlike gnosis, that mystically absorbs us in that consciousness of That. Once absorbed or identified with the divine state (atman/brahman), the yogi is said to tap paranormal abilities or siddhis. Though warnings about the pursuit of psychic powers, magick, siddhis, and rituals to create miracles abound in every sophisticated religion, the temptation is great to ―prove‖ that someone is enlightened or sanctified because they demonstrate paranormal abilities. Both oral and written narratives about nearly all the crazy adepts mentioned by Feuerstein in Holy Madness and in Mystery of Light flaunt the miraculous powers of the masters. I am not ignoring the Jewish stories about Moses or the miracle stories about Jesus. But let‘s go on. Another world view, one that infuses mainline Jewish, Christian and Muslim philosophy, holds that persons are created in time and can be lifted by God into a co-eternal state through submission to the divine will and acceptance of God‘s great gift of life. This is commonly known as theism, the ―Western‖ alternative to Feuerstein‘s monism. To proclaim the kind of Self-realization a yogi claims would be blasphemy to a theist: the creature cannot claim to be the Creator. Herein lies much of the contention between Theists and Monists—the theist might argue that if God wills the disciple or saint to have miraculous power, he or she will demonstrate it. The monist might argue that there are steps or initiations one can take to attain the siddhis, that in fact we already have these powers but our ignorance is in the way. The skeptic might argue that they are both full of idealistic claptrap. There are other world views, however we will ignore protestations by neo-Gnostics or the New Age argument that Jesus really wanted each of us to proclaim to be God. We will also ignore the overworked, naïve belief of the liberal seeker who blathers that all paths eventually lead to the same goal. Feuerstein is not naïve, but he does appreciate philosophical kinsmen and that is why, I believe, he wrote such a kind biography promoting Omraam Mikhaёl Aïvanhov in The Mystery of Light. When I met Aïvanhov in 1984 I did not speak with him. I spoke with some of his disciples and I heard him lecture. He struck me at first as an elegant character attired in a white suit, sporting long white hair and beard, and carrying an ornamental cane. He wore large gold rings on his pinky fingers. He appeared short to me (I‘m 5‘ 10 ―), but he definitely seemed larger than life to his devotees. His English was poor and he apologized for that. Nevertheless, after a devotee gave a proud introduction and a small choir sang two Bulgarian folk songs, Aïvanhov pontificated for nearly three hours. I left after one hour to get some coffee and to peruse one of his books. I returned for the final half-hour or so. By the time I returned, fully 80% of the several hundred members of the audience had vacated the auditorium, many of whom had given the requested $2 donation. In a word Aïvanhov was boring. Despite his pedantic style and thickly accented English I managed to grasp
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much of what I heard as he reiterated arcane ideas common to the Theosophical theater of teachings resembling those of Rudolf Steiner and Rosicrucianism. I purchased and read two of his more popular (among devotees) books, but I have since thrown them away. All I have is a few sheets of notes I took after the lecture and from the books. I did write that Aïvanhov teaches that honey bees were a gift from the planet Venus (Aïvanhov, Vol.1, p.48), and that he believed in an extensive and ancient underground civilization: ―the center of the Earth is the home of the extraordinary culture of the Agarthians‖ (Aïvanhov, Vol.1, p.xviii). Within the Theosophical milieu, these are not unusual beliefs. Feuerstein traces the roots of the Agarthian myth in a section describing some of Aïvanhov‘s troubles with the law—in 1947 he was accused of espionage in France and served two years of a four-year sentence. The incident was bizarre; a Cuban occultist who called himself ―The King of the World‖ and who was an Aïvanhov adversary, Cherenzi Lind, allegedly started a campaign against Aïvanhov. Women filed complaints of sexual impropriety against Aïvanhov, thus preciptating his arrest. Feuerstein reports the group version that Aïvanhov was framed. Later a 1950 French news article exonerated Aïvanhov, and his name was officially cleared in 1962. Feuerstein gingerly insinuates that Agartha is a real place and reports that Lind claimed to be from there. I mention this because Feuerstein seems to me to bend and twist page after page to make Aïvanhov into a sage and heroic figure and not appear delusional and racist. Then again maybe I bend and twist to try to adjust my impression of Aïvanhov, one I formed nearly two decades ago. Aïvanhov was born in 1900 in Macedonia; his home village was burned by Greeks in 1907; his father died when he was nine; and he had his first spiritual ecstasy at age 16. He experimented with color effects on his psyche and with trance states. He claimed his room once flooded with a mystical, purple light. He discovered that he had psychic abilities: At one of his talks he apparently crippled a friend by psychic power, then released him from the affliction. As if these were supernatural powers, Feuerstein mentions a few other demonstrations of Aïvanhov‘s magic, but in every case I found alternative, more prosaic explanations: Stage magic, autosuggestion, hypnosis, and plain delusional memories both in guru and disciple. Do I believe that these psychic powers or miracle workers exist? I can tell you that I have known and counseled several individuals who told me of even more profound shamanic powers than anything I read about Aïvanhov. Some of their stories were inexplicable and I had no reason to doubt them. However, psychic powers, if real, are fickle at best and there is no reason to believe that shamans who supposedly demonstrate these powers are holy, dependable, or sane. In any case, Aïvanhov did resort to the same mantra magic used by most Theosophical cults, particularly the ―I AM‖ Activity and Church Universal and Triumphant, whose students and former devotees will easily recognize the following example: ―Sixth Exercise: Kneeling down on one knee, bring both hands up to your face and then move them away from you in a movement similar to the breast stroke, saying, ―May all the enemies of the Universal White Brotherhood be routed, defeated and dispersed, for the Glory of God!” (6 times). The enemies of the Universal White Brotherhood are not human beings but are dark forces, ill-intentioned spirits that invade humans in order to destroy the divine work. You have every right to chase them, you can even say, ―may they be struck down, ground to bits, annihilated!‖ They have no right to undermine the Light.‖ (Aïvanhov, 1982. A New Earth, Vol. XIII, 198-199) There are pages of these magic mantra exercises, most of them for healing and good fortune.
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In 1917 Aïvanhov met his ―master,‖ Peter Deunov (1864-1944), a guru he served and emulated all his life. Raised by a father who was an Orthodox priest with radical views, Deunov studied medicine and theology in the United States and in 1895 he returned to Bulgaria, where he published his dissertation on ―Science and Education.‖ Steeped in Theosophy and Gnostic (Bogomil derivative) ideology, Deunov created his White Brotherhood movement in 1900. His theosophy was ―Christ‖ centered echoing earlier Rosicrucian movements and the later Anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner. Most concurrent versions of theosophy emphasized a more oriental bias with foundation myths featuring Buddhist and Hindu masters. Deunov may have gathered up to 40,000 followers at the peak of his movement according to Feuerstein (Mystery, 25). Aïvanhov became Deunov‘s principle disciple by 1937 when he moved to France to extend the movement. In 1959 Mikhaёl Aïvanhov traveled to India, met with ―various masters‖ and claimed he met the legendary (I say fictional) adept Babaji (This ―god‖ was popularized in Swami Paramahansa Yogananda‘s Autobiography of a Yogi published long before Mikhaёl Aïvanhov‘s India sojourn). One master Aïvanhov met apparently gave him his moniker Omraam, a combination of the mantra Om and the divine name Ram. This master was purportedly none other than Neemkaroli Baba, popularized later by the American guru of LSD fame, Dr. Richard ―Ram Dass‖ Alpert. This represents a departure from his master, Deneuv. Feuerstein reports group estimates that Aïvanhov‘s following (1998) approached 10,000 worldwide. That is a considerable loss from his master‘s numbers in 1944. The Fraternité Blanche Universelle (FBU) may be in decline, as movements that depend on charismatic leaders tend to go after the guru dies, but this does not prevent self-proclaimed upstarts from revitalizing and refining the cult. Currently I‘m tracking one communal group out of Quebec, Cite Ecologique de l'Ere de Verseau (Ecological City of the Age of Aquarius), that recently relocated a few dozen followers to Florida. Unlike most FBU devotees, the Cite Ecologique group lives communally and it hawks standard New Age products through members and on a web site (http://www.kheopsinternational.com ) that makes no mention of the group. Another Michael, a Michel de Cornellier, leads and founded it around two decades ago. De Cornellier was a gym teacher. Its primary texts are the writings of Mikhaёl Aïvanhov in French. Controversy follows this sect regarding their strict parochial treatment of children, racist and elitist practices, and complaints from former members who allege undue influence to gain donations (The Gazette, May 26, 1990, Montreal). But that takes us off my topic. Of the two books, I think Holy Madness would be a worthwhile read for any student of the new religions and cults whether or not you share the author‘s valuation. The presentation on Omraam Mikhaёl Aïvanhov however is overly apologetic and leaves much back-stage information out. My one experience with Aïvanhov and his devotees is enough to convince me that the guru and his cult are more problematic than Feuerstein likes to imagine. One couple I interviewed after Omraam‘s lecture is illustrative. The young lady, a devotee, was clearly smitten with the man, even saluting him with raised right hand as all devotees did during his final blessing. Her boy friend, like me, just stood there watching. We may have been the only two who did so among the thirty or so folks left, most of whom were Aïvanhov‘s entourage and choir. I asked the young man what he thought of it: ―Boring,‖ he said out of earshot of his smiling girl friend. *For those readers unaware of this divine White Brotherhood, it is basically a heavenly or metaphysical hierarchy of ―ascended‖ beings, angels, gods, and goddesses who guide the progress of the human race. White purportedly stands for the pure white light that these beings emanate both literally (in case you ever meet one!) and symbolically as a sign of their spiritual attainment. Each Theosophical group expresses its unique myth on the Brotherhood, a.k.a. the Masters or the Hierarchy.
Joseph P. Szimhart Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 88
Van der Braak, Andre. Guru
Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American
Monkfish Book Company, 27 Lamoree Rd., Rhinebeck, NY 12572 (www.monkfishpublishing.com), 2003, 228 pages, ISBN 0-9726357-1-8 (pbk) spirituality/memoir Enlightenment Blues is the second significant memoir I have read by a former student/disciple of the American guru Andrew Cohen—the first was by Cohen‘s mother, Luna Tarlo, who published Mother of God in 1997. Andre van der Braak knew Tarlo as they were ―students‖ together and shared a house briefly. He read Tarlo‘s book during his final struggles to defect after eleven years of devotion to Cohen‘s unnerving spiritual leadership and the idiosyncratic cult of enlightenment focused on the guru. Van der Braak currently is a Ph.D. candidate and teaches philosophy in Amsterdam. During his hiatus with Cohen, van der Braak rose and fell in the community ranks and became one of Cohen‘s chief editors, in one case reading over 4,000 pages of transcripts from Cohen‘s talks, then pruning and shaping them into the book, Enlightenment is a Secret. Curiously, for his dissertation subject he chose Nietzsche. Cohen, now around fifty years old, apparently has held sway over a core of one hundred fifty students, a number that has not significantly changed over the past fifteen years despite the continual turnover. Nevertheless, he has continued to teach that his enlightenment is a ―revolution‖ that would change the face of planetary spirituality. Van der Braak describes his early years as a young Catholic with a romantic, idealistic bent. He was a good athlete but his stuttering disorder contributed to his shyness. Early on he was attracted to Transcendental Meditation, the J. Krishnamurti teachings, and Buddhism. He encountered the writings of the prolific transpersonal philosopher, Ken Wilber. Van der Braak did his Masters thesis on Wilber. [Ken Wilber who is still writing and developing remains influential among intellectually sophisticated New Age seekers. Bill Clinton and Al Gore were both reading Wilber during Clinton‘s second term. Wilber was once a disciple of the teachings of Da Free John, a.k.a. Da Love Ananda, if not a supporter of that American guru‘s controversial behavior and cult following.] According to van der Braak, Andrew Cohen once entertained having Wilber as his disciple (not that Wilber ever reciprocated). I mention this because the reader of van der Braak‘s book might easily react with disdain or pity for the devotees described in the book, who for all intents and purposes follow an immature trust fund hippie with a cocky self image. I know a part of me did, namely that part that works hard for a living and tires to be a good husband and father. One has to wonder how anyone could fall for such a transparently overvalued cause. Cohen had absolutely no training as a monk or a leader in the mystical tradition he claimed to embody. Until members gave significant donations (One former female student complained of succumbing to pressure from Cohen to give two million dollars.), Cohen reportedly lived mainly from a trust he inherited from his grandmother around 1985, when he left on his spiritual quest to India. In short order after some superficial seeking (a.k.a. guru hopping), he met Poonja, a then little known follower of Ramana Maharshi, who was an Indian ―saint‖ in the Advaita tradition. Poonja somehow recognized that Andrew was special and ―transmitted‖ or sparked feelings of ―enlightenment‖ in him. This epiphany transformed Cohen into a driven man. He appeared to some of his friends to exude the enlightenment he claimed to have received. Cohen‘s group evolved over time from one of a free-wheeling band of devotees who had personal access to the guru and directly felt both his charm and his intensity. Within the first few years it had become, according to Cohen‘s mother Luna Tarlo, just another fascist enterprise. Not unlike so many new religious movements, this one flourished initially due to the enthusiasm of these first students who advertised Cohen‘s cause. The message was that Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 89
there is a new messiah, a revolutionary avatar, or an emerging Buddha among us now— come and see! The bulk of this book engages the reader in the intimate world of the devotees, what they were thinking and feeling and how they struggled with an increasingly irrational if demanding leader. Cohen convinces a male student to have his twenty thousand-dollar Saab crushed to end his attachment. We follow the author through group events and relocations from Amsterdam to India and from Massachusetts to Marin County. He describes his ascent to key editor and sub-leader as well as his demotion to common student. Along with all students of the inner circle, Cohen micro-managed van der Braak‘s sexual relationships and whether any close student had sex at all. Celibates were required to shave their heads. Van der Braak‘s roller coaster journey was not unique in the group. To anyone familiar with ex-cult member autobiography [I‘ve read at least 100 accounts in published books and unpublished manuscripts], van der Braak inadvertently exposes the tragic pattern common to authoritarian groups that have poor checks and balances. One feature is a leader who manages by perceiving constant, often bizarre crises while demanding unquestioning loyalty, not unlike a hapless military campaign trapped in an amusement park. Cohen reportedly threw temper tantrums, if he felt criticized in the news media, for example. This is one unfortunate result of radical dualism in action or groups that devalue the ―world‖ as an illusion while obsessing over a mysterious something or ideal they call gnosis or enlightenment. As van der Braak so skillfully relates in his narrative, Cohen may have been immature but he was no idiot. The guru‘s utter confidence in his new spiritual status was contagious to many seekers he met, and he was clever enough to reduce the experience of enlightenment to simple, radical notions that at least could attract and impress the novice. Van der Braak does help us appreciate the human need for spiritual resolution, and the need for most of us to believe that some saints or gurus have somehow managed to tap into communion with transcendental mysteries. It certainly was his need, and like so many who end up in spiritual pits instead of a path our author found many like-minded seekers who shared in his struggle to make sense of Cohen‘s selfish style. In the end he expounds to another student why he rejects Cohen: ―But in Andrew‘s case he actually managed to realize all his youthful fantasies, make them into a permanent lifestyle. And he managed to convince all of us to live in this way too.‖ Van der Braak basically describes Cohen as a narcissist stuck in his adolescence and out of control. Van der Braak holds no hostile agenda to destroy Cohen—his stated intent was to honestly describe his experience and to offer assistance to anyone else struggling to break with or understand a group like Cohen‘s. This book fulfills its stated purpose well—it is more about caution and the seeker‘s quest than it is about social or historical analysis, though the author does some appropriate pontificating. However, van der Braak almost lost my respect in his opening intro: ―All religions point to the same transpersonal truth.‖ I clench my teeth whenever I hear absolute statements by someone I sense has no or little more insight into ―transpersonal truth‖ than I do. But the book redeemed itself for me by the end, and I felt I learned something intimate about a man who matured in his humility and found strength enough to reveal his way of getting there. Joseph P. Szimhart
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News Summaries All Stars Project/Social Therapy Call for Bank to Cease Involvement The co-chairman of the ―Save the Independence Party Voter Coalition‖ of New York City has called on the Wachovia Bank to drop an $8.5 million bond issue for the non-profit All Stars Project, Inc. Mike Niebauer says that the leaders of the theater program for inner-city youth, Lenora Fulani and Fred Newman, practice ―social therapy,‖ which New Jersey expert Rick Ross calls cult-like. Ross says that social therapy — which encourages political activism to cure depression and other problems — has ―devastated‖ some former members who ―compare it to brainwashing. They lost their ability to think independently.‖ The Anti-Defamation League lists anti-Semitic remarks made by Fulani and Newman and expresses concern about companies that deal with the All Stars Project. (Rick Rothacker, Charlotte Observer, Internet, 5/26/03)
Allen Harrod/Child Abuse Case Suspended for Psychiatric Exam A Superior Court judge has temporarily suspended the child molestation case against Allan Harrod, in Sacramento, so his sanity and competence to stand trial can be determined. Harrod, who has claimed to be the prophetic leader of a Mormon sect, is accused of ritually abusing his own children sexually over more than two decades. In additon, he is charged with the statutory rape of a 14-year-old girl sent to live with his family by a friend. Harrod allegedly told her that she had to engage in sex with him as part of her religious training and in order to get closer to God. Harrods wife is charged with joining her husband in sex with a six-year-old. (Mareva Brown, Sacramento Bee, Internet, 8/21/03)
Amish Appeal to Keep Horses on Property Denied Walker Township, PA, officials have rejected the request of two Amish men, Daniel Kind and Daniel Beiler, to change an ordinance and allow them to keep horses on their property. They face $100-per-day fines if they continue to defy the zoning ordinance that allows horses only on plots larger than 2 acres and prohibits them in villages or areas zoned for residential use. The men, whose religion prohibits the use of cars, say that the horses are essential for pulling their buggies and that land where they might keep their horses is not suitable or too expensive. The ordinance aims to prevent the build up of animal waste. (AP in the New York Times, Internet, 6/5/03)
Amish-Mennonite Reject Photos on Driver's Licenses Leaders of the 200-member Amish-Mennonite community in Kentucky are asking the state not to require pictures on their drivers‘ licenses because the photographs would be unscriptural symbols of self-admiration and pride, tantamount to the sin of creating graven images. For years, some circuit court clerks have quietly exempted people who had such religious concerns, but in light of the needs of homeland security, state Transportation Cabinet officials have ordered clerks not to continue the practice. (Joe Biesk, AP, Internet, 8/21/03) Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 91
Aum Shinrikyo Defense Problems Former Aum leader Shoko Asahara’s defense team found it difficult to find anyone to testify for him, and few actually did, while most of those who performed psychiatric tests said he could tell the difference between right and wrong. But the defense‘s biggest problem was that Asahara refused to speak, and often even to attend interviews with them or testify in court. Many of the defense lawyers also showed mental fatigue as a trial that has lasted seven-and-a-half years now concludes. (Asahi Shimbun, 10/31/03) Assessing Aum Kohei Ikeda, head of Aum successor organization Aleph’s Osaka branch, says that while guru Shoko Asahara ―might still be personally important to some members, he is more important as a symbol of Aum.‖ But film director Tatsuya Mori, who has made two documentaries on Aum, believes that many members of Aleph still think Asahara is supremely important, and that the guru is still playing a role in the organization. Both Ikeda and Mori agree that Aleph is finding it difficult to recruit because of its suspected links to Asahara, and general prejudice. Aleph is still under government observation and must submit the names of recruits to authorities, who then visit the recruits‘ homes or workplaces, which Ikeda considers a violation of their rights. He complained that Japan remains gripped by paranoid fear about Aum stemming from the poison gas attacks, and that this has led not only to laws aimed to increase police powers but to Japan‘s supporting the war in Iraq because it has been linked to the war on terrorism. (Eric Johnson, Japan Times, Internet, 10/30/03) Leader's Defense Lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara (now often referred to by his birth name, Chizuo Matsumoto), who is on trial for his alleged role in the 1995 poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway and other crimes, say he is not guilty. They blame his followers. One attorney said, ―The defendant (Asahara) never thought about (producing sarin gas). Senior member Hideo Murai, who misinterpreted (Aum‘s) teachings, planned and prepared it.‖ ―As the physical condition of the defendant worsened and the group expanded, he lost authority to control runaway followers,‖ the defense said, adding that Asahara had nothing to do with the crimes because he was ―truly religious.‖ Asahara sat in court and seemed completely indifferent to his defense. [He has refused to speak to his lawyers or in his defense since 1996.] (Kyodo News Service in Japan Times, and Mainichi Shimbun, Internet, 10/30/03)
Bountiful Community/Polygamy Protest Government Support of Polygamists' School The Vernon and District Women‘s Centre Society, in Vancouver, British Columbia, has protested the provincial government‘s provision of $632,000 last year to Bountiful, a polygamous commune in Lister. The Centre Society‘s Debra Critchely, who calls the funding illegal, says that she received a letter from Premier Gordon Campbell saying that the ―government is aware of the concerns that exist regarding this issue,‖ and that he would notify the Attorney General, whose office would respond. A spokesman for the Ministry of Education says that the government is legally obligated to fund the school just as it does other independent schools that pass an assessment. ―There‘s Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 92
the contrast between what our legal obligation is under the Independent Schools Act and what people‘s concerns are over the moral questions and the legal questions involved in polygamy, which is quite different from what the ministry is mandated for,‖ she said. British Columbia in 1992 decided not to prosecute two polygamists from Bountiful and ruled that the Criminal Code section outlawing polygamy was unconstitutional. (Camille Bains, Canadian Press, Internet, 7/2/03)
Charles Manson Ex-Follower Sues California Governor Imprisoned former Charles Mason follower Susan Atkins has sued California Governor Gray Davis saying that his opposition to parole for nearly all convicted murderers has made her a ―political prisoner.‖ Atkins, who maintains her innocence, has been denied parole ten times since her conviction thirty years ago. (AP, Internet, 6/1/03)
Christ’s Church/International Churches of Christ Proselytizing in Russia Christ’s Church, an arm of the U.S.-based International Chuches of Christ, is active in Russia. The author of this article became especially interested in the group when she met a college acquaintance who had changed since graduation from a smoking-drinking-girlchasing guy into a very sober and totally devoted member of the new church. According to sources, members pay 10–15 percent of their income to the church and are organized in a pyramidal structure, where ―each mentor has several pupils whose lives he scrupulously controls.‖ Members‘ ―spiritual and intellectual outlook becomes reduced,‖ they break with friends and relatives, including parents, and ―experience abnormal psyche [sic] changes.‖ An expert from the Rostov Committee for Internation [sic] Relations, Religion and the Cossacks, Vladimir Papov, says parents have reported children dropping out of school after attending Christ‘s Church sessions. (Viktoria Steklova, Pravda, Internet, 9/11/03)
Faith in God Christian Deliverance Church Raid to Investigate Child Abuse SWAT teams and detectives have raided Kissimmee, FL, apartments rented by the Faith in God Christian Deliverance Church and removed a dozen children to examine them for signs of abuse. They also searched the Osceola home of church pastor Jack Russell Jones, who denied the abuse charges. Former members say that the alleged abuse was sometimes the result of attempts to drive out demons. (WESH TV News, Internet, 6/5/03)
Fundamentalist Child Abuse Pastor Faces 30 Years for "Holy Spankings" New Haven, CT, pastor The Rev. Walter Oliver has been charged with assault and risk of injury for beating two children in his congregation in Jesus‘ name. The ―holy spanking‖ was administered, he says, according to the adage, ―Spare the rod and spoil the child.‖ He added that he punished the children with their mother‘s permission and in his official capacity. Neither of the children was bloodied or seriously injured, although prosecutors say the beatings left marks on their bodies. They say they are treating the incident as child abuse without reference to religious freedom. (AP in New York Post, Internet, 11/3/03)
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Christian Zionists Refuse Immunization Christian Zionists in Swaziland are refusing on religious grounds to have their children immunized in the midst of a national measles epidemic. The denomination‘s children account for about two percent of the children in the entire country. The Zionists refuse both modern and traditional medical treatment. (IRIN, Internet, 10/24/03)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Group Says Mental Illness Not Result of "Sin" The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Utah is working, with the authorization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to persuade pastors that conditions like major depression and schizophrenia are not the result of sinfulness or lack of faith and ought to be treated by psychiatry and drug therapy. The Alliance wants to help clergy whose congregants turn to them for help with undiagnosed mental illnesses. (Jacob Santini, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 12/6/03)
Church of the Firstborn Faith Healing Linked to Several Deaths The Morgan County (IN) coroner wants to change state law in light of the deaths of several people whose caregivers in the Church of the Firstborn relied on faith alone to cure them of illness. Although the deaths have involved people of all ages, Coroner Dan Downing says he‘d like to see prosecutors at least move against parents who fail to seek medical help for children who would otherwise die. (WISH TV, Internet, 8/27/03)
Community of Free Spirits Conman Blames Psychological Pressure Glenn Rycroft, 27, who has admitted to conning friends and family out of more than a quarter-million dollars to help treat a nonexistent cancer — he even shaved his head to pretend he was receiving chemotherapy — says he carried out his deceptions because of pressure from a group called The Community of Free Spirits. His attorney said a woman in the group had been the most important person to Rycroft for most of his life and he felt threatened by rejection. Rycroft, now out on bail, attempted suicide when his fraud was revealed. (BBC News, Internet, 12/4/03)
Davis, Henry/Child Abuse Leader Pleads Guilty to Leading Teen Sex Ring Henry Davis, of Chicago, has pleaded guilty to kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct in connection with a prostitution ring he set up involving teenage girls in Detroit and several other cities. Davis has admitted kidnapping the girls and forcing them to ―sell jewelry by day and their bodies by night.‖ Davis faces between 18 and 40 years in prison. (WDI TV Local 4, Internet, 8/28/03)
Deeper Life Christian Church The Cost of Redemption Melvin B Jefferson, self-proclaimed Bishop of Deeper Life Christian Church, is prospering at the expense of the poor and drug addicted whom he takes off the streets of Tampa. Jefferson and his wife use Scripture and tough love to indoctrinate and control the lives of the down-and-out people whom he places in dilapidated churchowned housing. He feeds them chicken necks, rice, and beans, and says they must pay Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 94
him for salvation or risk eternal damnation. If they break rules they pay fines from their government checks or from the $10 per day they get for roadside soliciting on behalf of the church. Such soliciting, involving meers‘ children as well, has apparently brought in millions from donations to the 38 churches affiliated with Deeper Life from Virginia to Texas and north to Michigan. Jefferson, meanwhile, lives in a 10,000 square foot mansion and drives a Bentley. ―It‘s a fraud,‖ according to Keith Dixon, a former Deeper Life pastor, who says he raised millions for the church. ―If I have a bucket that says ‗Help feed needy women and children‘ and I take the money and go buy a Rolls Royce, that‘s fraud.‖ (Tampa Tribune, Internet, 9/23/03; AP in the Ledger, Lakeland, FL, Internet, 9/23/03)
Destiny House (Word of Life) Denies "Cult" Label Destiny House (formerly Word of Life) pastor Jim Addison, fighting a landlord‘s attempt to evict the group from it‘s facility in Aberdeen, Scotland, denies that Word of Life practices included members‘ vomiting and screaming sessions to rid themselves of evil, and preventing contact with people outside the congregation. Addison denied the charges, as well as allegations that members were forbidden to watch TV or read newspapers. He also denied he had received an eviction notice and refused to say why Word of Life had changed to Destiny House. (Gayle Ritchie, Evening Express, Internet, 8/3/03)
Elizabeth Smart Captivity Not Life-Altering Elizabeth Smart, who spent nine months under the control of kidnappers David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee, says the experience did not change her much. ―It‘s not like I was, like, all happy and all of a sudden I come back and I‘m not, because I‘m still happy. It‘s the same. It‘s like it never happened,‖ although she adds that she is now more compassionate toward the homeless. Mitchell and Barzee are charged with kidnapping Smart to be his second wife and holding her against her will in the hills hear her Salt Lake City home and then at a California campsite. They are also accused of sexually assaulting her while trying to strip her of her identity. (AP in New York Times, Internet, 10/25/03)
Executive Success Programs/NXIVM Sues Over "Cult" Label Executive Success Programs (ESP) has sued three critics who characterized the organization as a ―cult‖ and publicized its confidential manual. The defendants are [cult expert] Rick Ross and his Ross Institute of New Jersey; California psychiatrist John Hochman M.D. [a cult educator]; and Stephanie Franco [a former ESP student.] Ross and Hochman have been accused of describing ESP programs as dangerous and expensive forms of brainwashing. ESP alleges that this has been bad for their business, and wants compensatory damages of $2.4 million and punitive damages of $7.3 million. Ross says the suit, brought in Federal District Court in Albany, NY, is an attempt to silence critics and will be dismissed. ESP has a staff of 300 that trains business managers and chief executives in the U.S. and Mexico to reach the highest level of their potential. Hochman and Ross see ESP as a recycled version of self-help programs like Scientology and est. The New York state Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 95
Attorney General prohibited ESP head Keith Raniere — now called ―Vanguard‖ by ESP students — from running a chain distribution business after a former company collapsed under the weight of federal allegations that it was a pyramid scheme. Some neighbors in the town of Halfmoon have organized to protest ESP plans to build a facility. One neighbor said the ESP members he met at an unauthorized groundbreaking ―all have that monotone voice. They were dressed up in business suits, fancy dresses. One person there was in a wedding dress. They told us it was their property and they'd do as they please," Tammy Quinn said. "I don't want them anywhere in the area.‖ (Dennis Yusko, Albany Times Union, Internet, 8/8/03)
Faith Healing Baby Dies from Kidney Infection Four-moth-old Caleb Tribble died in December at his rural home near Pakotai, New Zealand, of an untreated kidney infection. His grandfather, John Tribble, a ―faith healer,‖ prayed for Caleb and felt he was improving just before the infant died. Caleb‘s mother said: ―I don‘t have any regrets. I do my best. I‘m just so grateful to have had four wonderful months with him. He was lent to us for a purpose. I can only say I believe he is in God‘s hands now. It is God‘s will.‖ Caleb was one of eight children. The older ones take correspondence lessons at home rather than attend a local school 6 miles away. (New Zealand Press Association, Internet, 12/11/03)
Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith Exorcism Banned Ray Hemphill, minister of the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith, has been ordered, as condition of bail, not to perform any more exorcisms or spiritual healing. He had been charged with felony child abuse in the death of 9-year-old Terrence Cottrell, who died of suffocation during a prayer session calculated to release ―demons‖ from the child. (AP in New York Times, Internet, 8/28/03)
False Memory Disciplined Doctor Practicing Again Psychiatrist Bennett Braun, who in 1999 lost his license to practice in Illinois for two years for allegedly using drugs and hypnosis to persuade a family falsely that they had been involved in cannibalistic and satanic cults, has resumed his practice, in Helena, MT. Patient Patty Burgus sued Braun for persuading her that she had 300 personalities, ate human flesh meatloaf, and was a high priestess in a satanic cult. She eventually sued him and got a multi-million dollar settlement, but Braun in turn sued his insurer, saying the settlement was made over his objections and violated his policy [sic]. Braun, who has since regained his Illinois license, says he didn‘t contest the suspension because he had become physically and financially exhausted. (Bon Anez, AP, Internet, 10/16/03) Court Rules Memories May Be Flawed The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has, for the first time, ruled that repeated questioning by social workers and police may induce children to report false memories of molestation. Therefore, the court said, defendants are entitled to a pre-trial hearing to try to show the children‘s testimony may be tainted and suggest they may be incompetent to testify. ―Common experience informs us,‖ the court said, ―that children are, by their very essence, fanciful creatures who have difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality; who when asked a question want to give the 'right' answer, the answer that pleases the interrogator; who are Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 96
subject to repeat ideas placed in their heads by others; and who have limited capacity for accurate memory." The court made its ruling in the case of Gerald Delbridge, now 42, who was convicted in Luzerne County of molesting two children, ages 6 and 4, between 1997 and 1998. (David B. Caruso, AP in Philadelphia Inquirer, Internet, 9/30/03)
First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty Husband Wants to be Tried for Wife’s Wrongdoing Brad Barnhill, of suburban Pittsburgh, PA, wants to be put on trial in place of his wife who is accused of misdemeanor child endangering — she breast-fed her child while driving 65 on the Ohio Turnpike — because ―I‘m responsible for what she does, and no one can punish her but me.‖ This, he says, is according to his religious beliefs. He is the minister of the 650member First Christian Fellowship for Eternal Sovereignty, founded in the late 1990s. (Channel Cincinnati, Internet, 6/27/03)
Forest Hills Baptist Church Suit for Church’s Cult-like Event An unidentified Blount County, KY, couple is suing Forest Hills Baptist Church for harming their daughter in a ―cult-like‖ event called the ―underground church.‖ The girl and other participants were allegedly blindfolded, handcuffed with velcro, and put in the back of a truck for a role-playing game about ―denying Christ.‖ The suit claims that the girls suffered permanent mental and emotional harm. Pastor Harry Sherrer acknowledged that the event was ―very powerful‖ and that the participants were ―really impressed,‖ but added he did not think the event went too far. (Steve Gehlbach, WATE News, Internet, 6/13/03)
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) Eviction for Opposing Underage Marriage Milton and Lenore Holm, of Colorado City, AZ, are protesting their eviction from a home they rented as ―tenants at will‖ from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, a Mormon Church offshoot that still practices polygamy. Lenore Holm says that the couple was banished from the church when she refused to consent to the planned marriage of her then 16-year-old daughter, Nicole, to Wynn Jessop, 39, because she opposed church-arranged unions of underage girls to older men. The church says that the Holms were evicted from the house, which they built and improved over many years, because they did not live up to the church‘s ideals. Mrs. Holm says that she wants ―to see these rapes of underage girls stopped. In the name of God they‘re doing it, and it‘s awful and they think it‘s religion.‖ Both Milton and Lenore Home come from polygamous families. (Dave Hawkins, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Internet, 5/27/03) Underground Railway for Child Brides People once associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have founded ―Help the Child Brides,‖ an organization devoted to assisting young girls to escape arranged marriages to older men in the polygamous sect. Bob Curran, of St. George, UT, describes the church as ―a country within a country. Where there was once religion, sadly it has degenerated to sex, power and money.‖ He added that authorities have been lax in prosecuting underage marriage, incest, and white slavery. (Kingman Daily Miner, Internet, 5/15/03) Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 97
Former Member Talks of Harassment Pam Black, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recently told a meeting of ―Help the Child Brides,‖ in Kingman, AZ, that her phone is tapped and that the road leading to her home, about five miles from the church‘s Hilldale settlement, is being watched. She says of the church: ―They don‘t enforce laws. They enforce rules of the church.‖ Utah and Arizona prosecutors are investigating alleged domestic violence, tax and welfare fraud, and the marriage of underage girls in polygamous communities in the region. Black says that a great deal of the money members give to the church is used to support court cases involving these issues. But Black, who bore 14 children in 22 years, asserts that she does not want to be known as an anti-polygamist. ―I don‘t want to attack anybody. I don‘t like war.‖ (Jane Zhang, The Spectrum, Internet, 5/15/03)
God’s Creation Outreach Ministry Women Guilty of Child Abuse Five women pleaded no contest in mid-November and were found guilty of involvement in the suffocation death of a child in the Kansas City-based God’s Creation Outreach Ministry. Earlier this year, group leaders Neil Edgar and his wife Christy Edgar were convicted of first-degree murder in the suffocation death of their 9-year-old adopted son, whom they wrapped from head to foot in duct tape. (Kansas City Channel, Internet, 11/14/03)
Hare Krishna (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Cow Keepers to Move Hare Krishna followers Stephen and Linda Voth plan to move with their daughter from Angelica, NY, to the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary, in Bangor, PA, following a ruling by Angelica zoning officials that the couple cannot keep four cows on their village property. Hindus like the Hare Krishna consider cows sacred. (AP, Internet, 6/9/03)
Harmony Worship Center Church Warrants to Arrest “Discipling the Flesh” Pastors Tulsa, OK, police are looking to serve Harmomy Worship Center pastors Robert and Janice Turner with arrest warrants in connection with their beating of a church member in a ritual called ―disciplining the flesh.‖ The ritual is intended to beat sin out of a person who has confessed his guilt, in this case a man who admitted to watching pornography. (Kim Jackson, KTUL ABC TV, Internet, 8/29/03)
House of Prayer Klan Support A Ku Klux Klan group in Georgia says it will demonstrate in favor of freeing House of Prayer leader Rev. Arthur Allen, the bleak leader of a black congregation who was jailed for violating his probation. Allen was convicted for allowing two children to be whipped in front of his flock. The Klan and the House of Prayer marched together in September supporting the display of the Ten Commandments in a Barrow County courthouse. Klan rally organizer J.J. Harper said: ―There was a time when the corrupt Ku Klux Klan was bombing churches, let‘s put it that way. There are some (Klan) groups out there that have lost direction. Basically our organization is here to stand up for Christianity and whatever that includes, that‘s what we‘re going to do.‖ (WXIA-TV Atlanta, 11/3/03)
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Jehovah’s Witnesses Canvassing Right Upheld The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled that the town of Blainville cannot use its canvassing bylaw to regulate the door-to-door proselytizing of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The bylaw barred such activity after 7:30 pm and on weekends and required a $100 permit to canvass at other times. The Witnesses refused to buy a permit. The decision held, however, that while the bylaw ―severely restricts‖ the Witnesses religious freedom, Blainville might be able to show, as it had not yet done, that some restriction was indeed consistent with democratic values. ―The measures enacted,‖ the decision continues, ―were negligently drafted and adopted in a hurry without prior consultation, and are irrational and disproportionate in their effects.‖ (Harvey Shepherd, The Gazette, Internet, 8/28/03) Agreement on Transfusions Jehovah’s Witnesses Shawn and Alicia Castillo, of Waco, TX, have agreed with state Child Protective Services to let the agency authorize blood transfusions for their seriously ill three-week-old son in return for an agency agreement to let the couple transfer the child to the care of physicians at a Fort Worth hospital trained in alternative treatments that might reduce the need for transfusions, which are not permitted by the Witnesses‘ religious beliefs. The state will act as the infant‘s custodian only when doctors feel a transfusion is needed. (AP in Star Tribune, Internet, 12/5/03)
Jonestown/Peoples’ Temple Murder, Suicide, and Surrender Journalist Tim Reiterman, who accompanied Congressman Leo Ryan to Guyana, said on the 25th anniversary of the Jonestown disaster in November: ―I think most people cling to some of the myths about Jonestown. One was that this was a mass suicide, when in fact it was as much a mass murder because of the degree of control that [Jim] Jones exercised in a very remote place, and because of the way he manipulated the events at the end he made it seem as if there was no way out for anybody.‖ Reiterman, who wrote a 1982 book on Jim Jones and his congregation, says Jones drew to himself mostly ―hard-working, religious, dedicated, idealistic people who wanted a better life on earth as well as in the hereafter and valued interracial religious experience.‖ The remote and isolated Guyana settlement, says Reiterman, was absolutely free of ―urban ill,‖ but ―tantamount to a prison for those who discovered they didn‘t want to be there.‖ The disaster, Reiterman concluded, ―shocked people into realizing just how terrible the consequences can be of surrendering control of decisions in your life . . . to someone else, and it made people . . . think: What is it that drives human beings? Why [do] they join? Why [do] they follow? Why [do] they want to lead? [It made people think about] the dangers of power in the hands of somebody who's deeply disturbed and also committed to the philosophy that the ‗ends justify the means.‖ (Rachel E. Sheeley, Palladium-Item, Internet, 11/16/03) Conflict with Followers' Relatives Contributed to Disaster University of California-Davis scholar John Hall, who studies religious violence, says that although the dynamics of the relationship between Jim Jones and Peoples Temple followers should not be discounted as causing the disaster, ―the murders and mass suicide were the products of an ever-escalating struggle between the leadership of Peoples Temple and their opponents, a group of concerned relatives.‖ Referring to contemporary conflicts like the one between certain Muslim and Western groups, Hall says: ―It escalates — or Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 99
becomes defused — on the basis of moves taken on two sides of the apocalyptic divide. To vanquish evil can become a crusade that begets evil.‖ (UC Davis News Service, Internet, 10/23/03) 25th Anniversary A 25th anniversary edition of the Jonestown Report has been published at http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume5/vol5.htm. It is said by the publisher to include ―a resource guide for primary source information and ongoing research related to Peoples Temple and Jonestown. The main website, http://jonestown.sdsu.edu, reportedly contains primary sources on the disaster such as a list of the dead, transcribed tapes from Jonestown, an online photo gallery of life there, and the writings of former members and relatives about their experiences. (E-mail communication from Fielding M. McGehee, III [fielding
[email protected]], who is associated with the web page)
LaRouche Getting Campaign Money The Wall Street Journal says a good reason to check ―no‖ on your tax return when it asks if you want to contribute to the federal election campaigns is that ―perennial crackpot candidate Lyndon Larouche will soon get a check for $840,000. That‘s more money than Al Sharpton, Dennis Kucinich or Carol Mosley Braun — all of whom have at least the pretense of being serious candidates — will get.‖ (Opinion, Wall Street Journal, Internet, 12/4/03) Recruit's "Suicide" Questioned German police are reviewing their investigation of the death in March of Jeremiah Duggan, a British student, and Jew, who had traveled to Germany for what he thought was an anti-war conference run by the publication Nouveau Solidarité, only to discover that he had actually joined the Schiller Institute, led by the anti-Semitic Lyndon LaRouche. The LaRouche political organization is alleged to pressure young people to believe in a Jewish-American conspiracy to take over the world. Duggan died after reportedly running into the path of two vehicles. The police assumed it was suicide, but a report requested by British authorities indicates that no autopsy was performed and police took no official signed statements from witnesses, which were in any case contradictory. Duggan‘s family says that the 22-year-old was studying at the Sorbonne, in Paris, and that when he learned of LaRouche‘s anti-Semitic background he declared he was Jewish and fled the place he was staying with the group. But first, they say, he called his girlfriend in Paris saying he was ―under too much pressure.‖ Then he called his mother, again expressing his acute anxiety and wish to go home. As he was giving his location, the phone line was cut off. When Duggan‘s mother finally reached the facility where her son had been staying, and before she learned of his death, she was told first that Nouveau Solidarité was a ―news agency‖ and did not take responsibility for individual‘s actions. She was told in a call several minutes later that ―Jeremiah had psychological problems.‖ The Duggan family lawyer says that the German authorities‘ investigation ―is totally inadequate. Jeremiah Duggan died in very suspicious circumstances. These call for a full and proper investigation,‖ the lawyer said. (Daniel Foggo, The Telegraph, 11/9/03)
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Latter Day Church of Christ/Kingston Clan Woman Sues Whole Polygamous "Clan" Mary Ann Kingston, 22, has filed a suit against the 1,000-member polygamous Kingston clan, members of the Utah-based Latter Day Church of Christ, alleging that she was physically and sexually abused in the group before escaping at the age of 16. She is asking $110 million from what she terms ―a secretive religious society and economic organization‖ that teaches and promotes sexual abuse of girls through illegal and underage marriages, incest, and polygamy. Her father was recently sentenced to 28 weeks in jail for beating her when she tried to flee an arranged marriage, and her husband (also her uncle) was not long ago released after serving four years in prison for incest and unlawful sexual conduct with her. (Debbie Hummel, AP, Internet, 8/28/03)
Life Space Leader’s Sentence Shortened Chiba, Japan District Court has cut by eight years the 15-year sentence of Life Space leader Koji Takahashi who was convicted of removing an intravenous drip being used on a follower who had suffered a stroke, thinking it was endangering the man‘s life. Takahashi then ordered the man‘s family to remove him from the hospital and care for him at a hotel, where they only patted his head until he died. The judge said that Takahashi ―didn‘t particularly want the victim to die and it is not possible to say that he acted with malicious intent.‖ (Mainichi Shimbun, Internet, 6/27/03)
Lord’s Resistance Army Abducted Children Rescued Uganda government troops have freed more than 50 children from the Lord‘s Resistance Army following a battle with the rebel group, north of Seroti. [The Lord‘s Resistance Army kidnaps children and turns them into armed anti-government fighters.] (Nathaniel Etungu, New Vision, Internet, 7/2/03) Campaign to End "Conspiracy of Silence" The Church Missionary Society (CMS), founded 200 years ago in Britain to abolish slavery, says it will launch a campaign to end what it calls ―an international conspiracy of silence‖ about the depredations of Uganda‘s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The CMS says that the LRA, a rebel movement that the Uganda government has been unable to control, is a cult that has abducted more than 20,000 children for use as soldiers, pack animals, and sex slaves. (East African/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX, Internet, 8/11/03)
Magnificat Meal Movement Former Irish PM’s Nephew Joins Movement Niall Haughey, the nephew of former Irish prime minister Charles Haughey, has given up his business and home and moved to Australia to live with the Magnificat Meal Movement (MMM). Sources say Haughey has handed over most of his money to MMM leader Debra Burslem, and will now live simply, working the group‘s land, in Queensland. Burslem, who claims she has visions of the Virgin Mary, owns property worth several million dollars. Irish cult expert Mike Garde says the group ―brainwashes‖ members, adding that some have sold their homes near the property and given 30 percent to Burslem, who tells them the Virgin Mary wishes them to do so. It is said that Burslem owns four Mercedes cars and is a director of at least 10 companies.
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Niall Haughey‘s father says, ―I am not worried about him at all.‖ (Sunday Irish Independent, Internet, 6/29/03)
Malvo/Brainwashing “Brainwashing” Defense Mounted Lee Boyd Malvo, whose attorneys mounted an insanity-by-reason-of-brainwashing defense, has been found guilty of two counts of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole in connection with the Washington, DC-area sniper attacks in 2002. The trial lasted 18 days and the jury heard almost 150 witnesses. The defense argued that the teenager had been indoctrinated while under the tight control of John Allen Muhammad, recently convicted of another of the sniper murders. Prosecutors in Allen‘s trial, faced with the fact that most of the evidence pointed to Malvo as the actual shooter, had argued that Muhammad deserved to be convicted because he controlled Malvo and molded the younger man into a killer. Police interrogation tapes — which the defense tried unsuccessfully to keep out of evidence — indicated Malvo was proud of his shooting skill, and unremorseful. The law in Virginia, where both were tried, requires the defense to prove the indoctrination led to a ―mental disease or defect‖ that left the defendant unable to distinguish right from wrong or control his actions. The prosecution said Malvo‘s evasion of arrest for weeks during the killing spree, and his conspiring with Muhammad to extort $10 million from the government while on the run, proved that he knew he was doing wrong. Patty Hearst‘s similar ―brainwashing‖ defense failed in 1976, and experts say that it hardly ever prevails, especially in ‗high profile‘ cases. Malvo’s Background The defense tried to show that Malvo‘s background predisposed him to be controlled and manipulated by Muhammad. Relatives from Jamaica, where Malvo grew up, testified his mother moved frequently, often leaving him with family or friends, and beat him often, once after he threatened to hang himself if she moved him again. One of Malvo‘s high school teachers said family instability led Malvo to search constantly for a father figure and he happened to find one in Muhammad. The Rev. Albert Archer, who runs a homeless shelter in Bellingham, WA, testified Muhammad and Malvo had a father-son relationship; Muhammad had ‖a very strong influence‖ over Malvo ―a personality that will draw people to him . . . It was a winning way he had of drawing Lee into his way of thinking.‖ Muhammad met Malvo when the older man — a former U.S. Army regular who served in Operation Desert Storm but left the service discontented — visited Antigua, where he allegedly began to indoctrinate Malvo and train him in marksmanship, which continued after they traveled to Washington state in late 2002. Malvo wrote a letter at that time to a niece of Muhammad‘s first wife saying: ―Why am I here, there seems for me no purpose? Everyone who has met me hates my gutsy rambling and considers my gibberish [sic] fake. My patience is thinning, my conflict unresolved, my psyche and fear strewn . . . I should have been banished and killed . . . for I‘m perceived as a walking time bomb waiting to explode . . . All I ask is to be loved.‖ The defense treated the letter as a cry for help, but in response to a prosecution objection the judge withheld it from the jury. Psychological Evaluations In custody, Malvo described to a forensic social worker the new society of ―superpeople‖ he believed would change the world he and Mohammad intended to create. They would begin with 70 boys and girls from around the world brought to live in a community somewhere in Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 102
Canada financed by money demanded in notes left at the scenes of the shootings. Many of Malvo‘s drawings from jail have anti-American themes and commentary. They included sketches of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, and one of sniper crosshairs imposed on a sketch of the White House. University of Virginia psychologist Dewey Cornell, who interviewed Malvo extensively, testified Muhammad taught the younger man to hate whites. One method Muhammad allegedly used to indoctrinate Malvo was to put the younger man to sleep listening to a reggae tape that also contained a track with an anti-white speech by Malcolm X. Cornell reports Muhammad took Malvo on cross-country trips to speak with blacks in slums and homeless shelters. Malvo told Cornell he watched the film ―The Matrix‖ more than 100 times and identified with the hero, who wants to free human beings so oppressed they are unaware they are being dominated. Muhammad also reportedly put Malvo on a strict vegetarian diet, with vitamin pills, and once tied him to a tree so Malvo could prove his toughness. Prosecutor Robert Horan argued throughout that the defense confused ―indoctrination‖ with ―insanity,‖ while the defense attempted to show that the indoctrination was so severe that Malvo could not distinguish right from wrong, the major criterion for insanity. Maine-based forensic psychiatrist Diane H. Schekty testified Malvo was mentally ill at the time of the shootings and unable to tell right from wrong. She said Malvo had a pathological loyalty to Muhammad and was ―like a puppet in his hands.‖ He suffers, she added, from ―dissociate disorder [sic].‖ Referring to Malvo sitting at the witness table, she said: ―This does not look like somebody who is facing horrendous charges. He is sitting there doodling like a child in preschool.‖ Sheckty said Malvo told her Muhammad dissuaded him from believing that killing was absolutely wrong, taught him to suppress his conscience if he had doubts, and that ―right and wrong‖ were artificial constructs without real meaning. Clinical psychologist David Schretlen, from Johns Hopkins University, said that Malvo‘s low score on certain tests given while he was in custody could stem from depression, anxiety, or a ―dissociative disorder‖ in which one loses touch with reality. Cornell also concluded that Malvo suffered from a dissociative disorder at the time of the attacks. Cornell believes Malvo took responsibility for the actual shooting because he blamed himself ―for the failure of the mission.‖ He says Malvo told him that whenever he, Malvo, had misgivings about what they were doing, Muhammad was either there to allay his concerns or he would imagine Muhammad‘s voice with the same message. Cornell thinks the sniper killing for which Malvo was tried served as Malvo‘s first test in doing Muhammad‘s bidding. Malvo only began breaking away from Muhammad‘s influence seven months after their arrest, according to Cornell, who added that Malvo began to realize that the vision of creating utopia with money extorted from the government did not make sense. Malvo finally asked himself, Cornell reports: ―If Allah was [really] behind this, how could we [have] fail[ed]?‖ Two other mental health professionals testified Malvo was not mentally ill and knew right from wrong at the time of the murders. ―This is a person who is fully conscious, cognizant, deliberating, purposeful,‖ said psychologist Stanton E. Samenow for the prosecution. ―Mr. Malvo knew exactly what he was doing.‖ Samenov noted that Malvo wrote, in a letter to a fellow inmate after his arrest: ―I play the stupid fool. Everybody underestimates me.‖ Samenow said Malvo told him: ―I‘m willing to question. I don‘t take anything at face value. I‘m not impressionable. I‘m not weak minded.‖ Prosecution psychologist Evan S. Nelson said the relationship between Malvo and Muhammad was based on idol worship not brainwashing, and was consensual. Nelson implied the defense reeducated Malvo just as, it had earlier argued, Muhammad brainwashed Malvo. Psychologist and cult expert Paul Martin [who heads an Ohio rehabilitation facility for former cult members] noted the cases of Korean War prisoner brainwashing, the Branch Davidian Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 103
siege in Waco, TX, and the Jonestown suicides and said that John Muhammad may have been able to control Malvo‘s mind and will. He said people who have been indoctrinated ―can change their moral values . . . start to engage in crimes. People can kill when they are under this sort of mindset.‖ Prosecutor Horan retorted: ―The red herring in this case is indoctrination. It is the ultimate refuge of mental health scoundrels.‖ Horan added that only people held captive, like prisoners of war and hostages, should be able to claim they were brainwashed. Martin responded saying indoctrination was equally possible in voluntary oneon-one settings. The prosecution argued that Martin was not qualified to give an opinion on the MalvoMuhammad relationship and that brainwashing is not a diagnosable mental illness that can lead to insanity. Prosecutor Horan said of Martin: ―His field is deprogramming cults [sic]. There are no cults in this case,‖ and Judge Roush agreed. Indeed, she criticized the defense for broadly exploring issues of cults and brainwashing, and told it to concentrate more narrowly on the case at hand. Steven Hassan, a Massachusetts-based cult expert said a ―cult of two‖ can exist and involve extreme indoctrination. He said Malvo could laugh at his crimes because ―in his cult identity, it was right for him to kill people.‖ Hassan likened the brainwashed condition to a dissociative disorder. The defense argued that Malvo‘s true personality is surfacing now that his bond with Muhammad has weakened. Robert Jay Lifton, who studied Korean War prisoner indoctrination and prefers the term ―thought reform‖ to ―brainwashing,‖ believes Malvo‘s behavior after the shootings meets the criteria for someone who had undergone the process. He said: ―A strong person, particularly an older person, can have an enormous influence on the shaping of mind and behavior of another person. But there is still the issue of responsibility. One would have to be extremely cautious about labeling a process between two people to be thought reform.‖ Some observers believe that the jury may have recommended life in prison rather than the death penalty in part because they saw Muhammad‘s malignant influence as a mitigating factor in Malvo‘s guilt. (Adam Liptak, New York Times, Internet, 12/6/03 and 12/16/03; Timothy Dwyer, Washington Post, Internet, 12/18/03; Carla Florin, Psychology Today, Internet, 12/9/03; Rosie Dimanno, Toronto Star, Internet, 12/5/03; Matthew Barakat, AP, Internet, 12/5/03; Angie Cannon, U.S. News and World Report, Internet, 11/17/03; James Dao, New York Times, Internet 11/8/03)
Nation of Islam “Brainwashing” Michael Jordan A senior employee of pop star Michael Jackson says that the Nation of Islam is taking over his affairs, keeping him ―semi-captive‖ . . . and are in full and total charge‖ in the wake of Jackson‘s legal troubles, and ―basically brainwashing‖ him. The Chicago-based group says it has not taken over Jackson‘s affairs or taken a central role in his defense. (Margaret Neighbor, The Scotsman, 12/31/03)
NXIVM/Executive Success Programs Critical Website Can Continue An Internet site containing material that accuses the Colonie, NY-based NXIVM human potential program (known as ESP for its Executive Success Programs) of being a cult can remain online, a U.S. District Judge in Albany has ruled. NXIVM argued that the Ross Institute, which provides information on cultic groups, was causing it irreparable damage. NXIUM claims the Internet postings cost it $10,000 per day in revenue and cancellation of a speaking engagement by actress Goldie Hawn.
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Their suit seeks to stop the website‘s commentary on ESP and $9.7 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Ross‘s defense is based on constitutional free speech guarantees. (Dennis Yusko, Times Union, Internet, 9/9/03)
One Love Family Nigerian Group in Britain The Lagos, Nigeria-based One Love Family of Satguru Maharajji, a 55-year-old Nigerian who has adopted the look of an Indian holy man, is being investigated after a follower said the group practices child sacrifice. Joyce Osagiede, who says that she and her husband had established British branches of the group, contends the headless torso found recently in the Thames was one such victim, and that her husband has committed a number of ―black magic killings of followers‘ children. She has since denied the black magic charges, saying she made them up to gain asylum in Britain. Sam Osagiede is now in a Dubin jail contesting extradition to Germany on charges of ―human trafficking.‖ A former devotee says that Maharajji, acquitted in 2000 of murdering a Ghanaian who had accused him of holding his sister against her will, said five people have died in One Love Family initiation rites. Generally, he said, the heart, liver, and kidneys are removed from the dead and made into a drink taken during initiations. Ritual killings to ensure good fortune are said to be common in parts of Nigeria, and the body found in the river is allegedly the product of the human traffickers‘ wish for luck in their endeavors. An Elder from Benin City, Nigeria, the One Love Family headquarters, said: ―Ritual killings have nothing to do with our religion or beliefs. They are about greed and power.‖ (The Telegraph, London, Internet, 8/31/03)
Pana Wave Laboratory Raid Over Beating Death; Tax Investigation Police raided the Pana Wave Laboratory headquarters in Fukui, Japan, after finding bruises on the back of a recently deceased member. They suspect that Satoshi Chigusa, 40, an assistant professor of education at Fukuoka University, died during a group ritual that involves beating one another with sticks in order to protect leader Yuko Chino, and themselves, from electromagnetic waves. (Kyodo News in Japan Today, Internet, 8/10/03) Police have asked the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau to investigate the suspicion that Pana Wave has failed to report income from member donations to an affiliate. (Yomiuri Shimbun, Internet, 8/12/03)
Polygamy Convicted for Sex with Underage Wife Rodney Holm, a police officer in the bordering polygamous towns of Holldale, UT and Colorado City, AZ, has been convicted of having sex with then 16-year-old ―spiritual wife‖ Ruth Stubbs, and now faces a potentially long prison term. Holm has 21 children with three wives. Most of the people in the two communities he serves are members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Debbie Hummel, AP, Internet, 8/15/03) States Plan "Justice Courts" for Polygamous Towns Arizona and Utah, as part of a campaign against abuses in polygamous communities, plan to set up a justice court where sheriff‘s officers from both states would hear complaints of welfare fraud, forced marriages, and child and sexual abuse. The anti-polygamy
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organization Tapestry Against Polygamy believes, however, that the planned Colorado City, AZ, facility is located where residents will not be able to access it anonymously. Tapestry lawyer Douglas White says, moreover, that polygamist law enforcement officers in both Arizona City and the adjacent town of Hilldale, UT, should be fired. ―People don‘t think of them as law enforcement. They think of them as bodyguards for the prophet‖ [of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.] (AP in Casper Star Tribune, Internet, 9/15/03) Women Say Polygamy Can Be Good Polygamous Utah women recently gave the attorneys-general of Arizona and Utah a tour of Centennial Park, AZ, schools and a Power Point presentation to suggest that group marriages can be good for both the wives and the children and do not necessarily involve child brides and child abuse. The tour was in response to a recent meeting of law enforcement authorities from both states that discussed how to prevent child abuse and welfare fraud among certain polygamous communities. Polygamy proponent Mary Batchelor said Centennial Park residents need a ―social safety net,‖ or somewhere they can go for services without additional scrutiny, which they suffer now because they practice polygamy. She said the government ought to prosecute abuse rather than question plural marriage. Batchelor says Centennial Park residents want polygamy decriminalized. (AP in Casper Star Tribune, Internet, 9/27/03) Polygamous Policeman Loses Certification The Peace Officer Standards and Training Council of Utah has revoked the certification of former Hildale, UT policeman Rodney Holm, recently convicted of bigamy and unlawful sex with a minor. Promising to revoke the certification of other polygamous officers, the Council said police, especially in Hildale and the neighboring town of Colorado City, AZ, were hampering investigations into underage marriages. Most of the two towns‘ residents are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (AP in Rocky Mountain News, Internet, 10/18/03)
Prophet Hut Sect Members Removed Police in November took into custody 300 members of the Prophet Hut, a Pentecostal Christian sect, who were crammed into a house in West Java waiting for the end of the world. Authorities also detained Hut followers in Bandung, East Nusa, and Papua. Police have held Hut leader Rev. Magapin Sibuea since late October on the charge that he might disrupt the Christian community (Reuters, Internet, 11/10/03; Jakarta Post, 11/12/03) Some 164 of those taken into custody are undergoing ―psychological therapy‖ at a Bandung mental health institute. A Christian social worker said: ―Some of them are suffering from deep depression because their belief that doomsday would occur on November 10 was disproved.‖ (Antara Indonesian News Agency, Internet, 11/17/03)
Rebirthing Therapy Supporters Upset Supporters of Rebirthing, which has been implicated in several deaths in the U.S., are upset about a North Carolina law banning the controversial therapy that was set to take effect on Dec. 1. Rebirthing therapist Raymond Knight says the techniques used in a Colorado case that led to the death of a Rebirthing patient there were not ―legitimate.‖ ―We
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use a number of techniques,‖ he said, ―but no physicality [sic] whatsoever [as in the Colorado case].‖ (WRAL TV (NC), 12/1/03)
Satanism Trial for Ritual Murder of Boys A trial has begun in Belém, Brazil, of five members of a satanic sect accused of sexually mutilating and murdering young boys in the Amazon town of Altimara more than a decade ago. One of the defendants is Valentina Andrade, ―clairvoyant‖ leader of an ―occult‖ ―pagan‖ sect in Argentina, and two are doctors. The 19 victims were all poor boys between the ages of eight and fourteen; six were found dead with their sexual organs removed, allegedly for use in ―black magic‖ rites. (Jan Rocha, BBC, 8/27/03)
Scientology Appeal Denial of Tax Exempt Status Scientology in St. Louis is appealing a decision by St. Louis County to deny tax-exempt status to the group‘s Delmar Boulevard property. The county Board of Equalization has ruled that the former Anchor Masonic Temple is not ―regularly used exclusively for religious . . . (or) charitable‖ purposes as required by law. (Deb Peterson, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Internet, 6/30/03) Manipulating the Web It was discovered last year that Scientology had created a mass of websites known as ―link farms,‖ many consisting of nothing but links and duplicated data, in an attempt to ensure that its website, Scientology.org, scored as the top website on Google. This use of the Google Page Rank system ―has long been a target for abuse by devious webmasters desperate for a high listing on Google.‖ Scientology sites are actually outnumbered on the web by sites critical of the ―cult,‖ which led Scientology to threaten Google with legal action if it did not remove links to one of the more prominent anti-Scientology sites. Scientology critics and ―conspiracy theorists‖ note that the Open Directory Project, a major feeder of new links to search engines, readily accepts pro-Scientology URLs but ignores or delays the addition of links critical of the church. (Graham Hammond, Sunday Herald and Weekly Times, Australia, Internet, 6/29/03) Beware of Getting Too Close to Scientology Scientology should not be shocked that its recent survey of 300 shoppers at a St. Petersburg mall indicated that four out of five queried had negative opinions of the church, using words like ―cult,‖ ―scam,‖ ―strange,‖ and ―brainwashing‖ to characterize it. Indeed, Pinellas County residents are well informed about Scientology. They remember the years of ―shenanigans‖ that preceded the current public relations campaign and increasing involvement in Clearwater economic development and politics. ―Clearwater officials would do well to review the results of the Scientology survey and consider whether an informed and wary public would be comfortable seeing them hold hands with the Church of Scientology.‖ (Editorial, St. Petersburg Times, Internet, 6/9/03) Agreement on Proselytizing Responding to public complaints and a request from civic leaders, Scientology has agreed not to flood Ybor City (Tampa, FL) streets with recruiters. Members of the public have also complained about the intensity of Scientology proselytizing on the eve of the grand opening Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 107
of its ―Life Improvement Center‖ in the neighborhood. And some local business owners complain that Scientologists have followed customers into their shops. ―I don‘t care if it‘s Church of Scientologists [sic] or census takers,‖ said Ybor civic leader Vince Pardo. ―If you have too many people approaching people for questionnaires or money or religious conversion it becomes harassment.‖ Scientology says that it wants to be sensitive to neighborhood concerns without limiting its own rights. (Corey Shouten, St. Petersburg Times, Internet, 6/7/03) Lawyer Pays only $4,500 of $2 Million Claim A Pinellas County (FL) jury has ordered attorney Ken Dandar to pay $4,500 to Scientology, which sued him for more than $2 million saying he turned a ―garden variety‖ wrongful death suit against them into ―a frontal attack on an entire religion.‖ The amount Scientology wanted was an estimate of what Dandar‘s clients paid to pursue the wrongful death suit. Dandar brought the lawsuit on behalf of family and friends of Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist who died in 1995 after 17 days of care at Scientology offices in Clearwater. Scientology said that Dandar‘s attempt to add as defendants top Scientology officials led to bad publicity that devastated Scientology and violated an agreement not to add defendants. Dandar said the Scientology suit was an attempt to ruin him and suppress the wrongful death suit. A trial date for the latter case is likely to be announced next month. (Robert Farley, St. Petersburg Times, 8/20/03; AP, Internet, 8/21/03) Girl Denied Right to Attend Course A French judge in Nantes, following an appeal from the child‘s aunt and grandmother, has banned 14-year-old Marion Chauchreau from going to Denmark to enroll at a Scientology school in Copenhagen. The girl‘s mother is a longtime Scientologist, her brother teaches at a Scientology school, and she herself grew up in Scientology. Social service agencies, in light of the court order, are investigating Marion‘s social, psychological, and psychiatric situation as a prelude to judging the potential for harm that entering the Copenhagen school might entail. In 2001, France passed a law envisioning the banning of groups whose leaders are convicted of crimes like the manipulation of minors. (Copenhagen Post, Internet, 8/8/03) Safe Harbor Called Scientology Front Safe Harbor, a Scientology organization recently founded in Hamburg and aiming to recruit doctors, nutritional scientists and environmental physicians, is a Scientology front ―to infiltrate new social groups [according to the author of this report] and to spread the crazy ideas of Ron Hubbard, the sect‘s founder.‖ Says Rüdiger Hintze, of the Working Group on Scientology of the state‘s Department for Domestic Affairs: ―We can see here what cunning methods Scientology now uses to tie people to the organization and to spread Hubbard‘s ideology.‖ Melanie Hoff, who recently returned from London, where she studied nutritional therapy for psychiatric problems — Scientology adamantly opposes mainline psychiatry and drug therapy — tells how she was courted by Safe Harbor and then presented a professional paper on the subject to a Safe Harbor meeting. But, ―I soon thought the people and what they were saying were pretty strange, and so I did some research on the Internet.‖ She realized that she had unwittingly become a pawn of the Scientologists. (Olaf Wunder, Hamburger Morgenpost, Internet, 8/2/03)
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Seventh Day Adventist Suit against Pastoral Counselor Dismissed Jerry Rose‘s suit against former Issaquah Seventh-day Adventist church pastor Terry Campbell, accusing him of destroying the Rose family, has been dismissed by a judge in King County, WA. Rose alleged that Campbell‘s spiritual counseling of a group of women, including Rose‘s wife and daughter, led to an attempt on Rose‘s own life and the murder of the daughter. Mrs. Campbell pleaded guilty to murder conspiracy and was released this summer, early, from a five-year prison term. Rose said Campbell implanted false memories of satanic ritual abuse in his mentally fragile wife and other women, and turned Rose‘s wife against him. Members of the counseling group say Campbell knew of the murder plot and even stored for one of the conspirators, Rose‘s daughter, a box of drugs she did not want police to find after the planned murder. Campbell admitted he has no formal psychology training, and Seventh-day Adventist officials defended his practices as constitutionally protected religious belief. They say the denomination believes all illness is a by-product of sin and caused by Satan, and that the ministry to deal with the problem is not limited to psychologists and psychiatrists. ―I find it outrageous,‖ said Rose‘s attorney, Susan Johnson, ―that the court has found there are no consequences for the church or the pastor. The church trained Campbell in questionable and manipulative counseling methods, put him in a position of power and allowed him to counsel vulnerable people, and moved him from church to church every time complaints arose that he was overly involved in counseling.‖ Superior Court Judge Terry Lukens said state law does not allow damages for a spouse injured by a counselor. Attorney Johnson argued that Campbell also counseled Rose at one point, and ignored his duty not to harm persons whom he counsels. Mrs. Rose has not commented substantively on the matter since her release from prison, but told the press: ―I have fears about people you don‘t understand. If I could stop Terry Campbell, I would. But I can‘t.‖ (Noel S. Brady, King County Journal, Internet, 10/11/03)
Social Therapy/All Stars Project Call for Bank to Cease Involvement The co-chairman of the ―Save the Independence Party Voter Coalition‖ of New York City has called on the Wachovia Bank to drop an $8.5 million bond issue for the non-profit All Stars Project, Inc. Mike Niebauer says that the leaders of the theater program for inner-city youth, Lenora Fulani and Fred Newman, practice ―social therapy,‖ which New Jersey expert Rick Ross calls cult-like. Ross says that social therapy — which encourages political activism to cure depression and other problems — has ―devastated‖ some former members who ―compare it to brainwashing. They lost their ability to think independently.‖ The Anti-Defamation League lists anti-Semitic remarks made by Fulani and Newman and expresses concern about companies that deal with the All Stars Project. (Rick Rothacker, Charlotte Observer, Internet, 5/26/03)
Solar Temple Claim Murder and Not Suicide Relatives of Solar Temple supposed suicide victim Alain Vuarnet, who died with fellow members in the French Alps in 1995, claim that tests on Vuarnet and his mother‘s exhumed bodies suggest incendiary chemicals were used, which would in turn suggest they might
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have died from some ―outside intervention.‖ (BBC monitoring French Europe Radio 1, Internet, 9/19/03)
Strategic Management Works Wealth Guru Said to Manipulate Students Anglican priest Dave Smith, who wanted to learn how to manage a church fund, says a Strategic Management Works (SMW) week-long residential financial security program he attended near Sydney, Australia, included five days‘ food and sleep deprivation and manipulation to reduce the emotional defenses of the attendees, who each paid $5,500 for the course. Some former students say they have gained from the ―Born Rich‖ experience; others say they have suffered emotionally. Father Smith described how course facilitators urged students to cheer the entrance of SMW head Roy McDonald — addressed as ―the government‖ and the only one allowed to wear shoes — who has built a group of 24 companies with a $30 million annual turnover. Graduates of the Born Rich course go on to become accountants, property developers, real estate agents, and financial planners in SMW companies. A former SMW manager who left because he was concerned about the charismatic McDonald‘s methods says: ―Roy would break people down and then show them a way out. If he made someone cry he would come racing out of his office announcing: ‗I got through.‘ ‖ McDonald says his method is an amalgam of influences from self-help gurus Tony Robbins and Robert Kiyosaki, and confrontational self-awareness organizations such as Landmark and Insight. He also says SMW is not a cult. Critics believe McDonald‘s psychological techniques should not be used in public, uncontrolled, without counselors present. Father Smith reports pressure on participants to conform or risk group ridicule or getting soaked by McDonald‘s water gun. Some, he said, broke down in tears or screamed. Former Avondale College psychology professor Lyn [sic] Gow tells how McDonald destabilized her, made her dependent, and then got $47,000 in course fees in less than a year from her family. She became disillusioned after mortgaging her home, losing her stock shares, and experiencing the deterioration of her family‘s health and relationships. Paul (who would not give his last name) says that the Born Rich course made him and his wife a half-million dollars in property trading profits and ―changed our lives.‖ Many graduates pay $400 to join McDonald‘s ―SSS‖ and receive commissions for recruiting new members. (John Garnaut, Sidney Morning Herald, Internet, 9/13/03)
Superior Universal Alignment Leader Acquitted of Ritual Murder Valentini Adrade, the 72-year-old leader of a satanic cult in Belém, northern Brazil, has been acquitted in connection with the ritual murder and sexual mutilation of several young boys. Four of her followers were earlier convicted of the crimes, committed in the western Amazon region of Altamira. She was accused of ordering the murders in connection with a ―black-magic‖ ritual. (AP in Canoe, Internet, 12/5/03)
Tekely (Alan Tekely) Breathing Without the Stomach Four members of a religious group, including reported leader Alan Tekely, have been charged in the death of Antoni Rolfi. They allegedly handcuffed him and beat him to death after Rolfi returned home the night before naked and incoherent and threatened the other ―family‖ members with a spear gun. Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 110
Gunter Horvatch, one of the accused, said Tekely twisted the skin on Rolfi‘s stomach — he died of abdominal injuries — in order to teach members how to breathe through their lungs without using their stomachs. ―Being in that family, you had to give 100 percent of yourself,‖ said Horvatch. ―You didn‘t go against the group.‖ He reported that members were rarely allowed to watch TV or visit family and friends. They pooled their money, finances were tightly controlled, and they smoked cannabis together. (Lisa Miller, Daily Telegraph, Australia, Internet, 10/23/03)
Theophostic Ministries Accused of Creating False Memories Critics claim that therapy employed by Theophostic Ministries, of Campbellsville, KY, can lead to the creation of false memories, which sometimes lead to false allegations of abuse. Ed Smith, head of the $2 million ―business‖ that sells books and videos on his ideas and methods worldwide, teaches that within memories of past traumatic events are lies embedded by Satan that cause emotional stress. Theophostic facilitators, who train in Kentucky, help subjects recall the memory and allow God to reveal the lie. The result reduces stress. Dr. Paul Simpson, of Tucson, AZ, an accredited Christian family counselor and author of ―Second Thoughts: Understanding the False Memory Crisis and How It Could Affect You‖ calls the Theophostic approach ―pretty dangerous stuff.‖ He says that it is a ―dressed up version of recovered memory therapy,‖ which has been ―completely debunked.‖ [False memory accusations have led to many court cases and family schisms in the past two decades.] (Jan Fletcher, Central Kentucky News Journal, Internet, 7/02/03)
Tvind “Sinister Cult” Recruiting in England The Danish-based Tvind organization, which sends volunteers to do charity work in developing countries, is recruiting in England. Many former volunteers, usually young people often taking a year off between secondary school and college, say that Tvind tries to ―brainwash‖ recruits into working for nothing. A former volunteer, recruited through a newspaper ad, reports that training at a special Tvind facility allowed him no free time in the outside world and involved daily fundraising and lectures from tutors. His humanitarian work in Malawi consisted of packing [used] clothing [collected by Tvind in Europe] for sale to market traders. Tvind is currently being investigated in Denmark, and leader Amdi Peterson, extradited from the US, where he had fled, is now on trial for tax evasion. A Tvind spokesman said that she understood parents‘ concern about their children: ―I went as a volunteer to Mozambique myself when I was 21 years old and I can assure you my parents were not too thrilled.‖ (Evening News 24, Internet, 5/15/03)
United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors Real Estate Scheme Alleged Two members of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors have been accused of creating a phony certified check to purchase two homes in a community north of Stone Mountain, GA. They reportedly want to reestablish a base for the group in middle Georgia. The Nuwaubians until recently lived on a 476-acre compound in rural Putnam County before leader Dwight Malachi York pleaded guilty to 74 counts of child molestation, and other crimes. He now awaits trial because a judge refused to accept, as too lenient, a plea bargain in which York agreed to a 15-year prison term. (AP, Internet, 10/3/03) Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 111
Voodoo Jailed for "Voodoo" Death A 24-year-old woman identified only as ―D.P.‖ has been sentenced to 18 months in jail in Groningen, Netherlands, for assaulting a girl during a Voodoo ritual that killed the 5-yearold. The aim was to exorcise the devil. D.P. is a native of the Netherlands Antilles, where Voodoo is practiced. The girl‘s mother was earlier sentenced to three years in jail after agreeing to submit to psychiatric treatment. (Expatica News, Internet, 11/5/03) ―Voodoo‖ [a term which appears popularly to describe the healing or empowerment practices of many British immigrants of West Indian and African origin] can be malignant. Police suspect that Voodoo practitioners are involved in human sacrifice. Authorities are currently investigating a case arising from the discovery in the Thames of the remains of a young boy. A voodoo priest informant says the child, whose body had been expertly dismembered, is but one of many victims of ―black magic‖ in Britain. (Mail on Sunday, 11/9/03)
Waldorf Schools Protest Waldorf Charter School Some parents in Marin County, CA, are protesting the plans of a small group of fellow parents who want to start a charter school using the Waldorf approach. The critics say the Waldorf system should stay out of the public school system because it is based on religion. Proponents say their charter would only be ―informed by the Waldorf-based method.‖ They add that 13 charter schools like the one they propose have been approved elsewhere in the state. But critics respond that the essentially religious philosophy of Anthroposophy founder Rudolph Steiner is nonetheless brought into those classrooms. (Nancy Isles Nation, Marin Independent Journal, 8/3/03)
Weigh Down Protestors Call It a “Cult” One person among a small group that picketed outside a Weigh Down workshop in Franklin, TN, recently said that people involved with leader Gwen Shamblin ―think she is Mother God,‖ and a mother whose daughter is involved in the church says it is cult-like. Shamblin has appeared on ABC‘s 20/20 speaking about how she teaches people to turn to God rather than food. (News 2 Nashville, 6/25/03)
Werewolves Members Told to Act Like Werewolves A number of parents are complaining about a group with more than 50 members throughout Queensland that has recruited their teenage children and encouraged them to act like werewolves by howling at the moon and eating raw meat. A Brisbane mother said her son was recruited initially on the Internet and then ―a young man kept phoning us, wanting my son to come out, and within three weeks he was part of the group. . . . This fellow started to stalk us at night. He‘d start howling like a werewolf at midnight outside our house, which frightened the other kids. My son left and moved into a house with this fellow and another bloke. They would dress up in costumes like wolves and take my son on a leash to South Bank.‖ Social worker David Ward, who says he tried to help the boy, declared: ―The teenager I spoke to a couple of times, who is living with this group, is just your average adolescent.‖ He added that the boy was just going through ―normal adolescent stuff. They go through an identity crisis, where they wonder who they are, and they‘re vulnerable.‖ Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 112
Ward said that the boy‘s health had deteriorated at one point during his stay with the group, but that he appears to have recovered, although return home. ―The police can‘t do anything about these groups. It‘s breaking the law,‖ said Ward. ‖This mother will have to wait until her senses.‖ (Paul Weston, Sidney Herald Sun News, Internet, 11/9/03)
now seven-month he still refuses to not as if they‘re son comes to his
World Ministries Two Years for Neglecting to Report Death Stanley Bennett and his wife Jill pleaded guilty to criminal nuisance for not reporting the death of fellow World Ministries member James Killeen, a diabetic. While praying for his resurrection, they let his body decompose, which authorities deemed a health risk. The couple was fined $500 each and given four month‘s probation. A former housemate of Killeen‘s said that Jill Bennett is a registered nurse, but that they do not believe in medicine. (A. J. Flick, Tucson Citizen, Internet, 9/9/03)
Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools Owner Arrested American Marvin Litchfield, who owns the behavior modification Academy at Dundee, in rural Costa Rica, has been jailed there while a judge investigates allegations that the school holds children against their will and physically abuses them. A girl who fled with the help of the American embassy said she was asked to sign a contract asserting that nothing at the Academy should change, ―or we would be sent to Jamaica,‖ the site of another school affiliated with the WorldWide Association of Speciality [sic] Programs and Schools (Wwasps). Some parents support the program despite the charges but others are anxious to bring their children home. (Tim Weiner, New York Times, Internet, 5/24/03)
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