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[For background on the case see The Cult Observer, Vol. 10, No. 7, 6.] Justice James Southey described the organization's actions as "an insidious attack" that "threatened the integrity of two essential law enforcement agencies" as he handed down the sentence, which included fines of $2,000 to three individuals and $5,000 to a third. The government had asked for a $1 million fine. Scientology lawyers, meanwhile, produced unaudited financial statements purporting to show that the organization was $8.8 million in debt and unable to pay a fine, and said it would appeal the decision. The lawyers also filed a $19 milion suit against the Ontario government alleging the police "caused great harm and damage to the organization" by conducting an "illegal and unconstitutional search and seizure" during the raid of Scientology's Toronto headquarters [that led to prosecution of the church]. (From "Canadian court fines Scientology," Cult Awareness Network News, October 1992, 1, 7, summary of press accounts) 2 Letter from Kiev FAIR NEWS (London) Summer 1992 In case readers [of the FAIR NEWS] should think some of the speculations concerning the possible recruiting of East European students are far-fetched, here are excerpts from a letter written by a likely candidate who still goes to school in Kiev. "I had a wonderful time during the school holidays this year! Our school (among others) participated in the International Leadership Seminar held by the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principle (CARP) in the Crimea on the Black Sea shore. CARP is part of the Unification Church established and led by Rev. Sun Myung Moon. They were holding such seminars all over the world and at last they've got an opportunity to work in the countries of the Commonwealth [of Independent States]. This seminar was a great experience for me and 37 of my schoolmates who went to the Crimea with our school group. I'm sure that nobody from our group participated in such an event ever before. The main goal of the Unification Movement is to create a joint World Family based on the principle of True Love. They tried to create the same kind of atmosphere during the seminar. We called each other 'brothers and sisters' and I think that we really became closer to each other during these days. "Maybe we'll be lucky to visit the next seminar (not 5 days, but already 10 days long) in [the] summer. It's interesting that we paid only 75 Roubles for the participation, but if to calculate at the expenditures for one participant they will be measured in thousands of Roubles." 3 Seminar in Potsdam on Cults. Ursula MacKenzie, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh A Seminar on Cults convened in Potsdam, in the former East Germany in March, at a chateau once owned by Prussian royalty, to discuss the growing problem of cult recruitment in the former communist countries of Europe. The response to invitations was "overwhelming" according to the London-based FAIR NEWS editor Ursula Mac-Kenzie, who reports that many had to be turned away for lack of room. Many participants were young and "seemed to soak up information," she says. "They have recognized the danger and - feeling strongly about it - they will find ways and means to combat it." "We are often asked," MacKenzie writes, "what cults, generally in pursuit of material gain, expect to achieve in im-poverished countries. The answer is simple: money invested now, while these countries are in a state of slump, will pay dividends once they become more prosperous. (FAIR NEWS, Summer 1992, 3) Children of God parenting techniques, says a report in the Swiss Die Weltwoche (12/5/91), based on interviews with children and parents who were in the group, include harsh methods to make offspring submissive. "Some [of the children] were covered in bruises for days, and if any authority had found out, they would have stepped in," says author Claudia Grimm. "Children must not develop individual traits, they must not disturb adults, but submit to them. They were trained to behave like puppets. And then there are the threats. The children know: 'If I don't do what is expected of me I shall be turned out.' And a child brought up in such a group has nothing to fall back on." (FAIR NEWS, Summer 1992, 3) Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's influence on one individual is recounted at length in the Easter 1992 issue of Areopagus, where Jennifer Flšther presents "an account of how I chose a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' to be my master, of the immoral creed which he preached and of the hopelessness and misery which were my reward. The four years that I spent as his sannyasin, or disciple, cost me my possessions, my home, my work, and very nearly my mind and soul." 4 From Britain: Exclusive Brethren. Custody. Exclusive Brethren members have lost a battle with a father whom they excluded from their association for custody of his nine-year-old son. The Court of Appeal rejected an attempt by two members of the sect, a married couple regarded by the boy as his grandparents, to overturn an Ipswich County Court judge's order that he should live with his father. Lord Justice Purchas, sitting with Lord Justice Balcombe, said that compassion was excluded by the disciplines and tenets of the sect and the impact of such doctrines on a child's future welfare had to be taken into account. The boy, referred to as "D", has lived most of his life with the sect, which regards non-members as impure and bans all social contact with them. It forbids children to watch television or to listen to records or the radio. The father was ostracised because he was considered to have behaved badly following the death of his wife, but had taken his son to live in Sussex where they had developed a good relationship. The court was told that sect members had followed them there. (From "Father wins battle to keep son from sect," The Times [London], 9/5/92) 5 The Soceity for the Defence of Tradition, Family, & Property The Society for the Defence of Tradition, Family and Property has set up an office in Edinburgh, and the Catholic Church is scrutinizing its conduct after reports from other countries that it has used indoctrination and other practices which go against the teachings of the Church. The society, known as the TFP, was founded by a Brazilian, Plinio Correa de Oloveira, in the late 1960s. One of its practices, to which the Church objects, is the "quasi-worship" which TFP members must show for the founder's mother. A Church spokesman said that TFP "claims to support the family, but it appears that they are actually destroying the families. They take young boys of 14, 15, 16 and give them some sort of training that takes them away from their family." Relatives of members of the group, which is active under various names in other countries, say their kin have become "fanatical and almost obsessed." (From "Church sets up inquiry as cult reaches Scotland," The Scotsman [Edinburgh], 8/10 and 15/92) 6 Switzerland: Scientology loses ban against Reder's Digest Scientology's appeal of a decision refusing to ban distribution in the Reader's Digest of a 1991 Time article entitled "Scientology: A Dangerous Cult Goes Mainstream," was denied by a Swiss judge in May. Scientology must now pay $4,300 in court costs and legal fees. A libel action against the Digest is outstanding. (Publish, June 1992) 7 South Korea: Mission for the Coming Days. End of world, October 28, 1992, delayed. Lee Jan-rim, Percy Collett. The Mission for the Coming Days church prediction of the end of the world for October 28 did not come to pass, prompting a believer, Seoul architect Kim Te Jin to say, "We just got the message from God wrong. Jesus will be back in several years." (AP Boston Globe, 10/29/92, 2) The doomsday announcement to the 20,000 Korean believers had prompted hundreds to sell their property, abandon families and children, and quit their jobs. In an effort to counter the movement, some parents committed their children to psychiatric hospitals. Counselors were swamped, traditional churches issued appeals, and police were assigned to monitor church activity. Police also detained believers preaching on street corners for minor traffic violations. Some church members hid from what they call prosecution by the government and the media. A Presbyterian minister and counselor said the members are "brainwashed." Lee Jan-rim, a leader of the church, who has translated a doomsday book by U.S. evangelist Percy Collett that was a best seller in Korea, was arrested and charged with swindling followers of up to $4 million. (From "Doomsday doctrine creating chaos," Detroit News, 10/6/92) 8 North Korea: Kim Il Sung, classic cult leader Kim Il Sung, the absolute leader of North Korea, is presented at some length by T.R. Ried (Washington Post, 7/5/92, C1) as a classic cult leader, a "would-be God" . . . "with a fanatic following . . . nurtured over the decades by a relentless, total-immersion, no-stone-unturned propaganda effort that is fascinating in its ingenuity and frightening in its power." 9 Japan: Unification Church, Ryoichi Sasakawa, charitable foundation The charitable foundation run by Unification Church patron Ryoichi Sasakawa, meanwhile, now outpaces the Ford Foundation in annual giving, with $31 million in grants in Japan and overseas in 1991 (compared to $239.5 million for Ford). Sasakawa, linked to various right-wing and anti-communist groups, as well as to the Yakuza (organized crime clans), is said to be a major advisor to Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon. (From "The Controversial Charity of Ryoichi Sasakawa," by Anne Lowrey Bailey, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 6/2/92, 6, 7, 8, 10) ================================================================= DOS FILENAME OF TEXT FILE: CO0992AC.TXT DOS FILENAME OF IMAGE FILES: none ADMINISTRATIVE CODE: OK SECURITY CODE: SCO DISTRIBUTION CODE: RO DESCRIPTION FOR BBS FILE LISTING: The Cult Observer, September 1992 SORT TO: AFF CONTRIBUTOR: American Family Foundation (AFF) LOCATION OF ORIGINAL: American Family Foundation (AFF) NOTES: Back issues and selected reprints of the Cultic Studies Journal are available from the American Family Foundation, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959-2265. FOREIGN STORIES | 1 Scientology Fined, Then Sues | Canadian Government | 2 Letter from Kiev | 3 Seminar in Potsdam on Cults. | Ursula MacKenzie, Bhagwan Shree | Rajneesh | 4 From Britain: Exclusive Brethren. | Custody. | 5 The Soceity for the Defence of | Tradition, Family, & Property | 6 Switzerland: Scientology loses | ban against Reder's Digest | 7 South Korea: Mission for the Coming | Days. End of world, October 28, | 1992, delayed. Lee Jan-rim, Percy | Collett. | 8 North Korea: Kim Il Sung, classic | cult leader | 9 Japan: Unification Church, Ryoichi | Sasakawa, charitable foundation For additional verification see the contributor of the document. UPDATED ON: 9/26/94 UPDATED BY: FrJMc =================================================================