The Cult Observer is published ten times each year by AFF, 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. 7 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 AFF P.O. Box 2265 Bonita Springs, FL 33959 Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 69 Bonita Springs, FL 33959 AFF News AFFcommittee 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 Review of Press Reports on Cultism and Unethical Social Influence 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. P R O F E S S I O N A L P R O F I L E “Tvind” — Cultism in Scandanavia I N T H E C O M M U N I T Y I N T H E C O U R T S I NT E R N A T I O N A l I N T H E C O M M U N I T Y RECOVERY FROM CULTS Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual 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 Satanism; 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 AFF, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959 (212-249-7693) Name __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________________________________________________ City ______________________________ State _____ Zip/Country _____________________ Phone ___________________ Give me three or four more lines if you can. Thanks. Bob Manson Continued from page 5 AFF News Continued from page 2 G U E S T C O L U M N Continued on the next page Scientology Abuse Alleged Continued from page 3 I N T H E C O U R T S I N T E R N A T I O N A L I N T H E C O M M U N I T Y Scientology Abuse Alleged in Lawsuit Declaration The former security head of the Church of Scientology has said in a sworn declaration in March that Hollywood star Tom Cruise received hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of services and gifts paid for with charitable funds collected by the controversial organization. The allegations come from Andr‚ Tabayoyon, 47, a Scientologist until a year ago, who was retained by lawyers representing former member Steven Fishman and Fishman's psychiatrist, Dr. Uwe Geertz, who were sued by Scientology in an action claiming that Fishman and Geertz defamed them in a 1981 Time magazine article. (See story below.) Cruise is said by Tabayoyon to have turned a blind eye to the use of ordinary members' slave labor—called the Rehabilitation Project Force— used to build him a gym and an apartment and to provide other services. Hollywood insiders say Cruise is fuming at being named in the legal action because it totally exposes his close links to the organization. He is said to be particularly angry about references to his “special relationship” with the charismatic Scientology leader, David Miscavige. The Scientologists' California desert complex, where Cruise allegedly spends much of his time is, according to Tabayoyon's sworn declaration, armed to the teeth with assault rifles, automatic weapons, shotguns, and even explosives—all on standby to be used in case authorities one day attempt a similar operation to that in Waco. Taboyoyon, a 21-year-member of the church, former marine, and Vietnam veteran, also alleged that the money used to supply Cruise with luxuries while he stayed at the Gilman Springs (CA) church complex— a $150,000 gym, an apartment, a personal chef, a Mercedes, two motorcycles, and a $200,000 tennis court he shared with other celebrities who have cottages at the complex—came from charitable funds collected by Scientology. The former security chief, who claims his life has been threatened since he decided to speak out, also alleges that Cruise ignored the dozens of Scientology members—many held without their informed consent, he says— on the other side of the desert complex who were living in appalling conditions and earning a maximum of $30 a week as slave labor. Taboyo-yon says that Miscavige once spent tens of thousands of dollars having an entire mea-dow planted with flowers so that Cruise and his wife, Nicole Kidman, could “romp there.” Cruise even agreed, according to Taboyoyon, to put in writing his innermost sexual feelings, and made one confession that would leave him open to blackmail. Taboyoyon says that the contents of folders on members who have revealed personal information have been culled and used against them, and to control them, should they ever attempt to leave Scientology. One former Scientologist said that the sort of information Cruise revealed during his auditing (Scientology counseling) would blow apart his squeaky clean image. (From “Tom's Scientology Secrets Exposed,” by Greg Sinclair, Woman's Day [Australia], 4/25/94. Scientology Legal “Fishing” The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology front group, had a notice published in the Washington [DC] City Paper of June 10, 1994 asking: “Has your child or teenager been harmed or suffered any adverse reaction by [sic] the psychiatric drug Prozac? Please call the Citizens Commission on Human Rights at . . . to report your experience.” Scientology has for many years carried out a campaign, including legal actions, against the psychiatric profession, and particularly against mental health drug therapy, most recently via a suit against Eli Lilly & Co., manufacturer of Prozac. Scientology Complains of Legal Harassment The Church of Scientology International (CSI) has asked the Central U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to dismiss their lawsuit against Florida psychiatrist Uwe Geertz and Steven Fishman, a former Scientologist, for comments attributed to them in a 1991 Time magazine article on Scientology entitled “The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power.” Both defendants were quoted as saying that Fishman was ordered by the church to kill Geertz and then commit suicide after he was arrested for securities fraud. (Fishman was sentenced in 1991 to a five-year federal prison term for securities fraud, in which he alleged Scientology complicity.) Geertz's lawyer Graham Berry said that “Their reason for surrender is that we made it clear that they never had a case. The message is that they cannot use the courts to terrorize and harass their critics.” Approach Against Scientology While dropping the suit, Scientology complained of legal harassment; Berry arranged last December for subpoenas to be served on prominent Scientologists during a charity event. In addition to actresses Juliette Lewis and Kelly Preston Travolta and singers Isaac Hayes and Maxine Nightingale, process servers also tagged actor Charles Durning, who is not a Scientologist. Berry said the celebrities' testimony was central to the case; he wanted to show that when they read the comments in Time, they understood them as references to the church generally, and not to the CSI in particular, and to show that the celebrities' contributions to the church did not diminish after the article. CSI also blasted the defense for unnecessarily taking the depositions of high church officials, including Scientology leader David Miscavige and CSI president Heber Jentzsch. It also criticized Berry for mocking and degrading the “religious tenets of Scientology” when he stated in a proposed pretrial conference order that he intended during the trial to swear in Scientologists as individual witnesses and for their other “valences” (past and future lives). Berry requested sanctions and attorney's fees after the suit's dismissal, but the court, although determining that the defendants were the prevailing parties, ruled not to punish either side. (From “Scientology Suits Bring Mixed Results,” by Michael Jonathon Grinfeld, Psychiatric Times, June 1994, 1, 3) Grief, Loss, and The Former Cult Member Patricia Goski, R.N. In 1990, I exited a religious cult in which I had spent the previous 181/2 years of my life. During the course of my adjustment to life outside of the group, and as a result of working through myriad recovery issues common to former cultists, I recognized, both in myself and in other former members, a profound sense of loss accompanied at times by a tremendous grief and anguish. Consequently, I decided to research the issue of grief and loss as it relates to the former cult member in order to learn just how prevalent and how anguish-producing it is. Even though the research completed at this time represents a biased sampling of the entire former cultist population, the findings are consistent with my initial impression that former cultists come face-to-face with a multiplicity of losses, accompanied by a deep, and sometimes debilitating, sense of anguish. The study consisted of a three-page survey mailed to 150 former cultists. Eighty surveys were returned (53%). Of the 80 respondents: • 74% exited “religious” cults • 16% had been with groups having a “new age” focus • The average length of stay in the group was 9 years • The average length of time since exiting was 7.7 years • “Walk-aways” numbered 66, or 85% of all respondents • 9% of all respondents had been exit counselled The former cultists rated three factors as having been most helpful to them in their recoveries: • Learning about mind control (49%) • Having other former members to talk to (47%) • Reading books on the subject (40%) With respect to the experience of the former cult members with mental health professionals: • 52 acknowledged having received professional help • 26 stated that their particular mental health professional was very well informed; many former members had received referrals from people involved with AFF or the Cult Awareness Network • 21 stated that their mental health professional knew little or nothing about cults, mind control, and recovery issues related to former cultists, but that these professionals were willing to be educated about such matters • Of the 52 who acknowledged having received professional help, 5 claim to have been misdiagnosed and/or mistreated The last two pages of the survey focused on 31 specific areas of loss. Sadly, many of the surveys were returned with nearly all 31 checked as applying to the respondent, and as having caused tremendous distress during the first two years out of the group. Of the 31 issues addressed, I will mention the five that were identified as having caused the most distress not only during the two immediate-post-cult years, but since departure, however long ago that may have been. All of these issues were rated as having caused “extreme” distress in the lives of the former cultists involved. • The loss of innocence (the result of feeling that one had been spiritually “raped,” used, betrayed) (84%) • Grief over the years “lost” in the group (71%) • Grief regarding “what could have been . . .” (71%) • Loss of meaning/purpose in life (69%) • Loss of trust in religion (68%) Although exiting a high-demand group signifies, and carries with it, hope of a new life filled with individual freedom, especially the freedom to make one's own decisions and choices, departure also means coming face-to-face with a multiplicity of losses. Let us consider, for a moment, a few examples of these losses, and empathize with the inner struggle and grief that challenge many a former cult member. Consider, for example, the former cult member who leaves spouse, and/or family, behind in the group, and the long-term friendships one forsakes upon leaving the group. What grief must accompany the loss of such precious relationships? What of the individual's personal and social sense of identity, which identity, for so long, was “defined” by the cult leader or leadership? The recovering former cult member struggles with the loss of his “cult” identity, and must find, for himself, the answer to the age-old question, “Who am I?” In addition, the former cult member—now no longer part of a group where lofty, unattainable ideals of perfection and responsibility reign—may grope in an emotional “limbo” of sorts, feeling that his life has lost significance, meaning, purpose. He no longer has the “personal responsibility” of saving the world, or of being “perfect,” weighing upon his shoulders, and struggles to define what his role is, and will be, in life. Needless to say, in these instances, the potential for feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and despair are great. Finally, what of all those innocents, who come face-to-face with the realization that their trust has been violated—that their bodies, minds, and souls, their love, devotion and energy—have been manipulated, used, and abused, in the name of all that is “supposed to be” good? Whom can they trust now? Their sense of loss and betrayal, and subsequent grief, are indeed profound! My hope upon initiating this research was to magnify the issue of “grief and loss” as it relates to the former cult member: first, validating, through research, its existence among the former cult member population; and then focusing attention upon both the acute and long-term distress accompanying this process. My desire was also to further sensitize those of us who are dedicated to helping individuals recovering from cult life so that, with increased awareness and sensitivity, we might help to alleviate some of the emotional and psychological pain associated with this grieving process. For a profile of the author, see page 11. Six Month Sentence in Kidnapping Plot Former Loudoun County (VA) sheriff's deputy Donald L. Moore, Jr. was sentenced in July to six months in federal prison for his role in trying to kidnap a District of Columbia woman whose mother thought she had been brainwashed by a cult [the Circle of Friends]. Moore told the judge that the years he had spent [in his capacity as a deputy] investigating the organization of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche had warped his judgment about people drawn into fringe groups. “I felt that there was a duty to try and help these people, wrongly,” he said. “When this is all over, you'll never see me in this courtroom again.” According to the indictment, Moore helped plan the crime, took steps to cover it up, and promised to monitor police radios and divert law enforcement interference if necessary. Earlier, self-described cult deprogrammer Galen Kelley was convinced of kidnapping in the case and is now serving a seven-year prison sentence. A New York couple who pleaded guilty for their part in the abduction were sentenced to two years' probation. The mother who hired the deprogrammers was never prosecuted. Kelley and Moore had met because of the former's involvement in trying to separate LaRouche followers from the LaRouche organization. In 1992 both were acquitted of charges that they plotted to kidnap a DuPont family heir who is a LaRouche supporter. The case had a special twist in that the abductors mistook the intended victim's roommate for their mark. (From “Ex-Deputy Gets 6 Months in Kidnapping Plot,” by Debbi Wilgoren, The Washington Post, 7/30/94, B5) Lying in Name of Religion Can't Be Challenged The Ohio Supreme Court in April threw out a lower court verdict that invalidated the will of Otterbein W. Duesler, who had left his $338,000 estate to the Jehovah's Witnesses when he died in 1988 at the age of 91. His sisters had successfully contested the will, saying that their brother had signed it while under undue influence. But the high court demurred, saying that the trial court had allowed statements of religious belief to influence the jury's decision. At the trial, a former Jehovah's Witness testified that the church engaged in“theocratic warfare,” a practice which allegedly includes a policy to encourage members to perjure themselves in order to protect the church and its followers. Other witnesses were also questioned about the depth of Duesler's commitment to the church, the effects of baptism within the church, the consequences of disfellowship, and the effect religion had on Duesler's marriage. The high court said that justice wasn't done when the trial court “improperly permitted the introduction of evidence of a witness's religious beliefs or opinions for the purpose of impeaching the witness.” The Chief Justice said that the Ohio constitution provides that no person shall “be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious belief,” and the rule that “evidence of the beliefs or opinions of a witness on matters of religion is not admissible for the purpose of showing that by reason of their nature his credibility is impaired or enhanced.” The rule, he said, “is based on the notion of relevancy and unfair prejudice and a goal of avoiding inquiry into areas that bear little nexus to the ultimate issue.” The rule “seeks to balance a party's right to attack the credibility of an opposing witness while preserving the witness's overriding constitutional right to religious freedom . . .” The probate judge who heard the original case—and who will preside over the parties' discussion over whether to settle or go for a new trial—said he felt his original judgment in allowing the disputed evidence to be heard was correct because the gist of it was to show the practices of the church in influencing members to leave their property to the church. (From “Supreme Court disallows verdict that kept bequest from Church,” by Carla J. Zanetos, Sentinel-Tribune [Bowling Green, OH], 4/28/94) Erhard in Exile Fearing Scientology Controversial New Age training guru Werner Erhard, who has been out of the U.S. for several years, says that his absence is not due to any trouble with the IRS, as some think, but because his lawyers warned him of threats to do him physical harm. One of the attorneys said: “It's pretty gruesome when he [Erhard] describes the kind of harm one can put oneself in the way of when you're dealing with the kind of people who'd vow to destroy you, and whose public statements allow them to use any means to do it. The Church of Scientology has this thing called 'fair game.' and their published 'fair game' policy is 'by any means.' On “Larry King Live” recently, King asked Erhard if he would return to the U.S. if a Scientology leader phoned to make peace. Erhard said yes. In a subsequent program, the president of the Church of Scientology, Heber Jentszch, denying any harassment of Erhard, told the host he had tried to call Erhard, “but the line was busy.” (From a lengthy review of Erhard's life and current activities at seminars and conferences abroad by novelist Dan Wakefield in Common Boundary, March/April 1994, 22-29) Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Dole attended the 23rd Inter- national Congress of Applied Psychology in Madrid from July 17th to the 22nd, and had a most enjoyable time despite blazing summer heat and the “terrible traffic.” The many fine parks and great museums helped, too. They also did a bit of traveling, by car, to other cities, particularly mentioning Toledo, which hasn't changed much since it was painted by El Greco. Dr. Dole's paper, co-written with Dr. Michael Langone, “Is The New Age Dangerous to Youth: Critics vs. Experts,” was part of a “poster session,” during which a group of authors received one hour each to post their papers on a large display board, to be read by participants and discussed informally with the authors. Dr. Dole spoke with interested colleagues from Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia, but, oddly, to only one American—a Hawaiian. In all, he handed out over thirty copies of the paper. Dr. Doni Whitsett has prepared a paper to be presented at the California Society for Clinical Social Work Statewide Conference—its silver anniversary—November 11-13, 1994. The conference title is “Clinical Social Work Identity and Values in the '90s: Maintaining Excellence in Different Contexts,” and her paper, to be delivered on November 12th, “Social Work and Cults: Understanding and Intervention.” Father James LeBar tells us that he appeared on an NBC TV Special, “All About Angels” in May, for which he spent a day in Los Angeles for the program taping. He is involved in other television talk shows as well, including “Rolonda,” as a “background person.” His work for the State of New York Chaplains is one of many tasks keeping him exceptionally busy. Father Walter Debold has sent us a copy of an article he wrote “a long time ago” for The Priest, a magazine for Catholic clergy, published this September. He covers the basics about cults so that priests will not be caught unprepared when their counsel is sought by distraught families seeking help and information, since he says these calls for help most frequently come to the clergy, even though only a portion of cults can be called “religiously oriented.” He makes many very excellent points, such as, “Religious institutions ought to perceive the cult problem as serious since it is costing them many adherents. But beyond that pragmatic reason, if the churches really do take seriously their responsibility to defend human freedom, then they may not remain uninvolved and simply wring their hands.” Fr. Debold recommends that those in an emergency situation call or write AFF, CAN, and ICEP, and for further instruction he adds a reading list of twelve books, five of them by AFF associates. Dr. Johannes Aagaard of Aarhus University in Denmark (see story on Aagaard, page 5) has sent us a note on Dialog Center International's seminar on “Religion and Democracy,” held at the Skaade Folk High School this past August. “This seminar first of all [was] to clarify the urgent problems related to the development of democracy after the collapse of authoritarian communism.” One paper, by Pastor Thomas Gandow of Berlin, was “Anti-democratic tendencies in modern guruism.” One whole day of the meeting was given over to an “excursion to various Danish institutions connected with the history of Danish democracy.” Dr. Susan Kelley, formerly a professor at the School of Nursing of Boston College, whose scholarly work on ritual sexual abuse of children in day care centers earned her the John Gordon Clark Award in 1991, is pleased to inform us that she has recently moved to Atlanta, where she is now a professor at Georgia State University School of Nursing. Madeleine Tobias, co-author with Janja Lalich of the highly acclaimed new book, Captive Hearts, Captive Minds, presented a one-day conference at the Brattleboro (VT) Retreat on “Cults—Full Spectrum from Benign to Malignant,” in September. The conference was the first in an annual series established by the retreat as part of its continuing education program. Its mission is to assist mental health care professionals in “addressing current clinical challenges.” Ms. Tobias's program, the first of nine this year, dealt with the basic facts of cult membership in the U.S., focusing in particular, in the words of the organizers, on “those who at some point choose to disengage from a cult and/or who have been an unwilling participant in cult activities . . . [who] comprise an increasing part of those seeking mental health services. Ms. Tobias . . . is a highly recommended expert who can provide the link between the context of cults and corresponding clinical interventions.” Dr. Ronald Enroth's newest book, a sequel to Churches That Abuse, sensibly titled Recovering From Churches That Abuse, was published this past June by Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers. Dr. Enroth says, “I do not attempt to suggest a one-two-three process of recovery. The road to recovery is different for each person; there is no prescriptive formula to follow or predictable pattern.” This appears to be a reasonable and useful resource for the many who must surely need it. New Video on Recovery from Cults “After the Cult: Recovering Together,” has just been released on videotape by the International Cult Education Program, an affiliate of AFF, publisher of The Cult Observer. Written by Marcia R. Rudin, ICEP director, the video is designed to help ex-cult members recover from their experiences and move ahead with their lives. Friends and families of former cult members, clergy, mental-health professionals, and the general public will also find the 25-minute presentation helpful. A companion resource guide lists books on recovery as well as other books and resources on mind control and psychological manipulation, recovery workshops and conferences, and resource organizations throughout the world. “After the Cult” is hosted by therapist William Goldberg, who has worked with ex-cult members for some 18 years. Therapists Lorna Goldberg and Arnold Markowitz, equally experienced in the cult field, also appear on the tape, which includes a number of former members who talk about their experiences, their recovery problems, and how they are facing the future. The tape is a project of Phase II of Project Recovery, a special program of AFF designed to professionalize the assistance ex-cult members receive. It is available for $29.00 (plus $3.50 postage and handling; $6.00 per tape for Canadian and overseas orders), from ICEP, Box 1232, Gracie Station, New York, NY 10028, (212) 439-1550; or AFF, Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959, (212) 249-7693. (Illustration courtesy of Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center) AFF News Continued from page 2 New Religious Movements and the “Pacific Paradigm” The third great “paradigm” shift in the history of Western religious culture is now taking place according to Johannes Aagaard, a theologian and head of the Dialog Center in Aarhus, Denmark, which studies new religious movements (NRMs). Aagaard's ideas were the subject of a symposium convened by AFF (publisher of The Cult Observer) and transcribed as “A Dialogue with Dr. Johannes Aagaard,” in a special issue (Vol. 10, No. 2, 1993) of the most recent Cultic Studies Journal (also published by AFF), edited by Paul K. Eckstein, an AFF associate who teaches philosophy at Long Island University. (The special issue of the CSJ is available on request from AFF) Eckstein says that Aagaard distinguishes (CSJ, Vol. 8, No. 2: “Conversion, Religious Change, and the Challenge of the New Religious Movements”) between conversion, which is a change in faith and one's personal relationship with God, and religious change, which refers to alterations in the fundamental, underlying orientation, or “code,” that gives meaning to culture. Aagaard maintains that Western culture has witnessed three overlapping religious changes: The first, the emergence of the Mediterranean paradigm,” was the change from classical paganism to the medieval culture of Roman Catholicism. The second, the “Atlantic paradigm,” was the change brought about by the Protestant Reformation, the growth of capitalism, and the Enlightenment. The third, the chal-lenge of a “Pacific paradigm,” is going on right now. The Pacific paradigm is a trans-syncretism that fuses Eastern mysticism and Western capitalism. Aagaard maintains that tradi-tional churches are largely unaware of this shift and are derelict in their duty to challenge the NRMs that represent the paradigm. Those who do challenge them tend to focus on illegal and unethical deeds of NRMs, rather than their creeds. But according to Dr. Aagaard, this creed-neutral perspective is superficial because it ignores the fundamental shift in the religious code, which NRMs emanate from and contribute to. (Cult Observer Report). Grief, Loss, and the Former Cult Member Continued from page 10 CLARIFICATION In the Professional Profiles section of the last issue of The Cult Observer (Vol. 11, No. 6, page 11), Donna Adams's research was described. The wording in the profile might have seemed ambiguous to some people and led them to think, mistakenly, that Ms. Adams compared two cultic groups. On the contrary, her research was designed to compare the perceptions of former members of a controversial group (the Cincinnati Church of Christ ) with “former members” (alumni) of a mainstream evangelical campus group (InterVarsity Christian Fellowship). The controversial group scored significantly higher on a measure of Group Psychological Abuse (the GPA Scale). Ms. Adams's study was the first in what will be a series of studies designed to develop and refine the GPA Scale. InterVarsity has kindly cooperated with AFF in this research. InterVarsity also cooperated with AFF more than 10 years ago by leading a team of evangelicals in a project to develop an ethical code to guide the behavior of campus evangelists. This code, and a revision derived from it, has been applied by InterVarsity and Boston University, respectively, in their campus religious efforts. Koresh Succession All Branch Davidians have been invited to return to Waco on Oct. 19 to choose a new spiritual leader, according to Amo Bishop Roden, the wife of one-time leader George Roden. She said she expected Koresh followers to be a minority at the convocation, and to be outvoted, if necessary. She and two others have been renovating a small white building a few hundred yards behind the former Davidian headquarters. (From “Koresh succession fight looms for Branch Davidians,” AP in The Boston Globe, 9/7/94) Chopra In Action Deepak Chopra, the physician and former lieutenant of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (leader of Transcendental Meditation) is touting with renewed energy his seminars, books, and tapes on alternative medicine, including his latest best-seller, “Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old,” featured in his recent appearance on “Oprah.” Chopra, widely criticized for an article he co-authored in the Journal of the American Medical Association [which later virtually apologized for publishing the article], and excluded from Bill Moyers's PBS series “Healing and the Mind,” is a member of San Diego's mainstream medical provider, Sharp HealthCare, operator of six hospitals. Chopra also directs the Sharp Institute for Human Potential and Mind-Body Medicine, which received a $30,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the effectiveness of ayurvedic and Western medicine. (From “Om Is Where His Heart Is,” by Tom Dunkel, The Washington Post, 6/6/94, D1, D8) Cults Collaborate vs Critics There is growing evidence that various cultic groups and churches are cooperating in efforts to oppose, and destroy financially through lawsuits, critics seeking to expose and counter their harmful teachings and practices. This according to a report in the July/ August edition of the Wellspring Messenger, newsletter of the Ohio-based Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, a residential facility for the rehabilitation of former cult members (directed by Dr. Paul Martin, an associate of AFF, publisher of The Cult Observer). The Messenger offers a number of “exhibits” indicating cult cooperation. • A former high-ranking member of The Family (formerly the Children of God), who infiltrated the group in the Philippines in 1992, saw group publications indicating that the organization, involved in child custody conflicts in several countries, was getting legal advice and aid from Scientology. (This was reported in Christianity Today, 12/14/92, 42-42.) • Scientology, which has initiated a tremendous number of suits over the years against its critics, and former members and their families, recently offered assistance to an allegedly abusive wife-husband pastoral team of a Word-Faith church in North Dakota. • In France in 1992, an “Association of Victims of ADFI (the main cult education and support organization in France) called a press conference to speak against a French physician who had gone to Japan in an attempt to see his estranged son, a 15-year-old member of the Children of God. ADFI spokeswoman Emmanuelle Kaufmann reported that “It became evident that the press conference organizers were in fact Scientologists and that they apparently paid for the son, Olivier, to travel from Japan to read a long, rambling statement about his horrible father.” • In 1993, the French magazine LePoint (Feb. 27) described a meeting of representatives of several cults to establish an umbrella group to defend the cults' “human rights” before the European Parliament. Groups represented included the Unification Church, the Ra‰lians, Scientology, and numerous smaller groups. According to article author J‚r“me Dupuis, the cults decided to form “counterattack” groups through an “International Federation of Religious and Philosophical Minorities, FIREPHIM, “a cult cartel.” Cartel participants are said to include, apart from the organizers, Transcendental Meditation, followers of Sri Chinmoy, druids, and satanists. • A public relations man in Australia for the The Family this year uploaded to a cult awareness bulletin board an article attacking cult critics—such as the Cult Awareness Network and AFF (publisher of The Cult Observer)— that had originally appeared in The National Alliance, an organ of the New Alliance Party, which ran Lenora Fulani for president in the U.S. in 1992. The article, in turn, thanks Scientology, its Citizens Commission on Human Rights, and an editor of its Freedom magazine, for materials used in preparing the article. • An article in the LaRouche organization's New Federalist newspaper, attacking counter-cult organizations' alleged role in the playing out of the Waco disaster, was picked up and included in broadsides against cult awareness groups by the Holy Alamo Christian Church, the vehicle for cult leader Tony Alamo. Moon Followers Told to “Work” Local School Districts Unification Church members with school-age children have been told to get involved in local community groups, like the PTA, but especially conservative and right wing groups, like the Christian Coalition and Stop Planned Parenthood, which are working for “traditional values” and against sex education in the schools and Outcome Based Education. “In a natural way, be clear about your religious affiliation if the subject comes up,” goes the advice. “In most cases it will not matter since they [the other organizations] are interdenominationally oriented and recognize the need for competent activists. (From “Working in Your Local School District,” by Nancy Hanna, Unification News, Feb. 1994, 13) Hatred Said to Motivate Cult Educators A Unification Church attorney writing in the church's Unification News (Feb. 1994, 19) says that the activities of' the Cult Awareness Network and AFF (publisher of The Cult Observer), appearing “ to be benign and sincere attempts to contribute to the welfare of society . . . on deeper scrutiny reveal alternatively, enterprises entirely beset by the power of hatred. Hatred is the very raison d'ˆtre for these organizations. Hatred incites their every activity and it fuels their persistent efforts.” BCC Affiliate Kicked Off Campus A local branch of the International Church of Christ (often known as the Boston Church of Christ Movement) had its charter revoked in March by officials at Georgia Tech after they received more complaints about the group's proselytizing activities than about any other group. Revocation of the church's charter by Tech's Activities committee had been recommended in overwhelming votes by both the undergraduate and graduate houses of the student legislature. Affiliates of the church have caused strong reactions on other campuses. Last year, the Emory University (Atlanta) chaplaincy office denied the group a charter, and fellowships have been kicked off campus at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Marquette University in Milwaukee, and at Boston University. From “Church of Christ Fellowship forced off Tech campus,” by Gayle White, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 3/20/94, E3, cited in Cult Awareness Network News, 4/94, 4) Chopra in Action Continued from page 5 State Will Monitor COG Children The Health and Community Services Department of the Australian state of Victoria recently agreed with the Children of God (COG, now calling itself The Family) to a legal settlement in the long-running conflict over the treatment of children in the group. The settlement with the state, which in 1992 took over 80 of the children for a time into protective custody because COG socially isolated and allegedly abused them—charges, including systematic sexual abuse, that have been brought against the group wherever it has settled around the world—was ratified by the Supreme Court of Victoria and appears to conclude, at least for a time, a passionate battle, played out at length in the press, involving the rights of children and parents and the right of the state to intervene in family and group situations. The settlement contains a statement that Community Services remains concerned that the children are in need of protection and that the group does not concede that the children are, in fact, in need of such protection. Main provisions of the settlement, scheduled to be in force for fifteen months, are: • All children of school age to be educationally assessed (except those who already have an exemption from the Department of Schools Education—only seven of 86). All parties will have access to copies of the report and the parents are to implement any recommendations contained in the report—including a recommendation that a child attend external schooling. • Each child to live with at least one parent and to notify the department of any changes of address. • All children aged 5 to 16 to attend 3 hours of weekly activity—with non-COG children—arranged by the recreation officer of the local council. • A panel of visitors, highly qualified social workers, to visit the children once per month and to have appropriate access to individual children, alone. • The department will retain the children's passports and must be notified of any change of address. Tracey O'Halloran, a Senior Social Worker on the Children of God Protective Team, said of the settlement, in a letter to Michael Langone (Executive Director of the AFF, publisher of The Cult Observer): “It is hoped that the children can continue to have access with the outside world via the arrangements put in place by the order. This will enable them to develop another frame of reference than that offered solely by the group. By the time this order expires the children (and the group) will have been subjected to over three years of supervision. This is considered to be a significant achievement for these children and will have had an impact on how the group raise their children generally. . . . It is likely that some of the team [from the social work department involved in the case] may maintain a professional interest in the area of cults in the hope that the knowledge we have built up over the past two years is not wasted.” Community Service Minister Michael John said: “The Department's objective of ensuring that the children were not subject to extreme social isolation and inappropriate child-rearing practices has been achieved by the terms of the settlement. At all times the welfare of the children has been paramount and this settlement means their develop-ment will be monitored and they will be able to grow up in a broader environment and develop contacts with people outside the sect. Significantly, the achievement of this settlement ensures that the ongoing disruption and trauma that would have been caused to the children's lives by a protracted court case is avoided.” Continued on the next page COG Children Continued from page 8 Patricia Goski (R.N., St. Francis School of Nursing) is a research associate of AFF who has survived eighteen-and-a-half years of cult life, and emerged with an admirable determination to use her painfully acquired knowledge to help others in similar straits. She hopes, as well, to warn the general public about the dangers of cults. The Bible meeting to which she was invited after her first college year—a year of struggling with questions and searching for answers—introduced her to “Brother Julius,” who struck her with such awe that in no time she was enthralled. The “caring and compassionate man of God” held answers that her Catholic church, in those days rather “too formal and ritualistic,” had failed to provide, and she became a devoted member of the group. The self-described “sinful Messiah” with his seven wives and many concubines had numerous business ventures going in construction companies, real estate, and more. By the mid-'80s, this “spiritual advisor's” companies, owned and operated by his people, had become multi-million dollar enterprises. Also, in the mid-'80s, Ms. Goski married, had two children, and entered nurses' training, an unpopular choice with the group, but one that gave her “an environment in which to question the leader.” After a week's hospitalization for serious illness, she returned home to find her housekeeping chastised as “less than perfect,” and for that and other lapses, she underwent ostracism for seven months. As time went on, she suffered further abuse, even being singled out for public shaming, but her questioning and self-confidence grew until, with her training completed, she realized that, far from being treated “spiritually,” she had been dehumanized. In 1990, she took her young children and left; her husband followed in six months. She then faced the biggest challenge in her life: starting all over again in her mid-thirties. After coping on her own for a time, she met Bill and Lorna Goldberg, long-time AFF associates, who asked her to speak to ex-members on “survival after leaving the group.” She was led to think of both surviving and thriving, and it “hit like a ton of bricks, how much loss is suffered by former cult members.” Using her strength to help others, Ms. Goski has constructed a survey with which to help those in distress (see related story on page 10, opposite). She also speaks in public, at CAN conferences, on radio (in New York, Connecticut, and Philadelphia), television (CNBC, CNN, Sally Jessy Raphael), and in interviews (New York Times, Hartford Courant, Boston Globe, and New Woman magazine). She “welcomes any opportunity to educate people about cults,” and does it well. COG Regroups in Argentina Members of The Family (known sometimes as the Children of God) are back together eight weeks after 21 members charged with enslavement, hiding children, and running a prostitution ring were released from prison in February along with 131 children of the group taken into custody in a September 1993 police raid by police. An appeals court ruled that a federal judge investigating the case didn't have jurisdiction; moreover, the court found no merit to the judge's preliminary charges that The Family ran a prostitution ring to attract recruits, forced menial labor on members, and hid children from relatives—charges common wherever the group has settled. At least a dozen nationalities are represented among the group's members in Argentina— a majority is Argentines and American—who say they support themselves through missionary work and contributions. They look middle class and try to dispel the popular image of cult members, hypnotized hippies out of touch with reality. Their current two-story main house is tidy and well-furnished, although ten girls, for example, sleep in bunk beds in a room 30 feet by 15 feet. Children attend home classes based on a U.S. public school curriculum, with an emphasis on Bible studies. When asked about their futures, youths say they want to stay with the group, but don't feel obligated. Abigail Berry, 21, who once lived with the group, tells another story. She accuses them of sexual abuse [The Family is said to encourage sexual relations among children and between children and adults] and psycho-logical manipulation. She says she left after being raped in 1989. Berry's mother, former member Patricia Adams, 40, of Indianapolis, says her daughter's accusations are false. (From “The Family” religious sect regroups after arrests,” Associated Press in The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star, 2/13/94, A26) “[The Scientologists'] reason for surrender is that we made it clear they never had a case. The message is that they cannot use the courts to terrorize and harass their critics.” Study Finds No Satanic Abuse Satanic child abuse does not exist in the United Kingdom according to a three-year investigation funded by Britain's Department of Health, of 84 cases in which it was alleged that children were sexually abused during satanic, black magic rites. The official report was commissioned in 1991 after children had been snatched from their homes in dawn raids by social workers and police in the northern town of Rochdale and on the Orkney islands off the coast of Scotland. The report blames the evangelical Christian movement and the self-proclaimed U.S. “experts” for spreading the satanic-abuse scare. (From “U.K. Study finds no evidence of satanic abuse of children,” by Rosie Waterhouse, San Francisco Examiner, 4/24/94) Scientology Abuse Alleged in Lawsuit Declaration 3 Lying in Name of Religion Can't Be Challenged 4 New Religious Movements and The Pacific Paradigm 5 Cults Collaborate vs Critics 6 State Will Monitor COG Children 8 Grief, Loss, and The Former Cult Member 10 Illustration by Mick Brownfield, The Sunday Telegraph [London], 11/14/93, 5.