The Cult Observer is published ten times each year by the American Family Foundation, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959. (212) 249-7693. Subscriptions. Contributors of $30 or more to AFF (Canada: $35; other: $42 – in U.S. dollars only) will receive The Cult Observer, Young People and Cults, and the AFF Annual Report for one year. AFF is a research and educational orga-nization founded in 1979 to assist cult victims and their families through the study of cultic groups and unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control. AFF shares its findings with professionals, the general public, and those needing help with cultic involvements. AFF's staff works with more than one hundred professionals volunteering their time to AFF's Research Advisory Commit-tee, professional education and other com-mittees, and special research and writing projects. AFF volunteer professionals include educators, psychiatrists, psycholo-gists, social workers, sociologists, attorneys, clergy, business executives, journalists, law enforcement officials, college and university administrators, scientists, and others. AFF is supported solely by tax-deductible contributions. THE CULT OBSERVER Vol. 11 No. 4 1994 ISSN 0892-340X Editor R.E. Schecter Editorial Board Lois Bell Michael Kropveld Eugene H. Methvin Herbert L. Rosedale, Esq. Marcia R. Rudin Forwarding Address Requested American Family Foundation P.O. Box 2265 Bonita Springs, FL 33959 Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 69 Bonita Springs, FL 33959 American Family Foundation News American Family Foundation committee members, and others who are vital to AFF's research, information, and education functions, will learn of one another's recent activities in this column. Of course, much more work occurs than is reported to us. We'll try to relate the news in the order we receive it. A M E R I C A N F A M I L Y F O U N D A T I O N A Review of Press Reports on Cultism and Unethical Social Influence New Books from AFF Associates Continued on the page 8 Cult Education Lesson Plan for Schools Too Good to be True: Resisting Cults and Psychological Manipulation, a new lesson plan about cults, psychological manipulation, and occult rituals for use in middle schools, high schools, churches, and synagogues is now available for purchase from the International Cult Education Program (ICEP). Too Good to be True, designed for three to five class sessions, is an effective way to teach middle and high school students about cults and the pressure and manipulation recruiters use to get people to join groups and stay in them, how to recognize mind control and psychological manipulation, and how to develop critical-thinking skills in order to resist them. It consists of the following components available in different combinations and priced according to the option chosen: 1) a 30-page student text; 2) an 11-page teacher's guide; 3) Cults & Mind Control, a 6-page handout for students; 4) Cults: Questions & Answers, a 13-page pamphlet; 5) “Cults: Saying No Under Pressure,” a 29-minute videotape developed by ICEP and the National Association of Secondary School Principals' InService Video Network and narrated by Charlton Heston. Sales Options and Prices Option 1 — one student text, one teacher's guide, one copy Cults & Mind Control: $16.00, $4.00 postage and handling ($6.00 postage and handling for Canadian and overseas orders) Total: $20.00 ($22 for Canadian and overseas orders) Option 2 — one student text, one teacher's guide, one copy Cults & Mind Control, one copy Cults: Questions & Answers: $18.00, $4.00 postage and handling ($6.00 postage and handling for Canadian and overseas orders) Total: $22.00 ($24 for Canadian and overseas orders) Option 3 — one student text, one teacher's guide, one copy Cults & Mind Control, one copy “Cults: Saying No Under Pressure:” $71.00 ($4.00 postage and handling ($6.00 postage and handling for Canadian and overseas orders) Total: $75.00 ($77 for Canadian and overseas orders) Option 4 — one student text, one teacher's guide, one copy Cults & Mind Control, one copy Cults: Questions and Answers, one copy “Cults: Saying No Under Pressure:” $73.00 ($4.00 postage and handling ($6.00 postage and handling for Canadian and overseas orders) Total: $77.00 ($79 for Canadian and overseas orders) American Family Foundation financial supporters may subtract $2.00 from the price of each option. Additional copies of the materials may be purchased. For further information or to obtain an order form, contact International Cult Education Program, P.O. Box 1232, Gracie Station, New York, NY10028, 212-439-1550. “Tvind” — Cultism in Scandanavia Continued on the next page RECOVERY FROM CULTS Help for Victims of Psychological and Physical Abuse A 432-page hardcover book published by W. W. Norton and Company, edited by Michael D. Langone, Ph.D., including contributions from 23 experts in the field from a wide variety of professional perspectives. This landmark volume is for ex-members, their families, and helping professionals. Preface by: Margaret Thaler Singer, Ph. D. Section I: Mind Control A Little Carrot and a Lot of Stick; Reflections on Brainwashing; Understanding Mind Control Section II: Leaving Cults A Personal Account: Eastern Meditation Group; A Personal Account: Bible-based Group; Post-Cult Problems: An Exit Counselor's Perspective; The Importance of Information in Preparing for Exit Counseling Section III: Facilitating Recovery Post-cult Recovery: Assessment and Rehabilitation; Guidelines for Therapists; Guidelines for Clergy; Guidelines for Psychiatric Hospitalization of Ex-cultists; Guidelines for Support Groups; Guidelines for Families; Guidelines for Ex-members Section IV: Special Issues Children and Cults; Ritualistic Abuse of Children in Day-Care Centers; Teen Satansim; Legal Considerations: Regaining Independence and Initiative Order/Contribution Form Please send me ____ copies of Recovery From Cults @ $40 each, including postage and handling ($42 North America; $50 Europe; $55 other countries). Enclosed is my check (U.S. funds only) for $_________ (including extra donation of $________ payable to the American Family Foundation, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959 (212-249-7693) Name __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________________________________________________ City ______________________________ State _____ Zip/Country _____________________ Phone ___________________ Law, continued on page 6 Maxine Pinson, publisher/editor of the Savannah (Georgia) Parent newspaper, identified “cults” with Manson and Jonestown, until her ten-year-old daughter made a new friend at a Christian summer camp in 1985. Uncomfortable with what she heard about the new friend's lifestyle, Ms. Pinson would not allow a proposed visit to the girl's home. Her apprehension was later confirmed when she learned that the camp friend's mother worked for a group which a number of former members described to AFF as “manipula-tive” and “abusive.” A few years later, Ms. Pin-son's daughter became a staff writer for a teen newspaper in Atlanta and decided to write an article on cultic groups. Wanting to help, Ms. Pinson got in touch with the Cult Awareness Network for information; both mother and daughter were intrigued by what they read. However, Ms. Pinson's fascination developed into concern as she began noting distinct similarities between destructive, cultic groups and their leadership and what she felt was an aberrant situation in her home church, which was under the leadership of a new pastor. After reading Unholy Devotion: Why Cults Lure Christians, by AFF associate Harold Bussell, she shared her concerns with him and he suggested that she call AFF for more information and help. Since 1989, Ms. Pinson has provided cult education to her community, including editorial contributions to her publication by AFF colleagues Michael Langone, Paul Martin, and Ronald Enroth. As a result of expos‚s in the newspaper, she was verbally assaulted during a question and answer session at a cult-education presentation her magazine co-sponsored earlier this year, and she has received angry messages concerning cult-related articles. Ms. Pinson now lives in Beaufort, SC and is in the process of retiring from Savannah Parent. During the next year she will be writing a book relating how the course of her life was forever altered by her exposure to a spiritually abusive situation, and how she went about rebuilding her crumbled world. She is being assisted by a pastor who was also painfully affected by the same fast-growing denomi-nation whose authoritarian and legalistic methods are still promoted at her former church. Ms. Pinson is also preparing a booklet of the various cult-related articleswhich first appeared in her publication and continuing her work as an AFF associate. Germany Scientologists Fined for Hate Literature Three Scientologists were fined 5400DM [over $2,000] by the Hamburg Town Council in January for slander in connection with the printing and distribution of literature that compared Scientology critics to Nazi stormtroopers, and Scientology suffering at the hands of its critics to the situation of Jews under the Third Reich. One booklet, “The Merchant of Hamburg,” said that members of the Social Democratic Party [a major German political party] had, through attacks on Scientology, stooped to the level of the old Nazi Party; another pamphlet had a caricature of critic Heinrich Westphal, a theologian, as a stormtrooper, with the title, “Their God is their Money.” In the pamphlet “Hate and Propaganda,” there were numerous examples of anti-Semitic hate articles from the Nazi propaganda newspaper Die Sturmer [The Stormtrooper] positioned near articles from recent German newspapers critical of Scientology practices. One of the accused said he simply wanted to make sure his religion was recognized in Germany, but Judge Lutz von Selle called the Scientology comparisons “the height of hypocrisy.” SPD parliamen-tarian Ursula Caberta—whom the Scientology publications accused of waging a campaign against them—reportedly met with Hamburg officials after the trial about researching Scientology's political and business activities. (From “Editor of Scientology Publications Found Guilty of Libel,” Neumunster/Holsteinischer Courier, 1/14/94; “Sciento-logists Sentenced for Insults,” Hamburger Abendblatt, 1/14/94; “Editor of Scientology Writings Convicted of Insults,” Bergedorfer Zeitung [Hamburg-Bergedorf], 1/14/94, 2/12/94) Hubbard “Tech” From Germany to Albania Scientology is undertaking a major move into Albania through German industrialist Gerhard Haag Ende, a Scientologist, who plans a fully stocked merchandising center to be managed through “Scientology Technology,” according to Michael Linkersdorfer in IG-Metallzeitung (No. 23, 11/12/93). As revealed in an Albanian TV program, Ende and his Scientology associates promise to lead the country to prosperity using the “management technology” developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. They said they had the cooperation of relevant Albanian government ministries. A report on the “project” by a Bavarian TV magazine late last year stimulated visits by other reporters who found in the Tirana library piles of Hubbard books but almost no other Western ones. Ende had also organized Scientology courses at the University, for students, professors, and civil servants, and sent two Albanians to England for 3 months' training, “doubtless to St. Hill Manor, the Scientology center.” The German embassy considered Ende—who has friends and colleagues in the German Parliament—a serious investor in Albania's future, and welcomed him. His plans include economic development projects—newspapers, agriculture, tourism, banking, and more—in the Western Balkans. Ende's own German-based industrial growth—purportedly using Scientology practices — ran into problems late last year, even while working on the Albanian project, during his negotiations to buy a former East German company from the Krupp conglomerate. A business consultant revealed at a press conference the nature of Ende's Scientology-based business practices, such as the keeping of “ethics files” on employees (these include details of intimate personal as well as professional lives). The story was covered widely in the press and the sale was annulled by the bankers involved. (“From Clean Sweep in Albania: Will Albania Become the First Scientologist State?” Bulles, No. 41, 1994) France Commission Notes Cults The December, 1993 report of the French National Consultative Commission on the Rights of Man, while holding that it would be wrong to pass special laws to protect the public from damaging activities of certain religious groups, appealed to magistrates to pay attention to extant laws for the “protection of persons who are particularly vulnerable, especially minors.” The Commission's report also called for the vigorous application of all financial and labor laws concerning non-profit associ-ations and cultural associations, and that such organizations be overseen and prevented from such things as the illegal practice of medicine, fraud, and threats of personal harm. The commission also proposed a number of informational and educational measures to help achieve its recommendations. (From “The Sect/Cult Phenomenon Examined by the National Consultative Commission on the Rights of Man,” Bulles, No. 41, 1994. Bulles is the publication of ADFI, the main French language grass-roots cult monitoring and education organization.) Considering Lifton The first quarter, 1994 issue of Bulles (No. 41) carries a very long review of the major points made by Dr. Robert J. Lifton in his “classic” Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism, a book about Chinese thought reform as practiced in the Korean War era, a book which has become an important reference work for students and victims of psychological manipulation and control used by contemporary cults. The Bulles writer says critics of cults, as well as cult leaders, “should be required to read Lifton. Critics would discover similarities between the characteristics described and the practices of cults, and leaders could prove there was no relationship. We will leave it to our readers to decide if they find in diverse 'cults' or 'totalitarian organizations' whether their facade be religious or other — methods and practices such as described in Lifton's book.” NPR One-sided on Moon Movement The following letter was sent by Herbert L. Rosedale, president of the American Family Foundation (publisher of The Cult Observer), in response to a January 15, 1994 story on National Public Radio's “Weekend Edition Saturday.” Some of Mr. Rosedale's remarks were read during a subsequent edition of Weekend Edition Saturday. I am the president of The American Family Foundation, a nationwide organization in which more than 100 professionals (doctors, lawyers, theologians and educators) donate their time to educating the public about the dangers of destructive cults. One of the most significant difficulties we face in our task is rebutting “after the fact” one-sided presentations that deal with a very significant social concern in an incomplete and un-objective manner. In the program presented on Weekend Edition . . . Scott Simon presented a view of the Unification Church as if there were no objective negative knowledge developed with respect to this group in the past twenty years. It wholly ignored the findings of Congressman Frazier's report [1979] as a beginning point. It ignored numerous court decisions which have nothing to do with the belief structure of the Unification Church but rather deal with its “heavenly” deception of state authorities such as a Board of Regents [in the State of New York] and various zoning boards. Commentary concerning the criminal prosecution and sentencing of Mr. Moon and another senior Unification official ignored the court finding (upheld on appeal) that there were forgeries and alteration of documents which more than justified the punishment meted out. Responsible and balanced recent analyses of the Unification Church and its activities have appeared on public television and on a number of networks in Japan. Those programs did not deal with the beliefs of Unification members. They did, however, address significant claims of wrongdoing levelled against it and its affiliates. Professionals who have developed expertise in treating those injured as a result of their experience with the Unification Church are readily available and someone seeking them out could have obtained their input to balance the views of Unification Church members and supporters, who often find their support buttressed by financial reward. I find it surprising that the show chose to reach out to an “expert” who recently had her government support terminated because, I am told, of unhappiness with an alleged lack of responsiveness to victims of destructive cults and their families. The influence of the Unification Church in the media had been well-documented. Resignation of certain editorial personnel at The Washington Times who claim they were subjected to improper control is a matter of public record. The Unification Church's recent foray into television and its affiliate's purchase of control over the University of Bridgeport have likewise been the subject of critical examination. The American Family Foundation does not assert that no person can find a reason for joining a group like the Unification Church or for staying in that group and making a long-term commitment to it. A fully-informed decision to choose a way of life is entitled to respect, but one must continue to wonder why it is that so many of the people who choose to leave this group cite deception in their recruitment, coercion in their retention, and the attempted destruction of their family values and moral integrity. Surely, that is an issue warranting equal concern with examination of those who have remained committed to a totalistic group for the better portion of their lives. The presentation given [on NPR] did not treat the participants as true believers, but rather as unfairly persecuted members of a weak minority religion. Criticism of the Unification Church by groups characterizing it as a destructive cult does not involve its eastern origin or its beliefs. Rather, criticism has focused upon its use of deception in recruitment and its totalistic view, as well as injury it has caused to persons who become involved in it without their informed consent. As the president of an organization devoted to educating the public, I would appreciate your considering an appropriate program to supplement the views set forth on the Weekend Edition of January 15. You might consider, in that connection, using the book Recovery From Cults, published by W. W. Norton Company and edited by the Executive Director of The American Family Foundation [Michael D. Langone]. The book is an alternate selection of the Behavioral Science Book Club and presents a series of professional papers articulating a view wholly different from that presented on your program. It deals with an issue of national public concern that cannot and should not be buried under the well-financed propaganda cloak of an organization skilled at media manipulation. Give me three or four more lines if you can. Thanks. Bob Cynthia Lilley (B.A., American University) is a welcome addition to AFF's advisory board, not least because of her passionate concern for families that have suffered as hers has done. A nationwide audience of the “Today” show received a stunning lesson on November 8, 1993 when Ms. Lilley was shown in company with family members and an NBC crew, laying siege to Unification Church headquarters,demanding access to her daughter. Eighteen-year-old Cath-ryn had completed a year at college and was beginning a summer job in New York City. Within days, she sent her mother a chilling letter, announcing that she would be traveling around the country with a wonderful group, working with alcoholics and addicts, and unreachable by phone. The address she gave, Ms. Lilley soon learned, was a Moonie post box. She spent the night crying, and decided next day that from that moment, her life's work was to rescue her daughter. Her satisfying career in music education on hold, she was soon immersed in consultation with family, friends, police, lawyers, private eyes, social workers, and counselors who were ex-cultists. She spent days telephoning other Moonies' parents, absorbing everything they could tell. AFF president Herb Rosedale gave her invaluable advice and encouragement, as did Dr. Jolly West (“he was terrific”), and AFF's Washington lawyer, David Bardin (“a great taskmaster”), who kept her busy writing letters. Working “harder than at any time in [her] life,” she left herself little time to despair. It took two months to find Cathryn's address and, faced with a camera crew and an adamant family on their doorstep, the Moonies relented to permit a brief, sad, and inconclusive reunion between mother and daughter. Sixteen-year-old brother Jonathan was not permitted inside, but he called his messages of love and support through the open stairwell. A final shot showed the distraught family walking away into the summer dusk. The November broadcast succeeded where calls and letters had failed: within three days, the U.C. allowed Cathryn to go home for a visit. She said later, “I was so broken down at that point that I thought, I may be rejecting the truth, but I can't go on.” The family's relief was indescribable. Ms. Lilley has seen at close range both the marvels and the inadequacies of cult education and rehabilitation. She is committed to improving both. Moon Welcomed to Ottawa, Blocked in Jerusalem The wife of Unification Church leader The Rev. Sun Myung Moon appeared in the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa in November as the honored speaker in the legislative body's Centre Block. The official guest of Senator Brenda Robertson, Mrs. Moon, head of the UC-sponsored Women's Federation for World Peace, was introduced to the gathering of 300 by former Governor General Ed Schreyer. Schreyer, who said that Mrs. Moon had letters of recommendation from “five or six [provincial] premiers,” added that while he does not believe for a second that The Rev. Moon is the messiah, “They do some good work bringing people together, especially young people. Reminded that the way the Moonies brought young people together as recruits became the source of some international alarm and widespread parental horror, Schreyer says he has “no basis for thinking they (the latter-day Moonies) are anything but average law-abiding citizens.” (From “Phase of Moonies affects the HIll,” by Greg Weston, Ottawa Citizen, 11/29/94) In February, 1994, however, the Jerusalem, Israel, Holiday Inn (formerly the Hilton) hotel, canceled a booking by the Women's Federation for World Peace after receiving protests from Jewish religious groups “about the so-called 'Moonies.' ” Schlomo Grupman, director of the Africa-Israel Company, which owns the hotel, said that they agreed to the cancellation because of the cult's past activities. (Cult Observer Report) Corrections • The correct address for ordering the videotape “Beyond The Mirage” (reviewed in “Au Dela Des Mirages, Cult Observer, Vol. 11, No. 2, page 9) is 4550 rue Garnier, Montr‚al, Qu‚bec, H2J 3S7, Canada. • The title of the book by Gabrielle Lavall‚e (“Women in Cults,” Cult Observer, Vol. 11. No. 2, page 9) is L'Alliance de la Brebis). The book noted in the story, Savage Messiah, is by Paul Kalhai and Ross Laver. Jonestown Memorial Wall Surviving family members of those who died at Jonestown in 1978 plan to erect a granite wall in Oakland, CA, that will list all of the victims. “Those were our family, our friends and neighbors,” said Los Angeles Pastor Jynona Norwood, who lost 27 relatives at Jonestown. Cult Awareness Network president Patricia Ryan, whose father Congressman Leo Ryan was murdered while investigating Jonestown, said at a recent ceremony for some 400 Peoples Temple members buried under a single gravestone in Oakland, “There's a collective American psyche that doesn't want to admit that it happened, let alone that it could happen again.” (From “Jonestown Lives On as a Reminder of Cults' Dangers,” by Richard C. Paddock, Los Angeles Times, 11/19/93, A1, A3) Jim Jones's Sons The lives of three of Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones's sons, Tim, Jim Jr., and Stephan are featured in a long article by Lawrence Wright in the New Yorker magazine of Nov. 22, 1993. Eventually, like most other Jonestown survivors, they found jobs, got married, had children, and led relatively tranquil lives. But last spring that relative tranquility was shattered. Says Chris Hatcher, a psychologist who heads the Center for the Study of Trauma at the University of California, San Francisco, “They [the survivors] are able to put away their feelings about Jonestown and get on with their lives until something like Waco comes along. Waco brought it all back.” In this article, the sons of Jim Jones take readers back to life in the Peoples Temple in a very intimate and revealing way. Scientology Manipulates Media Robert Vaughan Young, former Scientology PR executive for 20 years, tells in great detail how he manipulated the media for “L.Ron Hubbard and his Scientology empire” in “Scientology from inside out,” Quill, November/December 1993, 38-41. Young says, “I studied and had secret directives from Hubbard and others on how to handle reporters, how to deal with police and government agencies, how to create front groups, and how to discredit or destroy a person or a group with Hubbard's 'fair game' doctrine.” He says he also trained other Scientology 'PRs' how to respond to a question without answering, how to divert the issue, how to tell 'an acceptable truth,' how to stall for time, how to assume various emotional states to control another, how to 'attack the attacker,' how to take control of a conversation . . . and how to help Scientology attorneys write inflammatory legal papers so the PR could then safely use the abusive phrases, and how to appear to be a religion.” Colleges Battle BCC Movement Three colleges' student newspapers last November and December carried lengthy stories on branches of the Boston Church of Christ movement's active recruiting on their campuses using typically high pressure on vulnerable individuals and manipulative methods in the attempt to control members' lives. The stories all cited former members and cult watchers relating how the Los Angeles Church of Christ and the Triangle Church of Christ often alienated members from their families and influenced some to drop their studies in favor of working for the church full-time. The stories also quoted current members and leaders about how accusations that the organization is a cult are baseless, and that nobody is brainwashed. Meanwhile, sassy magazine ran an interview with a young woman who became involved in the New York Church of Christ branch of the movement through her parents. One of her chief impressions of the group, from which the family has now broken away, is that it was a very closed society. (From “Church or Cult,” by Juliana Gittler, The Long Beach Union [California State University, Long Beach], 11/29/93, 3, 11; “Groups pose threat to students, speakers warn,” by Jose Inostroz, The Courier [Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA], 12/2/931, 6; “Triangle Church of Christ Takes Heat From Anti-Cult Groups,” by Anna Burdeshaw, The Daily Tarheel [University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill], 12/3/93, 1A, 6A; “They Steal Your Thoughts,” by Mary Ann [sic], sassy, May 1993, 68-69) Cult Ed for Southern College Association “Destructive Cults” was the topic of a seminar given in mid-December last at the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, held in Atlanta. Presenters at the panel, chaired by a dean from the University of North Alabama, were Robert J. Safransky, from the Pinellas County, Florida school system, and Judy M. Safransky, president of the Tampa Bay (Florida) affiliate of the Cult Awareness Network. (Cult Observer Report) The Guru Papers Reviewing The Guru Papers (by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad, North Atlantic Books/Frog Ltd., Berkeley, 1993, Georg Feuerstein writes that the authors “view the guru-disciple relationship as a 'formal structure of extreme authoritarianism' and summarily dismiss it as no longer viable and positively destructive. While I agree with them that the days of unchallengeable gurus are numbered . . . In fact, there are gurus and gurus. Hence the Hindus have coined a special word for gurus who are above reproach: . . . [and] the authors fail to distinguish the kind of self-resignation advocated in extreme cults—and perhaps in most Eastern schools—from genuine forms of self-transcendence. Hence they one-sidedly reject surrender as a childish gesture.” (Yoga Journal, November/December 1993, 82) Pentagon Meditation Club Employees meet weekly in silence during the lunch hour at the Pentagon Meditation Club and participate in 20 minutes of “peace shield meditation.” This involves contacting an experience of deep inner peace, visualizing that feeling being shared by people throughout the world, and envisioning world leaders and adversaries joining together in fellowship. The remainder of the session is spent discussing agenda items and learning about different styles of meditation. A spokesman said no one system of belief is pitched, and they do not proselytize. Special meetings fill the room, as for a visit like one planned for last October for Deepak Chopra [formerly with the Transcendental Meditation organization of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]. (Yoga Journal, November/December 1993, 17) LaRouche Candidates Rejected The Loudoun County (VA) Democratic Committee in December once again ruled a handful of Lyndon LaRouche supporters ineligible for membership because “they have failed to subscribe to the principles of the Democratic Party.” (From “Democrats Bar Door to LaRouche & Co., by Angela Dawson, Loudoun Times-Mirror [Leesburg, VA], 12/8/93, A1, A21) Scientology Alleged Harms Documented “Death, Psychosis, and Scientology” is the title of a recent report from F.A.C.T. Net, Inc. listing the harms caused to numerous individuals as a result of receiving Scientology services. The newsletter also discusses possible “undisclosed dangers in Scientology techniques.” F.A.C.T. Net (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network) is a Golden, Colorado-based non-profit electronic lending library, mail service, and news transfer service dealing with coercive psychological systems. A principle is Lawrence Wollersheim, a former Scientologist who won a court case against Scientology for personal harm it caused him. (Cult Observer Report) Rama's “Cult of the CPU” Wired, an influential monthly magazine on electronic communications, has published a lengthy expos‚ on Frederick Lenz (“Rama”), the New Age guru who recruits bright young college students and recent graduates to make him rich through software industry consulting. The article is highlighted by first-hand accounts of young women who claim to have been sexually abused and insists that recruits shun their families and former associations in favor of full attention to his directives. (“The Code Cult of the CPU Guru,” by Zachary Margulis, Wired, 1/94) Cultic Processes Top Stories of '93 Sexual abuse in churchs and the apocalypse in Waco ran one and two as “The Year's Top Stories” of 1993 in the area of religion, according to The Christian Century, Dec. 22-29, 1993, 1291-93. (Cult Observer Report) “Charisma” Play About Cult “Charisma,” a play about a cult involvement by John Durago, played late last year at the Next Theatre in Evanston, Illinois. An All-American high school boy from a “good middle-class family gets caught up in a West Virginia religious cult and becomes a 'Jesus freak.' ” A major theme is the uncertainty as to whether the parent- initiated deprogramming was the right way to go, or if the son's religious conversion and zealotry ought to have been respected. (From “ 'Charisma' held together by a strong family bond,” by Richard Christiansen, Chicago Tribune, 11/25/93) Scientologists and Psychiatrists The Church of Scientology, an implacable foe of psychiatry, took an unexpected stance toward recently passed legislation in Texas prohibiting psychotherapists from engaging in sex with current or former patients. According to John Bush, executive director of the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians, the Church of Scientology asked for a waiver because the bill would also apply to clergy who do psycho-logical counseling. (From “Scientology Receives Tax Exemption,” Psychiatric Times, 12/93, 11) Circle of Friends Leader on Lam North Carolina suthorities last October began staking out a farm owned by 73-year-old Circle of Friends cult leader George Jurcsek who disappeared after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Alexandria on charges that he and some of his devotees bilked banks, car dealerships, and the government out of more than $200,000 in cash and cars. Jurcsek, nearly blind and confined to a wheelchair, was to have stayed in his apartment in Mahwah, NJ, while on parole for an earlier loan-fraud conviction. (From “Stakeout in place at cult's N.C. farm,” Associated Press, Wilmington [NC] Morning Star, 10/16/93, 3) Waco Kin Sue Government Relatives of 11 Branch Davidians who died in last year's Waco disaster filed a $675 million wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court in Texas in March against 19 federal agents. “Our case is about proving the government was partially responsible for the deaths for the Branch Davidians,” said plaintiffs' attorney Michael Caddell of Houston. “The mistakes by the government were at least in part the cause of the deaths that occurred in Waco.” (From “Cult members' kin file suit,” Associated Press in The Dallas Morning News, 3/23/94, 34A) Neo-Nazis Plead Guilty Two skinheads, described as members of the neo-Nazi Church of the Creator, pleaded guilty on Feb. 10 in U.S. District Court in San Jose to bombing an NAACP headquarters and a gay bar in the state of Washington. According to the FBI, the two popular rap stars, Ice-T and Ice Cube had been specifically selected by the accused as murder targets “with additional indiscriminate racially directed sniper actions to be taken” in an attempt to ignite a race war. The Church of the Creator, of which one of the accused claimed to be a reverend[sic], preaches a race war against Jews and minorities. (From “2 Neo-Nazis Plead Guilty,” by Maria Alicia Gaura, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/11/94) Cult Awareness Network Sues Scientology The Chicago-based Cult Awareness Network (CAN) filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Church of Scientology Internationl, its law firm, its Illinois branch, and eleven members of the church charging that the defendants have brought dozens of unfounded lawsuits against CAN and its affiliates all over the country in an attempt to destroy the grassroots non-profit. CAN said in a February news realease explain-ing the suit that the Scientology litigation has “disrupted CAN's regular activities by making it necessary for CAN to devote a large portion of time and money to defending the lawsuits rather than carrying out its educational programs.” CAN believes that the purpose of the Scientology suits is to bankrupt a major critic. (Cult Observer Report) Wendy Ford, whose book, Recovery from Abusive Groups continues to receive warm praise from many quarters, has recently reported on some of her other cult-related activities. In October, 1993 she delivered a two-part lecture to the adult education forum at the Winchester (MA) Episcopal church. In March of this year she spoke to the seventh-grade youth program at the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Concord (MA), and in April she gave an evening lecture to educational and health care professionals at Leslie College in Cam-bridge. All this while she pursues her own graduate studies in Cambridge. Janja Lalich was mentioned in our previous issue as co-author, with Madeleine Tobias, of the just-published book, Captive Hearts, Captive Minds (Hunter House), which is of course available both through book stores and from CAN and AFF. An article, “Local author's time in cult is impetus for new book,” in The Alameda (CA) Journal in April, summarizes in considerable detail Janja's devastating experience in the political cult which dominated her life for a decade. Her name was changed, she lived a life of “drama, intrigue, and secret codes,” she was “so psychologically dominated . . . that when her father died, she didn't go to his funeral . . . because she couldn't . . . ask for money and time off to go.” When she learned of her mother's terminal illness, she summoned the strength to defy the party and leave to care for her mother. But the party's pull was such that Janja actually moved “that sick little woman [from Milwaukee] to San Francisco.” The rest of the story deserves to be read in full, particularly by those who even now maintain that all cults are religious and therefore exempt from criticism. Dr. Margaret Singer tells us she has decided to retire, but only from one of her myriad professional duties, as Secretary/Treasurer of Family Studies Journal, a parent publication of AFF's own Cultic Studies Journal. She feels that her twenty years in that role was quite sufficient. She has never been busier, however, having traveled about the country on various speaking engagements for several months. In April alone, she spoke on cults at the annual meeting, in San Diego, of the Society for Scientific Study of Sex (she calls them “a jolly bunch”), and at the Association for Death Education Counselors in Portland (OR), where she spoke on children and the elderly in cults in a talk titled “Lessons Learned from Waco, Jonestown, and Cult Affiliation.” She also was one of a White House panel of twelve convened by the National Institutes of Health, called “An NIH Tech-nological Assessment Panel on the Persian Gulf Experience and Health,” attended by epidemiologists, viro-logists, and neurotoxicologists among others to discuss issues now much in the news. Margaret's area was “Psychiatric and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Issues.” Reports on a low incidence of PTSD in Gulf War veterans may show that they have more symptoms of high emotional arousal, in contrast to the experience of Vietnam vets, who suffered from numbing and flashbacks. In early May, Margaret met with the California Association of Hostage Negotiators in Monterey, where she talked to 342 police and FBI negotiators. Among those present was the chief of police of Waco, who said that by the time the FBI arrived on the Branch Davidian Compound scene, it was “a sad mess.” The object of the meeting was to consider future policy in situations similar to that of David Koresh and his followers. Margaret is still very active in forensic work, recently serving as an expert witness in several cases of sexual misconduct by therapists. And she revels in the frequent company of twin three-year-old, red-headed boys, whose grandmother she's proud to be. Daphne Vane, our AFF associate and longtime moving force with Britain's F.A.I.R. [Family Action, Information, and Rescue], chaired the morning session of a one-day conference on “Cults and Counseling” which was held on April 18th at the University of Hull, in England. Organized by two members of the department of psychology at the university, the conference included a talk by Steve Hassan, author of Combatting Cult Mind Control, and a session on “Exit Counseling” presented by Jon Atack, the British expert on Scientology who wrote one of the best recent books on the subject, A Piece of Blue Sky. Continued on the next page Continued on the next page France Continued from the previous page Argentina Book on “New Age” The New Age in Argentina: Deception or Spiritual Growth? (“La Nueva Era en Argentina: Enga¤o o Crecimiento Espiritual?” Beas Ediciones, Buenos Aires, 1993) is a new book of some 200 pages by Argentine journalist and writer Alfredo Silletta, who already has to his credit a book on cults. This latest deals comprehensively with the historical background, the components of New Age thought in the various schools of Western psychology, mysticism and occultism, Eastern religon, and Christianity itself. Silletta also presents and analyzes New Age thinking's worldview, or paradigm, especially as illustrated by movements and groups in our time. Fully a third of the book, which includes a basic bibliography, concerns the phenomenon in Argentina. (Cult Observer Report) Marshals Repudiate Scientology Endorsement The General Counsel of the U.S. Marshals Service, Larry Lee Gregg, informed Congress in January that the marshals intended no “endorsement, in any way, of an organization or group” by attendance at ceremonies sponsored by the Church of Scientology International (SCI). The U.S. Marshals maintain order in federal court and enforce decrees; personnel from the organization lent their name to a series of “Drug Free Marshals” rallies organized by Scientology. The Marshals office repudiation of Scientology was in response to an inquiry by Congressman William J. Hughes (D-NJ) on behalf of the American Family Foundation (AFF, publisher of The Cult Observer) and the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), by David Bardin, Washington counsel for AFF and CAN. Bardin asked whether the U.S. Marshals were lending their name to an effort to “improve the image of Scientology.” Gregg wrote: “We are concerned that our actions in this case may have been misinterpreted, and as a result, we are in the process of refining our policies on public appearances to ensure that a similar incident does not occur.” Clinton cabinet member and “Drug Czar” Lee Brown, who took part in a Washington DC ceremony mounted by Scientology—at which Brown pinned Church of Scientology stars on fifty children, did not answer simi-lar queries about his participation. Bardin had written to him: “We were surprised to read that you participated in a Scientology ceremony . . . Although ostensibly a measure to combat harmful drug use, the ceremony seems like a public relations stunt to improve the image of Scientology. . . . Is your office aware of accounts of Scientology in Department of Justice court submissions, in judicial opinions, and in books and articles such as Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky (1990) and Behar, “Scientology: The Cult of Greed?” Time Magazine, May 6, 1991 (Cult Observer Report) Pastors Sued for “Emotional Distress, Battery” Six ex-members of the Victory Church and World Outreach Center, of Grand Forks, ND filed suit in April against Pastor Ed Julison, and his wife, Pastor Renee Julison, saying that they and the church inflicted “intentional and negligent emotional distress and battery” on them. The former members also sought a restraining order to keep the Julisons or any church member from harassing them. A seminar in Grand Forks sponsored by the plain-tiffs, featuring cult expert and deprogrammer Rick Ross, sparked a public debate, a debate that became sharper with the appearance at a church meeting of Edward Keith Tolbert, from Detroit, who defended pentecostal Christian churches such as the Victory Church and criticized “secular anti-cult” experts like Ross. Tolbert, a member of the Assemblies of God, is [according to the report] an expert of cults and cult research organizations who compiles an annual directory of groups that watch cults. Tolbert, who met with Ross for an hour during his visit, said that brainwashing is “mythology.” Rather, he maintained, “people can be persuaded, using peer pressure, and can then experience conversion.” Tolbert defended “shepherding”—a controversial practice in evangelical Christianity that involves a strong pastor relationship over the lives of members. Tolbert condemned the practice—of which Victory Church has been accused. The former members also accuse the Julisons of financial irregularities. Tolbert helped arrange a press conference at which Ed Julison apolo-gized for mistakes that he said he and his wife have made and asked their members and the community to forgive them. “I'm sorry and my wife is sorry for the things that have gone on,” he said, but he rejected any specific allegations of wrongdoing by him or his wife, except to say they had failed at times to adequately supervise actions by members. (From “The Julisons face lawsuit,” by Stephen J. Lee, Grand Forks Herald, 4/14/94, 1A, 7A, and “Victory Church pastor makes his apologies, denies allega-tions,”4/15/94, 1B, 3B) Law Continued from page 3 Manson Continued from page 5 Manson's Popularity Surges Notorious mass murderer Charles Manson has a song on one of the hottest albums on the pop charts, an officially licensed T-shirt—and a legion of young fans. At a San Francisco boutique on Haight Street, you can buy Manson dresses, hats, leggings, jackets, shirts, “scrunchies,” and even children's wear. And although the money Manson makes on licensed goods is supposed, by court order, to go to the families of his victims, it is likely to go the way of money Manson has made in television interviews over the years—elsewhere. The promoter of a Manson shirt says: “Kids today don't look at Charlie Manson as a mass murderer. He's like a rebellious figure. The press makes him out to be this terrible person, but there's a good side to Charlie that hasn't gotten out.” He said that Manson is an ardent environmentalist who sends money regularly to an impoverished family in Appalachia. (From “Manson's popularity surges a quarter-century after slaughter,” by John Flinn [of The San Francisco Examiner], Tampa Tribune,12/25/93, 24) Continued on the next page CPU Cult Continued from page 5 Psychiatric Association Statement on “Repressed” Memories of Abuse In an attempt to guide psychiatrists dealing with patients who now recall memories of childhood sexual abuse, the American Psychiatric Association in February issued a formal statement on the issue (“Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse”) “We are especially concerned,” the statement reads, “ that the public confusion and dismay over this issue and the possibility of false accusations not discredit the reports of patients who have indeed been traumatized by actual previous abuse.” Indeed, the coping mechanisms used by abused children sometimes “result in a lack of conscious awareness of the abuse for varying periods of time. Conscious thoughts and feelings stemming from the abuse may emerge at a later date.” Yet the statement notes that in cases which are not well-documented, “it is not known how to distinguish, with complete accuracy, memories based on true events from those derived from other sources.” In fact “memories can be significantly influenced by questioning, especially in young children. Memories also can be significantly influenced by a trusted person (e.g., therapist, parent in a custody dispute) who suggests abuse as an explanation for symptoms/problems, despite initial lack of memory of such abuse. It has also been shown that repeated questioning may lead individuals to report 'memories' of events that never occurred.” In the end, the statement concludes, “It is not known what proportion of adults who report memories of sexual abuse were actually abused. Many individuals who recover memories of abuse have been able to find corroborating information about their memories. However, no such information can be found, or is possible to obtain, in some situations.” Clinicians, the report urges, should maintain an empathetic, non-judgmental, neutral stance. . . A strong prior belief by the psychiatrist that sexual abuse, or other factors, are or are not the cause of the patient's problems is likely to interfere with appropriate assessment and treatment. . . Expression of disbelief is likely to cause the patient further pain and decrease his/her willingness to seek needed psychiatric treatment. Similarly, clinicians should not exert pressure on patients to believe in events that may not have occurred, or to prematurely disrupt important decisions based on these speculations. “Clinicians who have not had the training necessary to evaluate and treat patients with a broad range of psychiatric disorders are at risk of causing harm by providing inadequate care for the patient's psychiatric problems and by increasing the patient's resistance to obtaining and responding to appropriate treatment in the future. In addition, special knowledge and experience are necessary to properly evaluate and/or treat patients who report the emergence of memories during the use of specialized interview techniques (e.g., the use of hypnosis or amytal), or during the course of litigation. (From “APA Issues Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse,” Psychiatric Times, Feb. 26, 1994) A valuable publication, Virginia child Protection Newsletter (VCPN), volume 41, Winter, 1993, has come to our attention. The entire issue is devoted to the related subjects of multiple personality, dissociation, ritual abuse, and child abuse in cults. The editor, Joan Grayson, Ph. D., of the James Madison University department of psychology, thanks Dr. Michael Langone for his help with this scholarly, non-sensationalized publication, in which AFF associates Linda Blood, Susan Kelley, John G. Clark, Arnold Markowitz, David Halperin, and the late Shirley Landaa are quoted. VCPN is supported by the Child Protective Services Unit and the Virginia Department of Social Services, and is available for the asking from Dr. Grayson, JMU, Harrisonburg, VA 22807. Colleges Battle BCC Continued from page 4 Continued on the next page Marshals Repudiate Scientology Endorsement 3 Pastors Sued for “Emotional Distress, Battery” 3 Manson's Popularity Surges 4 Psychiatric Association Statement on “Repressed” Memories of Abuse 7