FACTnet

CHILDREN OF GOD cult announces come back as “The Family International”

David Pike — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:32:43 +0000

FACTNet News editor’s note: 30 years ago a close friend of my family lost a daughter to David Berg and this group only to have her return after several years and then commit suicide. Now the question at hand is “Can a tiger change it’s stripes?”

Once dismissed as ’sex cult,’ Family International launches image makeover
Cult announces comeback plans at conference of cult apologists

It’s a time of intense self-scrutiny for the Family International (formerly known as the Children of God), a tiny Christian fellowship that advocates communal living, extramarital sex and an apocalyptic worldview.

Some 40 years after David Berg, a charismatic evangelical preacher, garnered thousands of hippie followers in Southern California with his messages about sharing bodies, food, children and homes, the movement is struggling to reinvent itself. The 1960s church has battled allegations of past child sexual abuse, complaints from disaffected and aging members and dissatisfaction with an outdated theology.

All new religious groups face essentially the same question if they hope to endure: How do you revise some teachings and practices for wider appeal without forsaking the faith’s unique identity and unconventional doctrines?

“Many desire to see innovation, professionalization and modernization,” Karen “Maria” Zerby, one of the Family’s spiritual and administrative leaders, said last week in her first-ever public address. “We must determine what elements of our theology, culture and context are rooted in the past and no longer hold relevance.”

Zerby, who was Berg’s wife and his successor after his death in 1994, shared her plans for reshaping the Family at the annual meeting of the Center for the Study of New Religions in Salt Lake City.

This is no small task for Zerby and her co-leader, Steve Kelly (who goes by “Peter Amsterdam”). The Family now has about 15,000 members gathered in small communal centers in 90 nations — none in Utah.

There is a core group of followers, including some second- and third-generation members, but fewer than 20 percent of the original participants remain, and many of the those are in poor health with no medical insurance or retirement plans.

The church made headlines in 2005 when Zerby’s son, Ricky Rodriguez, murdered Angela Smith, his former nanny and confidante of his mother, and then shot himself. Rodriguez blamed the Family for ruining his life.

That’s all behind us, said two public-affairs representatives for the church who were in Salt Lake City for the conference.

“We acknowledge that mistakes were made and that there were excesses,” said Claire Borowik, who has been with the Family International for 30 years. “We’ve taken stringent measures to right those wrongs and apologized to former members.”

Thus, she said, “we find it disheartening for people to focus so much on the past.”
[…]

Zerby’s speech in Utah was part of the Family’s coming-out party, said Utah attorney Michael Homer, one of the conference sponsors.

“The Family has made a decision to begin constructing a more public profile,” he said. “It plans to enhance its Internet presence and adapt its message to the cultures in which it lives. It also plans to open the membership to persons who are not full-time missionaries and do not want to necessarily commit their entire day to Family activities. This may include allowing members to live outside homes and not participate in communal living.”
[…]

- Source / Full Story: Family International: Once dismissed as ’sex cult,’ tiny church launches image makeover, Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune, June 25, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog
Special thanks to RNB and ApologeticsIndex.org

Buyer Beware:
• Learn more about The Family International
• CESNUR, the organization at whose conference The Family announced its plans, is known for its support of a wide variety of cults ranging from relatively benign to destructive. Among cult experts interested in helping people leave — or avoid — cults, CESNUR is known as an organization of cult apologists.
• Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge

*more articles on this group…

IMHO
FACTNet

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This editorial/opinion/news alert has been provided or distributed by FACTNet, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network.) Re-distribution and re-posting of this document using proper net etiquette when doing so, is appreciated!

Death in slow motion: Part 2 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology

David Pike — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:38:14 +0000

The St. Petersburg Times continues its 3-part exposé of the Church of Scientology — an movement we at Religion News Blog consider to be a criminal enterprise masquerading as a religion. Monday’s installment deals with the death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson, considered by many to be a victim of a) Scientology’s quackery, b) the hate group’s fight against psychiatry, and c) the cult’s desire to protect its long-running scam.

The night after Lisa McPherson died, the leader of the Church of Scientology sent word for one of his top lieutenants to wait by a pay phone at the Holiday Inn Surfside on Clearwater Beach.

When Marty Rathbun answered the ringing phone in the lobby, David Miscavige let him have it:

Why aren’t you all over this mess? The police are poking around. Do something.

“Yes sir,” Rathbun said.
[…]

Now, for the first time, comes an inside account from the upper ranks of Scientology — from the man who directed the church’s handling of the case.

Rathbun, who defected from Scientology’s staff in late 2004, admits that as prosecutors and attorneys for McPherson’s family prepared subpoenas, he ordered the destruction of incriminating evidence about her care at the Fort Harrison.

He and others who have left the church disclose for the first time that Miscavige was involved in McPherson’s Scientology counseling. Just weeks before her mental breakdown, they say, it was the leader himself who determined that she had reached an enhanced mental state that Scientologists call “clear.’’

For years Rathbun was adamant that the church did nothing wrong. Now he says that McPherson’s care was a debacle from the start. It was a “perfect storm of incompetence and irresponsibility” within the church, he said. “You couldn’t justify it.’’

He disclosed that the church was prepared to pay almost any price to make the case go away.
[…]

- Source / Full Story: Newspaper series alleges ‘physical violence’ by leaders of Church of Scientology, Thomas C. Tobin and Joe Childs, St. Petersburg Times, June 22, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog

Scientology: Ecclesiastical justice, Part 3 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology

The four high-ranking executives who left Scientology say that church leader David Miscavige not only physically attacked members of his executive staff, he messed with their minds.

He frequently had groups of managers jump into a pool or a lake. He mustered them into group confessions that sometimes spun into free-for-alls, with people hitting one another.

Mike Rinder, who defended the church to the media for two decades, couldn’t stomach what was happening on the inside.

The tactics to keep executives in line “are wrong from a Scientology viewpoint,” said Rinder, who walked away two years ago. “They are not standard practice of Scientology. They are just not humanitarian. And they are just outright evil.”
[…]

- Source / Full Story: Scientology: Ecclesiastical justice, Part 3 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology, Thomas C. Tobin and Joe Childs, St. Petersburg Times, June 23, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog

See Also:
• Church of Scientology investigation gets worldwide response…
• ReligionLink, published by the Religion Newswriters Foundation, has published a Guide to Scientology. Buyer beware: the guide includes links to sites operated by the Church of Scientology or its front groups. Too, some of the people listed as resources are known cult apologists — academics who support dangerous groups.

FACTNet News Blog editors special bonus…
special thanks to HouseSpiderAnon for his great vids and compliations…

“On June 20th 2009 Colorado Anonymous celebrated the 2nd apparently now annual Sea Arrrgh event. At this raid we dress at least a little like pirates (or in some cases ninjas) and call attention to the Scientology cult’s paramilitary navy / clergy they call the Sea Org.

In this clip I arrive late. The legion has moved down the street from the org to troll the higher traffic area of Broadway and Englewood Parkway, in Englewood, Colorado. I am approached by a couple that just moved to the area and had questions about the cult down the street. Seems to me like they already know what’s up!” =D

Here is the link to play all 18 videos of the 2nd annual Sea Arrrgh event…

Lern moar, do moar:

http://Xenu.net

http://COanon.org

http://ExScientologyKids.com

http://WhyWeProtest.net

http://XenuTV.com

http://888chan.org

Google the truth yourself:
Lisa McPherson
Rehabilitation Project Force
Operation Snow White
Operation Freak Out
Operation Normandy
Gold Base
Saint Hill
Flag Land Base
MV Freewinds
OT III
Applied Scholastics
Narconon
Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights
Office of Special Affairs
Freedom Medal of Valor
“Largest infiltration of the United States government in history”

IMHO
FACTNet

Excellent Cult Survivor memoir’s recently released…”Cartwheels in a Sari”

David Pike — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:36:17 +0000

“Cartwheels in a Sari” by Jayanti Tamm

“Don’t be fooled by the somewhat whimsical title of Jayanti Tamm’s memoir Cartwheels in a Sari; this account of a young woman’s life as “growing up cult” couples the childlike innocence of a cartwheel with the feeling of inertia and tumbling; she sums this up in a passage from the end of the book: “The inversion of my body, losing track of gravity and direction, was disorienting and delirious. From my vantage point, I saw Guru and all of the disciples upside-down, and no one else had… I did not know which was the correct way.”
excerpt from the FeministReview.com 4/14/2009 Review by Jyoti Roy

About the Author

From the time of her birth, Jayanti Tamm, was declared the chosen disciple in the cult of Guru Sri Chinmoy. Jayanti lived inside the confines of the Guru’s inner circle, shuttling between her family’s home, Sri Chinmoy’s Connecticut headquarters, and his ashram in Queens, New York. Sri Chinmoy assigned Jayanti to court celebrities, infiltrate the United Nations, and find elephants for him to weight lift, all in an effort to transform the world. At the age of twenty-five, after multiple attempts to leave, she was permanently exiled from the group. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Queens College, she worked as an editor for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. She received her MFA in Creative Writing at American University in Washington, DC, where she studied fiction and playwriting. Following graduation, she had a number of stories published in literary journals in North America. In 2000, she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In 2005, her one-act play, The Suicide Bomber won the New England Academy of Theatre One Act Play Award. Jayanti is currently an English Professor at Ocean County College where she teaches writing. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter, and two cats where she is working on a novel.

BOOK REVIEWS…

People Magazine: A Four out of Four Star Review - April 27, 2009

The story of Tamm’s birth—that she pressed her hands together in prayer at barely an hour old—was as festooned with mythology as the spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy, who deemed her his “Chosen One.” Tamm recounts how the title meant little; as a member of the controversial religious group, she was subjected to constant manipulation. She says he held “ugly girl” contests and sought to control their private lives, even telling a member to have an abortion. Tamm, who left the group at age 24 after having a psychological breakdown, writes with wit, but her hurt is obvious. Yet as she did after performing cartwheels for Chinmoy (who died in ’07), the now happily married mother lands on her feet—and her effort is worthy of applause. –Reviewed by Beth Perry

Forbes.com Book Review

Under The Thumb Of Cult Leader Sri Chinmoy

Cults are notorious for convincing people to do the unthinkable. In March, a member of the now-defunct One Mind Ministries pleaded guilty to starving her son to death. Allegedly, she and other cult members stopped feeding the 1-year-old because he wouldn’t say “amen” at mealtime.

Back in 1993, David Koresh’s Branch Davidian sect ended in a conflagration after a 51-day standoff with the FBI. In 1978, over 900 members of the People’s Temple died at Jonestown, Guyana, in a mass murder-suicide; and in 1997, scores of Heaven’s Gate followers killed themselves in California.
[Click here to read the rest of this review]

Winnipeg Free Press Review 4/26/2009 Review by Jeff Presslaff

Hazards of a controlling leader

It is 2009. Jim Jones, Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson are within living memory. Piles of books, films and TV shows relate the hazards of falling under the spell of a charismatic, controlling leader.

Who needs another? Should there be any sympathy left for those who forsake the responsibility to lead their own lives?

These are some of the questions being directed at Jayanti Tamm, whose memoir Cartwheels in a Sari recounts her 25 years as a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, the Bangladeshi self-proclaimed holy man who amassed a worldwide following in the last decades of the 20th century.

But Tamm is not your ordinary cultist. She did not, like her parents, flee modern alienation for the safety of an all-knowing guru who would direct her life.

She is also unlike other children born to such parents, who either take to the community or fall away with little consequence.

Tamm was the Chosen One — a soul allegedly called down from heaven to serve history’s greatest avatar (his own assessment) as his most devoted disciple.

Or perhaps the Guru simply finessed an awkward situation. [Click here to read the rest of this review]

Booklist Review

In this frank, clear-eyed memoir, Tamm recounts her youth as the chosen disciple of Sri Chinmoy, the
wildly charismatic leader of a New York–based spiritual sect that counts celebrities and heads of nations
among its millions of followers. “All of my childhood memories involve trying to obey and please guru,”
Tamm writes, and with concise, absorbing detail, she describes her early years, spent playing board games such as “Disciple Chutes and Ladders” (“Did not meditate soulfully—Go back ten spaces”); her chaste but forbidden teen encounters with guys, after which the Guru reminds her, “The Supreme is your eternity’s boyfriend”; and a young-adult crisis that leads to a suicide attempt and, ultimately, her break with the cult. Tamm never sensationalizes the facts, and her narrative restraint only intensifies the emotional impact of each incident. Witty, compassionate, and often heartbreaking, Tamm’s story offers crucial insight into a cult’s inner workings and methods of indoctrination. All readers, though, will recognize universal coming-of-age themes as Tamm discards unwanted childhood lessons and begins to shape an independent adult life.

Jayanti Tamm Website here…

Can be purchased at Random House or Amazon

News articles about Sri Chinmoy at RickRoss.com

IMHO
FACTNet

High-ranking defectors provide an unprecedented inside look at the Church of Scientology and its mercurial leader, David Miscavige.

David Pike — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:40:39 +0000

FACTNet news editor note: There is a response from the COS to part one of this series at the end of these stories. Also I would like to thank the whole crew at ReligionNewsBlog.com for the great work they do and allowing me the privilege of posting their work here…Thanks yall! Namaste!

St. Petersburg Times exposes Scientology to daylight…

Scientology…

Note these names: Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin. They are reporters for the St. Petersburg Times, and if you see any mud thrown at them, it is likely because these brave folks have written an article — the first in a three-part series — on Scientology.

Whenever The Church of Scientology, whose members claim to be the most ethical people on earth, is exposed to daylight it responds in the manner suggested by the cult’s founder: with hate, harassment, and other unethical behavior.

Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology

The leader of the Church of Scientology strode into the room with a boom box and an announcement: Time for a game of musical chairs.

David Miscavige had kept more than 30 members of his church’s executive staff cooped up for weeks in a small office building outside Los Angeles, not letting them leave except to grab a shower. They slept on the floor, their food carted in.

Their assignment was to develop strategic plans for the church. But the leader trashed their every idea and berated them as incompetents and enemies, of him and the church.

Prove your devotion, Miscavige told them, by winning at musical chairs. Everyone else — losers, all of you — will be banished to Scientology outposts around the world. If families are split up, too bad.

To the music of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody they played through the night, parading around a conference room in their Navy-style uniforms, grown men and women wrestling over chairs.

The next evening, early in 2004, Miscavige gathered the group and out of nowhere slapped a manager named Tom De Vocht, threw him to the ground and delivered more blows. De Vocht took the beating and the humiliation in silence — the way other executives always took the leader’s attacks.

This account comes from executives who for decades were key figures in Scientology’s powerful inner circle. Marty Rathbun and Mike Rinder, the highest-ranking executives to leave the church, are speaking out for the first time.

Two other former executives who defected also agreed to interviews with the St. Petersburg Times: De Vocht, who for years oversaw the church’s spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, and Amy Scobee, who helped create Scientology’s celebrity network, which caters to the likes of John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

One by one, the four defectors walked away from the only life they knew. That Rathbun and Rinder are speaking out is a stunning reversal because they were among Miscavige’s closest associates, Haldeman and Ehrlichman to his Nixon.

Now they provide an unprecedented look inside the upper reaches of the tightly controlled organization. They reveal:

• Physical violence permeated Scientology’s international management team. Miscavige set the tone, routinely attacking his lieutenants. Rinder says the leader attacked him some 50 times.

Rathbun, Rinder and De Vocht admit that they, too, attacked their colleagues, to demonstrate loyalty to Miscavige and prove their mettle.

• Staffers are disciplined and controlled by a multilayered system of “ecclesiastical justice.” It includes publicly confessing sins and crimes to a group of peers, being ordered to jump into a pool fully clothed, facing embarrassing “security checks” or, worse, being isolated as a “suppressive person.”

At the pinnacle of the hierarchy, Miscavige commands such power that managers follow his orders, however bizarre, with lemming-like obedience.

• Church staffers covered up how they botched the care of Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist who died after they held her 17 days in isolation at Clearwater’s Fort Harrison Hotel.

Rathbun, who Miscavige put in charge of dealing with the fallout from the case, admits that he ordered the destruction of incriminating evidence. He and others also reveal that Miscavige made an embarrassing miscalculation on McPherson’s Scientology counseling.

• With Miscavige calling the shots and Rathbun among those at his side, the church muscled the IRS into granting Scientology tax-exempt status. Offering fresh perspective on one of the church’s crowning moments, Rathbun details an extraordinary campaign of public pressure backed by thousands of lawsuits.

• To prop up revenues, Miscavige has turned to long-time parishioners, urging them to buy material that the church markets as must-have, improved sacred scripture.

Church officials deny the accusations.
[…]

- Source / Full Story: Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology, Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin, Times Staff Writers, St. Petersburg Times, June 21, 2009 —Summarized by Religion News Blog

About The Story

Mark C. “Marty” Rathbun left the Church of Scientology staff in late 2004, ending a 27-year career that saw him rise to be among the organization’s top leaders. For the past four years, he has lived a low-profile life in Texas. Some speculated he had died.

In February, Rathbun posted an Internet message announcing he was available to counsel other disaffected Scientologists.

“Having dug myself out of the dark pit where many who leave the church land,” he wrote, “I began lending a hand to others similarly situated.”

Contacted by the St. Petersburg Times, Rathbun agreed to tell the story of his years in Scientology and what led to his leaving. The Times interviewed him at his home in Texas, and he came to Clearwater to revisit some of the scenes he described.

Seeking to corroborate Rathbun’s story, the newspaper contacted others who were in Scientology during the same period and have left the church: Mike Rinder, one of Rathbun’s closest associates for two decades; Tom De Vocht, whom Rathbun named as key to his decision to leave; and later, Amy Scobee.

Rathbun and Rinder were well known to the reporters, who had interviewed them dozens of times, sometimes combatively, through years of controversy in Clearwater. They also hosted the reporters in Los Angeles in 1998, when Miscavige granted the only print media interview he has given.

Two reporters met Rinder in Denver, where he now lives, but he declined to be interviewed. About a month later, two Washington-based lawyers who work for the church showed up unannounced in Denver, informed Rinder that they had heard about the newspaper’s visit and asked what he had revealed.

They reminded him that as one of the church’s top legal officers, attorney-client privilege did not end when he left the church. They told him he could hurt the church by going public.

Weeks later, after the church provided the newspaper with a 2007 video of Rinder heatedly denying that Miscavige hit him and others, Rinder decided to talk to the Times.

De Vocht was interviewed in Winter Haven. Scobee was interviewed in Pinellas County, when she and her husband came to visit relatives.

The reporters interviewed the four defectors multiple times, and met with church spokesmen and lawyers for 25 hours.

Joe Childs, Managing Editor/Tampa Bay, ran the Times Clearwater operation dating to 1993 and supervises the newspaper’s Scientology coverage. He can be reached at childs@sptimes.com

Thomas C. Tobin has covered the Church of Scientology off and on since 1996. He can be reached at tobin@sptimes.com

COMING TOMORROW PART 2

New details about the case of Lisa McPherson — who died in the care of Scientologists — from the executive who directed the church’s handling of the case. He admits he ordered the destruction of incriminating evidence.

COMING TUESDAY PART 3

The defectors describe bizarre behavior, group punishments and other facets of the church’s internal justice system.

ONLINE TAMPABAY.COM/SCIENTOLOGY

Go online for more on Scientology, including video interviews with two of the defectors and previous coverage of the church.

- Source / Full Story: Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology, Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin, Times Staff Writers, St. Petersburg Times, June 21, 2009 — Summarized by Religion News Blog

Part .1 - Scientology’s response to church defectors: ‘Total lies’
by Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin, St. Petersburg Times Staff Writers
http://www.tampabay.com/news/article1012138.ece

The Church of Scientology pressed vigorously Friday to delay publication of the Times’ Scientology story. Its spokesmen and lawyers said that the few days the newspaper gave the church to respond to Mike Rinder, who only recently agreed to go public, was not enough time. The church also said the Times needs to talk to more people.

Church spokesmen, executives, attorneys and others flew in from around the country to meet with reporters in Clearwater. The parade started with ex-wives of the three male defectors. All three are Scientologists still. Each praised Miscavige’s visionary leadership and said their ex-husbands can’t be trusted.

Jennifer Linson said her ex, Tom De Vocht, had a reckless streak. Anne Joasem said her ex, Marty Rathbun, “lives for war.'’ Cathy Rinder said her ex is so out of touch with their children he doesn’t know his 24-year-old son has skin cancer.

Next came Norman Starkey, a church executive who knew Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. He said Miscavige never attacked him. “I know everything he is doing is exactly in line with what Mr. Hubbard had in mind.'’

Hubbard biographer Danny Sherman told a story of Miscavige spotting an injured sparrow, talking to it and checking back later to see if it lived. “It was immensely tender.'’

New York lawyer Eric Lieberman said he has represented the church 32 years and worked with Rathbun, who he said is aggressive and prone to ill-advised decisions.
…
Continue reading, links, pictures
http://www.tampabay.com/news/article1012138.ece

IMHO
FACTNet

Film Production Co. looking for ex-members near Allantown, PA

David Pike — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:08:55 +0000

FACTNet editors note: I received a letter from a woman wroking for a film company looking to speak to and film ex-members in the Allantown area. It would be great opportunity to get your story out and help educated the public of the dangers of the many destructive high control groups in our country and around the world.

Here is the letter…

Hello my name is (name censored) and I am working for a production company that is making a documentary on cults. I’ve been reading the discussion boards and it’s horrible what many of these ex-cult member had to endure. I am looking for cults in Pennsylvania (the production company is in Allentown, PA). This documentary would be a great way to get this web sites’ message out to the world and save anyone suffering in silence. This is meant to expose the horror that these cults create, not to exploit the ex-cult members. The people that are registered to this site are courageous and their stories should be told. Please contact me for more information!
I promise you this is not some scam! The production company is called Almost Free Productions and my job is to help with research.

Thank you for your time and hopefully I’ll here back from you soon!

You can find out more and also contact them here. AlmostFreeProductions.com

or write to SpencerSnygg@AlmostFreeProductions.com

IMHO
FACTNet

“After the Cult”: Recovery Workshop for Former Group Members (ICSA)

David Pike — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:27:49 +0000

Friday 3:00 p.m., July 31, 2009 to Sunday 3:00 p.m., August 2, 2009

Franciscan Retreat/Conference Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Topics Covered (Agenda):

· The nature of psychological manipulation and abuse

· Conditions of thought reform programs

· General recovery needs of former members

· Effects of hypnosis and trance techniques

· Critical thinking

· Relationships and intimacy

· Post-traumatic stress syndrome

· Boundaries: re-establishing trust

· Coping with feelings of anger

· Coping with anxiety

· Decision-making

· Reestablishing trust in yourself and others

· Dependency issues

· The grieving process

· Reintegration/identity issues

· Spiritual and philosophical concerns

· Special track for those born into or raised in a cultic group

Fees: Register after 6/1/09 - Double ($240); Single ($325)

Fees include meals (Friday dinner through Sunday lunch) and Friday and Saturday accommodations. Note: Check-in time is 3:00 p.m. – first session 4:00 p.m.

Location:

Franciscan Retreat Center
7740 Deer Hill Grove
Colorado Springs, CO 80919
Phone: 719-955-7025
Fax: 719-260-8044

Please note that the Franciscan Retreat Center is a Catholic retreat center and there are some religious icons and pictures on site.

Correspondence To:

ICSA, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 34133. 239-514-3081. mail@icsamail.com

Online registration: http://store.icsahome.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=ICIB&Category_Code=WorkshopCo

IMHO
FACTNet

French prosecutor seeks dissolution of Scientology

David Pike — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:35:45 +0000

PARIS (Reuters) - A French prosecutor on Monday recommended a Paris court should dissolve the Church of Scientology’s French branch when it rules on charges of fraud against the organization.

Registered as a religion in the United States, with celebrity members such as actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology enjoys no such legal protection in France, where it has faced repeated accusations of being a money-making cult.

The Church’s Paris headquarters and bookshop are defendants in a fraud trial that began on May 25. Summing up her views on the case, state prosecutor Maud Coujard urged the court to return a guilty verdict and dissolve the organization in France.

The Church of Scientology denies the fraud charges and says the case against it violates freedom of religion.

A ruling is expected within months.

French state prosecutors had previously resisted the idea of an outright dissolution of Scientology in the country.

If the court follows the prosecutor’s recommendation, Scientology could appeal and the verdict would be suspended.

The trial centers on complaints made in the late 1990s by two former members who spent huge sums on Scientology courses and “purification” sessions.
(Reporting by Thierry Leveque, editing by Estelle Shirbon and Richard Balmforth)Rueters-UK Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:57pm

French prosecutors urge court to shut down Scientologists

Prosecutors urged a court to shut down the Church of Scientology and punish its leaders for using “fraudulent” tactics to woo new followers.

Paris – French prosecutors urged a court on Monday to shut down the Church of Scientology in France and punish its leaders for using “fraudulent” tactics to woo new followers.

Prosecutors Maud Morel-Coujard and Nicolas Baieto called on the court to dismantle the movement’s French structures, the Scientology Celebrity Centre and an associated bookshop in Paris, and fine them each EUR two million (USD 2.75 million).

They also demanded a four-year suspended jail sentence and EUR 150,000 fine against the French centre’s founder, Alain Rosenberg, and asked the court to deprive him of civic and civil rights for five years.

The prosecutors further asked for suspended jail sentences of up to three years and fines of up to EUR 50,000 against five other top French Scientology officials.

“A whole series of fraudulent maneuvers were used in the search for new followers,” Morel-Coujard told the court.

Known for its Hollywood celebrity followers Tom Cruise and John Travolta, Scientology is in the dock in Paris for the second time in six years, although French courts have prosecuted several individual Scientologists since 1978.

The group’s French branch has rejected the accusations, insisting that Scientology was a legitimate religion whose members faced persecution.

France officially considers Scientology to be a sect.

The defense will plead its case on Tuesday and Wednesday and the court will issue a verdict in several weeks’ time.

AFP / Expatica

IMHO
FACTNet

Scientology Protest :Sea Arrrgh II, presented by The Pirate Bay

David Pike — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:54:36 +0000

FACTNet news editor note:This is an email being sent to the “Anonymous” from the “Anonymous” which is currently going around the net.

Attention, Anonymous! Those who have fallen asleep due to lack of lulz, take note!

This June has marked the beginning of a large, concerted operation. With this thrust, we will etch the true nature of the Sea Org firmly into the eyes of the public. The operation, dubbed Sea Arrrgh II, has seen seaarrrgh.com featured prominently on the front page of The Pirate Bay.

SeaArrrgh II - Protesting the Cult of scientology - June 13 & 20, 2009 – from TheDonzerlyLight on Vimeo.

Sea Arrrgh itself has been updated with new information and media, including videos and posters, to help everyone focus on tactics and local lulz rather than paperwork. As an added bonus, the Why We Protest forums now feature a more organized local threads section to help you streamline logistics.

Anonymous: Chanology - Introduction. from Church0fScientology on Vimeo.

Our efforts have not been in vain. There are currently 3 lawsuits being levied against CoS Intl regarding Sea Org labor violations, a Supreme Court appeal designed to strip CoS of their illegal tax status, multiple lawsuits against WISE businesses for forcing Hubbard’s “Tech” upon their employees, and a wrongful death suit. Oh, and there is the minor event of the country of France putting Scientology on trial for fraud. You can read more about these items at http://tinyurl.com/lawlsuits . Now is the time to stand proudly amongst your brothers and thumb our noses at the International Cult that dared to attack our home, the Internet.

Lulz will come to those who seek them! Use provided materials, the WWP forums, and your own creativity to whip up some controlled chaos in your sector. If you have not done so already, post a local thread and let your city count! If you cannot log in to your old account or retrieve the password, just create a new one.

Anonymous needs you, Anonymous!

Good luck, and godspeed.

IMHO
FACTNet

Invitation to join “Release and Reclaim” virtual group at RecoveryfromReligion@googlegroups.com

David Pike — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:12:10 +0000

Recovering from religious indoctrination can be difficult but it doesn’t have to be lonely. You can take part in a very supportive “Release and Reclaim” virtual group.

For those of you who may have missed the information about this group, I’d thought I’d send it along again because we are having one of our monthly conference calls this coming Sunday. These telephone group sessions make this online support system different from other forums. Members get to know each other more personally on the phone and follow up with discussions on the website. The next call is Sunday June 7 at 12:30 PM, PST. Participation is by invitation only, so if you are interested, give me a call and we can talk to see if it is a good fit for you.

Warmly regards,
Marlene Winell
510-292-0509

Dr. Marlene Winell speaks about indoctrination by authoritarian religion…

More videos with Dr. Marlene Winnel

“Release and Reclaim” virtual support/therapy group

What do we do? We have monthly conference CALLS for discussing subjects on our minds and providing support to each other. We also have an online group site for our FORUM and other features at http://groups.google.com/group/reclaim.

New members are invited to post profiles, including your religious/spiritual history and story of recovery to date. The site has profiles and discussion threads which have been very interesting. The group members are very supportive and thoughtful. I take an active role as a therapist in moving discussions forward so that we are focused on healing and growth rather than simply talking about what we have been through.

As a member you have access to:
- A forum for discussion. From our phone calls and the topics suggested so far, we have the following topics: relationships with friends and family in the “fold,” alternative views of spirituality, creativity, sexuality, and developing new friends/social support networks. More topics can be started, and we post information from our phone talks.
- Room to post creative writing (get published!)
- Reports and photos from retreats.
- Exercises for healing and growth related to the topics we are discussing.
- Articles
- Humor
- Information on Resources such as book reviews, films, and conferences

This group is for people who have worked with me already on issues related to religious recovery, or who have discussed their situation with me directly. The reason for this is to have some commonality and trust. The group is confidential like any therapy group, and I safeguard everybody’s safety and privacy. Membership is by invitation following an interview with me.

Membership involves a subscription of $30/month, and a sliding scale is available.

Please email me for more information or call and discuss at no obligation. 510-292-0509, mwinell@gmail.com.

3. Article

EASTER, DEATH, AND LIFE
by Marlene Winell

It’s Easter; I have memories of getting up early year after year as a child to go to Easter Sunrise Service. We gathered somewhere outdoors, simulating the women and disciples who went to Jesus’ tomb in the early morning on the day of his resurrection. We sang certain hymns that were only for Easter – “Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Ha-a-a-a-He -lelujah,” “He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me, along life’s narrow way!” I liked it – the brisk early morning, the feeling of life and hope, the joy of the music. Unlike a lot of other church experiences, it was a day of celebration. And what a profound message – death has been conquered! Just put your faith in Christ.

And now? It’s been many years and I’m no longer a Christian. I do not believe I will continue after I die. In my work as a psychologist, I work with people coming out of religion. There are many issues to deal with, and top or the list for many is this question of death and hellfire. The indoctrination is deep and insidious, a form of child abuse in my opinion. Even without hell, the idea of nonexistence (if that is the direction of change in belief), is sometimes a bitter pill to swallow. Fundamentalist Christianity downgrades a human lifetime compared to eternity and denigrates the whole world as fallen. How many times were we told to focus on where we will be in the hereafter? The result is fear, because no one is certain, and also neglect of the life that we have now.

For those of you who are anxious today and struggle with the idea of death, I can tell you that it is possible to stop fearing damnation. I certainly have and many other former believers have too. It is a phobia indoctrination that serves the religion. If you think you should believe “just in case,” think about what you would be missing. Essentially, your life. The greatest challenge for a human is to know about death, and live fully in the face of it. Other animals can more easily “be here now,” and we can learn from them. However, we have more awareness and it is our existential dilemma to make peace with death.

In a way, we do continue on. Our molecules get rearranged and become other things; nothing is lost, not one atom. This is the First Law of Thermodynamics – all matter and energy is conserved. I find it beautiful to walk in a forest and see a fallen tree where it is decomposing, nourishing the earth, and causing new life to spring up. And if you worry about your soul, ask yourself, “Where were “you” before you were born?” Is that so frightening?

No, we are better off paying attention to the present. This life is limited but so are a lot of things. The Christian attitude of denigrating life because it is short makes no sense. Is a wonderful meal any less wonderful because it ends? When you are listening to incredible music, are you upset because you know the piece will finish? Hopefully not, and we can extend that lesson to life itself. People who have a brush with death often learn to appreciate life in a special way. Our time on this earth is precious. Perhaps when we cherish our days, honor what is possible, love our fellow humans as best we can, and look at the world with awe and wonder, we can achieve a spirituality of a different kind. Of our own free will, we can commit acts of random kindness and dance for no reason at all. Death be damned.

For the recovering fundamentalist, reclaiming intuition and learning to trust one’s inner wisdom is an exciting process. We are not empty, weak, incapable, or bad. We are all interconnected and a part of our amazing universe. Even Einstein said thinking we are individuals is an illusion. One day, when I was a little discouraged, I wrote to myself from the wise part of me (yes, we are all multiples), and then wondered about that voice. This is what emerged, and it applies to all of us, so I hope you find a bit of inspiration too. I asked where the encouragement was coming from:

“This is from the force that makes the new shoot grow between concrete slabs. This is from the symmetry of fractals. This is from the incomprehensible distance of space, this is from the sound waves that blend and beat and tell you to dance, this is from the little child that looks at you clearly with no fear and says hi, this is from the unadulterated force of the sea under you and all around you when you swim in the ocean, the sea that takes no prisoners when the tide comes in, the sea that spawned life, and the same sea that sends a wave spreading up the sand to your bare feet, with rhythmic purring caress, bringing you the gems that make you smile - the perfect tiny shell, the fragment of blue glass that you tuck in your pocket.

“This is from the cosmic red afterglow of the big bang. This is from all eleven dimensions, from all the things you don’t understand and like that you don’t understand. This is from the parallel universes that come with the eleven dimensions, penetrating the membrane. This is from the aquifer beneath all of you, the source feeding flashes of human greatness. This is from the massive network of fungus, hidden from view under seemingly separate plants. This is from the power behind the form, the elusive explanation, the delectable mystery. I only have one thing to say to you right now - and that is REMEMBER ME. You are not alone. You always have a reason to go on. and there is no choice; you will go on anyway. Ineffable and inexorable, both. The tide is coming in again today; the ocean has not been deciding.”

Happy Spring!

Marlene Winell
marlenewinell.net
mwinell@gmail.com
510-292-0509

4. New website

Under Construction: The RecoveryFromReligion.org team is working on a major site redesign

This site is our effort to create a collection of resources and services that may be helpful to people who are in the process of recovering from harmful religious indoctrination.

A team of about a dozen of us are currently organizing and redesigning RecoveryFromReligion.org into a new content-rich site that will replace this current placeholder. We will have messages of hope and information about how to recover and thrive. Resources will be listed for counseling, groups, retreats, events, and materials helpful to the recovery process.

Quite a few excellent websites already exist that offer testimonials and theological debates. We believe that in addition to the intellectual work needed to get free of old beliefs, there are psychological and interpersonal areas of growth that need attention. The new recoveryfromreligion.org will emphasize pathways to health. (we are considering other names for the website since not all religion is toxic, eg. Journey Free)

Building this resource is an exciting but sizable task with many opportunities for people to help (not just web designers!). If you would like to be notified about upcoming conference calls and opportunities to help with this effort, contact Ryan Wadsworth: ryanrain@gmail.com

Even if you don’t get involved, we would welcome a short paragraph from you to post under “Messages of Hope.” These are to encourage folks who are struggling with letting go of a toxic belief system but are afraid. They need to know that healing is possible and that there are alternatives. If you have some supportive words, please contribute. You can write about what’s better about where you are now and what was helpful in your recovery process. Thanks!!!!! It matters!

IMHO
FACTNet

Cult expert calls Dahn Yoga a “destructive, deceptive, mind control cult”

David Pike — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:02:28 +0000

Suit against Dahn Yoga alleges ‘psychological manipulation’

Dahn Yoga claims it can ease your stress, even heal your ailments.

Dahn Yoga operates more than 130 centers across the U.S.

A new lawsuit filed on behalf of 26 former Dahn members alleges the organization subjects its members to “psychological manipulation”.

Experts say this organization fits the definition of a cult, adding that the accusations made in the 53-page lawsuit are not new.

Steve Hassan is a cult expert with more than 30 years of experience. The ABC15 Investigators spoke with him on camera in 2007.

“It’s a destructive, deceptive, mind control cult,” Hassan said.

He said he’s counseled more than 15 former Dahn followers.

“There are a wealth of psychological problems that this group has generated,” Hassan told ABC15 in 2007.

In the lawsuit, former Dahn members allege, “members were required to acknowledge… absolute devotion” to its leader, Ilchi Lee, and his “Vision”.

According to the lawsuit, “Absolute devotion to Defendant Ilchi Lee and his ‘Vision’ required that members dedicate all of their available cash and credit to the Dahn organization” and “…disconnect from their previous life, including friends and family and any personal interests outside of Dahn”.

Cult expert Steve Hassan…

Steven Alan Hassan(@wiki), cult counselor and mind control expert is a Nationally Certified Counselor and licensed Mental Health Counselor and has developed a breakthrough approach to help loved ones rescue cult mind control victims.

“They’re basically taking people’s minds and substituting the Dahn mind in its place,” Hassan told ABC15 in 2007.

The lawsuit also alleges, “Defendants recruit new members into the Dahn organization through the use of solicitation by existing members, operation of Dahn Yoga ‘Body and Brain’ clubs on college campuses, as well as by advertising in fliers posted on college campuses and nearby businesses and street corners”.

The connection between Body and Brain clubs and Dahn Yoga is something the ABC15 Investigators uncovered in 2007.

Monica, a former follower of Dahn Yoga and a student at the University of New Mexico, told ABC15 in 2007 that she was recruited into Dahn Yoga on campus.

“They advertise it as being something to help you de-stress from school,” Monica told ABC15 in 2007.

But instead of finding relaxation, she described bizarre rituals.

Dahn Yoga Official Statement Regarding May 22, 2009 Lawsuit by Former Employees:
Dahn Yoga & Health Centers, Inc. and its affiliates appreciate the contributions of over 2000 employees and franchise holders worldwide. Their happiness and well being are key to our success. We have reviewed the lawsuit and consider its claims frivolous. We are confident that the truth will be revealed in court. - Joe Ducey, ABC15.com, Arizona, USA, June 1, 2009

• 24 Former Dahn Masters File Law Suit (text of the lawsuit).

More articles on Dahn Yoga @ ReligionNewsBlog.com

IMHO
FACTNet