Cults

Cult Counseling
Cult counseling attempts to address the whole range of problems manifest in the victims of thought reform. The specific goal of the therapy is to assist the cult victim in establishing points of reference outside the closed polarized image of reality offered by his or her totalistic system. Cult counseling, consists of three basic elements: establishing rapport, describing points of reference outside the closed polarized image of reality of the cult, mourning/ reflecting and remembering the experience. I shall treat the three elements as though they are distinct. In fact they do overlap. In the first two stages the counselor or deprogrammer is involved as a full partner in what may be an extremely intense interaction. The third stage may or may not involve the counselors and is one that will stretch out over weeks, months and years and may include parents, siblings, friends and ex-cult members.

Establishing Rapport
An essential skill for the cult counselor in his or her therapeutic repertoire is a command of the cult idiom, its doctrine, special language and buzzwords. Few cult members will entertain conversation with someone who is unversed in their doctrine. Faced with a counselor who can not move freely in the cult idiom and doctrine, cult members are likely to assume a posture characterized by remarks such as: "how can you presume to judge my group and its beliefs when you don\'t even know what we believe?" or "if you were really interested in me you would examine my beliefs thoroughly enough to make intelligent conversation, rather than hurling accusations on the basis of hearsay."

It is important for the counselor to be explicit about who she or he is; about what he conceives his role to be; and to make clear exactly what the cult member can and cannot expect from him. In assisting the cult member to step outside the siege mentality of the cult, the counselor may want to begin by indicating that the encounter is not a battle situation. It is not an occasion for attack or retreat, threats or retaliation. The meeting will not produce a victor and a vanquished. It can or it may result in a dialogue. Many cult members expect the non-cult world to strike them or attack them or in some manner invade them.

This often creates a barrier to free discussion. In order to circumvent this barrier the counselor should maintain a posture and inner attitude of defenselessness, non-retaliation and openness. When and if rapport is established the main phase of the counseling may proceed rapidly. The four points described below characterize this phase. However, members of groups which practice mind control often do not wish to be freed from the moral and psychological bondage in which they are entrapped.

Describing Points of Reference Outside Image of Reality of the Cult This main phase of the counseling can generally be divided into four components:

A.) First, a thorough examination of the teaching of the group, its doctrine, language and claims. Often cult members are inducted into a cult without really studying or learning the cult doctrine, since the method of presentation rarely allows for real reflection. It is important for the cult member to grasp the cult doctrines in their entirety, so that later the doctrine may be used as a standard of judgment with which to examine the behavior of the leader of the group and the members of the group as a whole. If the authors of the cult\'s doctrine claim that the doctrine is logical and scientific it should be scanned for errors in logic, changes in the central hypotheses and lack of consistency with which definitions are maintained. Further if the cult\'s teaching is based on some preexisting scripture, all quotes from said scripture used as ballast should be checked against the original texts for distortions, omissions etc. As a coherent picture of the teaching emerges, the counselor and client enter into an examination of the social, political and psychological ramifications of these ideas. What are the likely results of the practice of this teaching, both to the individuals who try to put it into practice, and to the passive recipients of such practices? What is the likely social response to such a teaching?
B.) Next, a detailed exposition of the principles and practices of thought reform (as outlined by Lifton, 1963, and Milgram, 1969 and 1974. This should be coupled with an analysis of the cult member\'s initial contact with the cult group, its members and leaders, and an in depth reconstruction of the behavior of the cult members and leaders during training programs, workshops, retreats or encounter groups. Often this aspect of the counseling session sees the most dramatic response from the cult member. Here the mystery behind the cult\'s power is laid bare. The cult member may begin to get glimpses of the way in which psychological techniques, behavior modification, environmental control and an iron clad reinforcement schedule, together with the prospective cult member\'s psychological profile- high ideals and essential desire for goodness- were used to capture him or her. The net effect of the cult indoctrination is to produce a shift in consciousness, a shift in affect. Often this shift is accompanied by a "snapping moment"; a moment in which the cult\'s manipulative techniques bear fruit in the production of a "spiritual experience". This experience (the outcome of a tried and proven system) becomes, for the unwary initiate, existential proof of the existence of God, the supernatural confirmation of the truth of the teachings and an affidavit guaranteeing the character and motives of the leaders of the group.

A KIND OF ILLUMINATION IN ITSELF
It is vital that the cult member be given the opportunity and the tools with which to distinguish between the cult doctrines and the behavior modification techniques used in the production of the snapping moment or peak experience. For many cult members these behaviorally and environmentally induced "spiritual experiences" are the bridge between a healthy, open and questioning attitude and a kind of regression into dependence, embeddedness and infantilism. These experiences, occurring often as they do within the highly charged, tightly controlled atmosphere of the cult indoctrination center, are not subjected to critical scrutiny. They are metabolized and socialized within the language and doctrine of the cult. They are the occasion for increased approval from the group. Phenomenologically speaking, they initiate the "divine history" of the individual, and they recapitulate and reinforce the history and mythology of the group. What is perceived as a flash of illumination and liberation becomes, in fact, the first step toward moral slavery and psychological bondage. During this phase of the conversation the counselor wants to do everything in his or her power to help the cult member critically evaluate the variables at play in the cult-training environment. To see through the cult psycho-technology is a kind of illumination in itself.
C.) The presentation of testimonies of ex-members, court records, depositions, audio and videotapes dealing with the activities of the group. These may include evidence of illegal and corrupt activities, suspect training methods, ill treatment of members and the experiences of ex-members and their families.
D.) In conjunction with a review of characteristics of the particular cult involved, the counselor should lead the discussion towards an examination of other totalitarian groups. A look at the philosophy, activities, training methods, world view and psychology of other cult groups may allow the cult member to see that his own group is but one of the many groups out there. Common characteristics often include: rigid orthodoxy, adversary worldview, exclusive claim to truth, sacrificial members, hierarchical social structure and divinely ordained leader.

Perception of the universality of components between cults may go a long way toward putting to rest, in the minds of the cult members, previously held convictions that their group, and that group alone, is privy to the absolute truth.

By this time, if dialogue has been established, the monolithic picture of reality promulgated by the cult may be breaking down in the mind of the cult member. Here it is often helpful for the counselor to encourage the cult member to review the main points of their discussion so far, with an eye to abstracting from the conversation some general statements about cult life versus his or her life in their family, school or community.

Once the cult member begins to volunteer information and contribute spontaneously to the discussion, this may signal a significant turning point in the session.

Remembering, Reflecting and Mourning
No attempt should be made to suppress or extinguish the cult member\'s memories or experiences in the cult. In fact these are their legacy. No matter that the cult recruiters and trainers may have lied, tricked and conspired to produce the "conversion" of the cult member, the fact remains that the cult member\'s perceptions and experiences are real. The attachments, which were formed, the expectations that were awakened, and the love that was shared, the suffering together for a common goal: these experiences form the psychological landscape of the cult member\'s world. It is in the framework of these "positive" experiences and feelings that the irrational, illegal and dangerous activities of the cult group are carried out.

Reflecting on the cult experience is natural and healthy. This remembering can be likened to mourning the loss or death of a loved one. To put pressure on ex-members not to talk about or reflect on their experience is to inhibit their rehabilitation and to deprive them of their most powerful tools for digesting the cult experience. Family members can supply invaluable aid by assuming a receptive supportive, non-judgmental attitude and simply listening to cult members\' accounts of their cult days. Conversations about their own cult are often pivotal points in the recent ex-cult member\'s recovery of balance and perspective. Some ex-members find it helpful to write down their experiences. Writing about, thinking about and discussing cult experiences are powerful strategies for metabolizing the cult experience and resuming the autonomous conduct of one\'s life.

Ethical Implications of Cult Counseling
Delgado (1977) discusses in depth the legal and moral issues, which surround the question of bringing aid to members of groups which employ deception, social coercion and mind control in their recruitment and indoctrination procedures. Among the avenues of relief available to families who have lost a child to such a group are: " a variety of remedies, ranging from simple preventative requirements to procedures aimed at returning a victim to his former condition" (p.98)

Once a family has recognized that their son or daughter is involved with a totalist group, it is faced with a bewildering array of decisions, issues and moral questions.

A family with a child in a destructive cult needs help. It needs help from other families who have already experienced the trials and tribulations which cult involvement inevitably brings. They need the counsel of former members of that particular cult in order to help them formulate strategies for freeing, or for merely communicating with their child.

Cult involvement is a problem. It is a problem for the child in the cult and it is a problem for child\'s parents and siblings. But it need not become a tragedy. After proper counsel, thoroughgoing education and exhaustive examination of the resources available, a family may choose to intervene in the life of their child in the cult in order to give their child the opportunity to regain control of his mind and critical faculties. This intervention may take one of several forms: a series of counseling sessions with an informed member of the helping professions (psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or cleric); an interview or series of interviews with articulate ex-members of the cult.

These first two forms of intervention presuppose the free assent of the cult member. However, in the case of many members of destructive cults, the cult member is not capable of making the decision to critically evaluate either his involvement in the group or the group\'s activities and aims.

In many destructive cults the goal of training and indoctrination is to destroy the individual\'s capacity for independent thought and moral judgment, since the active exercise of these faculties would be likely to prevent the initiate from making a complete commitment to the cult.

The family is faced with a moral problem. Remaining in the cult, the child is often living in a condition of involuntary servitude. The child is the virtual tool of the cult leaders. An extremely important consideration is the fact the child\'s life and activities in the cult are not carried out in a moral vacuum. While remaining in the cult, the child usually participates in recruiting other innocent, unwary young people and in other activities such as charities fraud (illegal fund raising). These facts often weigh heavily in the thinking of those parents who have employed either of the first two forms of intervention without apparent success. A third path remains open, counseling with restraint or "deprogramming". This generally consists of the components described earlier in this article, with the significant difference that the cult member is not allowed to leave the counseling environment until the parents and counselors are satisfied that the cult member has seriously considered the information presented by the counselors.

In the end, of course, there is no foolproof method of delivering someone from a destructive cult. Any of the three avenues described here may work. On the other hand, none of them may have much apparent success. The critical factor is the assent of the cult member, whether it is an open counseling session or one in which the cult member is restricted for a time. If the cult member absolutely and categorically refuses dialogue, and can maintain this position throughout the session, he will in all likelihood remain in the cult. In all of the three remedies proposed the cult member is invited into a dialogue to examine information , which he or she has not been allowed to see in the cult. If the cult member can for a short while suspend disbelief in his or her parents and the counselor(s) and re-entertain an open, questioning posture with respect to the cult, it is possible if not probable that he will see through what has been done to him and come all the way out of the cult.

A General Misreading of the Facts
To interpret cult involvement as a developmental phase, an aspect of growing up or an intra-psychic strategy for dealing with the problems of adjustment, which surround the passage from adolescence to adulthood, represents, in general, a misreading of the facts. It fails to take into account the tactics, strategies and overall goals of the cult. Specifically it represents a failure to confront the indisputable fact that deliberate deception, social coercion and psychological manipulation form the backbone of the cult\'s recruiting and indoctrinating procedures. The successfully socialized cult member has entered a world in which submission to authority; blind obedience and conformity have supplanted such "outmoded" notions of character development as the development of self-reliance, the capacity for critical thinking and the need for openness and compassion in human relationships. Any character development that takes place inside cult groups employing mind control techniques in their indoctrination procedures and in the maintenance of cult normative behaviors, is fortuitous. It occurs in spite of, not as a result of, cult practice.

For those families who have a child in a destructive cult there are a host of perspectives, attitudes, postures and strategies which may variously be assumed or employed in an attempt to come to terms with the painful facts. The family can see that something is wrong. The cult group says the family is evil. The cult accuses the family and anyone with authority outside the cult. It says: " your love is no good, it does not serve. You do not have the right to love your children". Emotional tension is heightened when children join with their cult mentors to echo the accusation of parents and families. I believe that to act to save their children from the destructive cult is the right of parents. It is an expression of their love. It can represent, in the deepest sense, a reaffirmation of a husband\'s and a wife\'s commitment to each other and to their children. It is a test of their love. To fight for the life of one\'s child in the face of the systematic accusation of a destructive cult is one of the tasks of this age.

1. Lifton, R.J.(1963) " Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism."
2. Milgram, S. (1969, 1974) "Obedience to Authority."
3. Richard Delgado, assistant professor of law at the University of Washington; Delgado, R.(1977) " Religious Totalism: gentle and ungentle persuasion under the first amendment" in S. California Law Review, Nov. 1977(pp.1-98)

Initial Issues/Response

• How should family and friends act when they suspect that someone is involved with a potentially destructive group/leader? REMAIN CALM. You may be wrong. Don\'t be confrontational or jump to conclusions. Instead, investigate thoroughly and discretely discover as much information as possible. First, check the Internet, library and public records for specifics about the group/leader. You might also make quiet inquiries with local clergy, police, social services and public safety in the community where the group/leader is located. Organize a file for notes, articles and other information that you may gather.
• How should family and friends react to someone when they know that person is involved with a potentially destructive group/leader?

  Be nurturing, loving and attentive, which may contrast with the treatment they receive from the group/leader. Don\'t rush to judgment. Remember that doing nothing is always an option. It is also crucial to maintain meaningful and positive communication and seek support from family and friends. Don\'t be negative and critical and remember, when in doubt, don\'t act. If you are not sure, seek out and gather more information.

  Staging an intervention with a professional is another possible option, but be sure to make a carefully considered and informed decision before taking any action. Always focus on the facts and your own specific situation. You can also simply wait and see, or possibly discuss your concerns at a friendly meeting if and when the person involved raises some doubts about the group/leader and/or when their involvement raises increasingly serious issues. However, waiting may allow the group/leader time to increase control, which will make an intervention more difficult.

Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader.

1. Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
2. No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
3. No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
4. Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
5. There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
6. Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
7. There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
8. Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
9. The group/leader is always right.
10. The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.

Ten warning signs regarding people involved in/with a potentially unsafe group/leader.

1. Extreme obsessiveness regarding the group/leader resulting in the exclusion of almost every practical consideration.
2. Individual identity, the group, the leader and/or God as distinct and separate categories of existence become increasingly blurred. Instead, in the follower\'s mind these identities become substantially and increasingly fused--as that person\'s involvement with the group/leader continues and deepens.
3. Whenever the group/leader is criticized or questioned it is characterized as "persecution".
4. Uncharacteristically stilted and seemingly programmed conversation and mannerisms, cloning of the group/leader in personal behavior.
5. Dependency upon the group/leader for problem solving, solutions, and definitions without meaningful reflective thought. A seeming inability to think independently or analyze situations without group/leader involvement.
6. Hyperactivity centered on the group/leader agenda, which seems to supercede any personal goals or individual interests.
7. A dramatic loss of spontaneity and sense of humor.
8. Increasing isolation from family and old friends unless they demonstrate an interest in the group/leader.
9. Anything the group/leader does can be justified no matter how harsh or harmful.
10. Former followers are at best-considered negative or worse evil and under bad influences. They cannot be trusted and personal contact is avoided.

Ten signs of a safe group/leader.

1. A safe group/leader will answer your questions without becoming judgmental and punitive.
2. A safe group/leader will disclose information such as finances and often offer an independently audited financial statement regarding budget and expenses. Safe groups and leaders will tell you more than you want to know.
3. A safe group/leader is often democratic, sharing decision making and encouraging accountability and oversight.
4. A safe group/leader may have disgruntled former followers, but will not vilify, excommunicate and forbid others from associating with them.
5. A safe group/leader will not have a paper trail of overwhelmingly negative records, books, articles and statements about them.
6. A safe group/leader will encourage family communication, community interaction and existing friendships and not feel threatened.
7. A safe group/leader will recognize reasonable boundaries and limitations when dealing with others.
8. A safe group/leader will encourage critical thinking, individual autonomy and feelings of self-esteem.
9. A safe group/leader will admit failings and mistakes and accept constructive criticism and advice.
10. A safe group/leader will not be the only source of knowledge and learning excluding everyone else, but value dialogue and the free exchange of ideas.

Don\'t be naive
You can protect yourself from unsafe groups and leaders. Check things out, know the facts and examine the evidence. A safe group will be patient with your decision making process. If a group or leader grows angry and anxious just because you want to make an informed and careful decision before joining; beware.

RECOVERED MEMORY THERAPY
Many adults enter therapy with no recollections of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, if they receive Recovered Memory Therapy (RMT), then some will recover CSA memories. Some therapists claim an 80% success rate; a few claim 100%. Often memories emerge during meetings of survivors; sometimes they materialize during self-hypnosis.

Since the early 1980s, approximately 17% of the clients who recover memories of CSA go on to uncover memories of ritual abuse or of Satanic or Sadistic Ritual Abuse (SRA). Some also progress to a diagnosis of Multiple Personality Disorder (a.k.a. Dissociative Identity Disorder).

Mental health professionals debated whether such memories were of real events, or were an unintended phenomenon arising from the experimental RMT therapeutic techniques. A split developed among professionals. Most memory researchers believed that recovered memories should not be regarded as valid unless corroboration is first obtained. Many therapists believed that the memories represent actual memories of real events. Various professional organizations recommended against accepting recovered memories as accurate without external verification; however they did little to combat the proliferation of RMT therapy.

This conflict raged during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Patients and clients continued to be exposed to various experimental therapies, even though there was:

• No hard evidence of SRA actually had happened anywhere in North America.
• A lack of experimental studies showing that memories can be repressed and later recovered.
• Obvious decline in the mental state of the clients during therapy.
• Massive destruction of the clients\' families of origin due to uncorroborated accusations of CSA and SRA.

A series of high-profile court cases with multi-million dollar settlements against RMT therapists brought pressure by malpractice insurance companies, mental health professionals, the media, and the general public. By the late 1990s, recovered memory therapy was largely discredited, and belief about the validity of MPR/DID was in rapid decline.

Common SRA memories:
SRA memories usually include being forced to attend Satanic rituals conducted by inter-generational, secret cults. They were forced to watch and sometimes participate while animals and infants were tortured and ritually murdered; the victim\'s flesh was eaten and their blood consumed. There are many indicators that such cults do not exist and that the SRA memories are false.

Allegations of SRA mind-control programming:
Along with memories of Satanic rituals, many SRA survivors recall being subjected to programming sessions by the cult; this lead to mind control by the cult. The Los Angeles County Task Force on Ritual Abuse described programming as follows: "Mind control is the cornerstone of ritual abuse, the key element in the subjugation and silencing of its victims. Victims of ritual abuse are subjected to a rigorously applied system of mind control designed to rob them of their sense of free will and to impose upon them the will of the cult and its leaders."

Elements of mind control programming are often believed to include: a Satanic (or similar) religious cult, sometimes involved in criminal activities. Alternately, a secret federal government agency or men\'s fraternal organization is involved.
*the cult contains many civic leaders: local government office holders, police, judges, doctors, Christian clergy, etc. Many members attend Christian churches on Sunday and put on Satanic robes at other times.
*the cult needs to develop robot-like behavior in children so that when they mature, they will take over the organization of the group and continue the abuse into the next generation.
*the cult tests children at a young age. Those who are have an average or low ability to dissociate are killed in ritual sacrifices; those who can readily dissociate are retained for programming
*by a highly sophisticated program of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, the children are taught to dissociate. When they are unable to handle the pain and terror, their mind drifts elsewhere to a safe place. They become able to block out the abuse. Eventually, the dissociation becomes so complete that multiple personalities are created. These alternative personalities (or alters) are a natural defense mechanism within the brain of a child when they are confronted with more abuse than they can handle. Each alter adsorbs some of the memories of the abuse. The child will eventually have a single dominant personality which is in control most of the time, and is unaware of the programming and of the presence of the alters. However, control can be transferred to an alter for intervals of time.

These alters are programmed to perform certain specific functions. For example:
*return the survivor to the cult upon command for further abuse or programming
*return the survivor to the cult upon command for further abuse or programming
*commit suicide if the survivor discloses information that might threaten the safety and security of the cult
*disrupt therapy, through thought stealing, mind scrambling, emotional outbursts or distancing from the therapist
*burn, cut or otherwise mutilate the body
*send status reports back to the cult, etc.

Along with alter programming, certain triggers are established that will cause a particular alter to emerge and perform their pre-programmed function. These triggers may be a word, sound, color, picture, time, date, hand sign, etc., or a combination of events. As part of its programming, the child is required to kill animals and/or infants, and to feel guilt for the murder. This reinforces their low self-image and feelings of hopelessness and lack of control and power.

As an adult, the survivor is unaware of the programming and SRA. They do not realize that they are suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) or Dissociative Identify Disorder (DID). Recollections of abuse are locked up in the alters\' memories.

One of her alters is recalled periodically by the cult for further abuse and programming. This often occurs on "call-back" years, at ages 27, 30, 33 etc. when the survivor feels that she must either return or kill herself. She might be recalled for an entire weekend of abuse; on Monday morning her memories are a complete blank, although her physical condition is dreadful.

A few adults are driven by emotional problems to seek therapy. Under hypnosis and other suggestive treatments, awareness of the alters and of the cult abuse and programming can emerge. Suicide ideation and successful suicides are relatively common among individuals recovering memory of SRA and of programming.

Does Programming Exist?
We have been unable to uncover hard evidence of its existence. Like SRA itself, there are thousands or tens of thousands of people who have recovered memories of having been programmed in cults. Many have been diagnosed as suffering from MPD/DID. But such memories are highly suspect.

We have been unable to find any criminal charges or convictions relating to these forms of abuse. We have been unable to find any instance where a survivor was followed during a recall to the cult. We have never been able to locate a survivor of cult-induced programming who has had continuous memories of the abuse. We have never found a credible Satanic ritual abuse disclosure by a child. We tentatively conclude that no programming, and in fact no Satanic Ritual Abuse is perpetrated by organized cults in North America.

Why Do People Believe in Programming? Fundamental beliefs which are commonly held by people who believe in programming and mind control are:

*the psychological programming derived shown in some movies [e.g. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)] are possible in real life.
*that "brainwashing" techniques used during the Korean war were much more effective than they really were.
*that the CIA pilot projects in mind control (Artichoke: 1951-1953; MKULTRA: 1953-1963; MKSEARCH: 1963-1973), which used drugs, hypnosis, hallucinogens, sensory depravation etc., were not shut down in the 1970\'s due to lack of useable results as is generally believed. They have been continued secretly to the present time.
*that memories recovered during hypnosis and other forms of suggestive therapy are always accurate recollections of real events, no matter how bizarre or improbable they may seem.

Under pressure from the Anti-Cult Movement, the American Psychological Association gave legitimacy to these beliefs in their DSM-IV manual (4). They described a type of dissociative disorder that can "occur in individuals who have been subjected to periods of prolonged and intensive coercive persuasion (e.g. brainwashing, thought reform, or indoctrination while captive)"

Specific Techniques of Programming Psychologist Cory Hammond of the University of Utah has lectured on the Satanic techniques of mind control. He claims that a team of Nazi doctors had been conducting mind control experiments in concentration camps. They came to the US after the war to secretly continue their experiments for the CIA. They allegedly programmed and tortured children on army bases across the US. At this time, the CIA, NASA, the Mafia, Hollywood and some business leaders are part of a massive, tightly controlled Satanic network which is gearing up to rule the world. He asserts that children are programmed from age 3 to teenage years; this involves disorienting noise, flashing lights and electric shocks. He believes that alters are created to perform specific functions. Programmed is done in layers; some are:
Alpha layer is general programming
Beta controls sexual behavior including knowledge to make kiddy-porn
Delta are assassins and are responsible for slashing
Theta are psychic killers; through mental energy, they can cause another person to develop a malignant brain tumor
Omega self-mutilate and commit suicide
Gamma provide misinformation and create confusion
Zeta has information to produce snuff films

According to the Los Angeles County Task Force on Ritual Abuse, 2 techniques used by the cult include:
physical abuse: starvation, thirst, pain, drugs, exhaustion, physical isolation, sexual abuse, disorienting bright lights.
emotional abuse: the creation of moods of terror, guilt, shame, emotional isolation and rage.
cognitive abuse: being kept in a state of ignorance, confusion; being taught that God has abandoned them and that Satan is in control

Dr. John D. Lovern has described spin programming, a "newly uncovered technique of systematic mind control which he uncovered during therapy with his patients". He believes that it is used by Satanic cults to simultaneously modify the programming of a number (perhaps all) of a survivor\'s alters. If the patient is aware of their alters, then she will report that many or all of them are feeling a common emotion (e.g. fear, depression, etc.). They will complain of dizziness and of a sense of spinning internally; parts of their body may move rhythmically. The survivors speak of starting programming at the age of three. Many methods are used:
lying horizontally on a rotating table
horizontal spinning about the long axis of the body (as in a barbecue)
attached to a vertical rotating table (like the arms on a clock)
attached to a vertical spinning pole
confined upright inside a vertical spinning cylinder
Dr. Lovern implies that most (perhaps all) survivors may have been exposed to long periods of spin programming.

A person with MPD called "all of us" has described a color programming method that she believes is in standard use by Satanists worldwide. One color is associated with each alter or grouping of similar alters; it may be the clothes\' color that they are visualized as wearing, or the color of the "room" that they live in. Pink are infant alters; red are Witches and sexually compliant alters; black perform rituals; purple are the supervisors; light blue protect the body; dark blue protect the cult; orange handle emergencies; yellows are spiritual alters; green alters maintain ties to the family or origin; browns are disguise alters; sliver are alters with ESP powers; gold are the senior administrators; white is the principle personality; platinum is the ultimate authority.

Some of our memories are true, some are a mixture of fact and fantasy, and some are false -- whether those memories seem to be continuous or seem to be recalled after a time of being forgotten or not thought about.

Then how can we know if our memories are true? The professional organizations agree: the only way to distinguish between true and false memories is by external corroboration. Does it matter if someone has a false belief about the past? Most of the time it doesn\'t. Sometimes, however, false beliefs cause great harm, not only to the people who hold them, but also to others.

What are false memories? Because of the reconstructive nature of memory, some memories may be distorted through influences such as the incorporation of new information. There are also believed-in imaginings that are not based in historical reality; these have been called false memories, pseudo-memories and memory illusions. They can result from the influence of external factors, such as the opinion of an authority figure or information repeated in the culture. An individual with an internal desire to please, to get better or to conform can easily be affected by such influences.

What is the recovered-memory controversy about? The controversy is not about whether children are abused. Child abuse is a serious social problem that requires our attention. Neither is the controversy about whether people may not remember past abuse. There are many reasons why people may not remember something: childhood amnesia, physical trauma, drugs or the natural decay of stored information. The controversy is about the accuracy of claims of recovered "repressed" memories of abuse. The consequences profoundly affect the law, the way therapy is practiced, families and people\'s lives.

Glossary of SRA Terms:
Christian Ritual Abuse (CRA): Psychological, sexual, and/or physical assault forced on an unwilling victim, which is committed by one or more individuals according to a prescribed Christian ritual The aim of CRA is normally to drive demon(s) out of a possessed individual. Although the mental health community has abandoned the concept of demonic possession, many conservative Christians still believe in it. There is about 1 unintentional homicide per year in the U.S. and Canada from CRA.

False memories: recollections (often recovered during therapy which involves guided imagery, age regression, hypnotism or other suggestive technique) which are: events that never happened, or are heavily distorted memories of real events.
They are indistinguishable from real memories. Professional mental health organizations recommend that recovered memories should only be accepted as real if they have been verified by hard evidence.
Occult crime: Any crime which involves occult symbols or which is perpetrated by a person who is active in the occult. Since the term "occult" is defined very broadly by some to include horoscope reading, palm readings, membership in the Masonic order, and other benign pursuits, "occultists" are quite numerous. However, there are few if any links between belief in the occult and criminal activity.
Programming (when related to SRA): an abusive, brainwashing technique which can allegedly create group members who behave like robots; they have no self-will. It is alleged that programmed individuals can be triggered by words, phrases, sounds, smells etc. to perform specific tasks. Those who promote belief in programming state that it can be accomplished by very severe, sophisticated sequences of abuse starting in early childhood and continuing over a period of years. Many mental-health professionals doubt that programming is possible. Recanting: People who have gone through recovered memory therapy frequently realize that the images created were not of real events. This process often takes many years. They usually attempt to make amends with their family and friends.
Recovered memories: Images (typically uncovered during therapy by women in their late 20\'s to late 40\'s). Most are of sexual molestation during childhood. Some believe that these images are memories of actual events during childhood which are actively repressed by the child during shortly after the event. Recovery of these images is often a long-term and difficult process. Others believe that these images are not memories of real events but are based upon memory fragments from past horror movies, books, TV programs etc. The images can evolve into what the client feels are memories by either self-therapy or counseling with a therapist involving such suggestive techniques as hypnotism, guided imagery, dream analysis, imagining abuse, etc. In about 17% of cases, recovered memories involve SRA. They differ from triggered memories in that their recovery typically takes a long time.
Recovered memory therapy: A method of treatment involving suggestive techniques such as hypnosis, guided imagery, dream interpretation, "truth drugs", etc. These were once widely believed to be capable of recovering memories of real events that happened during childhood. Ritual abuse: Some consider this a synonym for Sadistic Ritual Abuse. RA: Acronym for ritual abuse.
Sadistic Ritual Abuse: Psychological, sexual, and/or physical assault committed by one or more people according to a prescribed ritual, whose primary motive is to either fulfill a need to abuse others, or to program the victim so that they can be precisely controlled in the future.
Satanic Ritual Abuse: Psychological, sexual, and/or physical assault forced on an unwilling victim and committed by one or more Satanists according to a prescribed ritual, the primary aim of which is to fulfill the need to worship the Christian devil, Satan. Note: This definition does not include:
non-Satanic abusive pedophiles who pretend to be Satanists in order to gain better control of their victims through fear .
non-Satanic mass murderers who try to use the "Devil made me do it" defense, but who have little or no knowledge of Satanism.
psychotic and psychopathic abusers and murderers who are primarily driven to committing criminal acts by their mental illness, not by any religious belief system any crime where Satanic symbols are found, or even crimes by perpetrators who have Satanic symbols or books in their home. Common estimates of the number of SRA murders in the U.S. and Canada cover the range from 0 to 60,000 per year.
SRA Acronym for Satanic Ritual Abuse or, more recently, Sadistic Ritual Abuse. Survivor (when related to RA, SRA, sadistic ritual abuse and recovered memories): an adult who believes that they have memories of their own childhood ritual abuse. The recollections may have been continuous since the abuse occurred, or they may be recovered memories. Triggered memories: These are forgotten memories that come rushing back suddenly into consciousness as a result of a trigger, such as the name, the voice, a photograph, a newspaper article about the perpetrator, etc. These are different from recovered memories because they flood back into memory quickly.
Triggers: A sound, word, phrase, image, symbol, smell etc. which triggers past programming in order to cause a SRA survivor to perform a specific act. Many SRA survivors believe that these exist. Belief in triggers seems to have originated in a move, the Manchurian Candidate. Few psychiatrists and psychologists believe that triggers that initiate a specific act are possible.

Cult Intervention
Cult Intervention is defined as an educational process utilizing a professional consultant. It is not therapy or counseling. Cult intervention should never include hypnosis or other manipulative methods of persuasion and suggestion, which are techniques often associated with destructive cults, groups and/or leaders. Instead, it is a professional presentation and facilitated dialog, regarding the facts and history about a particular group and/or leader. Cult intervention also includes a detailed discussion about the methods of recruitment, indoctrination, persuasion and retention of members, frequently associated with destructive cults, groups and/or leaders. The focus of such an intervention is to inform the subject in an effort to affect their continued involvement with a destructive cult, group and/or leader. This effort not only includes the group-involved subject, but also their family and often others who are concerned. The focus and purpose of cult intervention is to inform the subject, in an effort to help that person reconsider any further involvement with a destructive cult, group and/or leader.

Considering an Intervention

• What factors prompt people to stage interventions? Family and friends may observe certain serious changes regarding someone they are concerned about such as deterioration in self-esteem, finances and physical health. They may see a radical change in personality--typified by obsessive behavior, extreme dependency upon the group/leader, sharply diminished critical thinking, increasing isolation and/or negativity or intensifying hostility towards those outside the group.
  Another cause for concern might be a sharp dramatic change in a person\'s life-style such as suddenly giving up long-held goals, dropping out of school and/or shunning family and/or old friends. Many things, such as the changes previously cited, when done in a consistent pattern that favors the group/leader--may prompt those concerned to consider taking action such as staging an intervention.
  Those concerned may also develop reasonable fears based upon their study of the history of a certain group/leader. A group/leader may have a history of violence, sexual and/or physical abuse, financial exploitation and/or medical neglect that cause serious concern.
• Why are professionals often used in interventions?
  There is no substitute for experience. Professionals, who have a work history of facilitating interventions, possibly even with the specific group/leader in question, can make a crucial difference. Concerned family and friends often feel they do not have the knowledge or experience necessary to facilitate as meaningful an intervention as a professional. Many of the same issues frequently arise in interventions and professional experience provides the expertise needed at crucial junctures within the intervention process.

Planning an Intervention

• What factors are important when deciding which professional to use for an intervention? It is important to find a professional with extensive intervention experience and preferably with a specific background dealing with the group/leader in question. If specific experience with a certain group is not possible--a professional who has worked with groups/leaders that are very similar will be helpful.
  Here are some reasons for a client to seek your professional expertise:
  They can compare experience, fees and the projected costs of any professionals considered and request their references. They may ask you about your rate of success. Specifically, success would be the person who is the focus of concern leaving the unsafe group/leader as a direct result of the work done by that professional. They may ask you about any financial considerations and ask for an average total cost per intervention. It is also meaningful to request that you provide contact information (only if you have written consent) regarding families and individuals that have experienced both success and failure--speak with those people about any concerns or questions.
• Do interventions require teams?
  No. Interventions do not require a team of professionals or necessarily the assistance of a former follower of a destructive group/leader. A former member and/or another professional may be helpful, but this is not mandatory. Such additional help should be considered carefully since a team approach typically increases the cost of an intervention, which may become prohibitive.
  In the overwhelming majority of intervention cases therapists work alone. And most often--the person who is the focus of the intervention will connect better with one professional. It is also important not to overwhelm someone with too many people. This may create the perception that they are being singled out and/or "ganged up on". One experienced professional working with well-prepared concerned people and/or family is usually sufficient.
• Is it necessary for an intervention professional to be a former follower of a destructive group/leader?
  No. It is not necessary, but this could be helpful.
  In some situations however the person who is the focus of the intervention may feel threatened by a former member of his or her own group. They might also be convinced that such a professional is biased or bitter because of his or her past experiences with a destructive group. In such cases a professional with no such background may appear more objective, less personally involved and/or invested in the outcome.
  In an intervention the fact that the intervention professional was once involved in a cult or with a destructive group/leader--can be seen as either potentially a plus or a minus.
• Do professionals in interventions have a personal agenda?
  No, they should not. The only agenda in an intervention should be sharing information to help an individual make a more informed decision. This is done by helping someone recognize the possible problems posed by their further involvement with a destructive group/leader through a reasonable dialogue and consideration of the facts.
  When a professional has a personal agenda, such as evangelism, it complicates an intervention and may exacerbate the situation. This may lead the subject of the intervention to feel that the real issue is not the behavior and influence of the group/leader, but instead a theological debate--specifically that the group/leader is wrong, because the family and intervention professional know what belief is right. This issue should be discussed frankly before an intervention and may be clarified by the "Ethical Standards" subscribed to by a helping professional.
• How does the process of planning an intervention with a selected professional begin?
  The intervention process usually begins with an Intake Questionnaire.
  The Intervention
• What goes on in an intervention?
  Interventions are really just an opportunity for discussion and dialogue, a review of the history and practices of a group/leader. This often includes looking through documentation such as news articles, media reports, court records and/or literature about a group/leader. The discussion often may center on the indoctrination techniques, the influence of a group/leader and how certain other questionable groups/leaders may use those same techniques. Videos may be shown to demonstrate and/or illustrate specific points and at times former followers of a destructive group/leader may join in and contribute to the discussion through their personal experience. Family and friends almost always directly participate, sharing their concerns, insights and experience. Less controversial groups/leaders may also be discussed as examples--to offer some contrast with the potentially unsafe practices and situations that are questioned.
• Is this similar to drug or alcohol intervention?
  Yes. There is some correlation between a substance abuse intervention and a cult intervention. But specifically a cult intervention is an educational opportunity not a confrontation. Though like a drug and alcohol intervention it often is motivated by concern about the debilitating effects of involvement, deterioration of an individual, dependency, impaired judgment and the possibility of further harm caused by continued involvement.
• Is such an intervention an attack upon personal religious beliefs and convictions?
  No. The real concern is the deterioration of individual autonomy, self-esteem and critical thinking. The intervention is focused upon helping someone gain an understanding of how they may have been deceived, manipulated and ultimately controlled through undue influence. Such an intervention often affords the space, time and dialogue needed for a careful in-depth analysis of crucial issues and situations that may be potentially unsafe--regarding commitment to a certain group/leader.
• Do interventions involve force or restraint?
  No. Though historically, some families and individuals once chose to temporarily restrain adults against their will, this practice has now largely been abandoned. Only in a situation involving a minor child under direct custodial parent supervision or a court ordered intercession with an adult--may someone be held against their will in an intervention. This issue is typically covered now in greater detail within most professional ethical standards.
• How long does an intervention take?
  Interventions typically take several days; there is often additional time included for travel and preparation time.
• What preparation time is required for an intervention?
  After completing an intake questionnaire, there may be some additional research time depending upon the group and issues of concern. Some advance preparation may be required by phone--perhaps a few hours. Also, it is necessary to prepare those that will be involved in the intervention--such as family, spouse and friends. You should typically set aside one full day of face-to-face advance meetings and discussion for this preparation process immediately before beginning an intervention.
• Is it necessary to advise the person who is the focus of an intervention in advance--specifically that such an effort has been planned, explain its details and obtain consent before beginning?
  No. This would be unwise if the subject is involved with a highly controlling group/leader. The subsequent risk would be their contact with that group/leader who will then often advise against any cooperation. Also, the probability, that much like a substance abuser in denial--the person involved would reject such a proposal quickly without any meaningful time actually afforded to discuss important concerns.
  Logically, most interventions begin without advance notice as a surprise due to these practical and legitimate concerns. However, though the intervention may begin as a surprise--the person who is the focus of the intervention always has the implicit right to decline and refuse to cooperate, or may decide later to discontinue and leave. But by those concerned announcing the intervention in advance, an opportunity to at least initiate a serious discussion with the assistance of a helping professional may never materialize.
• Is it necessary to deceive the subject of an intervention?
  No. This would be much like a frequently cited cult rationalization--"the ends justify the means." This is not only an unethical philosophy, but if a family and/or a professional is critical of a group/leader regarding situational ethics--it is incumbent upon them to be consistent and uphold ethical principles regarding their own conduct.
  It is unethical and unwise to pretend that an intervention is anything other than it is and/or that the professional is there for any other purpose. Any introduction should reflect the facts and the simple philosophy that "honesty is the best policy". The subject of the intervention will respect an effort for honesty. There will also be more respect for those concerned if everyone is forthright and explains their identity and purpose plainly. This should be done from the beginning of the intervention. Trust and integrity are pivotal factors in any intervention effort and if this is ignored or lost--the intervention is more likely to fail.
• Is it unwise to approach someone through an intervention at an early stage of his or her commitment to a certain group/leader?
  No. The euphoria often felt by someone during his or her initial involvement with a certain group/ leader has often been described as the "honeymoon period". Some speculate that the emotional nature of this early phase of involvement precludes an intervention at that time and that those concerned should consider waiting until a later point. However, the risk of waiting actually outweighs such considerations. During this waiting period indoctrination is ongoing and often deepening, relationships will typically be strengthened with the group/leader and complications may develop. The earlier an intervention takes place the more likely its result will be successful. Those concerned are best advised to move ahead quickly, while allowing for practical considerations, reasonable preparation time and meaningful opportunity.
• Isn\'t it possible the person involved with a destructive and unsafe group/leader will eventually just walk away without an intervention?
  Yes, but at what cost personally to their physical, financial, psychological or emotional well-being? And though many people do leave destructive groups/leaders after a few years--others may stay a lifetime.
  Perhaps the authors of "Snapping", Conway and Siegelman did the best research and documentation of how cult intervention work affects its subjects during the early days of what was then called "deprogramming". They stated, "...Our last block of findings concerned the controversial issue of deprogramming. The numbers confirmed that deprogramming was indeed a vital first step on the road back from cult control. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the people in our survey were deprogrammed, about half voluntarily and half involuntarily. As a group, they reported a third less, and in many cases only half as many, post-cult effects than those who weren\'t deprogrammed. Average rehabilitation time was one-third longer--more than a year and a half--for those who weren\'t deprogrammed compared to just over a year for those who were. Overall, deprogrammees reported a third fewer months of depression, forty percent less disorientation, half as many sleepless nights--clearly, something in the process worked! ..."
• What follow-up is necessary after an intervention?
  If an individual decides to stay with the group/leader they will need continued communication, love and understanding. If they leave, usually they will benefit greatly from counseling with a mental health professional. That professional should be knowledgeable and have specific work experience with former followers of destructive cults, groups or leaders. This period of recovery and transition can be made much easier through such experienced professional help.
  Wellspring, near Athens, Ohio (740) 698-6277 Retreat and Resource Center provides an individualized program of counseling, instruction, restoration and relaxation in a comfortable retreat setting for those recovering from negative groups and relationships. They have a professional staff of qualified counselors working under the supervision of a Ph.D. psychologist. This is a possible option for those facing recovery and transition issues after a successful intervention.
  Margaret Singer noted cult expert and psychologist who has interviewed and helped thousands of former destructive cult members wrote the book "Cults in our Midst" she devoted an entire section to recovery issues. Likewise, Madeleine Tobias and Janja Lalich also include recovery guidelines in their book "Captive Hearts, Captive Minds" Reading such material can be helpful and it may also assist family and friends to better understand the most common steps in the recovery process.

Risks

• What are the risks in staging an intervention?
  There always is a risk of increased isolation and possible hostility if the intervention fails--this may include a subsequent period of strained communication. After a failed intervention the group/leader may exert influence to further isolate a follower from family, spouse and/or friends. In some very extreme situations a group/leader may respond to an intervention effort by suddenly moving the involved follower without notice to a new location. Subsequently communication may cease and both the group/leader and that involved individual may fail to provide meaningful current contact information.
  However, more often than not, any strained communication usually will only last for a relatively brief period. Also, the information shared through the intervention may have a positive effect later. That is--issues and facts discussed during the intervention may resurface at a later time, as the person who was the focus of the intervention, moves forward and considers their life with the group/leader. Hopefully, such thinking may ultimately lead to doubts about the group and perhaps culminate in a deeper analysis and reconsideration of their commitment at some future date.

Deprogramming

• What is deprogramming?
  As leading cult expert and psychologist Margaret Singer has said, "Deprogramming is providing members with information about the cult and showing them how their own decision-making power had been taken away from them" (Cults in Our Midst, Margaret Singer, Jossey Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1995).
  Specifically, deprogramming is a process of unraveling a program of control. This control may often begin with deception and subsequently rely upon emotional and psychological manipulation. Deprogramming is actually a discussion, a dialogue offering illustrations and detailed descriptions of how people can be controlled through a process of personal manipulation. It is an educational process typically sponsored by a concerned family and/or friends, who are worried about the influence of a destructive group/leader upon someone they love and care about.
• Is cult intervention work today much like "deprogramming"?
  Yes. Though this process has been refined over the years it is still essentially based upon the same principles. However, the word "deprogramming" as Margaret Singer noted--"is now tinged with memories of the early snatchings and restraint, most people are reluctant to use it" (Cults in Our Midst, Margaret Singer, Jossey Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1995). However, ironically most "deprogramming" was done on a voluntary basis historically, but there were many dramatic and sensational cases (often reported by the media and/or featured by Hollywood) that were done involuntarily due to extreme circumstances. Sadly, many destructive cults made a concerted effort to distort the meaning of "deprogramming" through well-financed propaganda efforts. Largely as a result of this propaganda effort many professionals today have a great reluctance to use the word "deprogramming" and instead use terms such as "intervention".
• Why did some feel involuntary deprogramming was necessary?
  Many destructive cults, groups and leaders, quickly recognized the effectiveness of "deprogramming" and in response began training their members to run away or quickly leave when anyone initiated such an effort. As one group of private cult intervention professionals said, "the fact is in some groups, members were zealously protected from parents, often having their names changed and moved from location to location". A successful intervention requires time for discussion and an exchange of ideas; concerned families used restraint to guarantee that time. This is not unlike an intervention due to drug addiction or mental illness where restraint is often used today. Cult victims under the influence of brainwashing techniques are often in a similar altered state of mind. At one time temporary conservatorship was an option for some families. However, such provisions were ended largely through the efforts of destructive cults and their lawyers.
• Isn\'t "exit-counseling", or "cult intervention" simply another way of saying, "voluntary deprogramming"?
  Yes, essentially it is. And in recent years an array of euphemisms has been used to describe what is actually much the same process as voluntary "deprogramming". Today cult intervention professionals have adopted working descriptions such as "exit-counseling", "thought reform consultation", "strategic intervention therapy" and "high demand group consultation". However, leading cult expert Margaret Singer concluded, "\'deprogramming\' is in many ways a more accurate description of the process". Moreover, the words "deprogrammer" and "deprogramming" seems to be etched upon our popular culture as the terms that label the professional people involved and to describe the general process of cult intervention work.

  Subsequent to a successful intervention, (i.e. when someone has decided to sever ties to a group and/or leader) people often want professional counseling to assist in their recovery process. This is often quite crucial when someone has experienced abuse, while under the influence of a group/leader and/or needs help to move on after a long-term commitment. Follow-up counseling provided by a mental health professional can greatly assist and speed up the recovery process and is very important in regards to specific individual and personal issues. It is essential though, to find helping professionals that understand the specific issues and who have meaningful experience in this area. There are resources for recovery and support such as Wellspring Retreat, a licensed residential treatment facility, which is specifically focused upon helping recovering cult victims.

• How long does this recovery process last? The recovery process/period varies depending upon each individual and/or their experience. But typically, the longer a person was involved with a destructive group and/or leader, the longer this process may take. It is important to be patient, understanding and supportive. Remember that their involvement may have been deeply painful and/or debilitating. And that experience has most often included excessive criticism and control. Don\'t push or pressure someone in recovery. Instead, try to be sensitive, nurturing and caring. You should also be positive and avoid unnecessary criticism.

A Brief History of Cult Intervention Work
There are many titles that have been used by professionals engaged in cult intervention work since the 1970s. The first title used was "deprogrammer"--which specifically describes the process of unraveling a destructive cult\'s program of emotional, psychological and informational control. This term seems etched upon popular culture and may always be used by the general public to describe the profession of cult intervention work.

Ph.D. psychologist and author Margaret Singer, perhaps the world\'s best-known cult expert has observed cult intervention work virtually since its inception and interviewed thousands of former cultists. Ms. Singer defined "Deprogramming as providing members with information about the cult and showing them how their own decision-making power had been taken away from them" (Cults in Our Midst, Margaret Singer, Jossey Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1995). This definition is still essentially applicable to cult intervention work today.

However, concern developed amongst cult intervention professionals regarding the use of the word "deprogrammer". Steve Hassan, who once participated in "deprogrammings", recounts that --"By the late 1970s, the question of mind control had become intertwined in the public eye with the issue of forcible deprogramming. This occurrence was partly the result of public relations campaigns financed by certain major cults to discredit critics and divert the debate from the cults themselves".

But as Hassan insists--"Deprogrammers were falsely portrayed as beating and raping people to force them to recant their religious beliefs. For the record, I know of no instance of deprogramming (and I\'ve met hundreds of deprogrammees) that involved any physical abuse such as beating or rape. No family I have ever met would go to the extreme of rescuing a loved one through deprogramming and allow anyone to harm their child in any way"(Combating Cult Mind Control, Park Street Press, 1988).

Chroniclers of the history of deprogramming and impact of cults Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman advise that criminal prosecutions and civil suits charging deprogrammers and sometimes the parents of cult victims with kidnapping and false imprisonment--"brought a global chill. In the new climate, judges were deaf to the pleas of the parents and families of cult members, and the precarious deprogramming profession was largely eclipsed by the efforts of the new generation of cult \'exit counselors\'" (Snapping, 2nd Edition, Stillpoint Press 1995). But as Margaret Singer concludes--"In fact, \'deprogramming\' is in many ways a more accurate description of the process of getting the cult member to recognize what has happened to him or her, but since that word is now tinged with memories of the early snatchings and restraint, most people are reluctant to use it" (Cults in our Midst, Margaret Singer, Jossey Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1995).

Steve Hassan noted--"the truth is that [involuntary] deprogramming is extremely risky in legal terms". But Hassan once advised, "Forcible intervention can be kept as a last resort if all other attempts fail" (Combating Cult Mind Control, Park Street Press, 1988).

One group of cult intervention professionals points out that families often based decisions to undertake involuntary deprogramming upon "the fact that in some groups, members were zealously protected from parents, often having their names changed and moved from locations to location". This is still sadly true today. Parents may be confronted with painful cult situations regarding possible physical abuse, medical neglect, child abuse/neglect and financial exploitation. Some cult situations may become life threatening. This is historically evident through the cult suicides at "Jonestown", "Heaven\'s Gate" and the Solar Temple and the violence attributed to the Waco Davidians and Aum of Japan. But as previously pointed out their adult children may be inaccessible on any meaningful voluntary basis to discuss serious concerns.

Today, regardless of how unsafe or life-threatening a situation may be--due to legal threats and prolonged litigation cult intervention professionals have abandoned "forcible intervention". A succession of new titles and accompanying terms have likewise responded politically to the need felt by many professionals to distance themselves from the title "deprogrammer" and the term "deprogramming". Such titles as "Exit-Counselor", "Strategic Intervention Specialist", "High Demand Group Consultant", "Cult Information Specialist", "Thought Reform Consultant" and "Cult Intervention Specialist" and corresponding terminology are examples of this response.

These changes occurred according to Singer to distinguish "early snatchings and restraint" from current voluntary methods. However, as a small group of "thought reform consultants" states--"not all deprogramming were \'rescue and hold\' situations. There were some where the group member was free to leave at any time and there were some where ex-members sought voluntary deprogramming". Despite this fact many professionals still felt it was necessary to respond to well-financed cult propaganda and litigation by altering titles and adapting new terminology.

Essentially, "voluntary deprogramming" is now known by many euphemisms, but remains essentially the same process described by Conway and Siegelman in their seminal book "Snapping" first published in 1978. They said, "it appears to be a genuinely broadening, expanding personal change, it would seem to bear closer resemblance to a true moment of enlightenment, to the natural process of personal growth and newfound awareness and understanding, than to the narrowing changes brought about by cult rituals and artificially induced group ordeals". As Steve Hassan describes his own "deprogramming" regarding his involvement with Rev. Moon\'s Unification Church--"I had the indescribable experience of my mind suddenly opening up, as if a light switch had been thrown". He concludes that this was "rediscovering myself".

Ted Patrick the pioneer of cult intervention once said, "Deprogramming is like taking a car out of the garage that hasn\'t been driven for a year. The battery has gone down, and in order to start it up you\'ve got to put jumper cables on it. It will go dead again. So you keep the motor running until it builds up its own power. This is what rehabilitation is. Once we get the mind working, we keep it working long enough so that the person gets in the habit of thinking and making decisions again" (Snapping, 2nd Edition, Stillpoint Press 1995). Despite his rather blunt explanation Patrick offers a viable and current analogy regarding the essential elements of cult intervention work today. Just as he improved his skills through "trial and error"--so has intervention work evolved over the years through direct experience. However, the essential components have remained the same. That is--stimulating critical thinking through an examination of the factual information through an educational process, which includes questioning basic assumptions, dialogue, the review of thought reform techniques and the process of cult formation. This of course includes the professional preparation of concerned families through their own consultation/educational process and the professional interventionist now has an expanded array of helpful resources such as the Internet, video archives, growing research, better support services and increased rehabilitation options.

Introduction to Ethical Standards
Cult Intervention Specialist--is the title today I believe best describes many professionals that are typically engaged by families for an intervention. This most often centers on their concern about a loved one involved with a potentially unsafe group and/or leader. But despite this new title it is important to acknowledge the history and background, which led to the different titles used today for cult intervention work. It is likewise important not to distort or denigrate the title "deprogrammer" or the term "deprogramming", in accordance with cult propaganda. As Singer concluded--"On a whole, most of the deprogramming of that era worked, and the cult members elected to leave the groups" (Cults in our Midst, Margaret Singer, Jossey Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1995).

It is meaningful to recognize the need for continued improvement in the field. Cult Intervention Specialists, like other helping professionals, should conduct themselves in an ethical and responsible manner. Other helping professionals such as social workers or those working within the mental health field have adopted ethical standards. It is important for both professionals and the public that such standards be set.

Defining Terms

• Cult intervention--refers specifically to a voluntary and respectful process of sharing information between a cult intervention specialist and an individual (e.g. cult member). This almost always occurs within a family framework and is premised upon offering related information, factual material and is simply education regarding potentially unsafe groups/leaders, thought reform techniques and related issues of concern. This is always done in a manner consistently within the parameters set by the law and following the ethical standards that are outlined below.
• Consultation--is a general term to describe the professional practice of providing information to an individual, family or group.

Section I. Professional Responsibility
1. Cult Intervention Specialists continue the development of their profession through their efforts to improve professional practices, education, services, and research. Professional growth is ongoing throughout one\'s career and is exemplified by the development of a set of criteria that defines why and how an intervention specialist functions.
2. To ensure their own competence and provide a public service--cult intervention specialists recognize the need for networking and the sharing of information with each other, a broad range of professionals working in the field, families, and individuals in need and the general public.
3. Specialists have an intrinsic need and obligation for continued professional growth. This includes networking with a broad range of professionals in the field and participation in research and public education programs.
4. Specialists should devote a portion of their time to helping individuals and families through related work for which there is little or no financial return.

Section II. Responsibility of Specialists to Clients
This section refers to the process, context, practices and procedures regarding individual intervention and/or group consulting relationships.

The term "CLIENT" is defined as: the person(s) coming to a specialist for assistance or information in order to help an individual involved with a potentially unsafe group or leader (e.g. destructive cult). If the client decides to pursue an intervention in an effort to share meaningful related information with the involved person, which might be helpful in their evaluation of the group or leader in question--that involved person then becomes the primary "client" when the intervention begins.

A. Selection and Preparation

1. The crisis intervention and professional consulting fields are often complex and highly specialized. Cult intervention and consulting professionals obviously are not able to deal with every cult problem. Many potential clients may have some difficulty determining the professional ability of specialists during their selection process. However, professionals in cult-related work should not take advantage of the stress and emotional state of a client in a crisis situation to influence their decisions. Also, professionals should not make denigrating remarks about others in the field and/or attempt to evaluate others that are being considered. Instead, professionals should truthfully present their own relevant qualifications, experience and background.
   
2. A specialist must outline for the client in clear terms the purposes, goals, rules of procedure, and limitations that may affect their relationship before such a time that their professional relationship begins. This should be accomplished through a detailed written fee agreement that includes such specifics and is signed by both parties.
   
3. Before an intervention can begin the specialist and client(s) must agree on the definition of the problem, the goals of the intervention, and the range of possible consequences.
   
4. A specialist must inform (e.g. should be by written fee agreement) the concerned party(ies) that should a client be prevented from leaving the site of the intervention or be physically restrained in any manner (unless legally sanctioned permission has been obtained), the specialist will terminate the intervention immediately.
   
5. After obtaining the client\'s permission (i.e. regarding issues of client confidentiality), a specialist may choose to consult with other professionals or competent people about a client or aspects of the situation. If the client refuses to allow a specialist to seek outside input when the specialist deems that input necessary, the specialist should consider terminating with that client.

B. Standards during an Intervention

1. The specialists primary obligation is to respect the integrity and promote the welfare of the client(s), whether the client(s) is (are) assisted individually or as a group.
   
2. When working with clients, a specialist will avoid discrimination due to race, religion, sex, political affiliation, social or economic status, or choice of lifestyle.
   
3. When a specialist cannot offer service for any reason, he or she will make referrals to others in field who may have experience and helpful information--without exception.
   
4. A specialist will not use his or her intervention/consulting relationship for personal needs or to further religious, political, or business interests.
   
5. A specialist will not employ methods or techniques such as neuro-linguistics programming, hypnosis or Ericksonian hypnosis and/or other techniques similar to those employed by some cult groups.
   
6. Specialists recognize their boundaries of competence and provide only those services for which they are qualified by training or experience. Specialists should only accept those cases for which they are qualified.
   
7. An intervention/consulting relationship must be one in which client self-direction is encouraged and cultivated. The specialist must maintain this role consistently and not become a decision-maker for the client or create within the client a future dependency upon the specialist.

C. General Standards

1. A Cult Intervention Specialist must have a high degree of self-awareness of his or her own values, knowledge, skills, limitations and needs. This is crucial when involved in a professional intervention, which involves decision-making capacity and critical thinking skills. The focus of an intervention or consulting work should be on the issues and not on the person(s) presenting the problem.
   
2. Dual relationships with clients that might impair the specialist\'s objectivity and professional judgment (e.g., with close friends or relatives) should be avoided and/or the professional relationship terminated through referral to another experienced and competent professional.
   
3. Cult Intervention Specialists do not condone or engage in sexual harassment, which is defined as deliberate or repeated comments, gestures, or physical contacts of a sexual nature.
   
4. Specialists will avoid any type of sexual contact with clients. Sexual relationships with clients are unethical and are forbidden.
   
5. When a specialist determines that he or she cannot be of professional assistance to the client, the specialist must terminate the relationship.
   
6. A specialist has an obligation to withdraw from a professional relationship if it is believed that employment will result in violation of the Ethical Standards.
   
7. If specialists encounter situations in which appropriate ethical behavior is not clear, they should seek the advice from knowledgeable persons.

D. Complaints about Ethics

1. Ethical behavior among professionals, including those engaged in cult related work, must be expected at all times. When information is possessed that raises doubt as to the ethical behavior of professional colleagues/ peers--professionals should take action to attempt to rectify such a condition. This should include:
   
2. A specialist should first advise (preferably in writing) the professional that has drawn concern--specifically what behavior may have raised doubts about their ethical conduct;
   
3. In the event this is not effective and the behavior continues it may become necessary to advise others in the field who are in some way responsible for that individual or associated with that person professionally.
   

E. Client Confidentiality:

1. Client confidentiality must be upheld at all times. That is--at no time should a specialist divulge client information to others.
   
2. Records regarding an intervention or a consulting relationship, including interview notes, intake information, correspondence, tape recordings, electronic data storage, and other documents are to be considered confidential information. Revelation to others of such material must occur only upon the expressed written consent of the client. 3. Use of data derived from a professional relationship for the purposes of education or research shall be confined to content that can be disguised to protect the identity of the subject client unless written permission of the client is obtained.

F. Financial matters

1. A specialist recognizes the importance of clear understandings on financial matters with clients. A written fee agreement is essential for maintaining a professional arrangement for payment. This agreement should be reviewed and signed by both the client and specialist before beginning any professional relationship.
   
2. Fees for professional services should take into consideration the financial status of clients and family. That is--every effort should be made to hold costs down for an intervention and/or consultation. In the event that the established fee structure is inappropriate for a client, specialists should assist families in finding available services at an acceptable cost (i.e. referring potential clients to less expensive related services provided by other professionals and/or who have an approach that might be more cost effective).
   
3. A specialist will not offer or accept payment for referrals, and will actively seek all significant information from the source of referral (with the permission of the client).

SECTION III. Public Responsibility

A. Public Education

1. Products or services provided by the specialist in interventions, public lectures, demonstrations, written articles, radio or television programs, or other types of media must meet the criteria cited in these standards.
   
2. When specialists provide information to the public or to subordinates, peers, or colleagues, they have a responsibility to ensure that case-related information is sufficiently disguised to protect confidentiality and that other information is as unbiased and factual as possible. Statements or reports regarding cults, controversial and/or potentially unsafe groups/leaders should be supported by research.
   
3. Any public/published reports that are offered about professional methodology in cult related work must be supported by substantial research such as related statistics, studies and cited documentation. Before making public or publishing such reports should be peer reviewed and subjected to an objective analysis by others respected in the field.

B. Truth in Advertising and Public Education/Relations

1. A specialist shall not, on his or her own behalf or on behalf of a partner or associate, any other professional or organization, use or participate in the use of any form of public advertising/education which:
   
   • Misrepresents statistical data or other information;
     
   • Contains a testimonial about or endorsement of a specialist that is false or misleading;
     
   • Reports about a methodology or an approach regarding cult related work without substantial supporting documentation. That is--citing supporting research through studies, previously published material, gathered and verified data, proven statistics and other factual information. This information should first be subjected to peer-review and objective analysis.
     
2. A specialist does not claim or imply professional qualifications exceeding those possessed and is responsible for correcting any misrepresentations of these qualifications by others.
   
3. A specialist may not compensate another person for recommending him or her, or to encourage future recommendations.
   
4. Advertisements and public communications, whether in directories, announcement cards, newspapers or on radio to television must convey accurate information and not be misleading.
   
5. In advertising services as a professional the specialist should advertise his or her services in a manner that accurately informs the public. This would most likely include the type of service provided, cost of those services, the projected total cost of a task such as a cult intervention effort and its related expenses.
   
6. Subscribing consultants do not present their affiliation with any organization in such a way that would imply inaccurate sponsorship or certification by that organization.
7. A subscribing consultant shall not knowingly make a representation about his or her ability, background, or experience, or that of a partner or associate, or about the fee or any other aspect of a proposed professional engagement, that is false, fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive.
   
8. Without limitation, a false, fraudulent, misleading or deceptive statement or claim in this context includes a statement or claim which:
   
   • Contains a material misrepresentation of fact;
     
   • Omits any material fact that is necessary to make the statement, in light of all circumstances, from being misleading;
     
   • Is intended or is likely to create an unqualified expectation;

C. Professional Fees

A specialist must have a set schedule of fees. That schedule would include hourly and/or daily rates, the fee for an initial consultation (if any) and policies regarding charges (if any) for phone consultation. This schedule will describe the fee charged for a specific service provided and may vary according to the service provided such as intervention work, expert testimony and lectures.

1. A specialist should present an estimate of the range of total fees and expenses projected for a specifically described service such as an intervention effort. This would include all related costs such as professional fees, travel and accommodations for all those concerned professionally in any effort including research, preparation and for the intervention time provided. Any relevant variables and considerations must be disclosed to avoid any misunderstanding.
   
2. A specialist should present each client with a written fee agreement that specifies all fees, fee structure, stipulations, refund policy and any retainer required. This agreement makes clear that the total charge may vary according to the number of hours or days devoted to the matter.
   
3. A specialist must submit a detailed billing at the conclusion of any professional service provided. This billing should be consistent with his or her fee agreement, fall reasonably within any previous cost projection, itemize expenses and break down fees.

Response
After first clearly establishing through obvious warning signs that someone is involved with a potentially unsafe group/leader and/or destructive cult--most families will attempt to intervene personally--some may seek professional help and undertake a more formal structured intervention. Others may find intervention too difficult.

When someone you know becomes involved in a destructive cult there is one rule, which is consistently applicable to any cult situation--don\'t act hastily or panic. It is unwise to offer any response without first educating yourself--by specifically researching the group/leader in question, the general subject of cults and carefully considering what response best suits your individual situation. After this process of education you will better understand your options and can develop a practical strategy.

Remember once you respond--you may have to live with the results of that response for some time.

In any contact with a cult member it is vitally important to remain (at least visibly) calm. It is also important, whenever possible, to discuss the situation with other family members and/or those intimately concerned. Any strategy or planned response is best approached when everyone concerned is acting together in concert and fully informed. It may also be helpful to seek a second opinion from someone objective who is not personally involved, but ideally is knowledgeable about cults--such as a family therapist/counselor, clergy person or specialist regarding cults.

Education/Research
There are numerous books you can read regarding cults, influence and coercive persuasion techniques. Perhaps the top four are: "Cults in Our Midst" by Margaret Singer, "Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism" by Robert Jay Lifton, "Influence" by Robert Cialdini and "Snapping" by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman. Also, you might try to find specific books and/or news articles about the cult, group and/or leader you are concerned about. It is vitally important to be aware of the facts available and receive up to date information. It is important to research the background of your sources carefully for specific information about their history--concerning their positions on the subject of cults.

You should also consult with knowledgeable mental health professionals, educators and clergy about your concerns. But remember, only talk with those who agree to keep contact with you, your comments and concerns confidential. Their commitment to confidentiality and discretion is very important. Any leak back to the cult member and/or the cult itself would likely have negative and often punitive consequences (e.g. bad feelings and resentment, which might result in strained communication).

There are helping organizations within the United States and around the world that can offer meaningful resources. But again, such organizations should be carefully scrutinized (i.e. there are controversial "cult awareness" groups, which have drawn critical concern). You should know an organization\'s history and its position on the issues before sharing any personal information about your situation. The Internet can be a useful tool to check almost any organization\'s background and history.

Many cults have troubled histories, which may include criminal conduct. Former members and/or other concerned parties may have sued them. A trip to the courthouse in the area where the group\'s primary headquarters is may reveal meaningful information. In some situations it may prove helpful to hire a private detective and dig deeper, but such specialized help can be expensive--be sure to clearly define both your objectives and the costs involved before proceeding.

Communication
Whenever family and friends are concerned about someone in a cult--communication with the cult member is vitally important and should be ongoing. Hopefully, the group and its leaders will allow that communication and not interfere with any existing relationships. Most often when family and friends are not visibly hostile and remain at least seemingly passive--communication will be allowed.

Communication is absolutely essential for the following two primary reasons:

• First, to demonstrate continuing love and commitment, which should remain intact regardless of cult involvement.
• Second, because by communicating you can offer the cult member a link to the outside world, more accurate feedback and an outside frame of reference.

Communication thus often enables you to effectively penetrate the cult\'s control over a member\'s environment and his or her information and also most importantly their thoughts and emotional life. Whenever you talk to a cult member you should always try to stay positive. Find subjects of mutual interest and attempt to maintain and/or build upon your rapport. Be friendly, reasonable and look for areas of possible agreement. Don\'t be confrontive, punitive, combative and/or argumentative. Don\'t denounce the group, its leader(s) and/or beliefs and practices. But this does not mean that you should be deliberately misleading or phony. Don\'t give false information and/or act obviously out of character. Never use the word "cult" to describe the group or terms like "brainwashed" and "mind control."

If a cult member confronts you with their beliefs and demands a response, defer such an exchange by simply saying--"I have my own beliefs, but I would be willing to look at some literature, books or materials from your perspective." If they are persistent and confrontive you might say, "I would rather not discuss this now--let\'s talk about something else. I don\'t want to argue." And "I am just so glad to have this time with you--let\'s make our time together pleasant."

Frequent contact is very important if at all possible. This may include phone calls, letters and/or personal visits, but don\'t be a pest. That is, reasonably respect that person\'s space and schedule. You should probably coordinate any communication efforts with other family members and perhaps the cult member\'s old friends--encouraging them to visit and call regularly too.

It is crucial to keep cult members informed of any change of address, phone numbers and contact numbers for family and important old friends. Cult members should be kept up to date about family news and/or situations. This might include information about someone that is sick or hospitalized, births, deaths, weddings, graduations, engagements, etc. And they should always be sent invitations/announcements of such events. Always remember to call if there is a family emergency. And make it clear that all collect calls will be accepted. Of course, this may be very difficult with some cult groups due to their restrictions and/or rules regarding communication with members.

Don\'t forget the cult member\'s birthday, any special anniversaries and/or holidays. Send gifts, cards and/or commemorative keepsakes, but never send money. All these considerations serve as important reminders, not only of family and old friends, but also of pleasant memories related to the cult member\'s former life.

Create a file about the group, which includes any material you have gathered (e.g. articles, court document, reports and any published literature from the group), correspondences and copies of whatever you may have written or sent (i.e. to the group and/or group member). Some families keep a detailed journal or diary. They often find this helpful for future reference (to remember the history and context of events).

Some cult groups control and at times censor their member\'s mail. It is also not uncommon for communication to be distorted through such a filtering process. It is very helpful to have an objective and clear record of any communications (e.g. letters, cards, what gifts were sent). Cult Personality

People in cults often develop a distinct new cult identity or personality. This personality will be consistent with the qualities valued by the group and its leader(s) and correspond rigidly to its doctrine.

Flavil Yeakley, author of the book "The Discipling Dilemma" researched the effects of cult influence upon individual personality traits. What he found was a cloning phenomenon. That is, members mirroring certain personality traits that corresponded to a preferred prototype, which was very similar to the group\'s leader. What can be seen from Yeakley\'s research and other examinations of cult members--is that a new identity is often developed and shaped through their influence. This new personality is often not consistent with the member\'s previous character and may seem like mimicry of other members.

The process of breaking down and then reshaping thoughts and emotions is best understood by reading Robert Lifton\'s seminal book "Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism." In In Chapter 22 he details the cataloguing of thoughts and feelings through the preeminence of "Doctrine over person" and the group\'s "demand for purity". Lifton also describes how people within such a thought reform process frequently strip themselves, in an act of symbolic self-surrender; through a dynamic he calls the "cult of confession". Typically, through such a thought reform process--cults can break down individual personalities and then shape and mold new ones.

It is very important to recognize this process through which destructive cults can falsify and/or submerge an existing personality. And how they then can superimpose upon the member their own preferred personality traits. Awareness of this process will better prepare you to cope with a loved one who may develop a personality you don\'t readily recognize. That cult personality may exhibit traits, which are otherwise often confusing and at times may even appear obnoxious. But by recognizing the origin and controlling forces behind such behavior you can learn to be more sensitive, patient, tolerant and understanding.

The realization that you often may not be dealing with someone\'s genuine personality can enable family and friends to more easily avoid angry responses, unproductive emotional outbursts and confrontations. For example, a cult member may be hypercritical, offer harsh judgments and/or act needlessly punitive or petty. In contrast at times cult members may also seem emotionally flat and/or insensitive. These traits should be seen as an expression of the cult\'s preferred personality, which they have been taught to imitate.

You must become sensitive to this cult personality and also well acquainted with the group\'s beliefs, demands and practices to avoid needless confrontation. For example--if the cult member\'s group has a rigid diet, clothing requirements and/or prohibitions against certain activities (e.g. watching television, reading newspapers) --don\'t offend them. Your insensitivity about such issues may stimulate unreasonable fears set in place through their indoctrination. This may subsequently shut down a conversation or communication in general. You must also be sensitive to certain terms, phrases or words (taught within the group) and avoid them. This is what Lifton calls "Loading the Language" " or "thought terminating cliches." In some supposedly "bible based" groups such expressions as "the world," "unbelievers," even "love" may be twisted and loaded with special significance. It is important to learn this language (perhaps through articles about the group, books and/or the group\'s own materials) and be sensitive to its use and implications.

Conversation
Whenever talking with a cult member it is often meaningful to ask open ended and thought provoking questions, but always without being accusatory or argumentative. For example, ask questions about the future such as, "What are your plans for the next few years"? "Where do you see yourself in five years--what will you be doing then"? Such questions may spark some spontaneous consideration and/or critical thinking. The cult member might consider their role in the group, sense of security, doubts and the future. You might talk about education plans, medical care or even retirement. But again, you must be sensitive to their "loaded language" and the unreasonable fears they may have (e.g. group denunciations concerning education or medicine). You must limit any conversation and comments within such parameters.

When unreasonable fears come up try to put them into a more objective frame of reference by giving accurate feedback such as, "Do you really think that\'s a serious concern"? And "Why"? Always allow the cult member to answer completely and listen courteously. Be a good listener and don\'t interrupt or in any way belittle or ridicule their responses.

Again, remember that you may be dealing largely with a cult personality. Be aware that what you think and/or feel is reasonable, rational and logical may not be considered so in the cult.

Ask general questions about their daily life such as--"What did you do this week"? And just simple questions like "How are things going"? It is meaningful to demonstrate some genuine interest in the group, its daily life and activities. Don\'t ask pointed questions that sound accusatory and again--never use the word "cult" in any conversation.

Encourage family members and old friends to also have conversations with the cult member too. Be sure everyone is aware of the limitations and guidelines for that communication as previously outlined.

Generally, the more communication there is with people outside of the group--the better. In any conversation with a cult member it is crucial to connect in some way with their past--specifically, before their involvement with the group. In this way you can, in a non-threatening way, often stimulate their submerged and genuine personality. You can do this by recalling memories of happy times spent with family and friends, accomplishments at school, even old romantic interests--without offending the group\'s sensibilities and/or breaking their rules (e.g. celibacy, banned holidays, prohibited activities). Working within such a framework is often difficult, but it is important to demonstrate to the cult member through passive conversation that his or her past life did have value, happiness and meaning. Never be aggressive, punitive or try to induce guilt feelings through conversation--the group may turn this around and use it as an indictment of both you and your intentions. Assume that anything you say to the cult member will be repeated to leaders and/or others in the group and scrutinized. Again, don\'t provide the group and its leaders with ammunition to discredit you. Always do your best to be truthful, positive and consistent. And make every effort to fulfill any commitments.

Being a good listener will also enable you to gather information about the group, its practices, living conditions and whatever jargon they may use. Take notes whenever possible concerning any conversation (e.g. list key words and phrases they use frequently, note their special rules, practices and/or diet). Many cult groups are so small and obscure that there is little if any information readily available about them. Your notes may prove to be an invaluable future resource.

Only the most extreme groups discourage any expression of emotion or endearment. In most groups there is no prohibition against sincere feelings. With this in mind it\'s important to include in any conversation words of love and regard. You should say, "I love you" and "It\'s always good to hear from you" or "I miss you."

Life is often hard in a destructive cult and is very important for members to know they have family and friends on the outside who care. These people are there to provide loving support. If a cult member considers leaving the group--this may become a vitally important and pivotal point.

Personal Visits
Visiting and making personal contact with cult members is important. Make it a point to visit as often as possible. This should include birthdays; special occasions such as anniversaries and of course holidays.

Most cult members don\'t live in isolated compounds and personally visiting is often relatively easy to do. Of course if you have been argumentative, hostile and accusatory historically--it may take some time to turn the temperature down and resume normal conversation and/or visits. If you want to visit and/or communicate with a cult member--it is vitally important not to anger cult leaders whom then may become punitive (e.g. they may block visits and further communication).

Visiting cult members away from the group is always preferable. This could be at a private residence or accomplished by inviting them out for a meal. Always be courteous. This may include patiently listening to descriptions of group activities and projects. But don\'t confuse courtesy with feigned feelings. That is, falsely expressing support for the group and/or its activities. Be polite, attentive and if you have nothing positive to say--simply offer no comment.

Remember--every action and comment will be viewed through the lens of the group and often scrutinized virtually with a microscope. Be very careful concerning your behavior on this basis. When in doubt about how to act and/or react-- don\'t do anything.

Again, during a visit focus on positive things such as happy memories and/or something good that recently occurred. Try to draw out the submerged personality through a sense of humor and/or the rapport you may have historically established before that person\'s cult involvement. Bring photos of old friends and family. And encourage others to make personal visits too. Such visits may be the only meaningful personal contact the cult member has outside the group.

The cult member should treat you with courtesy too. If you are not treated respectfully feel free to say, "You know I am doing the best I can to understand you and be respectful, I would appreciate it if you would please treat me with the same consideration." And if during a visit you feel pressured or confronted say, "I really don\'t want to discuss anything that might lead to a disagreement--please let\'s try to make this a nice visit." And again it\'s almost always appropriate to say; "I love you." And/or "It\'s really good to see you." If you are invited to cult activities such as religious services or programs you should be careful. It may be appropriate to attend the group\'s open public services to demonstrate a reasonable attitude, but it would be unwise to participate in training sessions or intensive group programs typically designed for indoctrination. Such a session or program might become volatile, provocative and possibly lead to problems and/or a confrontation.

Doubts
There may come a time when a cult member expresses doubts about the group, its leaders and/or practices. It is important to understand that this may only be a transitory time of questioning, which may pass. It is therefore strategically meaningful not to comment too readily about how bad the group is or that you "always knew that leader was bad" and/or "wrong." If later they decide, often through the group and/or leader\'s influence, that their doubts were wrong and you did comment negatively about the group/leader-- it is likely that they will discuss this with other members and possibly group leaders. Subsequently, this may complicate future contact and communication.

You should be circumspect and careful when you comment about a member\'s doubts. Essentially, the best initial response is to be a good listener and take no position. Instead you might say, "That\'s interesting." or "I didn\'t know you felt that way." If there are repeated doubts and misgivings about the group expressed through further conversations and visits you might begin to consider other more assertive responses.

Eventually as doubts are repeated and perhaps expressed more deeply your most measured response may be to share information (e.g. factual documentation specifically about the group, books about cults and persuasion techniques). But be careful--you should carefully qualify sharing such material by stating, "Some people shared this information with me about the group/leader--would you like to see it"? Or, "Someone once suggested I read these books on the subject of influence and persuasion within groups--you might find this helpful"? Don\'t be aggressive; allow enough space for the cult member\'s comfort and personal reflection. If your offer of help is rejected simply respond, "That\'s OK-- the information is here if you want it."

At times it is much easier for cult members to recognize what is wrong with other groups than their own. In this sense it may be better to offer material and books that do not name their group, but rather others with similar problems and practices. Again, allow every consideration for the cult member to sort through such issues. If you sense this is a unique and crucial opportunity you might consider involving a knowledgeable professional. This could be a family counselor, clergy person, cult specialist or possibly a former cult member. It is important that the professional or person you choose to help is not overtly confrontational and/or aggressive. Make a careful choice--you should pick someone who is sensitive to cult issues and reasonably experienced.

Leaving
Most cult members will eventually walk away from their respective groups. Sadly, this may take place after years of exploitation and personally destructive involvement. Specifically, they may have experienced psychological, emotional and at times financial and physical damage.

It is vitally important to express your unconditional love. Never say, "I told you so" or act in a punitive way or guilt-inducing manner.

Don\'t make this your opportunity to attack the group and its members. Instead, remember that even a destructive cult experience may not have been totally negative. The member\'s time within the group may have resulted in some positive changes and realizations such as increased sensitivity, spirituality or the end of some self-destructive behavior (e.g. illegal drug use, drinking). Avoid sweeping generalizations/statements about the group and/or his or her group experience. Again, be a good listener and always be as positive as possible.

Cult Recovery
There are common problems experienced by most former cult members during their recovery period. It is important to recognize that these problems are commonly shared by a majority of ex-members and not to become alarmed or panic. This may include depression, nightmares, anxiety attacks, excessive shame and/or guilt and seemingly unreasonable fears about the future.

Former cult members may at times feel like they are either back in the group, or wish that they were. Such a sensation may be prompted by something that occurs, which is reminiscent of their group experiences or practices. Some people call this "floating." But this does not necessarily happen to every former cult member.

Former members may also take some time to redevelop their critical thinking skills and initiate independent decision-making. Likewise, their ability to tolerate ambiguity may return slowly. Don\'t expect some instant overnight transformation. And don\'t pressure them hoping to speed up the recovery process Typically, the longer a person has been in a destructive cult--the longer they may take to recover. Also, recovery may depend upon their degree of personal involvement and/or the level of destructiveness and control within that particular group.

Members in most destructive cults are taught some form of "learned dependency." They are also frequently persuaded that individual autonomy and/or independent decision-making are negative or even "sinful." Be understanding and patient. Remember these two important points at all times:

• Don\'t be critical of spirituality, idealism and/or greater awareness. The stated goals and ideals of the group may have been laudable--despite its behavior.
• Don\'t try to convince or convert a former cult member about your personal beliefs. Respect their process of recovery and personal discovery. They will make their own choices in their own time and may require a rest from church, religion, and even awareness groups for a while.

There is rehabilitation facilities specifically designed to help recovering cult members.

Support
Recovering cult members, not unlike others in some form of recovery, can benefit from support groups. There may be a support group for former cult members in your area. Or, you may find resources through the Internet and/or books on the subject of cults. Support groups can help former members through shared experiences, insights and varied perspectives. Former members are likely to feel less alone through their involvement with a support group. They may also realize that many other people have a similar history and often struggle with same related recovery issues and problems. But don\'t pressure an ex-member to attend a support group--simply offer the information and encourage them.

Just as former members may need support--the families and friends of cult members may also find this helpful. Don\'t hesitate to find your own support group. For example, there are often specific groups for the parents of cult members. Dealing with a cult situation can be exhausting and emotionally draining--a support group may help you to cope more easily with your circumstances and make you feel less isolated.

When dealing with the issue of cult involvement you may find it meaningful to network with others in similar situations, knowledgeable professionals and/or former cult members. Many people find they need such support not only to sustain themselves emotionally (often for years), but also because such networking may be helpful for gathering information and keeping current and informed about a group.

If you participate in a support group and/or network with others and someone you know is actively cult involved-- don\'t tell that cult member. Cult members may perceive such involvement as threatening and/or negative and this may affect your relationship with them and future communication. Be sure that any person or group you contact regarding your concerns is reliable and credible.

Cult Awareness
Some concerned parents, family members and friends become anti-cult activists. That is, they may become involved in publicly exposing a cult and/or cults in general--such as working with the media, law enforcement, public officials and/or protection services to monitor a group and its activities. This often may produce positive results by protecting the public and/or cult members (e.g. children in the group). And this may give personally involved and motivated activists a sense of "doing something" and a feeling of empowerment--in what might otherwise seem to be a powerless situation.

But there are possible consequences to such anti-cult activism, which need to be carefully weighed. The cult may become punitive and cut off any personal contact with members and/or communication. Carefully consider your priorities and the status of your situation. What do you have to lose? It isn\'t wrong for a family or concerned friends to feel personal considerations outweigh the need for public education and greater awareness. But in some situations cults are so extreme (e.g. allowing little if any meaningful contact or communication) family and friends may feel they have nothing to lose.

Many of those concerned about a loved one in a cult also struggle with considerations regarding law enforcement and accountability. That is, certain cult activities and/or practices may be illegal, potentially unsafe and/or dangerous. Under such circumstances those concerned often feel torn between informing the proper authorities and fears that if they do--the cult will be punitive (regarding their relationship with a cult member and/or perhaps even punishing that member personally). Their specific concerns about a cult group may include child abuse or neglect, fraud, tax violations, substandard living conditions and/or such dangerous things as the stockpiling and/or possession of illegal weapons.

Sadly, there are no easy answers. Reporting such situations may lead to an end of communication with a loved one or perhaps their arrest. On the other hand such action might also lead to the moderation of the group\'s behavior, increased safety and/or accountability/supervision. It might also cause the deterioration of the group itself and subsequently its control over members. These are complex and tough decisions that must be made carefully. Anyone considering such action should consult with professionals such as a trusted physician and/or their attorney. It is unwise and needlessly risky to make such a crucial decision alone in a vacuum.

The families and friends of cult members often suffer in relative silence for years--waiting for a loved love to leave a destructive group is a painful process based upon love, patience and most of all hope.

Excerpt from:
SNAPPING:
America\'s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change, 2nd Edition
Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman

Chapter 6: "Black Lightning"
IN ALL THE WORLD, there is nothing quite so impenetrable as a human mind snapped shut with bliss. No call to reason, no emotional appeal can get through its armor of self-proclaimed joy.

We talked with dozens of individuals in this state of mind: cult members, group therapy graduates, born-again Christians, some Transcendental Meditators. After a while, it seemed very much like dancing to a broken record. We would ask a question, and the individual would spin round and round in a circle of dogma. If we tried to interrupt, he or she would simply pick right up again or go back to the beginning and start over.

Soon we began to realize that what we were watching went much deeper. These people were not simply incapable of carrying on a genuine conversation, they were completely mired in their unthinking, unfeeling, uncomprehending states. Whether cloistered in cults or passing blindly through the world, they were impervious to the pain of parents, spouses, friends and lovers. How do you reach such people? Can they be made to think and feel again? Is there any way to reunite them with their former personalities and the world around them?

A man named Ted Patrick developed the first remedy. A controversial figure dubbed by the cult world Black Lightning, Patrick was the first to point out publicly what the cults were doing to America\'s youth. He investigated the ploys by which many converts were ensnared and delved into the methods many cults used to manipulate the mind.

He was also the first to take action. In the early seventies, Patrick began a one-man campaign against the cults. His fight started in Southern California, on the Pacific beaches where, in the beginning, organizations such as the Hare Krishna and the Children of God recruited among the vacationing students and carefree dropouts who covered the sands in summer and roamed the bustling beach communities year round. The Children of God approached Patrick\'s son there one day and nearly made off with him. Patrick investigated, was horrified at what he found, and immediately set out on a course of direct action. His first-hand experiences with cult techniques and their effects led him to develop an antidote he named "deprogramming," a remarkably simple and-when properly used-nearly foolproof process for helping cult members regain their freedom of thought.

Before long, Ted Patrick was in action all over the country on behalf of desperate parents. Through the seventies, he made front page headlines in the east for his daring daylight kidnappings of Ivy League cult members. He made network news for his interstate car chases in the Pacific Northwest to elude both cult leaders and state troopers. And eventually he made American legal history. In his ultimate defense of the U.S. Constitution, Patrick challenged the confusion of First Amendment rights surrounding the cult controversy and drew an important distinction between Americans\' guaranteed national freedoms of speech and religion and their more fundamental human right to freedom of thought. In precedent-setting cases, U.S. courts confirmed Patrick\'s argument that, by "artful and deceiving" means, the new cults were in fact robbing people of their natural capacity to think and choose. To that time, it was never considered possible that a human being could be stripped of this basic endowment. In many courtrooms, however, Ted Patrick lost his case for freedom of thought, gathering a stack of convictions for kidnapping and unlawful detention. In unsuccessful attempts to free cult members from their invisible prisons, Patrick was repeatedly thrown into real ones, in New York, California and Colorado. In July 1976, during a time when Americans were celebrating their two hundredth year of freedom, Patrick was sentenced to serve a year in prison for a cult kidnapping he did not in fact perform.

Patrick confirmed our own perspective when he described the method of control used by many cults, beginning with the moment the recruiter hooks his listener.

"They have the ability to come up to you and talk about anything they feel you\'re interested in, anything," he said. "Their technique is to get your attention, then your trust. The minute they get your trust, just like that they can put you in the cult."

It was in 1971 that Patrick infiltrated the Children of God, the cult that had tried to recruit his son, Michael, one Fourth of July on Mission Beach in San Diego. His initial concern over the cults was personal but it also had a public side. Worried parents had already appealed to him for help in his official capacity as head of community relations for California\'s San Diego and Imperial counties. Patrick had moved to the area years earlier and became active in local politics working against discrimination in employment. During the Watts riots is Los Angeles in 1965, he helped calm racial unrest in San Diego. His public service caught the attention of then California\'s Republican governor, Ronald Reagan, who appointed Patrick, an active Democrat, to the community relations post.

"Thinking to a cult member is like being stabbed in the heart with a dagger," said Patrick. "It\'s very painful because they\'ve been told that the mind is Satan and thinking is the machinery of the Devil."

Having gained personal insight into the manner in which that machinery may be brought to a halt, Patrick developed his controversial deprogramming procedure, the essence of which, he explained, was simply to get the individual thinking again.

"When you deprogram people," he emphasized, "you force them to think. The only thing I do is shoot them challenging questions. I hit them with things that they haven\'t been programmed to respond to. I know what the cults do and how they do it, so I shoot them the right questions; and they get frustrated when they can\'t answer. They think they have the answer, they\'ve been given answers to everything. But I keep them off balance and this forces them to begin questioning, to open their minds. When the mind gets to a certain point, they can see through all the lies that they\'ve been programmed to believe. They realize that they\'ve been duped and they come out of it. Their minds start working again."

That, according to Patrick, was all there was to deprogramming. Yet since Patrick began deprogramming cult members, both the man and his procedure had taken on monstrous proportions in the public eye. Patrick\'s legendary kidnappings, a tactic he employed only as a last resort, often brought him into physical confrontation with cult members who had been warned that Black Lightning was an agent of Satan who would subject them to unimaginable tortures to get them to renounce their beliefs. Cult members who managed to escape their parents and Patrick before being deprogrammed frequently ran to the media with horror stories about the procedure. One young woman charged on national television that Patrick had ripped her clothes off and chased her nude body across the neighbors\' lawns. Other active cult members claimed to have been brutally beaten by Patrick, yet no parent, ex-cult member or other reliable witness we talked to ever substantiated any of those charges. In truth, Patrick told us, and others later confirmed, many of the distortions that had been disseminated about deprogramming were part of a coordinated campaign by several cults to discredit his methods. In the end, he said, the propaganda only worked to his advantage.

"The cults tell them that I rape the women and beat them. They say I lock them in closets and stuff bones done their throats." Patrick laughed. "What they don\'t know is that they\'re making my job easier. They come in here frightened to death of me, and then because of all the stuff they\'ve been told, I can just sit there and look at them and I\'ll deprogram them just like that. They\'ll be thinking, What the hell is he going to do now? They\'re waiting for me to slap them or beat them and already their minds are working."

In the beginning, Patrick admitted, he developed his method by trial and error, attempting to reason with cult members and learning each cult\'s rituals and beliefs until he cracked the code. Refining his procedure with each case, he came to understand exactly what was needed to pierce the cult\'s mental shield. Like a diamond cutter, he probed with his questions the rough surface of speech and behavior until he found the key point of contention at the center of each cult member\'s encapsulated beliefs. Once he found that point, Patrick hit it head on, until the entire programmed state of mind gave way, revealing the cult member\'s original identity and true personality that had become trapped inside.

We asked him to describe a typical deprogramming from the beginning and, then, how he knew when a person had been deprogrammed, that is when he could say for sure that he had done his job.

"The first time I lay eyes on a person," he said, staring at us intently, "I can tell if his mind is working or not. Then, as I begin to question him, I can determine exactly how he has been programmed. From then on, it\'s all a matter of language. It\'s talking and knowing what to talk about. I start moving his mind, slowly, pushing it with questions, and I watch every move that mind makes. I know everything it is going to do, and when I hit on that one certain point that strikes home, I push it. I stay with that question whether it\'s about God, the Devil or that person\'s having rejected his parents. I keep pushing and pushing. I don\'t let him get around it with the lies he\'s been told. Then there\'ll be a minute, a second, when the mind snaps, when the person realizes he\'s been lied to by the cult and he just snaps out of it. It\'s like turning on the light in a dark room. They\'re in an almost unconscious state of mind, and then I switch the mind from unconsciousness to consciousness and it snaps, just like that."

It was Patrick\'s term this time we hadn\'t said the word for what happens in deprogramming. And in almost every case, according to Patrick, it came about just that suddenly. When deprogramming has been accomplished, the cult member\'s appearance undergoes a sharp, drastic change. He comes out of his trancelike state and his ability to think for himself is restored.

"It\'s like seeing a person change from a werewolf into a man," said Patrick. "It\'s a beautiful thing. The whole personality changes, the eyes, the voice. Where they had hate and a blank expression, you can see feeling again."

Snapping, a word Ted Patrick used often, is a phenomenon that appears to have extreme moments at both ends. A moment of sudden, intense change may occur when a person enters a cult, during lectures, rituals and physical ordeals. Another change may take place with equal, or even greater, abruptness when the subject is deprogrammed and made to think again. Once this breakthrough is achieved, however, the person is not just "snapped out" and home free. Deprogramming always requires a period of rehabilitation to counteract an interim condition Patrick called "floating Patrick told us, he recommended that his subjects return him to everyday life and normal social relationships as quickly as possible. In that environment, the individual, must then actively work to rebuild the fundamental capacities of thought and feeling that have been systematically destroyed.

"Deprogramming is like taking a car out of the garage that hasn\'t been driven for a year," he said. "The battery has gone down, and in order to start it up you\'ve got to put jumper cables on it. It will go dead again. So you keep the motor running until it builds up its own power. This is what rehabilitation is. Once we get the mind working, we keep it working long enough so that the person gets in the habit of thinking and making decisions again."

Deprogramming added a whole new dimension to the already complex mystery of snapping. In one sense, deprogramming confirms that some drastic change takes place in the workings of the mind in the course of a cult member\'s experience, for only through deprogramming does it become apparent to everyone, including the cult member, that his actions, expressions and even his physical appearance have not been under his own control. In another sense, deprogramming is itself a form of sudden personality change. Because it appears to be a genuinely broadening, expanding personal change, it would seem to bear closer resemblance to a true moment of enlightenment, to the natural process of personal growth and newfound awareness and understanding, than to the narrowing changes brought about by cult rituals and artificially induced group ordeals.

What is it like to experience the sudden snap of a deprogramming? As a result of Ted Patrick\'s efforts, and others, there are now thousands of answers to the question. Patrick claims to have personally deprogrammed more than two thousand cult members; thousands more have been deprogrammed by other deprogrammers and professional "exit counselors" who have since entered this fledgling field. In our first round of cross-country travels, we spoke with dozens of ex-cult members, many of whom had been deprogrammed by Patrick. As far as we could see, his clients showed no scars, either physical of mental, from their deprogramming experience. Most seemed to be healthy, happy, fully rehabilitated and completely free of the effects of cult life.

In contrast to the many tales of cult conversion that we heard, which after a while began to sound virtually identical, each story of a Patrick deprogramming was its own spellbinding adventure, rich with intrigue and planned in minute detail. The first step in the process was almost always to remove the member from the cult, which might be accomplished by abduction, legal custodianship or, as Patrick seemed to prefer, simply a clever subterfuge.

One puzzle of snapping that the deprogramming process illuminates is the enormous amount of mental activity that takes place in the unthinking, unfeeling state many cult members are drawn into. Ironically, most people we spoke with fought desperately to preserve their blissed-out states, although they often were saturated with fear, guilt, hatred and exhaustion. In the beginning this seemed to present a disturbing contradiction: How could an individual whose mind has apparently been shut off, who has been robbed of his freedom of thought, display such cunning and initiative? What the deprogramming process demonstrated is that cult members do not simply snap from a normal conscious state into one of complete unconsciousness (and vice versa during deprogramming). Rather, most pass from one frame of waking awareness into a second, entirely separate, frame of awareness in which they may be equally active and perceptive.

We talked with an ex-member of the Church of Scientology, one the oldest and cagiest of America\'s cults, who took steps to preserve his cult frame of mind during his deprogramming, until Patrick\'s adept conversational skills caught his attention and he snapped out. "I tried to pretend that I was listening," this former Scientologist told us, "but I also tried to stay spaced out and not really pay attention. Occasionally, something would go pop and I would suddenly be listening to him. From his continuously talking like that, he just snapped me out of the spaced-out state I was in. All of a sudden I felt a little flushed. I could feel the blood rushing through my face."

Through two decades of legal battles and repeated periods of imprisonment and probation, few people spoke up in defense of Ted Patrick or the pioneering work he was doing, ultimately, at his own great personal and financial expense. No mainstream mental health organization or established social institution has yet taken a stand on behalf of his concept of freedom of thought. Part of the problem, especially in those years, was attributed to Patrick\'s manner of action. In his single-minded focus on rescuing cult members, he minced no words and wasted little time on social niceties. As a result, he often irked and alienated those parents, clinicians and law enforcement officials who might otherwise be his natural allies.

Yet, regardless of his style, the grave questions Patrick first flamboyantly brought to public attention are not the ones we can choose to like or dislike nor will they simply go away if we ignore them. Is an individual free to give up his freedom of thought? May a religion, popular therapy, political movement or any other enterprise systematically attack human thought and feeling in the name of God, the pursuit of happiness, personal growth or spiritual fulfillment? These are questions that Americans, perhaps more than others, are not prepared to deal with, because they challenge long-standing constitutional principles and cultural assumptions about the nature of the mind, personality and human freedom itself. In the months after out trip to the Orange county Jail we spoke with many people about Ted Patrick: parents, ex-cult members, attorneys, mental health professionals and others who, at the time, were only dimly aware of the building controversy over some alleged forms of religion in America. Some denounced him as a villain and a fascist, others hailed him as a folk hero and dark prophet of what lay ahead for America. Yet Patrick himself showed little concern for titles or media images.

Through the eighties, Black Lightning remained a lightning rod, a target for aggressive counterattacks and disinformation campaigns waged against deprogramming by major cults and more mainstream fundamentalist Christian sects. By the mid-nineties, he was widely presumed to be out of commission, but Patrick was still active, working mostly on voluntary deprogrammings and rehabilitation counseling. In the interim, swayed by a changing religious, political and social climate, courts across the country grew cold to deprogramming. Another pioneering deprogrammer, New York cult counselor and private detective Galen Kelly, was prosecuted on criminal charges in two separate cases but was convicted and spent more than a year in prison on the second before an appeals court overturned his conviction.

Those cases and others brought a global chill. In the new climate, judges were deaf to the pleas of the parents and families of cult members, and the precarious deprogramming profession was largely eclipsed by the efforts of the new generation of cult "exit counselors." Exit counselors we talked with, many of them one-time sect members themselves who had gone on to acquire clinical training and credentials, were testing a wide range of eclectic approaches, some more successful, some less so. Many were generalists, counseling cultists and families across America and, increasingly, in other countries. Some specialized in counseling ex-Moonies, members of Eastern cults, of controlling charismatic groups and extreme fundamentalist sects.

Most confirmed a pattern we, too, had noted: the new methods of voluntary deprogramming and exit counseling, while far less controversial and much safer from a legal standpoint, prompted fewer cult members to experience a sudden "snapping out" of their controlled states of mind. Instead, most experienced a slower process of emergence, or as Rick Ross, an exit counselor from Arizona, called it, a gradual "unfolding" from the cults\' ingrained altered states. Afterwards, many required additional counseling, specialized rehabilitation and, for some, ongoing psychotherapy to recover their personalities and regain full control over their impaired powers of mind.

But, two decades later, public understanding and professional support were still in short supply. I. Behavior Control

1. Regulation of individual\'s physical reality
   • Where, how and with whom the member lives and associates with
   • What clothes, colors, hairstyles the person wears
   • What food the person eats, drinks, adopts, and rejects
   • How much sleep the person is able to have
   • Financial dependence
   • Little or no time spent on leisure, entertainment, vacations
2. Major time commitment required for indoctrination sessions and group rituals
3. Need to ask permission for major decisions
4. Need to report thoughts, feelings and activities to superiors
5. Rewards and punishments (behavior modification techniques- positive and negative).
6. Individualism discouraged; group think prevails
7. Rigid rules and regulations
8. Need for obedience and dependency

II. Information Control

1. Use of deception
   • Deliberately holding back information
   • Distorting information to make it acceptable
   • Outright lying
2. Access to non-cult sources of information minimized or discouraged
   • Books, articles, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio
   • Critical information
   • Former members
   • Keep members so busy they don\'t have time to think
3. Compartmentalization of information; Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
   • Information is not freely accessible
   • Information varies at different levels and missions within pyramid
   • Leadership decides who "needs to know" what
4. Spying on other members is encouraged
   • Pairing up with "buddy" system to monitor and control
   • Reporting deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leadership
5. Extensive use of cult generated information and propaganda
   • Newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, etc.
   • Misquotations, statements taken out of context from non-cult sources
6. Unethical use of confession
   • Information about "sins" used to abolish identity boundaries
   • Past "sins" used to manipulate and control; no forgiveness or absolution

III. Thought Control

1. Need to internalize the group\'s doctrine as "Truth"
   • Map = Reality
   • Black and White thinking
   • Good vs. evil
   • Us vs. them (inside vs. outside)
2. Adopt "loaded" language (characterized by "thought-terminating clich?s"). Words are the tools we use to think with. These "special" words constrict rather than expand understanding. They function to reduce complexities of experience into trite, platitudinous "buzz words".
3. Only "good" and "proper" thoughts are encouraged.
4. Thought-stopping techniques (to shut down "reality testing" by stopping "negative" thoughts and allowing only "good" thoughts); rejection of rational analysis, critical thinking, constructive criticism.
   • Denial, rationalization, justification, wishful thinking
   • Chanting
   • Meditating
   • Praying
   • Speaking in "tongues"
   • Singing or humming
5. No critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy seen as legitimate
6. No alternative belief systems viewed as legitimate, good, or useful

IV. Emotional Control

1. Manipulate and narrow the range of a person\'s feelings.
2. Make the person feel like if there are ever any problems it is always their fault, never the leader\'s or the groups.
3. Excessive use of guilt
   • Identity guilt
     1. Who you are (not living up to your potential)
     2. Your family
     3. Your past
     4. Your affiliations
     5. Your thoughts, feelings, actions
   • Social guilt
   • Historical guilt
4. Excessive use of fear
   • Fear of thinking independently
   • Fear of the "outside" world
   • Fear of enemies
   • Fear of losing one\'s "salvation"
   • Fear of leaving the group or being shunned by group
   • Fear of disapproval
5. Extremes of emotional highs and lows.
6. Ritual and often public confession of "sins".
7. Phobia indoctrination : programming of irrational fears of ever leaving the group or even questioning the leader\'s authority. The person under mind control cannot visualize a positive, fulfilled future without being in the group.
   • No happiness or fulfillment "outside"of the group
   • Terrible consequences will take place if you leave: "hell"; "demon possession"; "incurable diseases"; "accidents"; "suicide"; "insanity"; "10,000 reincarnations"; etc.
   • Shunning of leave takers. Fear of being rejected by friends, peers, and family.
   • Never a legitimate reason to leave. From the group\'s perspective, people who leave are: "weak"; "undisciplined"; "unspiritual"; "worldly"; "brainwashed by family, counselors"; seduced by money, sex, rock and roll.

Positive meaning of the word Cult:
Theological usage: Oxford English Dictionary defined "cult" as: worship; reverential homage rendered to devine being or beings.

"a particular form or system of religious worship; especially in reference to its external rites and ceremonies"

"devotion or homage to a particular person or thing."

This is the historical meaning of the word, but is rarely today heard outside of religious circles. A reference to the "Cult of Mary" appeared in a newspaper report on the Pope\'s 1999 visit to the Americas. It simply means that the Pope devotes special attention to the Virgin Mary.

Neutral Meanings of the word cult:
Sociological usage: A small religious group that exists in a state of tension with the predominant religion. Hinduism might be considered a cult in North America; Christianity might be considered a cult in India.

Additional sociological usage: An innovative, fervent religious group, as contrasted with more established and conventional sects and denominations.

The Observer: An English newspaper seemed to use the term to refer to any small religious group, no matter what its age or teachings.

General religious usage: A small, recently created, religious organization which is often headed by a single charismatic leader and is viewed as an spiritually innovative group. A cult in this sense may simply be a new religious movement on its way to becoming a denomination. The Christian religion, as it existed in 30 CE might be considered a cult involving one leader and 12 or 70 devoted followers. The Mormon denomination was started in the 19th century by Joseph Smith and a few followers; it later grew to become an established denomination.

Negative Meanings of the word cult:
Evangelical Christian and Counter-Cult Movement usage: Any religious group which accepts most but not all of the historical Christian doctrines (the divinity of Jesus, virgin birth, the Trinity, salvation, etc.). The implication is that the cult\'s theology is invalid; Under this definition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), Unification Church and Jehovah\'s Witnesses are classified as cults. But they would not classify as such, because it is not associated with Christianity. The earliest use of this meaning of the word "Cult" is believed to be a 1938 book "The Chaos of the Cults" by J.K. VanBaalen. On the other hand, new religious groups such as the Mormons, Unification Church and Jehovah\'s Witnesses generally regard themselves to be the true Christian church. They view all other denominations as being in error. Thus, one groups true church is another group\'s cult.

Fundamentalist Christian usage: Some Fundamentalists would accept the Evangelical definition of cult defined above. Others might brand any religious group which deviates from historical Protestant Christian beliefs as a cult. This definition would include the Mormon Church, Wicca, mainline and liberal Christian denominations, Islam, Hinduism, and all of the other religions of the world. Over 70% of humanity would belong to cults, by this definition.

Mental Health Groups and anti-cult movement usage: A small number of therapists, research psychologists, self-taught individuals, etc., form the anti-cult movement (ACM) They attempt to raise public consciousness about what they see as dangerous and authoritarian mind control cults and doomsday cults. Many do not care about the faith group\'s theology. They target only what they see as deceptive practices, and dangerous psychological pressure techniques, such as brainwashing. The ACM appears to hold opinions about the effectiveness of brainwashing that are not shared by the mental-health community generally. They see mind control/doomsday cults as a widespread social problem.

Popular, media usage: (very negative meaning) a small, evil religious group, often with a single charismatic leader, which engages in brainwashing and other mind control techniques, believes that the end of the world is imminent, and collects large amounts of weaponry in preparation for a massive war. Often used as a synonym for mind control religious group or for doomsday cult. The earliest use of this meaning of the word is believed to have been in a 1965 book by Walter Martin "The Kingdom of the Cults" (revised and expanded in 1985). We have seen "cult" used to refer to Evangelical denominations, the Roman Catholic Church, Unification Church, Church of Scientology, United Church of Christ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Wiccans, other Neopagans and many other faith groups. The term is essentially meaningless.

Of course, if you are an author, public speaker or teleminister who wants to direct public fear and hatred against a new religious group, then "cult" is an ideal word to use. But the use of the term may be irresponsible and immoral, depending upon your system of values. We suspect, but cannot prove, that some Internet web sites, including many: Counter-cult groups -- those who mainly attack Christian denominations and sects which promote novel beliefs.

Anti-cult groups -- those who attack high-intensity new religious movements which require a strong commitment from their members, intentionally use the term "cult" for manipulative purposes. They hope that their visitors will bring with them fear and loathing of dangerous faith groups, like the former Branch Davidians or Heaven\'s Gate, and transfer these negative feelings to such groups as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Jehovah\'s Witnesses.

Mass suicides raise the question: Why?
Experts point to vulnerable followers, strong leaders
March 27, 1997

From Correspondent Al Hinman
What happens in the human mind that would lead dozens, even hundreds, of people to kill themselves in unison?

That\'s the question being asked after the discovery of 39 bodies near San Diego. And it\'s the question still being asked nearly 20 years after more than 900 followers of Jim Jones drank cyanide-laced punch in the jungles of Jonestown, Guyana, in what remains the largest and best-known mass suicide this century.

"It\'s very difficult to understand or comprehend. Why would bright young and old people sacrifice their lives for a person who has told them that if you do this, you\'re going to evolve to a higher plain?" asked Jynona Norwood, whose family perished in Jonestown. "A lot of these young people, or even parents, are seeking somebody to identify with," she says. "They\'re seeking a higher belief system."

No traditional sense of despair
Experts say it usually takes a strong "messiah-like" leader -- such as Jonestown\'s Rev. Jim Jones -- to lead a group to kill itself.

"It has to do with the drive of a cult leader and what the cult leader wants the members to do," said John Hochman, a UCLA psychiatrist.

That\'s the kind of power, say the experts, that David Koresh had over his Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Texas. Experts on religious sects and mass suicide see parallels between Waco and Guyana: There\'s a certain type of person drawn into such a group, who becomes vulnerable to mass suicide.

"It is often alienated youth who have found their way to these groups and subordinate their own psychology to the messianic, charismatic attraction of a very powerful leader," said Jerrold Post, a psychiatrist and expert on religious sects with "cult" characteristics. "For many of the cults who have participated in group suicides, it isn\'t suicide in the traditional sense of coming out of despair and ending a miserable existence," Post said. "Rather, it is passing to a higher state of being, of making a transition."

Post said that\'s the kind of quest that led more than 70 members of the Order of the Solar Temple to take their lives during the past three years in Europe and Canada.

Fewer than 2 percent of all deaths in the United States are suicides. Experts say nearly all of those deaths are preventable.

Essay: Clinical Update on Cults
Michael D Langone Ph.D.
Psychiatric Times, July 1996.
Research indicates that although a large majority of cult members eventually leave their groups, many, perhaps most, experience high levels of psychological distress after leaving and frequently seek mental health counseling.

A factor analytic study of former cult members\' experiences has led to the development of a "Group Psychological Abuse Scale" which in turn has found four factors that characterize cultic environments of all types-compliance, exploitation, mind control, and anxious dependency-which determine whether and to what extent an individual may be harmed by the experience.

Theories of Involvement
Why people join cults, why they leave, why they often experience distress upon leaving, and how they can be helped are questions that have not been extensively researched, although three general models ofcult conversation and departure can be identified, with the answers to these questions varying among the models.

First is the psychodynamic model, which presumes that cultic groups fulfill unconscious needs of their members. Second is the deliberative model (popular among theologians and sociologists), which presumes that people join and leave cultic groups because of their cognitive evaluations, however faulty, of the group. Third is the thought reform model, which presumes that cultic environments lure and hold on to members through high levels of psychological manipulation.

An integrative model proposes that the degree of deliberation in a group involvement is a function of the psychological neediness of the individual and manipulativeness of the environment. When neediness and manipulativeness are low, deliberation will be highest. When manipulation is high, deliberation will be lower. Those harmed by a cultic involvement are most likely to come from highly manipulative groups. About one-third appear to have had psychological disorders before joining the cult, but most appear to have been relatively normal psychologically.

Cult-sensitive assessment"
Treatment of former cult members should include a cult-sensitive assessment. The clinician should appreciate the degree to which negative emotional reactions can be a function of psychological trauma experienced in the cult, and should not rush to a psychodynamic interpretation that focuses on preexisting disorders. However, even though the cult environment is potent, the psychological, family, and social/vocational history of the individual should be investigated thoroughly. It is also important to assess the psychoeducational needs of patients, that is, the degree to which they understand cultic manipulations, as well as academic and vocational skills (cultic isolation can put many ex-members years behind their peers in educational and vocational development).

Elements of treatment Treatment should also education about psychological manipulation and an application of this knowledge to the patient\'s cult experience; include the following:
active management of day-to-day crises, which are especially common in recently exited persons;
a reconnecting to the pre-cult past;
support in the resolution of grief and guilt related to lost time, lost friendships, and lost innocence;
education and mobilization of the patient\'s social support network; and ultimately, a cognitive integration of the positive and negative aspects of the cult experience into the patient\'s emerging post cult identity.

Pharmacotherapy can often help former cultists, especially those experiencing severe depression, but psychiatrists should be more cautious in making the decision to prescribe and more vigilant in follow-up when a cult involvement is evident. Former cult members\' symptoms are often much more a function of psychological trauma than of longstanding psychopathology.

Family members
Family members who consult mental health professionals because of a loved one\'s cult involvement should not be dismissed as overprotective, enmeshed, or otherwise dysfunctional. Most family members seeking help are relatively normal, although many experience considerable anxiety and anguish in response to the cult involvement. Family members typically need information about cults, communication skills training, and assistance in devising a strategy to help their loved one make an informed reevaluation of the cult involvement. Such persons should be referred to cult experts.

Satanism
Treatment of youth involved in Satanism, or ritual abuse survivors, though similar in some ways to the treatment of cult victims, is different in others. Satanically involved youth tend to be disturbed psychologically and often are solitary in their satanic dabbling. These youth appear to gain a compensatory, though illusory feeling of power through Satanism. Treatment should focus on helping them build a more reality based self-esteem. The treatment of ritualistic abuse survivors (children and adults) is fraught with controversy, especially where recovered memories are involved. Based on current lack of research data, the recommendations of the American Psychiatric Association\'s Statement on Memories of Sexual Abuse appear to be the most balanced approach to dealing with ritual abuse cases. This article is based on a presentation made at the 8th Annual U.S. Psychiatric & Mental Health Congress in New York City, November 16-19, 1995. The author is Executive Director of AFF and Editor of AFF\'s Cultic Studies Journal

Essay: Grief, Loss, and the Former Cult Member
Patricia Goski, R.N.
Cult Observer, Volume 11, No. 7, 1994
In 1990, I exited a religious cult in which I had spent the previous 18 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 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:

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
"Walkaways" numbered 66, or 85% of all respondents
9% of all respondents had been exit counseled.
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 3l 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, l will mention the five that were identified as having caused the most distress not only during the two immediate 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 1?" 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 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.

Patricia Goski, R.N., is a former group member who works as a volunteer for AFF.

Live - Radio broadcast
Lutz Lemhoefer and Dr. Olaf Stoffel
Hesse, Germany
June 26, 2000
HR 1, Hessian Radio
People are still falling into psychic dependency on sects. But what is so fascinating about communities of faith like "Scientology," "Jehovah\'s Witnesses," or "Universal Life"? And what do people hope to get from them? These questions and others like them will be answered on "LEBEN HEUTE" by guests including Lutz Lemhoefer, weltanschauung commissioner of the Catholic Church.

HR 1 - Theme "LEBEN HEUTE" with Susanne Scharra. A beautiful good morning. Voice: He works like a missionary who proclaims an absolutely true belief which extends into many areas here.

Voice: The man is highly intelligent. And what makes him so dangerous is that he is a man who offers simple solutions.

Voice: That is how you are put at the level of a student. And I also often really felt that way. When I think back on it, that\'s the way it was. And he was simply one or two levels higher. And we all sat in the same boat. Nobody dared so much as to pull out a sandwich and eat it or crumple paper. Oh God, the holy mood, the entire atmosphere would have been destroyed.

Voice: It is the same principle as a drug addict or an alcoholic who says, up to the time that the bar closes or he collapses, "I am not addicted. I can quit anytime."

Susanne Scharra: And then they are not able to quit, but follow their special guru for years as if they were blind or get entangled in the clutches of their special sect. "Scientology," the "Jehovah\'s Witnesses," the "Moon Sect" - those are only the most well-known, because the list goes on forever. In Germany there are 6,000 groups with cultic tendencies. Individual people who call themselves "savior" or "missionary" or entire organizations who sometimes use abstruse teachings of salvation to reach out to the souls of susceptible people. What drives so many into the finely meshed net of sects? How do the mechanisms of these totalitarian groups work? And how can one protect oneself? On this show people speak up who have experienced religious dependency but who have managed to leave. "Oh, happy day" is not forever.

Susanne Scharra: They stand in pairs in the pedestrian zone. They hold the "Watchtower" up high in heat, snow or rain or they proselytize from door to door. "Jehova\'s Witnesses" continue to be a part of the street scene. We become conscious of them and perhaps also recall one or another headline, "Jehova\'s Witness must die because he refuses life-saving blood transfusion on principle of faith."

But only a few know that the founder of the religious sect is Charles Russel and that the German center is in Hesse, more precisely, in the Taunus village of Selters. Twelve hundred people work there. What do the "Jehovah\'s Witnesses" believe and what makes them different from the others? That\'s what we wanted to know. And so Andreas Sieger paid a visit to the "Jehovah\'s Witnesses" in Selters.

"Jehovah\'s Witness" spokesman: We are different from our fellow human being really in quite, quite few points. Anybody who leads his life in a rational way and also goes along in a normal way could also be a "Jehovah\'s Witness." And if one were to view the differences: they are in missionary work, because, normally, who goes from door to door like "Jehovah\'s Witnesses"? The differences exist in the question of political neutrality. The differences exist in the question of the recognition of the almighty God with his name, "Jehova"; in that one even considers the word "God" as binding. I think I have named the classical differences. Susanne Scharra: There are still a couple of more differences between the "Jehovah\'s Witnesses" and the rest of humankind. Much of what other people take for granted is forbidden for them. For instance, they may not celebrate birthdays. Easter and Christmas are also taboo. They may not swear. Athletic activity is prohibited. Pop stars may not be revered. All this is regulated in a strong moral code. Those who break it must at least express regret over their transgression to the Rights Committee. If they do not, they are expelled. And, naturally, one does not get into the earthly Paradise that way. It can be seen in the headlines that the "Jehova\'s Witnesses" still refuse to let their members have blood transfusions.

"Jehova\'s Witness" spokesman: But the background of that was not the medical judgment of this thing, it was decided in a biblical maxim in the 1st century that people should abstain from blood.

Susanne Scharra: Of course it is not written in the Bible that blood transfusions are forbidden, because they did not exist at the time. The "Jehovah\'s Witnesses" are referring to a place in the Apostle\'s epistles where it says that Jews should abstain from blood. What is meant there is blood as nourishment, and nothing else. They have transported instructions thousands of years old into the times of today. Moreover, the "Witnesses" do not use the Lutheran translation of the Holy Scriptures, but they have their own "New World" translation. According to the way they see things, the earthly Paradise, the thousand year reign of peace, will begin with the battle of Armageddon. Really that was supposed to have happened in 1975. But, as is known, nothing came of that. The Witnesses no longer would like to name an exact year for the battle.

"Jehovah\'s Witnesses" spokesman: We would have liked it better if God still intervened today. But he has made up the schedule. And He will not let people trespass into His territory. Therefore we wait patiently. But we live every day as though God would intervene and move us and strengthen us.

Susanne Scharra: So no tangible end to the travail is yet in sight. The "Witnesses," strongly obligated to political neutrality, do not get involved outside of their gatherings and missionary services. However, that contradicts the image of Jesus in all modern editions of the Bible, which show Him as a hands-on man of action

"Jehovah\'s Witness" spokesman: Jesus kept aloof from all political things because it was his goal that The Kingdom would be established here on earth and that the hopes of people would be fulfilled. That is exactly what our hope is today, because many problems exist today which people cannot solve. When we just think about horrible diseases. When we think about the hunger in the world. When we think about the problem of environmental pollution and criminality, when we think about the problem of death. And none of these problems can be altered by people. And therefore we trust that God will keep his Word which He gave in the Bible.

Susanne Scharra: So much trouble and so little to show for it, regarded less from a financial view and more from the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. Ulrich Rausch, author of the book, "The Jehovah\'s Witnesses, a sect report," urgently warns, however, (interruption) Ulrich Rausch: Perhaps therefore, they are more dangerous than Scientology or other groups because each one says, Good, they have "fibbed" a little, maybe a little very involved, but that is astonishing in its own way, too, because one would not do that for his own belief, take so much time and so much trouble to get his message across. As far as I am concerned, things are dangerous when one doesn\'t know how dangerous it is. Like when I know a river I can swim in or it is a dangerous mess, then it is no longer dangerous. But if I think it is harmless, then I won\'t be without problems, and then I\'ll be caught and surprised, and, of course, that is mortally dangerous.

Susanne Scharra: Yes, how dangerous sects really are, and that they can even be mortally dangerous, that is what we\'ll talk about now. I welcome Lutz Lemhoeffer to the studio, the weltanschauung commissioner of the Catholic Church, and Olaf Stoffel, today author and therapist, but until several years ago still a priest in the New Apostolic Church, and thereby himself in the clutches of a sect. Mr. Stoffel, that which we have just now heard about the "Jehovah\'s Witnesses," does that bring back memories of the time when you were a sect member of the New Apostolic Church?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: I was indeed a member of the New Apostolic Church and many messages which we have just heard in the piece about the "Jehova\'s Witnesses" seem familiar to me. Susanne Scharra: For example?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: I was always told, for example, that the end of the world would soon come and that only the true New Apostles would get to heaven. And that made people very afraid, not just me, but also the children. And also that one-sided worldview that you would finally have security if you would do what the implications of the teachings, so to speak, proscribed. And all that came back to me vividly, like on a station, so to speak, and also invoked one or another emotion.

Susanne Scharra: When you say that not just you, but also your children, does that mean that you were in the New Apostolic Church with your whole family? Dr. Olaf Stoffel: I was in the New Apostolic Church with my whole family and also undertook child care there, and finally observed in the teachings of the New Apostolic Church how manipulative one dealt with children there and that people were simply trying to implant these teachings into the children so the teachings simply were their world. Susanne Scharra: But for you that was the second step in practice. How did you, that means when you had your thoughts about what methods were being used there, how did you get into the sect? You, as you have said, worked there for 17 years, and for 17 years believed in it, in a certain way.

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: The way it was, I went into the New Apostolic Church when I was 23. Back then I was having a life crisis and was looking for God, yes, for devotion, for security, for meaning. And then someone invited me into this community. And where it is close, it is also warm. In other words, at first I enjoyed this security. I was accepted and given a clear goal, at first that was attractive. I was even one of the chosen, a so-called child of God. I finally had hope, finally, of being accepted by God.

Susanne Scharra: Mr. Lemhoefer, what makes groups like the "Jehovah\'s Witnesses" or even the New Apostolic Church, were Mr. Stoffel was, into sects?

Lutz Lemhoefer: I think that is, above all else, their claim to exclusivity. Only we are the true church of Christ, all others outside there are damned. Those with us are on the right side. Those outside our organization are lost. This quite distinct separation of "inside - outside," that is the most important point. On top of that, surely, are also authoritarian leanings: what the leadership says cannot be questioned. There is no live discussion, no chance of bringing in criticism or a deviant idea, that is perhaps ....

Susanne Scharra: Now I have to ask, perhaps quite heretically, aren\'t there also such tendencies in the Catholic Church, too? What makes the Catholic Church different from a sect? Couldn\'t one say here that each group that proclaims a certain teaching of salvation, and the Catholic Church does that, too, is a sect?

Lutz Lemhoefer: No, the major churches, including Catholics, surely have sectarian tendencies, those are in every major religion, but they are not sects. You need only compare the discussion at the Catholic Convention several weeks ago with that of such a group, about topics like "May women become priests?" and "Can one celebrate Holy Communion together?" There are disputes between Catholics and Protestants. There are deviant opinions and there is an extremely lively discussion. And the degree to which the individual feels obligated to be near to or distant from an organization today can be rather precisely determined by the member, in any case. And that is what makes the difference.

Susanne Scharra: I said a little while ago that there are, according to estimates, over 6,000 sectarian groups in Germany, but that is a little wide of the mark. We would say there are perhaps only 600 real sects. But still, why so many?

Lutz Lemhoefer: Yes, I think we are in a society where there is no longer a clear traditional advantage, or at least it is no longer effective. In seeking for salvation, the individual is often left up to himself and then people look in different ways. And anybody who offers a path to salvation today has more chance of making an appearance and having people join than was the case in earlier times; even though, of course, there have been sects all throughout the history of religion.

Susanne Scharra: But what is the goal of a sect? Does in really always deal only with a certain teaching of salvation, or is it also about money and power?

Lutz Lemhoefer: According to what I believe, it is not at all always about money. That is a pre-judgment. Those who want to make a lot of money, I think have many different alternatives. But power plays a role. The mixture of idealism and power. The claim that I can save not only myself but everybody else, the entire world, and, by the way, that is my duty. Indeed, that is a social form of unbelievable exploitation of power. People are not at all aware of that. They often feel they are idealists, and often get in for idealistic motives. But, of course, that is also connected with power and an increase in ego. Although the ego inside the group is small, the group itself is so important and then I partake of its greatness. That is the attraction.

Susanne Scharra: Mr. Stoffel, did you experience things exactly that way in the New Apostolic Church, or how was it?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: I experienced both: power and money. It happened with the so-called Apostles, the one who held the higher positions. They were honored like some leaders from a darker time in German history. But it was also a matter of money, because ten percent of one\'s income had to be sacrificed if you wanted to have the blessing. And much money was accumulated, so, in the end, it was both: money and power.

Susanne Scharra: We have also spoken about the fear which was stirred up which you experienced. With the "Jehovah\'s Witnesses," many believe these teachings of salvation and they will also do things like risk their lives for them. If I understand that correctly, many have, in fact, refused a blood transfusion which would have permitted them to live. Would you have been ready to sacrifice your life for the beliefs of the New Apostolic Church in a similar way?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: Well, there were times when I strongly identified with the New Apostolic beliefs. And I probably would have gone as far, if the leader of the New Apostolic Church would have said to do this or that, as it has been so beautifully said, as to have followed what he said. I would like to add to that perhaps the New Apostolic belief system is not quite as narrow as that of the "Jehovah\'s Witnesses," and to be fair, there are tendencies towards liberalization. But there is still much restriction there and much fear besides of simply being abandoned by God.

Susanne Scharra: When we say sects are dangerous, did you perceive the danger as such to which you were exposed?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: When I was in the system I did not perceive the danger. But I frequently had a latent fear that everything I believed could be false, and was always suppressing that, and then even experienced psychosomatic illness from that. Therefore, the soul sounded the alarm. And at sometime I could not longer keep this process up. But I wanted to hold onto this secure space in which I had been chosen before God.

Susanne Scharra: Mr. Lemhoefer, what are the dangers then, the dangers when one gets involved in a sect\'s networks?

Lutz Lemhoefer: I think the danger is primarily in falling into a dependency, into a child\'s role completely unhealthy for an adult. That a person gets dependent upon other grown people in a childish way, that one gets exploited not only financially, but also psychically. That is the danger.

Susanne Scharra: Like what we heard right at the start of the program, when a man said he had always felt like a student.

Mr. Lemhoefer: Yes, so it is not an adult form of belief and religion, so I am not talking against belief and religion, but against an unhealthy, infantile, immature form of belief and religion.

Susanne Scharra: So once in the clutches of a sect, as we know, the adherents work their way out of it again only with serious difficulty. We are just about to talk about the totalitarian methods which sects use to bind people to them. If you, my dear listeners, have questions on the topic, then give us a call. We\'ll collect the questions in the studio, then hand them to our experts here; [telephone number given]. (Music)

Susanne Scharra: It is shortly before 9:30. You are listening to Theme "Leben Heute" about the grasp for the soul, the fascination with sects. It does not always have to be religious dependency that people fall into. Lately there are countless small and larger organizations which are structured similar to a sect and which use clever methods to bind adherents to them, up to total abandonment of self. Roswita Krauss describes the case of a young woman from Erder, near Giessen, who fell into the clutches of a dubiously structured operation; a story of power and powerlessness, of hope and bondage.

I got in through a, yes, female colleague at work, into an enterprise, out of curiosity really, where incredibly much money was supposed to be made. And when I went to take a look at those people who had earned all this money I didn\'t want to believe it one bit, because they were all great people. And then I thought to myself, I\'ve been doing for a long time what they are. Quite simply I got customers, I recruited staff without end, I took training, I practically worked day and night. So I was still working in my career as executive secretary; I would drive off at 4 or 5 o\'clock to Bonn, from Giessen to Bonn, take seminars there, get home at night around midnight, up again the next morning at six, go back to work at eight, and that\'s the way it went until I became sales manager. Then I gave up my executive secretary position because I was supposed to have been able to make more money there. And I did make more money there - unfortunately I am not the one who got it.

Susanne Scharra: What kind of figures are we talking about here?

Andrea Jakob: I went for a million in sales a month, sales with life insurance contracts and would have gotten 17,000 marks every month to start but got, at most, three or four thousand marks that was never fully paid.

Susanne Scharra: To start off with, there were promises of much money. At the end, Andrea Jakob had 700,000 marks in debt.

Andrea Jakob: I couldn\'t think over this immense work expense so quickly. After many, many months, I noticed that the money was never being paid. I was always put off: Yes, that is very difficult, the policies last so long. Or there is still a medical check-up that needs to be done with this or that person which did not at all check out, and so forth. In no case was the money paid. Then things got tough!

Susanne Scharra: When did you put on the brakes?

Andrea Jakob: One day by accident I came upon a box with documents which I thought were mine. We always had our boxes of our settlements, which were never complete, and I had gotten a hold of the wrong box, that from Mr. Daniel. And there I saw that he was receiving a commission for many of my customers. So, in practice, he had received the money, the commission for many of my customers and my staff, including super-commissions. That is when I noticed that this was fraud. Quite clearly.

Susanne Scharra: The firm is a structured operation: "Gesellschaft zur Foerderung mittelfristiger Geldanlagen" (FMGA). The primary customer is the Karlsruhe Life Insurance Co. The people at FMGA were all noticeably motivated. The explanation today: it ran like a sect. Andrea Jakob: Up to then I had no idea what Scientology was at all. When I got out and then learned that the Emotion Scale in which they trained us and more, was developed by Hubbard, yes, training about suppressives, that one should keep a distance between oneself and "stops," like spouses or family members, even our children, if they hindered us from working and so forth; I noticed that something was not right with that. And then I tried to get out, but that was not at all so simple because, in the meantime, I was so deeply in debt that I only hoped that sometime they would finally pay me the wages they owed me, which, of course, never happened.

Susanne Scharra: After a 15 day introduction into the sales business, Andrea Jakob became district director. Soon she advanced to trainer. The shower of money was so close she could smell it. And suggestions for operations were rewarded with regular training. Training often took place out of the country. The only thing peculiar about that was that she had to book the hotel rooms for the evening seminars at her own expense. Sometimes it was about astrology, sometimes personal weaknesses of staff were sought out.

Andrea Jakob: I was continually being appeased. I was always being told that I should have trust and I would see that money was coming in, even in only small amounts, but I would have to have trust, that everybody in the business was overworked and that it would take some time: the research on the customers and what did I know about the whole thing. And then I was invited again to a champagne dinner with Mr. Frei. Yes, or yes, we had in the seminars ... Then the room was darkened. Everybody had gotten a candle to hold, and then they were lit. Hundreds of candles were swung back and forth in the room. As far as I was concerned that was really, yes, that was all nonsense and all that happened with me was that I felt ill. And because of that I was strongly alienated. But I made just as many sales and, because of that, I was in debt.

Susanne Scharra: Did you try back then to protest your receiving so much psychological training?

Andrea Jakob: No, that was almost not possible. There were hundreds of people and if one person criticized, then so many protested that one had no chance at all against the mass of people. I was shouted down as a rebel. And then I was alienated in practice and the other people were told to keep their distance from me, that I was dangerous.

Susanne Scharra: It sounds as though you were gradually psychically undermined. In retrospect, what techniques worked then for a while?

Andrea Jakob: We had to listen to music cassettes which had been made with the help of a subliminal technology device, whatever that is called, I have the documents about it at home, and you did not hear it. You heard only the music. That means it was done sub-consciously. And also the film, the company film was made with both visual and audio subliminal techniques. That means that also had a great influence. But since that has not been clearly proven in Germany, nothing is done about it; in America it is clearly prohibited.

Susanne Scharra: Today Andrea Jakob studies psychology and sees through the model of confusion in which she had landed. All in all, what kind of effects did you have over the years under the influence of a cult-like company?

Andrea Jakob: I had very bad psychic effects. I had spasms, stomach cramps, regular breakdowns, nervous breakdowns. To some degree, I just couldn\'t pull myself together, just lay in bed and slept, a complete state of exhaustion. I had an operation in a hospital in Berlin. And under sedation I had heart failure, breathing stopped, and then they said "manager syndrome."

Susanne Scharra: Yes, so much for the case of a young woman from Hesse. In the studio, Olaf Stoffel, himself a former sect member and today book author and therapist, and Lutz Lemhoefer, Weltanschauungs Commissioner for the Catholic Church. Mr. Lemhoefer, the case which we just heard about is, indeed, really tragic, but somehow one just involuntarily puts his hands behind his head and thinks, "How could the woman have let that happen to herself?" Was that an isolated incident, or do you know of similar stories?

Lutz Lemhoefer: I am absolutely familiar with similar stories which show that a business based on structured distribution can hit a person in a way which one would expect from a sect. For instance, that the private life gets left behind, that other day-to-day professional routines get set aside, that the first, last and only thing that counts is the sale, and that sometimes this is done by absolutely fraudulent corporations: making money there is always first, never second.

Susanne Scharra: Can one look at it that way, that these structured operations also use cult-like structures to tie people to themselves? What do they do, or why does it work so well?

Lutz Lemhoefer: They do not promise heavenly salvation; today there aren\'t that many people looking for that anyway, they promise earthly salvation - very much money, very fast! And they get people in on this one line alone, just this one line. I knew of a young man who, right in the first meeting, who was talking and his girlfriend made a couple of critical objections, and the young man was told, "Buddy, if you want to get ahead, you can\'t let yourself be dragged down by this bump on a log"! So he was challenged to end his relationship in the first meeting so that he would be utterly at the disposal of this operation. You can see by that to what degree people are dragged into the trap.

Susanne Scharra: Would you say that such organizations, although not religious sects, are even more dangerous than religious because the people do not even know what kind of organization they have and what goals are behind it, either?

Lutz Lemhoefer: No. I think it is just a similarity of ever popular trends in our time which both have to do with making money. But it is conspicuous that in many books on the theme of "sects," there always seems to be a chapter on "structured distribution companies" [i.e., pyramid-like schemes].

Susanne Scharra: That reminds me a little, too, of the methods of Scientology, a sect which, unlike the \'Jehovah\'s Witnesses,\' for example, do not recite their beliefs in the form of a \'Watchtower,\' but would rather train and indoctrinate its members in silence. Is that right?

Lutz Lemhoefer: Yes and no. What\'s at the core of Scientology is a system of psycho-courses. And they claim that a perfect person, or even a sort of super-person, can be made with these courses, in the neighborhood of 200 of them. The community consists of how much the individual\'s time can be monopolized and it is meant to financially victimize people for the alleged purpose of having all this success. That is an absolutely banal and secular promise of salvation. Things which one would have formerly entrusted to religion are being used here for something completely different.

Susanne Scharra: A listener just called up and asked, how can one take any serious legal action against sects or sect-like groups?

Lutz Lemhoefer: Yes, that\'s a legal gray zone. There are many ways of hurting yourself in our society. Only a minimum number of those are prohibited. Only when outright fraud is present, or when bodily injury is present or something like that, can one take legal action. But defending yourself against being gullible is something the individual has to do. Susanne Scharra: There are a whole string of questions from listeners. I want to bring a couple of them up in this segment. For example, questions about a miracle healer, Bruno Groening, was asked by one woman. What\'s up with this man?

Lutz Lemhoefer: That is a deceased spiritual healer from the 1950s. But this man\'s adherents and successors still form social groups today and promise that any illness can be healed by healing currents, energy currents which Bruno Groening is now sending and directing from the great beyond. I think it is an illusion, but a very widespread illusion. And that is dangerous, primarily for people who need constant medical care which they sometimes give up for this.

Susanne Scharra: Another woman listener would like to know what the \'Grail Embassy\' ["Gralsbotschaft"] is, allegedly professed by very friendly, very nice people. What is that? Lutz Lemhoefer: There are friendly people everywhere. They are not all monsters. The \'Grail\' movement is an esoteric movement, that means they have certain esoteric beliefs and secret knowledge, which is contained in the innermost depths of the world. A very elite group founded by a German by the name of Bernhard, but who calls himself \'Abdruschin.\' A, yes, a secret teaching that has certain consequences for life: vegetarianism and so forth. That\'s not my thing, but neither do I find it awfully threatening. ...

Susanne Scharra: What amazes me is that people, as a rule, are not stupid, but say that they really could not completely explain in retrospect how they could have gotten into such dependency. Mr. Stoffel, that was similar to you in the New Apostolic Church. How did it come about that you stayed with them for so long? You said at the beginning that it was so nice and warm there but you already had a little anxiety. That could not have been everything?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: I got involved in it from a scientific viewpoint, what moved me and other people to go into a problematic religious group. And through our self-help work, we also have contact with psychiatrists in other institutions, it is my conviction that people carry with themselves a certain psychic disposition. By that I mean, people leave their parents\' house missing something in what they are allowed to do, in love or security, and that is what people mean to find in the group which they join. And this psychic disposition ends up leading people to become emotionally tied to the group, because the group is a parental substitute, and they follow its leaders without pausing to reflect what they getting involved with.

Susanne Scharra: And on top of that then comes planned-out mechanisms of how they will play the part. You also detailed that, I believe, in your book. In the piece I have now also heard, there was a candle scenario, for example, or there are other things in your book, like deprivation of sleep. What kind of things are those?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: Those are all manipulative techniques which lead to a person not being in his right mind. The article talks about the candles. I am convinced that candles were used to manipulate this lady to show her that everything was all right with them there, there was harmony, there they appreciated her. That is a technique used by many groups. They hold their members up to a pseudo-set of values and tell them, "We need you. You are important for our work. Bring us the last sheep at midnight so that the end of the world can arrive." And a set of values is something which all people need. That is what makes sects so attractive, is what I\'m saying. Deprivation of sleep makes people so that they can no longer properly reflect on things.

Susanne Scharra: And that\'s the way it was with you, too? You really worked practically day and night for the sect and hardly got any sleep?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: Oh, well, it wasn\'t that extreme, now. I still had my career, but everyday I was on the move for the community, recruiting new members and tending to old members, at the end about 120 members in the New Apostolic Church, and in doing that I also repressed many mental processes. And that, after all, is what kept me in so long.

Susanne Scharra: But we\'re finding out that when you see through the structure it gets easier to withstand the sect\'s temptations. But you have to do it to get back out, out of the clutches of the sect, manage to leave. Olaf Stoffel succeeded. He can give us a few tips. We\'ll be right back.
(Music)

Susanne Scharra: Theme "Leben Heute" on sects. The phone lines are burning up here. A whole lot of listeners are calling up and want to know things, for instance, whether there is a connection between the \'Universal Life\' sect and this eco-chain store \'Gut zum Leben.\' Mr. Lemhoefer, Weltanschauungs Commissioner of the Catholic Church, do you know anything about that?

Lutz Lemhoefer: There is a connection. The \'Gut zum Leben\' courts are part of the so-called Christian operations of \'Universal Life.\' They are independent legal entities, not identical with the UL association. But you can say that their profits surely also benefit \'Universal Life\' and that they try to do their work according to the principals of \'Universal Life.\'

Susanne Scharra: So would say that is also a sect-like group or not?

Lutz Lemhoefer: Here I have to ... This is legally a slippery situation. Therefore I am trying to be very precise. It is legally a, these operations are independent. But they feel bound to \'Universal Life\' as \'Christian operations.\' From that I conclude that \'Universal Life\' could benefit from their finances, but I do not know the details of that.

Susanne Scharra: What about the group \'Christian Sciences,\' one listener wants to know?

Lutz Lemhoefer: \'Christian Science\' is often mixed up with \'Scientology.\' Unjustly. It is an older sectarian group which mainly tries to heal things through prayer, they claim that prayer can heal people of disease; it does not recruit aggressively, and I would say that they are a part of our philosophical landscape, even if I do not share their opinions or their understanding of the Bible. But I would not at all put them with Scientology in terms of risk.

Susanne Scharra: Because they don\'t have these totalitarian claims, or do they? Lutz Lemhoefer: No they don\'t and because they don\'t recruit so aggressively, don\'t try so hard to snap up people.

Susanne Scharra: We have another example which we want to tell you about, the example of a sect leader by the name of Alfred Siebel. Siebel is obviously a man with extraordinary charisma. Perhaps many sect leaders have that, a personality with a leadership effect, who indoctrinates adherents, no ifs, ands or buts. His adherents blindly followed the ex-theologian from northern Germany like a guru for many years. Siebel has come under fire just a couple of months ago. Roswita Krauss spoke with former adherents, people who are looking, in retrospect, for a reason why they completely gave up their lives to follow this man The man from the rural area of Brode near Bremen was a blessed healer, think some. A man-trapper, a charlatan, a master of indoctrination, say others. Before the former Pastor Walter Alfred Siebel re-settled in Weisbaden, claim some who fled, he made headlines for a while in the early 1990s in Bremen and vicinity. No question about that! The charismatic therapist and inventor of so-called \'Logosophy\' and \'Psychopractice\' was hotly disputed. Those who fell for the guru and his self-willed theories did not get rid of him so easily.

Voice: When I think back on it today, I have the feeling that for a couple of years I was stumbling around in a fog concerning him. And I was only able to get through this fog after I was out. After I could think it over calmly for a while, what had happened there, and mainly be able to talk things over with others about it.

Susanne Scharra: One person who knows what is going on when we\'re talking about Siebel is former school principal Steinwede from Achim near Bremen. First his wife was Siebel\'s devout adherent, then his three children, and finally he wanted to know for himself what this man was about. What kind of group did he get into?

Voice: They gave everybody the feeling that there was a very special person there with special healing abilities. Also that he was a person who had somehow given the others a meaning to life. So that was not only healing medical or psychic complaints, that was also someone who imparted new meaning. Mr. Siebel himself called his teachings a weltanschauung and gave them the title \'Logosophy.\' That was the foundation upon which he built everything. Well yes, all that sounded incredibly overblown and resistance, using criticism would mean you were done for. He always stood on a higher plane. No, hardly anyone would dare to do that.

Susanne Scharra: Wolfgang Schneider, sociological academic from Euten, should have known better. Really, today he still cannot understand from which demagogue he sought salvation. But, as it is known, one is always wiser in hindsight.

Wolfgang Schneider: There would be a turn of weather outside and it would rain. Then Mr. Siebel would know for a fact, "Yes, yes, it\'s raining now because nobody here is crying.\' A typical example. He was in a cloister. He was indeed a theologian and was more or less mustered out of the Evangelical Church. He was in a cloister and held several intensive seminars there. At some point in time the management said, \'Well, we don\'t want any more of this.\' And that is how the good man sold it, and he said, "Well yes, I escaped from there, but they don\'t exist anymore. It was hit by lightning.\' So wherever he gives this \'touch,\' anybody who opposes him, he says, something happens to them, too. So quite clearly since this threat was overcome by all this omniscience which he possessed, he would tell people, \'Look out now, that nothing happens to you!\' Today I know that I also had some fantasies like that, too, \'Oh God, what do I do when I open the door and there are all of Siebel\'s people?\'

Susanne Scharra: For some it was hard to deal with the guru and his community and keep a clear head.

Wolfgang Schneider: I think the most striking thing about it was that it happened really gradually so that people thought they had a clear head, so that people thought they were being critical, and in doing so, did not notice that they were getting increasingly dependent.

Susanne Scharra: \'Siebel was a drug for me," said some, when they tried to get away from him. Elke Sieweking, who was a patient of his for five years, thinks re-programming was necessary, a withdrawal, to put Siebel out of position as a demigod.

Elke Sieweking: It was a regular withdrawal. I can really describe the anxieties in connection with a sect, or with departing a sect, by saying that you have to work out a new worldview. Fear of doing that is great because, in essence, we have been weak or dependent, or were often dependent upon a community. Naturally, it is improbably difficult to have confidence, let alone get along in the normal world.

Susanne Scharra: Olaf Stoffel, when you hear the reports of former Siebel adherents, how difficult is it to overcome psychic dependency? Are you reminded of old stories? How was that? You\'ve said that you were an adherent of the New Apostolic Church when you left. How did you get along in the normal world?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: In the beginning it was not simple because I had lost my perceptual structures. Prior to that, I was one of the Chosen, a child of God, called to something higher, and all of a sudden I was a completely normal person like all the other people on this earth. I had to find a new way of perceiving things, so to speak. And I swam in an ocean of uncertainty. And that was painful in the beginning, but I forced myself to work it out, to finally grow up and develop an image of God that was no longer threatening.

Susanne Scharra: When you say \'painful,\' then did you sense that as a physical withdrawal, too?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: I sensed it physically, but most as a psychic pain. It was the feeling that everything was collapsing on me, that I no longer had anything to which I could hold fast. And this process led to me being at odds with myself. It became clear to me that I would have to get things under control, including my life and my family, too, and that I would have to finally decide for myself how to run my life, and that I would have to set aside this New Apostolic God, who, for me, was a God of punishment, in order to survive.

Susanne Scharra: How did the New Apostolic Church react to that? They could not just simply accept it. Because this was another means of putting extreme pressure upon apostates.

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: The way things were, I was shunned. That means many members whom I previously had confided in started regarding me as non-existent. That was one thing, the other was that certain rumors were spread about me personally. And since I went public very quickly and we also founded a self-help group, I was finally declared their \'Public Enemy No. 1.\' It is basically still that way today.

Susanne Scharra: How was that for your family? Your children and wife were all members of the church. How did they get over it?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: Well, perhaps it was a little bit more painful for my family than it was for me. My wife had been in the New Apostolic Church from birth, so she had many more fears to overcome than did I. For the children, being out of the community was a new, unusual environment. But in retrospect, it was a relief. The children told me afterwards that they were happy not to have to go to services twice on Sunday and have to sit still, and they ended up enjoying their freedom very much.

Susanne Scharra: That agrees with a comment from a listener who himself is a doctor, and who has also experienced how difficult it is for children who have grown up in a cult, whose whole life is directed towards it and who practically have no interaction with other children. Another listener asks if gurus really believe in what they preach. Let\'s take Mr. Siebel once. Mr. Lemhoefer, do you think that somebody like that believes what he tells his people?

Lutz Lemhoefer: My impression is yes. Some of those may be narcissistic people who have constructed their own personality. But some such clever business operators we have, I think, have more to do with structured distribution and less with real sects or guru movements.

Susanne Scharra: The telephones are ringing off the hooks here. I\'ve just said there are incredibly many questions. For example, what is \'Unitaria\'? What is the \'Free Church\'? We cannot answer everything in detail here. At this point, perhaps I could just let people know your telephone number. [contact information given] - Mr. Lemhoefer, what are the first warning signs people should look for in a group as to whether they are getting into a cult or not?

Lutz Lemhoefer: When somebody very clearly changes and gets secretive about why that could be. However, that is not always the case. Some people talk about and themselves recruit ardently for their new group, in their own circle of acquaintances, too. What is important is to stay in communication so as to be able to talk these changes over from the beginning. In the beginning, people affected by the cult are more likely to be open to critical information. But not when they get more deeply involved. At that point, everything they hear is either \'journalistic gossip\' or \'the evil churches\' are trying to rope in their sheep. At that point critical information is no longer accepted.

Susanne Scharra: Mr. Stoffel, getting out is a gradual process. You\'ve said that took somewhat longer with you. You have also founded a self-help group. Was that your chance to get out, so to speak?

Dr. Olaf Stoffel: Yes, the self-help group was the way to finally distance myself, internally, from the New Apostolic Church. Our group has existed for four years and I\'ve learned much in addition there, that this has happened to other people exactly as it did to me, that they have gone through similar processes. That was very consoling to me, and it finally led to me being able to away, internally, even from this threatening image of God which was imparted to me.

Susanne Scharra: So, a self-help group can help a person to find his way out of the sect. Mr. Lemhoefer, surely you also have the addresses there. -- Getting out of the sect, like withdrawal from drugs, hard to do. But it can be done! Material on the subject includes the books by Olaf Stoffel. The one is called \'Angeklagt: Die Neuapostolische Kirche.\' The other, \'Der Griff nach der Seele - Wege aus Religioeser Abhaengingkeit.\' To you, Olaf Stoffel, many, many thanks. Thanks also to Lutz Lemhoefer, Weltanschauungs Commissioner of the Catholic Church, for being with us to discuss this.

One Man\'s Road to Krishna
By Robert F. Corens
Sunday, April 8, 1979;
The Washington Post; Page D01
I was my family\'s representative at church on Sundays, while they slept late. The minister, a kind man, cajoled me into memorizing the Apostle\'s Creed and other prayers so that by the age of 13 I could muster for my Confirmation. In those days I prayed every night to "bring the boys back from Korea."

That Episcopal minister, Rev. Coleman, had weaned us from a wooden, prefab chapel to a respectable stone edifice before he was reassigned. His leaving coincided with my first year in high school when I came more under the influence of my friends; my interest in church activities diminished.

From 13 to 17, I competed with my peers for recognition and enjoyed simultaneous independence and protection from my parents, whose strongest admonition was to do what I thought would make me happy as long as I stayed out of trouble. Using the schedules in the newspapers, with my naked eye I spotted and trailed the first Sputnik as it glided high overhead against the innumerable stars. I wondered at the vast heavens and life\'s purpose.

I paid my way through George Washington University with money saved from boyhood paper routes and part-time jobs after classes. College was an opportunity for philosophical speculations with my friends and my capacity to wonder expanded.

After graduation I decided to go straight to what I thought was the heart of the material world - New York City - to seek out whatever was the highest truth. I ended up living around the corner from the first East Village "head shop," in the middle of the drug revolution of the Sixties. My job as a social worker didn\'t seem to really help anyone besides myself, but I planned to make it a career. Most clients I worked with weren\'t changed much by grants, counseling, training. Over the years they maintained pretty much the same basic mentally and habits.

I tried to give more meaning to my life by becoming a union activist, attending graduate school, visiting West Village coffee houses, going to Alpert and Leary lectures on "consciousness expansion" and reading yoga books. With my wife and small son, I paraded down Fifth Avenue next to Allen Ginsberg and thousands of ladies and gentlemen protesting Vietnam while people stood on the sidewalks jeering and throwing paint.

But I was bored and couldn\'t keep my wife and son happy. Within myself, I felt more and more intensely that my "normal" aspirations for a master\'s degree and a nice apartment left something about out. Something was missing. I heard about the "I Ching," a book that was supposed to chart a person\'s position in the material world. So I got someone to do a reading for me. The answer was: "Push upward through darkness." I took it as a good sign, a spiritual sign.

Then a friend gave me a book by a great Sikh teacher who wrote that there could be no higher knowledge without a spiritual master. A few months later I found myself in a tiny storefront listening to lectures from the "Bhagavad-gita" given by the eminent Sanskrit scholar, Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada Swami, who was destined to become the founder of the Hare Krishna movement in America.

A short time later, by November, 1966, I was in a different parade, wearing an Indian dhoti and kurta (shirt), chanting Hare Krishna. Some of the people stood around and sneered but most of them looked the other way or pretended to window shop while listening to the chanting. Here and there were a few friendly smiles.

My co-workers saw me on TV and my boss threatened to fire for wearing the distinctive white mark of my sect on my forehead. But I told him that I had a devotee friend with the same mark working at another welfare center, and, fearing charges of religious discrimination, he backed off.

I was struggling to preserve my new spiritual identity and trying to leave off my old conditioned conceptions of life. My consciousness of God was flickering, but it soared far beyond the faith of my boyhood.

My wife and son have continued to follow me on this path. I am now director of the Radha Krishna Temple and monastery in Potomac and my wife does public relations work. My son is studying Sanskrit and Hindi in Vrindaban, India, the birthplace of Krishna. My parents have followed our activities over the years and they have been very sympathetic and encouraging. Now I have to marvel at those psychologists and dry academicians who thinly disguise their atheism by trying to explain away truly religious experience as a variety of mind-control or brainwashing. (They remind me of bees licking the outside of a jar of honey, never getting a taste).

Two such "experts" have stated that the Hare Krishna rati (deity worship) ceremony is the most successful bit of mind-control they\'ve seen. Wouldn\'t they be alarmed to see Vrindaban, the "City of 5,000 Temples," where 5,000 ratis go on simultaneuosly every sunrise!

Anti-cultists and deprogrammmers with their scare tactics, forced retentin and psuedo-legalistic and scientific jargon would love to have open season declared on devotees without waiting to be hired by parents or condoned by courts. They think they\'re great moralist, doing a great service to society. So did the Spanish Inquisitor, Salem witch-hunters, Nazis, McCarthyites and many others whom history has condemned.

Like pilgrims who came three centuries before him, the founder of the American Krishna Movement, Srila Prabhupada, came to America in 1965 looking for a new field and a fresh start. Of the four great Vaishnava denomitions in India, only his, the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, has extended its missionary activities beyond India.

Vaishnavism, like Islam, Judaism and Christianity, is a monotheistic religion and means personal service to a supreme being.

In 1970, Srila Prabhupada appointed an international democratic body, presently consisting of 20 men. Just before passing away in 1977, he initially authorized 11 members of this body to take disciples. He did not designate an international headquarters.

Srila Prabhupada had a vision of combining the best of Indian and American cultures for the material and spiritual benefit of the rest of the world, a world in which he saw masses hoping against hope that their leaders would find a formula for peace. But, as he pointed out in literary commentaries written in 26 languages, peace would depend upon becoming conscious of the proprietorship of God. Otherwise, as he put it, the struggle for world leadership would remain something like thieves fighting over stolen bread, each admonishing the other to be "moral" and not take more than a rightful share.

Our religion may not be mainstream America but it has been established for thousands of years. An ancient tradition can hardly be called a "cult," unless cult designates a phase that all the mainstream religions in America have gone through.

Before the Constitution was written, Quakers, Baptists and Jews were driven from the Massachusetts Bay Colony; Catholics were harassed by Protestants in the Maryland Colony. I\'m sure that\'s why the first line of the First Amendment defends religious freedoms.

All the freedoms - speech, association, privacy, et cetera - will surely go down the historical drain if the "free exercise" and "non-establishment" of religion clauses are modified by judicial or legislative restraints to the point of becoming futile or even antireligious. To protect human rights, it seem more sober to measure by standard criminal codes any alleged illegal practices as distinguished from beliefs.

Members of established religions have not been harassed like us, with ex-parte court "conservator ships" originally intended for the senile and mentally incompetent. America Krishna devotees are entitled to the same rights as Catholics, Protestants and Jews.

Christians and Jews were long ago accepted in India - without deprogrammings and conservator ships. If all genuine religion leads to one God (monotheism), which is the non-sectarian view, then there is ultimately no difference between one religion and another, except for the degree of faith and realization of its adherents.

Krishna devotees are not looking to convert everyone we meet; we are simply looking for reasonable people who are (or ought to be) interested in the purpose of human life. That\'s not a meaningless question to any normal person, but I think most people have been distracted from trying to answer it by the temporary promises of material advancement.

Because many people are avoiding formalized religion, we distribute books in public, assuming that a beautiful, high-quality book will taken home, kept and eventually read. Sometimes, the devotees are considered overly persistent in obtaining donations for the literature, although their tactics are no more aggressive than those of insurance salesmen.

They talk first of the movements\' activities before identifying themselves so as to avoid being rejected outright as a "cult," thus losing a chance to say anything else. This lumping together of religious groups as "cults" is largely due to an unbalanced media coverage which has intensified since the Guyana incident.

Some critics say Krishna devotees are dangerous, un-American, but to me it seems dangerous and against public interest to let government decide by regulations or restrictions where or what people should read or hear about religion, things which the Founding Fathers left up to the people\'s better judgment (notwithstanding any modern government distrust of that judgment or media influence upon it).

Of course, I can\'t claim to speak for everyone in the Hare Krishna movement, but I think a lot of us feel this way. Nor should I make excuses for my friends at our New Vrindaban farm project in West Virginia for their buying (non-military) weapons after being attacked in the middle of a service by gunmen. I know how they must have felt because I was in a group of Krishna devotees in Knoxville, Tenn., who were firebombed one night. Three were injured; one devotee was killed. The crime never was solved.

Nor can I apologize for the persistence and enthusiasm of devotees who are dedicating their lives to offer spiritual alternatives to broken homes, drugs, crime, abortions suicides and other social ills that plague our lives.

Personally, I realize the path I\'ve chosen is a difficult from within myself than from without. But the soul-searching required is human life\'s prerogative.

Robert F. Corens, 39, is a director of the Washington Radha-Krishna temple and monastery in Potomac, Md., a native of Washington and a graduate of George Washington University.

INFAMOUS CULTS:
Jonestown Massace:
Group Profile

1. Name: Peoples Temple Christian Church
2. Founder: James (Jim) Warren Jones
3. Date of Birth: Jim Jones was born on May 13, 1931 and died on November 18, 1978 with over 900 of his followers in Jonestown, Guyana.
4. Birth Place: Crete, Indiana (Hall, Gone:3)
5. Year Founded: The Wings of Deliverance (the precursor of the Peoples Temple) was founded on April 4, 1955.
6. History: Among those remembering 1978, it is uncommon to find a person who does not recall the events of Jonestown, Guyana on November 18. Jim Jones will be remembered by the public as one of the clearest examples of the evil present in humanity; the death of his Peoples Temple will be considered one of the more tragic events of 20th century religious history. Research into these events is difficult due to the fact that much of the information readily available is unreliable.

   James Warren Jones was born of lowly origins in Indiana at the height of the Great Depression. It is speculated that his father belonged to the Ku Klux Klan. Jim\'s mother, Lynetta, who effectively raised her son alone, had large influences on the theology he formed upon becoming the leader of the Peoples Temple. Jones was also influenced heavily by a Pentecostal woman who lived near him as a child; this influence would have a lasting impact on his understanding of religion as an intensely emotional experience. His mother was also very skeptical of organized religion and the idea of a "sky god," but she did have a firm belief in spirits, and instilled this belief in her son (Hall, Gone 6). What emerged from these influences was a self-styled theology that combined aspects of Pentecostalism with social idealism, which Jones had gained from reading socialist and communist documents. The formation of the Peoples Temple occurred in a similar manner as many sectarian religions throughout history. In September of 1954, Jones was given an invitation to preach at the Laurel Street Tabernacle in Indianapolis, an Assemblies of God Pentecostal church (Hall, Gone 42). As a result of Jones\' sermon, and the inability of the church board to meet Jones\' racial requirements for the congregation, several members of the Tabernacle left with Jones to form a new church. On April 4, 1955 the Wings of Deliverance was formed and was renamed the Peoples Temple to more adequately describe their congregation. (Hall, Gone 43). It is important to note that for this time period, the congregation was one of few interracial congregations in the state, and Jones made the campaign for racial integration one of his primary causes.

   In 1960, the Peoples Temple was officially made a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination in Indianapolis and Jones was ordained as a minister, despite lacking any formal theological training (Hall, Gone 52). The Disciples were known as a liberal Protestant denomination far removed from Pentecostalism. As a result of this association, Jones acquired a mainstream denomination to support his Temple, while still retaining the congregational autonomy he desired. After this affiliation, the church became known as the Peoples Temple Christian Church. At this same time, the congregation of the Peoples Temple was roughly 20% African American, a figure which drew attention to the Temple in the city of Indianapolis.

   In 1965, after many threats directed at himself and the Peoples Temple, as well as conflicts with the general public over the radical theology, Jones moved the Temple to Ukiah, California to find a location where racial equality could grow unhindered. Additionally, Jones determined this area to be a "safe zone" in the event of a thermonuclear war (Levi 39). Seventy families, half African American and half Caucasian, moved to California to follow Jones (Hall, Gone 62).

   In the early years on the West Coast, Jones began to recruit more affluent members to complement the large number of working class families who were previously Peoples Temple members. Several key members who played huge influential roles in the Peoples Temple were recruited during this time period, including Timothy Stoen, Carolyn Layton, and Elmer and Deanna Mertle.

   Until the mid-1970\'s, the Peoples Temple grew steadily and Jones continued to preach his unique theology to his followers. Also, in 1972, the Temple expanded to include a second congregation in San Francisco. (Committee on Foreign Affairs 16; Layton and Yee 155) However, within San Francisco, a struggle was developing between conservatives and liberals for political power. This struggle eventually focused attention on the Peoples Temple, causing an "expose" that destroyed the public image of the Temple.

   In 1974, the Peoples Temple acquired a lease from the Guyanese government for a tract of land within the jungle for the use of colonization. The choice of country was important to Jones because Guyana was one of few countries in which a socialist regime enjoyed the support of the United States government. The Peoples Temple Agricultural Mission was founded, and grew slowly at first, only housing approximately fifty people in 1977 (Hall, Gone 194).

   In 1977, the Temple came under scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service for illegal practices and tax evasion due to generated revenue from the numerous elderly care homes that were maintained throughout their history. Following his earlier practices in Indiana when trouble arose, Jones decided to move his Temple. Under the premise that he wanted his people to escape public criticism and further their own causes, Jones began to urge, but not force, Peoples Temple members to relocate to Jonestown, Guyana. The events which occurred following the migration to Jonestown, including the visit of Congressman Ryan and the mass suicides following his assassination, as well as a sociological analysis of these events can be found below in section II.

7. Sacred or Revered Texts: Initially, the Holy Bible was used since the Peoples Temple was founded as a Christian sect. Jones soon rejected the Holy Bible, believing it full of lies and contradictions.
8. Cult or Sect: Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" and "sect" are employed in popular discourse. Since the Religious Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes. For a more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find additional links to related issues.
9. Size of Group: At the time of the group\'s demise, the membership was over 919 members.

II. Jonestown
Once Peoples Temple members made the immigration to Guyana, many found the conditions were not as they expected. Not only was the settlement in the middle of the South American jungle, but the work needed to maintain the settlement was immense. Members worked either in agricultural fields, or building housing and other necessary buildings. The work schedule was eleven hours a day, six days a week, and eight hours on Sundays. Generally, the nights were not spent resting, but instead were filled with meetings and other duties. This is an illustration of the elimination of personal autonomy that was practiced within the Peoples Temple. People lived in dormitories, with spouses sleeping in separate beds. The diet served was sparse, consisting mainly of beans and rice, with meat or vegetables reserved for meals when visitors were allowed within the compound. When visitors were allowed to view the compound, members were briefed prior to their arrival to ensure that the image portrayed of Jonestown to these outside observers was positive and convincing. Yet Jones, as well as those who lived with him in his private house (Carolyn Layton, Maria Katsaris, Kimo Prokes, and John Stoen), were allowed access to a well stocked refrigerator. Jones claimed that he had a blood sugar problem, and this justified his possession of the refrigerator.

As is common in many religious groups throughout their lifetimes, the Peoples Temple members came and went from its ranks. In the case of the Peoples Temple, many of the people who eventually did leave were members of the upper echelon of Temple leadership. Among these "defectors" was Tim Stoen, the Temple attorney and right-hand man to Jones. Along with other defectors, Stoen helped the Concerned Relatives, a group whose primary purpose became to destroy the public opinion regarding the Temple as well as the Temple itself. The Concerned Relatives alleged that in Jonestown the atmosphere was similar to a concentration camp. They also alleged that Jones helped to brainwash the individuals who migrated to Guyana and held them there against their will (Moore, Letters 246). The main battle centered around the custody of Stoen\'s child, John Victor Stoen, whose parentage was questioned (Reston, Jr. 207). It was unknown if his father was Tim Stoen, as was printed on his birth certificate, or Jones, as was written upon a document signed by Tim Stoen during the California days of the Temple (Moore, Letters 239). Much of the firepower of the Concerned Relatives was enhanced by affidavits signed by former Temple members Deborah Blakley and Yolanda Crawford. After much talk with Washington officials, the Concerned Relatives finally found a voice in Congress through California Congressman Leo Ryan.

In an attempt to determine which of the two sides involved were telling the truth, Ryan planned a trip to Guyana. Although he represented the Concerned Relatives, Ryan claimed his primary reason for flying to Guyana was a fact-finding mission. Along with several members of the Concerned Relatives, including Tim Stoen, and a small group of media representatives, Ryan departed for Jonestown, Guyana on November 14, 1978 (Hall, Gone 262). After much discussion within the Temple leadership, Ryan and his party were allowed to enter the compound to interview members, as well as to seek out the alleged people being held against their will. Jones told Ryan that anyone who wished to leave Jonestown was welcome to do so. By the end of his first day in Jonestown, Ryan assembled a group of sixteen Peoples Temple members who wished to leave with him for the United States (Moore, Sympathetic 325).

The following day, November 18, 1978, Ryan continued his task of interviewing the residents of Jonestown. Later that afternoon, a Temple member named Don Sly, the former husband of a Concerned Relative, attempted to kill Congressman Ryan by cutting his throat (Moore, Sympathetic 325). As a result, Congressman Ryan shortened his visit to Jonestown and planned to leave immediately. He assembled his group which made their way in a dump truck to the jungle airstrip where two planes awaited them to depart for the United States. But, as the group was boarding the planes, the dump truck quickly returned with Temple guards who proceeded to open fire on the Congressman and his party. Among the dead from this ambush were Congressman Ryan, three members of the media who had accompanied him, and one Temple member who had wished to leave Jonestown.

Back inside Jonestown, all of the residents assembled in one building for what they thought would be an announcement by Jones regarding the success of the Congressman\'s visit. Instead, Jones made the proclamation that the time for the end had come for the people of Jonestown. Jones said the outside world had forced them to this extreme situation, and that "revolutionary suicide" had become their best option. Dissent was present from one woman, but this was quickly suppressed (Moore, Sympathetic 330-331; Layton and Yee 307-308). A large vat of purple Fla-Vor-Aid, mixed with lethal potassium cyanide as well as a variety of sedatives and tranquilizers including Valium, Penegram, and chloral hydrate was brought out and the people were organized into lines. First to drink were the infants and children, and many mothers poured the poison down their child\'s throat (Hall, Gone 285). Jones did not drink the poison, but instead, appears to have shot himself in the right temple. In the end, the final body count was 914 people dead, 276 of these being children.

Although the mass suicide is clearly a tragedy of great proportion, a more analytical perspective is necessary to understand why this catastrophe transpired. A cursory examination of the events surrounding the Peoples Temple and Jonestown yields the conclusion that Jones, being utterly deranged, participated in a brainwashing practice and manipulated not only the thoughts, but also the actions of his followers. But upon a deeper analysis, it is discovered that this conclusion does not support the facts surrounding the incident. Due to society\'s stance regarding new religious movements, this conclusion can easily be drawn from the data surrounding Jonestown. According to sociological definitions, a cult is defined as a group which has views in contradiction to that of society, and is created through either radical innovation, importation, or invention. Since the theology used by Jones was of his own invention, the Peoples Temple is readily classified as a cult. In our society, cults are viewed with high disdain, solely because of their differing views and lack of members.

In an article written by Doyle Johnson in Sociological Analysis, the theory of the charismatic leader is presented to describe how Jones consolidated and enhanced his power as the leader of the People\'s Temple. The strategy of these leaders is to make the members of their respective groups as dependent as possible upon them for social, emotional, or material needs (Johnson 316). Jones accomplished this by his socialistic ideas embedded in his theology. Peoples Temple members depended on Jones for all of the aforementioned needs. He provided them with a sense of community, free meals, and literally a roof over their heads. Many of the people were recruited from the lower levels of society, and could not provide these needs without Jones\' intervention. The ultimate goal of a charismatic leader is to reinforce his position of power and to overcome the inherent precariousness of this power. Other strategies given by Johnson of the charismatic leader included the following (Johnson 322):

• Developing dependency relationships among the group\'s members
• Requiring members to sever all previous ties and embrace socialism
• Delegating authority within the group to establish trust
• Promoting organization growth
• Establishing political leader contacts in the surrounding community
• Seeking an isolated environment for the group
• Developing an ideology to justify the commitment of the members
• Creating rituals that symbolize and reinforce the commitment of the members.

Jones used all of these strategies throughout the lifetime of the Peoples Temple. Dependency relationships were developed by the Peoples Temple members through the use of communal living. As is popular in many new religious movements, Jones asked that all previous ties to family and friends be severed. This practice was especially prevalent after the migration to Guyana. Authority was delegated throughout the hierarchy of the Temple. For example, the title of financial secretary was bestowed upon Deborah Blakley. Organizational growth was promoted through the expansions to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Political leader contacts were established by the Temple in the 1976 San Francisco mayoral election of George Moscone (Hall, Gone 168). An isolated environment was obviously sought in the creation of the Agricultural Mission in Guyana. The ideology of the group was developed throughout its lifetime, with its deep roots in socialist and communist theories. Rituals such as the "White Nights" were developed by Jones which, although serving as a loyalty test as well, helped to symbolize the commitment the members had made to the Peoples Temple. Although the preceding practices serve to strengthen the position of the charismatic leader, they inevitably undermine his position by creating resentment within the ranks of the group. A prime example of this resentment as created in the Peoples Temple is the defection of Timothy Stoen. The "second highest ranking" man in the Peoples Temple left as a result of his displeasure with Jones\' practices to become one of its strongest opponents.

In the Peoples Temple, many of the people involved completely surrendered their lives to the causes supported by the Temple, especially those who packed up and left the United States for the compound in Guyana. As is discussed later in this page, Jones had extensive screening procedures built into the Temple admission policy such that those who received the status of true "members" accepted all of his philosophy without objection. In their minds, this philosophy was entirely correct and without infringements upon their morals. Thus, there was no brainwashing involved in his teachings. Temple members also believed they were working for a united cause, not for Jones himself. He was simply their leader and motivator. He served as their pastor, guiding and explaining the theology, yet the belief was the members\' own. They committed suicide for the greater cause, not because Jim Jones instructed them to. Proven by the lack of opposition to the idea of "revolutionary suicide" as proposed by Jones.

Another key question to address is how these people were lead to believe in Jones and his theology. As is most apparent, the people were secluded in Guyana, far away from other worldly influences. Jones was rarely seen, his presence was felt mostly through the compound\'s P.A. system. To many of his followers, he easily could have appeared to be a near God-like figure who was nothing more than a disembodied voice. Also, through Jones\' use of socialist theories in his theology, personal autonomy was essentially non-existent within Jonestown. Thus, those who wanted to leave felt severe peer pressure to stay, struggle, and survive with their fellow Temple members. There was a feeling of both physical and emotional weakness placed in potential "defectors." Members who were questioning their role within the Temple witnessed other members who were also making large sacrifices for the common goal, causing them to reevaluate their original reasons for questioning the Temple. This reinforcement of the socialist ideals helped to stifle members who thought they should leave the Peoples Temple.

A popular culture idea of the Jonestown incident is that it is part of a larger conspiracy being hidden from the public. There is a large amount of information available, both in print and electronic forms, regarding these conspiracy theories. They range from Jim Jones being a rogue C.I.A. agent involved in a mind control experiment unbeknownst to his followers, to the notion that the United States government killed all of the inhabitants of Jonestown because they could not tolerate the success of Jonestown. This theory contends that Jonestown is an example of what people can accomplish when they break free of capitalism. None of these theories are considered here because to date, no theory has shown evidence beyond speculation.

III. Beliefs
The belief system practiced by the Peoples Temple was created as a blend of many different religious and social theories. The theology Jones created combined elements of Pentecostalism with aspects of socialism and communism. (Hall, Gone 41,43) Much of the religion that Jim Jones initially practiced was borrowed from the Pentecostal Movement, and yet given his own flair. Jones practiced the ability to "discern spirits" or knowing the thoughts of others (Reston, Jr. 38). Additionally, faith healing was an important part of the theology established within the Peoples Temple. Although Jones later admitted that this was solely a tactic of deception in order to establish faith among his followers, many members of the Peoples Temple believed Jones had the power to heal them with just the touch of his hand (Reston, Jr. 39). Jones claimed the ability to see the future, but this was also simply another plot to establish control over his followers. A common belief of the Pentecostal movement proclaims the Second Coming of Christ is imminent. Changing this idea to fit his needs, Jones proclaimed himself to be the Second Coming of Christ.

In California, as the members of the Temple lived in a communal society, the Communist ideals Jones blended into his theology emerged. All income, as well as real estate, insurance policies, and other items of value were given to the Temple to be liquidated and redistributed equally among the members. To maintain the Temple, a series of care homes were established and run by Temple members, as well as traditional mass mailing schemes (Levi xii). Although criticism of the Peoples Temple existed, the membership steadily grew. At this point Jones fully displayed what could be considered anti-religion ideals which he possessed. He claimed the Bible was filled with lies and contradictions.

Most of society considered many of the practices of the Peoples Temple bizarre. One such practice included the series of measures taken by the Temple hierarchy to progressively indoctrinate new members. People who showed interest in the Temple were screened, and indoctrinated into progressively more diverse and less religious views as they proved loyalty to "the Cause." This progressive exposure to the ideals and theology of the Temple effectively created a loyal following for Jones. As a result of this loyalty, Temple members commonly signed documents stating they had partaken in any number of acts ranging from child abuse to homosexual tendencies (Committee on Foreign Affairs 18).

Another practice of the Temple was that of Catharsis. Although this practice was mostly eliminated after the migration to Jonestown, it was used while the Temple was active and growing in California. Catharsis involved the idea of public punishment for transgressions (Committee on Foreign Affairs 17). A child was not found guilty or punished by their parents, but instead, the congregation voted, deciding the child\'s innocence or guilt. Frequently the punishment for a child was a severe and brutal spanking administered by Jones. Adults who sinned were punished by being placed in a ring and forced to "box" with bigger and stronger Temple members. These Catharsis sessions, seen by the Temple members as for the betterment of the group as a whole, were practiced regularly without objections. Jones\' personal infidelity impacted the belief structure of the Temple. Jones strived to implement a classless social structure through communal living and frequently encouraged extramarital affairs. These, in turn, helped to undermine individual autonomy and enhance the communal feeling Temple members shared. Jones reportedly took on partners of both sexes, yet ironically frequently proclaimed himself to be the only true heterosexual (Hall, Gone 112).

Once at Jonestown, Rev. Jones began using illegal drugs. Jones sometimes flew into rages, only to calm down moments later. He also had trouble speaking at times (Moore, Letters 251). Occasionally, he appeared delusional and rambled on for hours on the loud speakers of the complex well into the night. These harangues prevented the residents of Jonestown from getting any appreciable amount of sleep. Through these loud speakers, the residents of Jonestown heard about the outside world. Jones read the news to his followers, but made sure the slant with which he read the news was very clearly to the far left. Jones frequently "portrayed the United States as beset by racial and economic problems" that his followers had escaped by coming to Jonestown (Hall, Gone 237). Armed guards who, although thought to be present to fend off a mercenary invasion, were also instructed to prevent Jonestown residents from leaving the complex guarded the compound. Over time, this fact became understood and accepted by residents of the complex.

A final key portion of the Peoples Temple theology was "Revolutionary Suicide." Jones tested the loyalty of his followers by telling them a liquid contained poison and asked them to drink it for "the Cause." Through this type of test, Jones was able to gauge the level of his followers\' commitment to his ideals and theology (Hall, Gone 246). Jones read the work of Black Panther Huey Newton and painted a frightening picture of the future to his followers. Jones proclaimed there was an imminent apocalypse within the United States, which would cause race and class wars, concentration camps, and genocide. He said that people who shared in his vision must be able to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to continue "the Cause."

What Jones termed as "White Nights" became a common practice in Jonestown as Jones descended further into his own delusional belief structure. The entire populations of the compound, awakened to the sound of sirens, were told to prepare for an imminent attack by mercenaries. The Peoples Temple members were told that they were being persecuted by a variety of sources for their beliefs and that possibly, the ultimate sacrifice needed to be made for the greater good. On one of these drills, Jones told his followers the end was near and that it was time for them to commit suicide for their beliefs. All members of the Temple were instructed to drink what was touted as a poison liquid and they all expected to die very quickly. But, the time of their expected deaths came and passed. Jones used this event as a test of the loyalty of his followers for "the Cause." Thus, with repeated incidents such as this, Jones was able to desensitize his followers regarding mass suicide (Levi 78).

V. References and Resources for Jonestown Chidester, David. 1988.
Salvation and Suicide: An Interpretation of Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and Jonestown.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Committee on Foreign Affairs. 1979.
The Assassination of Representative Leo J. Ryan and the Jonestown, Guyana Tragedy. U.S.
House of Representatives, 96th Congress, First Session. Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office.
Committee on Foreign Affairs Hearing. 1979.
The Death of Representative Leo J. Ryan, Peoples Temple, and Jonestown: Understanding a Tragedy. U.S. House of Representatives, 96th Congress, First Session. Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office.
Hall, John R. 1979.
"Apocalypse at Jonestown." Society 16(6): 52-61.
Hall, John R. 1987.
Gone From the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History. New Brunswick:
Transaction Books.
Johnson, Doyle Paul. 1979.
"Dilemma of Charismatic Leadership: The Case of The Peoples Temple." Sociological Analysis 40: 315-323.
Levi, Ken. 1982.
Violence and Religious Commitment: Implications of Jim Jones\'s Peoples Temple Movement.
University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
Kahalas, Laurie Efrein. 1998.
Snake Dance: Unravelling the Mysteries of Jonestown. New York: Red Robin Press.
Klineman, George and Sherman Butler and David Conn. 1980.
The Cult That Died: The Tragedy of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. New York: Putnam.
Mills, Jeannie. 1979.
Six Years With God: Life Inside Reverend Jim Jones\'s Peoples Temple. New York: A & W Publishers.
Moore, Rebecca. 1985.
A Sympathetic History of Jonestown: the Moore Family Involvement in People\'s Temple.
Lewiston, N.Y.: E. Mellen Press.
Moore, Rebecca. 1986.
The Jonestown Letters: Correspondence of the Moore Family 1970-1985. Lewiston, N.Y.: E.
Mellen Press.
Nugent, John Peer. 1979.
White Night. New York: Rawson, Wade Publishers.
Reiterman, Tim. 1982.
Raven: The Untold Story of The Rev. Jim Jones and His People. New York: E.P. Dutton.
Reston Jr., James. 1981.
Our Father Who Art in Hell. New York: Times Books.
Robbins, Thomas. 1986.
"Religious Mass Suicide Before Jonestown: The Russian Old Believers." Sociological Analysis 47: 1-20.
Smith, Jonathan. 1982.
Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wessinger, Catherine. 1998.
1978-Jonestown, draft of Ch 3 from How the Millennium Comes Violently Wiencek, David. 1979.
"A Demographic Profile of Jonestown Victims". Department of Sociology, University of Virginia. Available as Unpublished Paper 658. California Historical Society. Peoples Temple Archives, San Francisco.
Charles Manson

by Marilyn Bardsley
Murder!
Quiet and secluded is just what the young movie star wanted. The canyons above Beverly Hills were far enough away from the noisy glitz of Hollywood to afford some privacy and space. Sharon Tate loved this place on Cielo Drive. To her it meant romance - romance with the man of her dreams and the father of her child, director Roman Polanski.

It was cooler up there too, which was especially refreshing on that hot muggy Saturday night, the 9th of August 1969. The beautiful young woman kept herself company with her attractive and sophisticated friends: Abigail Folger, the coffee heiress and her boyfriend Voytek Frykowski, and an internationally known hair stylist Jay Sebring.

Sharon was eight months pregnant and very lonely for her husband who was away in Europe working on a film. Impromptu gatherings like this one on a weekend night were not at all unusual.

The house was deliberately secluded but not completely insecure. Approximately 100 feet from the house was a locked gate and on the property was a guesthouse inhabited by an able-bodied young caretaker.

That night the Kotts, Sharon\'s nearest neighbors who lived about 100 yards away, thought they heard a few gunshots coming from the direction of Sharon\'s property sometime between 12:30 and 1 A.M. But since they heard nothing else, they went to bed.

Around the same time, Tim Ireland who was supervising a camp-out less than a mile away heard a chilling scream: "Oh, God, no, please don\'t! Oh, God, no, don\'t, don\'t?" He drove around the area, but found nothing unusual.

Nearby Emmett Steele\'s dogs went into a barking frenzy somewhere between 2 and 3 A.M. He got out of bed and looked around, but found nothing amiss and went back to bed.

Robert Bullington, a member of a private security patrol hired by some of the wealthy property owners, thought he heard several gunshots a little after 4 A.M. and called his headquarters. Headquarters, in turn, called Los Angeles Police Department, known as LAPD, to report the disturbance. The LAPD officer said: "I hope we don\'t have a murder; we just had a woman-screaming call in that area."

Winifred Chapman, Sharon Tate\'s housekeeper, got to the main gate of the house a little after 8 A.M. She noticed what looked like a fallen telephone wire hanging over the gate. She pushed the gate control mechanism and it swung open. As she walked up to the house, she saw an unfamiliar white Rambler parked in the driveway.

When she got to the house, she took the house key from its hiding place and unlocked the back door. Once inside the kitchen, she picked up the telephone and confirmed that it was a telephone wire that had fallen, completely knocking out all phone service. As she made her way toward the living room, she noticed that the front door was open and that there were splashes of red everywhere. Looking out the front door, she saw a couple of pools of blood and what appeared to be a body on the lawn.

She shrieked and ran back through the house and down the driveway, passing close enough to the Rambler to see that there was yet another body inside the car. She ran over to the Kotts and banged on the door, but they were not home, so she ran to the next house and did the same thing, screaming hysterically.

LAPD Officer Jerry DeRosa arrived first. He walked up to the Rambler and found a young man slumped toward the passenger side, drenched in blood. At this point, Officer William Whisenhunt joined DeRosa. The two officers, with guns drawn searched the other automobiles and the garage, while a third officer Robert Burbridge caught up with them.

There on the beautifully manicured lawn with its magnificent panorama of Los Angeles lay two bodies. One was a white man that appeared to be in his thirties. Someone had battered in his head and face, while savagely puncturing the rest of his body with dozens of wounds. The other body was that of a young woman with long brown hair lying in a full-length nightgown with multiple stab wounds.

The three officers cautiously approached the house. No telling what or who may be waiting in there for them. It would have been foolhardy for all of them to enter through the front door. However, as they went near the front door, they saw that one of the front window screens had been removed. Whisenhunt found an open window on the side of the house where he and Burbridge made their entry.

Once the other two officers were inside, DeRosa approached the front door. On the lower half of the door, he saw scrawled in blood the word "PIG." In the hallway they found two large steamer trunks, a pair of horned rimmed glasses and pieces of a broken gun grip. Then when they reached the couch, they were in for a real shock. A young blond woman, very pregnant, was lying on the floor, smeared all over with blood, a rope around her neck that extended over a rafter in the ceiling. The other end of the rope was around the neck of a man lying nearby, also drenched in blood.

As they looked through the rest of the house they heard a man\'s voice and the sound of a dog. It was William Garretson the caretaker. The officers handcuffed him and put him under arrest. Later that Saturday night, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and Susan Struthers, Rosemary\'s 21-year-old daughter, drove back from vacation trailering their boat. They dropped off Susan at her apartment and drove home to 3301 Waverly Drive in the Los Feliz area of L.A. They stopped to pick up a newspaper between 1 and 2 A.M.

It wasn\'t until the next day that anybody came to the house to see them. Frank Struthers, Rosemary\'s son by a previous marriage, got a ride home. Around 8:30 P.M., as he carried his camping equipment up the driveway, he noticed things that worried him. First the speedboat was still in the driveway. It was very unlike his stepfather not to put the boat in the garage. Then Frank noticed that all the window shades were down -- something his parents never did.

He knocked on the door, but got no answer, so he went to a pay phone and called, but again with no response. He finally got in touch with his sister, who came with her boyfriend to their parents\' house.

Frank and the boyfriend found the back door open. They left Susan in the kitchen until they had a chance to look around. When the two young men walked into the living room, they saw Leno in his pajamas, lying with a pillow over his head and a cord around his neck. Something was sticking out from his stomach

They rushed out of the house, dragging Susan with them and called the police at the neighbors\' house.

Soon an ambulance and police cars arrived. Leno was found with a blood-drenched pillowcase over his head and the cord of a large lamp tied tightly around his neck. His hands had been tied behind him with a leather thong. A carving fork protruded from his stomach and the word "WAR" had been carved in his flesh.

In the master bedroom, they found his wife Rosemary lying on the floor, her nightgown up over her head. She too had a pillowcase over her head and a lamp cord tied tightly around her neck.

In three places in the house, there was writing which appeared to be in the victims\' blood: on the living room wall, "DEATH TO PIGS;" on another wall in the living room, the single word "RISE;" and in the refrigerator door, "HEALTHER SKELTER," misspelled.

While she was awaiting trial for the murder of Gary Hinman, Susan Atkins was placed in the Sybil Brand Institute, L.A.\'s women\'s house of detention. Her bed was next to that of a thirty-one-year-old former call girl named Ronnie Howard. Another inmate, Virginia Graham, was a close friend of Ronnie\'s. Susan Atkins was a real talker. She had an almost unbelievable story that Ronnie and Virginia listened to with absolute amazement.

Atkins acted like a nut case: dancing and singing at the oddest times, oblivious to the seriousness of the charges against her and bubbling over with laughter and delight without any apparent reason.

In the course of conversation, Susan told Virginia that she was in for first degree murder. "Did you do it?" Virginia wanted to know.

"Sure," Susan answered as though it were the most natural response in the world. But, the police thought that she only held Hinman while Bob Beausoleil stabbed him. In reality, Susan said, it was she who stabbed Hinman while Beausoleil held him.

She also told Virginia that her lover Charlie was Jesus Christ and he was going to lead her to a hole in the earth in Death Valley where there was a civilization down there. After hearing that story, Virginia was convinced that Atkins was completely nuts.

Several days later on November 6, Susan was again in a talky mood and mentioned the Sharon Tate murder. "You know who did it don\'t you?
Virginia said she didn\'t.
"Well, you\'re looking at her."
Virginia was horrified and asked why she did such a thing.
"Because we wanted to do a crime that would shock the world, that the world would have to stand up and take notice."
Atkins went on to explain that they selected the Tate house because it was isolated. Susan said they knew who the owner was but they didn\'t know or care who would be at the house that night.

Susan explained that there were four of them, three girls and a man, all of whom had been given their instructions by Charlie. When they got to the gate, the man cut the telephone wires. Next they shot the teenager four times because he had seen them.

When they got in the house, Susan said that in the living room there was a man on the couch and a woman on the chair reading. Then some of Susan\'s group stayed in the living room, while Susan went into the bedroom where Sharon was sitting on the bed talking to Jay Sebring. They quickly put nooses over Sharon and Jay\'s heads so that if they moved they would choke. Frykowski ran for the door. "He was full of blood," she said and claimed that she had stabbed him three or four times. "He was bleeding and he ran to the front part, and would you believe that he was there hollering \'Help, help, somebody please help me,\' and nobody came? Then we finished him off."

"Sharon was the last to die," Susan said with a laugh as she described how Sharon was begging her, " Please don\'t kill me. Please don\'t kill me. I don\'t want to die. I want to live. I want to have my baby. I want to have my baby."

Susan said she just looked at Sharon straight in the eye and said, "Look, bitch, I don\'t care about you. I don\'t care if you\'re going to have a baby. You had better be ready. You\'re going to die and I don\'t feel anything about it?In a few minutes I killed her." Susan said she saw that there was Sharon\'s blood on her hand and she tasted it. "Wow, what a trip! To taste death, and yet give life."

Flabbergasted, Virginia asked Susan if it didn\'t bother her to kill a pregnant woman. "I thought you understood. I loved her, and in order for me to kill her I was killing part of myself when I killed her," Susan explained. She had wanted to cut out Sharon\'s baby but there wasn\'t enough time. She had also wanted to take out all the victims\' eyes and squash them against the walls and cut off and mutilate all of their fingers, but they didn\'t have the chance.

Susan told Virginia that after they left the Tate house she realized that she didn\'t have her knife with her any more. Not only that, she had left her palm print on a desk, "but my spirit was so strong that obviously it didn\'t even show up or they would have me by now." The four of them drove to a place where they were able to wash their hands and change their clothes. Susan ended the story with admitting that they killed the LaBianca\'s the next night. "That\'s part of the plan," she explained. "And there\'s more."

This tale of murder had Virginia\'s head spinning. She told Ronnie Howard, who didn\'t believe the story. "She\'s making it all up. She could have gotten it out of the papers," Ronnie reasoned. Virginia came up with a way to test Susan about whether she was telling the truth. Some years earlier when the Tate house had been up for lease, Virginia had actually been to see the exterior of the house on Cielo drive. When she saw Susan, she asked her if the house was still decorated in gold and white. Susan said no.

Virginia also picked up some miscellaneous pieces of information that tied Charlie and Susan to that house. It used to belong to Terry Melcher, Doris Day\'s son. Charlie and Susan were angry with Melcher for some reason that was not clear. She babbled something about Melcher being too interested in money.

Later that day, Susan began to talk again and gave Virginia the list of celebrity targets that were next on their list: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen and Tom Jones. It was important to select victims that would shock the world. She had planned to carve the words "helter skelter" on Elizabeth Taylor\'s face with a red-hot knife and then gouge her eyes out. Then she would castrate Richard Burton and put his penis along with Elizabeth Taylor\'s eyes in a bottle and mail it to Eddie Fisher.

Sinatra was to be skinned alive, while he listened to his own music. The Family would then make purses out of his skin and sell them in hippie shops. Tom Jones would have his throat slit, but only after being forced to have sex with Susan Atkins.

People who knew them but were not part of the group reported other confessions from Manson and Family members about the same time. On November 12, the L.A. Sheriff\'s detectives had a chance to interview Al Springer who was a member of the motorcycle gang called the Straight Satans who had been involved with the Manson Family off and on.

The detectives were astonished when Springer told them that a few days after the Tate murders that Manson had bragged to him about killing people: "We knocked off five of them just the other night." Springer stayed clear of Manson after that, but mentioned that Danny DeCarlo, another member of the motorcycle gang lived at the Spahn Ranch with the Family.

In the course of the interview Springer asked if anyone had their refrigerator wrote on? "Charlie said they wrote something on the fucking refrigerator in blood?Something about pigs or niggers or something like that."

When the police finally got to Danny DeCarlo, they really got an earful about Charlie and his Family. Not only did DeCarlo confirm their culpability in Gary Hinman\'s death, but he implicated them in the death of a 36-year-old ranch hand named Shorty, a nickname for Donald Shea. He was killed because he\'d tell the owner of the Spahn Ranch what was really happening on his property. "Shorty was going to tell old man Spahn?and Charlie didn\'t like snitches," DeCarlo explained.

DeCarlo had been told what they did to his friend Shorty: "they stuck him like carving up a Christmas turkey?Bruce (Davis) said they cut him up in nine pieces. They cut his head off. then they cut his arms off too, so there was no way they could possibly identify him. They were laughing about that."

Another Family member named Clem told DeCarlo with a big grin that "we got five piggies" the day after the Tate murders.

The two detectives shared this information with the detectives at LAPD, but the latter did nothing with the information. The L.A. Sheriff\'s detectives, on the other hand, now focused their investigation on the Manson family believing that the hippie cult was somehow tied into both the Tate and LaBianca murder cases.

At some point in mid-November, Susan Atkins told her story to Ronnie Howard. Ronnie Howard felt that she had to tell the police about what Susan had revealed, especially since other people were future targets of the group. She asked for permission to contact LAPD, but was repeatedly denied, even though the woman she asked permission was dating one of the Tate case homicide detectives. Virginia Graham, who had been transferred to another facility, was running into the same kind of difficulty when she tried to tell the authorities about Susan. Finally on November 17, 1969, two LAPD homicide detectives came to Sybil Brand to interview Ronnie Howard. The message was finally beginning to penetrate the collective intelligence of the LAPD that they had just found a gold mine. After they interviewed her, they had her moved for her safety into an isolation unit.

Just who was this Charlie anyway? Both LAPD and the Los Angeles Sheriff\'s Office started to dig through the rubble of his heavily documented 36 years. As information came in about him, it was no surprise that he was in trouble. If ever a kid had a miserable start in life Charles Manson was it.

An illegitimate and unplanned child, he was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 12, 1934 to Kathleen Maddox, a promiscuous sixteen-year-old who drank too much and got into a lot of trouble. Two years later, Kathleen filed suit against Colonel Scott of Ashland, KY, for child support which she was awarded, but never received. Kathleen was briefly married to William Manson who gave his name to the boy.

Charles Manson in Nuel Emmons\' book Manson in His Own Words describes the Maddox family: Kathleen was the youngest of three children from the marriage of Nancy and Charles Maddox. Her parents loved her and meant well by her, but they were fanatical in their religious beliefs. Especially Grandma, who dominated the household. She was stern and unwavering in her interpretation of God\'s Will, and demanded that those within her home abide by her view of God\'s wishes.

My grandfather worked for the B&O Railroad. He worked long hard hours, a dedicated slave to the company and his bosses?He was not the disciplinarian Grandma was?If he tried to comfort Mom with a display of affection, such as a pat on the knee or an arm around her shoulder, Grandma was quick to insinuate he was vulgar.

For Mom, life was filled with a never-ending list of denials. From awakening in the morning until going to bed at night it was, "No Kathleen, that dress is too short. Braid your hair, don\'t comb it like some hussy. Come directly home from school, don\'t let me catch you talking to any boys. No, you can\'t go to the school dance, we are going to church?In 1933, at age fifteen, my mother ran away from home.

Other writers have portrayed Mom as a teenage whore...In her search for acceptance she may have fallen in love too easily and too often, but a whore at that time? No!?In later years, because of hard knocks and tough times, she may have sold her body some?

Charlie never knew his father and never had a real father figure. His mother was the kind that children are taken away from and placed in foster homes. Kathleen had a habit of disappearing for day and weeks at a time, leaving Charlie with his grandmother or his aunt. When Kathleen and her brother were both sentenced to the penitentiary for armed robbery, Charlie got sent off to live with his aunt and uncle in McMechen, West Virginia. The aunt was very religious and strict in stark contrast to his mother\'s permissiveness.

When Kathleen was released from jail, she was not responsible enough to take care of him, preferring her life of promiscuity and hard drinking to any kind of normal lifestyle. There was no continuity in his life: he was always being foisted on someone new; he moved from one dingy rooming house to another; there were only transitory friendships that he made on the streets.

Manson tells the story which was circulated within his family: "Mom was in a caf? one afternoon with me on her lap. The waitress, a would-be mother without a child of her own, jokingly told my Mom she\'d buy me from her. Mom replied, \'A pitcher of beer and he\'s yours.\' The waitress set up the beer, Mom stuck around long enough to finish it off and left the place without me. Several days later my uncle had to search the town for the waitress and take me home."

John Gilmore in his insightful book called The Garbage People describes how Charlie adapted to this life of emptiness and violence:

He kept to himself. Though friendless, his young mind bypassed the loneliness of his surroundings. He watched, listened, pretended his imaginative resources knew no limit. And he began to steal, as if to hold onto something that continually flew away. There was a consistency and permanency to the habit of stealing and it became easier. With everything transient, the thefts and goods he carried with him offered a sense of stability, a kind of reward. An object owned gave identity to an owner, an identity that had yet to be acknowledged.

When he was nine, he was caught stealing and sent to reform school and then later when he was twelve, he was caught stealing again and sent to the Gibault School for Boys in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1947. He ran away less than a year later and tried to return to his mother who didn\'t want him. Living entirely by stealing and burglary, he lived on his own until he was caught. The court arranged for him to go to Father Flanagan\'s Boys Town.

He didn\'t last long at Boys Town. A few days after his arrival, thirteen-year-old Charlie and another kid committed two armed robberies. A few more episodes like that landed Charlie in the Indiana School for Boys for three years. His teachers described him as having trust in no one and "did good work only for those from whom he figured he could obtain something." In 1951, Charlie and two other boys escaped and headed for California living entirely by burglary and auto theft. They got as far as Utah when they were caught. This time he was sent to the National Training School for Boys in Washington, D.C. While he was there they gave him various tests which established that his IQ was 109, that he was illiterate and that his aptitude for everything but music was average.

His keepers said this about him: "Manson has become somewhat of an \'institution politician.\' He does just enough work to get by on?Restless and moody most of the time, the boy would rather spend his class time entertaining his friends?It appears that this boy is a very emotionally upset youth who is definitely in need of some psychiatric orientation."

That same year, Dr. Block, a psychiatrist examined him, noting "the marked degree of rejection, instability and psychic trauma." His illegitimacy, small physical size and lack of parental love caused him to constantly strive for status with the other boys. "This could add up to a fairly slick institutionalized youth," Dr. Block concluded, "but one is left with the feeling that behind all this lies an extremely sensitive boy who has not yet given up in terms of securing some kind of love and affection from the world."

For a short time, things started to look up for Charlie. His aunt had agreed to take care of him and his chances for parole were good. Shortly before the parole hearing, Charlie held a razor blade against another boy\'s throat while he sodomized him. Charlie was transferred to the Federal Reformatory at Petersburg, Virginia, where he was characterized as definitely homosexual, dangerous and safe only under supervision.

In September of 1952, he was sent to a more secure institution in Chillicothe, Ohio. His keepers there saw him as "criminally sophisticated despite his age and grossly unsuited for retention in an open reformatory type institution." For some reason, Manson suddenly changed his attitude. He was more cooperative and genuinely improved educationally so that he was able to read and understand basic math. This improvement lead to his parole in May of 1954 at the age of nineteen.

At first he lived with his aunt and uncle, then his mother for a short period of time. Early in 1955, he married a waitress who bore him a son, Charles Manson, Jr. Charlie worked at various low-paying jobs and augmented his income by stealing cars. One of them he took to Los Angeles with his then pregnant wife. Inevitably, he was caught again eventually found his way to the prison at Terminal Island in San Pedro, California.

His wife had the good sense to divorce him after he spent three years in jail. In 1958, he was released on parole. This time Manson took up a new occupation - pimping. He supplemented this income by getting money from an unattractive wealthy girl in Pasadena. In 1959, Manson was arrested on two federal charges: stealing a check from a mailbox and attempting to cash a U.S. Treasury check for $37.50

.This time Manson was lucky, a young woman pretended she was pregnant and pleaded with the judge to keep him out of jail. The judge believed the story and had pity on him. While he sentenced Charlie to ten years, he then immediately placed him on probation. A couple of months later, he was arrested by LAPD for stealing cars and using stolen credit cards, but the charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

Near the end of 1959, Manson conned a young woman out of $700 in savings to invest in his nonexistent company. To make matters worse, he got her pregnant and then drugged and raped her roommate. He fled to Texas but was arrested and put in prison to serve out his ten-year sentence. "If there ever was a man who demonstrated himself completely unfit for probation, he is it," the judge said. Eventually at the age of 26 he was sent to the U.S. Penitentiary at McNeil Island, Washington.

His record there described Charlie as having "a tremendous drive to call attention to himself. Generally he is unable to succeed in positive acts, therefore he often resorts to negative behavior to satisfy this drive. In his efforts to "find" himself, Manson peruses different religious philosophies, e.g. Scientology and Buddhism; however, he never remains long enough with any given teachings to reap meaningful benefits."

By 1964, he hadn\'t changed much, as least as viewed by prison officials: "His past pattern of employment instability continues?seems to have an intense need to call attention to himself?remains emotionally insecure and tends to involve himself in various fanatical interests."

Whatever those "fanatical" interests were, they included an obsession with the Beatles. Manson\'s guitar was another obsession. He felt that with the right opportunities he would be much bigger than the Beatles. In prison, he became friends with the aging gangster, Alvin Karpis. The former Public Enemy Number One and sole survivor of the Ma Barker gang taught Charlie how to play the steel guitar. The prison record noted in May of 1966 that "he has been spending most of his free time writing songs, accumulating about 80 or 90 of them during the past year?He also plays the guitar and drums, and is hopeful that he can secure employment as a guitar player or as a drummer or singer."

Karpis had some interesting insights into Charlie\'s true personality: "There was something unmistakably unusual about Manson. He was a runt of sorts, but found his place as an experienced manipulator of others...I did feel manipulated, and under circumstances where it hadn\'t been necessary."

On March 21, 1967, Charlie was released from prison and given transportation to San Francisco. He was 32 years old and more than half of his life had been spent in institutions. He protested his freedom. "Oh, no, I can\'t go outside there?I knew that I couldn\'t adjust to that world, not after all my life had been spent locked up and where my mind was free. I was content to stay in the penitentiary, just to take my walks around the yard in the sunshine and to play my guitar?" The prison officials ignored his protest and unleashed him on the world again.

As poorly prepared for life on the outside as he was, Charlie was able to blend in with his guitar into the hippie scene in San Francisco. The high-point of the Haight Ashbury culture was past and the only ones left were the diehards and the last ones to the party. Charlie was never impressed by the hippie culture, but he lived off it and it didn\'t expect much from him. He learned about drugs and how he could use them to influence people.

Charlie started to attract a group of followers, many of whom were very young women with troubled emotional lives who were rebelling against their parents and society in general. He battered down their inhibitions and questioned the validity of their notions of good and evil. For the most part, Charlie\'s followers were weak-willed people who were na?ve, gullible and easy to lead. LSD and amphetamines were additional tools by which Charlie altered their personalities to his needs.

In spring of 1968, Manson and his followers left San Francisco in an old school bus and traveled around. Eventually, he and a few of his group moved in with Gary Hinman, a music teacher with a house on the Canyon Road. Through Hinman, Charlie met Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. Manson and his girls starting hanging around Wilson every chance they had. Manson tried to leverage the acquaintance with Dennis Wilson but it didn\'t go anywhere. Eventually, Wilson became uncomfortable with Manson and his girls and told them to split.

About that time, Manson found George Spahn and conned the old man into letting him and his followers live on the Ranch. Squeaky Fromme, one of Charlie\'s devotees, made sure that the elderly man\'s sexual needs were fully satisfied. The Manson Family survived by a combination of stealing and scavenging. Much of their food was taken from what the supermarkets discard each day.

Charlie was still hell-bent to market his music to somebody. Through his contacts with Dennis Wilson and another man in the music business, Charlie met Doris Day\'s son Terry Melcher. The plan was to interest Melcher in financing a film with Manson\'s music.

At that time, Melcher owned the house on Cielo Drive that was eventually leased to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. At various times, Manson had been by the property in a car with Dennis Wilson.

Melcher was asked to listen to Charlie and decide whether or not he wanted to record them. Melcher went out the first time and listened to Charlie sing his own compositions and play the guitar. Some of the girls sang and played tambourines. Melcher went out a second time a week later, but the music was nothing he was interested in recording. What he didn\'t realize is that Manson had built this recording opportunity with Melcher into something very real in his mind. When nothing came of it, Charlie was plenty angry and blamed Melcher for his disappointment.

Another facet of Charlie, although not nearly as important to him as his music, was his philosophy. To a large extent, this "philosophy" was a con, something he dreamed up to impress his followers, but he probably believed some of it.

The core of this philosophy was a kind of Armageddon. Charlie preached that the black man was going to rise up and start killing the whites and turn the cities in to an inferno of racial revenge. The black man would win this war, but wouldn\'t be able to hang onto the power he seized because of innate inferiority.

In 1968, Charlie was forecasting racial war when all of a sudden the Beatles released their White Album, which had the song "Helter Skelter." The lyrics fit Charlie\'s theory to a tee: "Look out helter skelter helter skelter helter skelter/She\'s coming down fast/ Yes she is/Yes she is." Now, the racial Armageddon had a name. It was Helter Skelter.

Helter Skelter would begin, according to one of Charlie\'s devotees, "with the black man going into white people\'s homes and ripping off the white people, physically destroying them,. A couple of spades from Watts would come up into the Bel Air and Beverly Hills district?and just really wipe some people out, just cutting bodies up and smearing blood and writing things on the wall in blood?all kinds of super-atrocious crimes that would really make the white man mad?until there was open revolution in the streets, until they finally won and took over. Then the black man would assume the white man\'s karma. He would then be the establishment?"

Charlie and the Family would survive this racial holocaust because they would be hiding in the desert safe from the turmoil of the cities. He pulled from the Book of Revelations, the concept of a "bottomless pit," the entrance of which, according to Charlie, was a cave underneath Death Valley that led down to a city of gold. This paradise was where Charlie and his Family were going to wait out this war. Afterwards, when the black man failed at keeping power, Charlie\'s Family, which they estimated would have multiplied to 144,000 by that time, would then take over from the black man and rule the cities.

"It will be our world then," Charlie told his followers. "There would be no one else, except for us and the black servants. He, Charles Willis Manson, the fifth angel, Jesus Christ, would then rule the world. The other four angels were the Beatles.

How did this hokey philosophy result in the blood bath at the Tate and LaBianca houses? Well, Charlie the Prophet had already forecast that the murders would start in the summer of 1969, but as the summer went on, it looked as though the "prophet" was wrong. "The only thing blackie knows is what whitey has told him," he said to one of his followers just before the murders. "I\'m going to have to show him how to do it."

After the LaBianca murder, one of Manson\'s girls, Linda Kasabian, was told to take Rosemary LaBianca\'s wallet and credit cards and leave them in the ladies room of a gas station in an area heavily populated by blacks. That way, when, theoretically, the credit cards would be used by some black woman, it would appear that blacks were responsible for the LaBianca deaths. However, the credit cards were never used or turned in to the authorities.

Resources and References

• Cults
• The Anatomy of Illusion: Religious Cults and Destructive Persuasion Thomas W. Keiser, Jacqueline L. Keiser (Charles C. Thomas Publishing, 1987). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Captive Hearts, Captive Minds: Freedom & Recovery from Cults and Abusive Relationships. Janja Lalich (Hunter House Pubs). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Charismatic Cult Leaders Streissguth, Thomas (The Oliver Press Inc: Minneapolis, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Combatting Cult Mind Control Steven Hassan (Inner Traditions Press, 1990). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Corporate Cults: The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming Organization Dave Arnott Order this book from Amazon.com
• Cult Encounter--An International Story of Exit Counseling. Helen and Rick Larsen (RCS Books, June 1997). Order this book
• Cults and Personality Frank J. MacHovec (Charles Thomas Publishing, 1989). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Cults: Faith, Healing, and Coercion By Marc Galanter (Oxford Univ Press, 1999)Order this book from Amazon.com
• Cults in our Midst. Margaret Singer (Jossey-Bass Publishers, San Francisco, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Facts About Cults Stevens, Sarah (Crestwood House: New York, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad (North Atlantic Books, 1983). Order this book from Amazon.com
• On the Edge: Political Cults of the Left and Right Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth (Sharpe, New York 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Recovery from Abusive Groups Wendy Ford (American Family Foundation, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Recovery From Cults Michael Langone (Editor) (Norton , 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Releasing the Bonds--Empowering People to Think for Themselves Steven Hassan (Aitan Publishing , May 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Savage Messiah: The Shocking Story of Cult Leader Rock I.E. Roch Theriault and the Women Who Loved Him Paul Kaihla and Ross Laver (Doubleday: 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Snapping - America\'s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change (Second Edition). Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman (Stillpoint Press, NY 1978, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Soul Snatchers Jean-Mari Abgrall (Algora Pub., 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• TM and Cult Mania Michael A. Persinger, Normand J. Carrey, Lynn A. Suess (Christopher Pub House, 1980). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Under the Influence: The Destructive Effects of Group Dynamics John D. Goldhammer (Prometheus Books, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society Arthur J. Deikman, M.D. (Beacon Press, 1994). Order this book from Amazon.com Critical Thinking
• A Conscious Life Cox, Fran and Cox, Louis (Conari Press, 1996) Order this book
• Amazing Face Reading: An illustrated encyclopedia for reading faces Mac Fulfer (Creative Associates, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Animal Farm George Orwell (Signet Classic, 1996). Order this book
• The Art of Happiness: A handbook for living Howard Culter with H.H. Dalai Lama (Riverhead Books, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Believed-In Imaginings: The Narrative Construction of Reality Joseph de Rivera and Theodore R. Sarbin (Editors) (American Psychological Assn, 1998). Order this book
• The Biology of Belief: How our Biology Biases our Beliefs and Perceptions By Joseph Giovannoli (Rosetta Press, 2001) Order this book
• Chuck Whitlock\'s Scam School Charles R. Whitlock and Chuck Whitlock Order this book from Amazon.com
• Cognitive Models and Spiritual Maps: Interdisciplinary Explorations of Religious Experience Editors Jensine Andresen, Robert K.C. Forman, Ken Wilber (Imprint Academic, 2001). Order this book
• Consciousness Explained Daniel C. Dennett (Little Brown & Co, 1992). Order this book
• Craving for Ecstasy By Harvey Milkman and Stanley Sunderwirth Order this book
• The Death of Psychotherapy--From Freud to Alien Abductions Donald A. Eisner (Praeger Publishers Westport, Conn., 2000). Order this book
• The Demon-Haunted World: Science as the Candle in the Dark Carl Sagan (Ballantine Books, 1997) Order this book
• Detecting Lies and Deceit: The Psychology of Lying and Implications for Professional Practice Wiley Series in Psychology of Crime, Policing, and Law By Aldert Vrij (John Wiley and Sons, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds and Hoaxes of the Occult and the Supernatural: James Randi\'s Decidedly Skeptical Definitions of Alternate Realities James Randi (St. Martins Press, 1997) Order this book
• Encyclopedia of the Paranormal Gordon Stein, editor Carl Sagan (Prometheus Books, 1996). Order this book
• Everybody\'s Guide to People Watching Aaron Wolfgang (Intercultural Press, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds Charles MacKay and Andrew Tobias (Crown Pub, 1995). Order this book
• Faith Beyond Faith Healing: Finding Hope After Shattered Dreams Kimberly Weston (Paraclete Press, 2002) Order this book
• Feet of Clay: Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus Anthony Storr (1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The First Honest Book About Lies Joni Kincher (Free Spirit Publishing, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Fraud!: How to Protect Yourself from Schemes, Scams, and Swindles Marsha Bertrand Order this book from Amazon.com
• Frauds, Myths and Mysteries Kenneth L. Feder. (Mayfield Publishing, 1998). Order this book
• The Fringes of Reason Tim Schultz (editor) (A Whole Earth Catalogue: Harmony Books, 1989). Order this book
• From Fetish to God in Ancient Egypt E.A. Wallis Budge (Dover Pub, 1989). Order this book
• From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam Era (Religion and Politics) Stephen Kent (Syracuse University Press, 2001). Order this book
• The God Part of the Brain Matthew Alper (Rouge Press, 2001). Order this book
• Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle By William Nole, M.D. (Random House, 1974). Order this book
• How the Mind Works By Steven Pinker (W.W. Norton & Co, 1999). Order this book
• How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age By Theodore Schick, Jr. and Lewis Vaughn (Mayfield Publishing, 1999). Order this book
• Invasion From Mars: A Study in the Psychology of Panic Hadley Cantril (Harper Torchbooks, 1966). Order this book
• Karma Cola: Marketing to Mystic East Gita Mehta (Vintage, 1994). Order this book
• Leaps of Faith By Nicholas Humphrey Order this book
• Lies, Lies, Lies! The Psychology of Deceit Charles V. Ford (American Psychiatric Press, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Many Faces of Deceit: Omissions, Lies and Disguise in Psychotherapy Helen K. Gediman and Janice Lieberman (Jason Aronson, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Maximize Your Memory Jonathan Hancock (David and Charles, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Mind Magic: Tricks for Reading Minds Ormond McGill and Canevari Green Order this book from Amazon.com
• Mind Reading and Magic Tricks Bob Longe (Sterling Books, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• My Father\'s Guru: A Journey through Spirituality and Disillusion Jeffrey M. Masson (Addision Wesley, 1993). Order this book
• The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience By Andrew Newberg, MD and Eugene G. Aquili, PhD (Fortress Press, 1999) Order this book
• The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide Robert Jay Lifton (Basic Books, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Official Know-it-all Guide to Secrets of Mind Power Harry Lorayne (Frederick Fell, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• On the Wild Side Martin Gardner (Prometheus Books, 1992). Order this book
• Physics: Concepts and Connections Art Hobson (Prentice Hall, 2nd edition 1999). Order this book
• The Power of Myth Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers (Contributor), Betty Sue Flowers (Editor) (Anchor, 1991). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Practical Dreamer\'s Handbook: Finding the Time, Money, and Energy to Live the Life You Want to Live Paul and Sarah Edwards (JP Tarcher, 2000) Order this book
• Practical Mental Magic Theodore Annemann (Dover, 1983). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities By Len Oakes (Syracuse Univ. Press, 1997). Order this book
• Psychic Mafia M. Lamar Keene, Allen Spraggett, Lamar Keene and V. Raucher (Prometheus Books, 1997) Order this book
• The Road to Malpsychia: Humanistic Psychology and Our Discontents Joyce Milton (Encounter Books, 2002) Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence Ervin Staub (Cambridge University Press, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Secrets of Mind Power: How to Organize and Develop the Hidden Powers of Your Mind Harry Lorayne (Frederick Fell, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Self-Working Mental Magic: Sixty-Seven Foolproof Mind-Reading Tricks Karl Fulves (Dover, 1989). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Self-Working Table Magic: Ninety-Seven Foolproof Tricks with Everyday Objects Karl Fulves and Joseph Schmidt (Dover, 1981). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage Paul Ekman (W.W. Norton, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Trauma and Recovery By Judith Herman, MD (Basic Books, 1997). Order this book
• The Vanishing Hitchhiker Jan Harold Brunvand (Norton, 1981). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Weird Water and Fuzzy Logic: More Notes of a Fringe-Watcher Martin Gardner (Prometheus Books, 1996). Order this book
• Who\'s Crazy Anyway Joan Mazza (2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Why God won\'t go away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief By Andrew Newberg, MD (Ballantine Books, 2001) Order this book
• Without Conscience By Robert Hare Order this book
• The Wrong Way Home: Uncovering the Patterns of Cult Behavior in American Society Arthur J. Deikman, M.D. (Beacon Press, 1994). Order this book from Amazon.com Destructive Churches
• Amazing Grace Kathleen Norris (Riverhead Books, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• By What Authority: The Rise of Personality Cults in American Christianity Richard Quebedeaux (Harper Collins, 1981). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Changing Face of the Priesthood: A reflection of the Priest\'s Crisis of Soul Donald B. Cozzens (Liturgical Press, 2000) Order this book
• Charismatic Captivation: Authoritarian Abuse & Psychological Abuse in Neo-Pentecostal Churches Steve Lambert (SLM Publications, 1996) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Charismatic Chaos John F. MacArthur, Jr. (Zondervan Publishing House, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Charismatic Control: The Witchcraft of Domination & Control in Charismatic & Neo-Pentecostal Churches Steve Lambert (SLM Publications, 1997) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Churches that Abuse. Ronald Enroth (Zondervan Publishing House, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Cult Proofing Your Kids. Paul Martin (Zondervan Press, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Damaged Disciples: Casualties of Authoritarian Churches and the Shepherding Movement By Ron and Vicki Burks Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Drift Into Deception - The Eight Characteristics of Abusive Christianity. Agnes C. Lawless with John W. Lawless (Kregel Resources, Grand Rapids, MI, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Grace Awakening Charles Swindoll. (Word Books, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Healing Spiritual Abuse : How to Break Free from Bad Church Experiences Ken Blue Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Jesus People; Old-Time Religion in the Age of Aquarius Ronald M. Enroth Order this book from Amazon.com
• Lead us not into temptation: Catholic Priests and the Sexual Abuse of Children Jason Berry and Andrew Greely (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2000) Order this book
• Letters to a Devastated Christian. Gene Edwards (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, Wheaton, IL 1984, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com
• More Jesus, Less Religion: Moving from rules to relationship Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton (Waterbrook Press, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Sex, Priests and Power: Anatomy of a Crisis A.W. Richard Sipe (Bruner/Mazel, 1995) Order this book
• The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse - Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority within the Church. David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen (Bethany House Publishers, Mpls. MN, 1991). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Twisted Scriptures- A Path to Freedom From Abusive Churches. Mary Alice Chrnalogar (Control Techniques, Inc. P.O. Box 8021 Chattanooga, TN 37414-8021). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Unhealed Wounded: The church and human sexuality Eugene Kennedy (St. Martins Press, 2001) Order this book
• Youth, Brainwashing, and the Extremist Cults By Ronald M. Enroth Order this book from Amazon.com New Age Groups
• A Path With Heart : A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life Jack Kornfield. (Bantam, 1993) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties Jay Courtney Fikes. (Millinea Press, 1996) Order this book from Amazon.com
• 400 Years of Imaginary Friends - A Journey Into the World of Adepts, Masters, Ascended Masters and their Messengers Kenneth Paolini. (Jan 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• The New Age: Notes of a Fringe-Watcher Martin Gardner. (Prometheus Books, 1991) Order this book from Amazon.com
• 19 Years in a New Age Group: Torn from the Arms of Satan Judith L. Carlson, Elizabeth R. Burchard (Ace Academics, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Psychic Dictatorship in America Gerald B.Bryan, Talita Paolini, Kenneth Paolini. (Feb 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Understanding the New Age Russell Chandler. (Zondervan, 1993) Order this book from Amazon.com Persuasion Techniques
• Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion By Anthony Pratkanis & Elliot Aronson Order this book from Amazon.com
• Battle for the Mind By William Sargent Order this book from Amazon.com
• Coercive Persuasion - A Socio-Psychological Analysis of the "Brainwashing" of American Civilian Prisoners by the Chinese Communists. Edgar H. Schein with Inge Schneier and Curtis H. Barker (New York WW Norton & Company, 1971).Order this book from Amazon.com
• Crazy Therapies-What are they? Do they work? Margaret Singer and Janja Lalich (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Crimes of Persuasion: Schemes, scams, frauds Les Henderson (Coyote Press, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Easily Fooled: New Insights and Techniques for Resisting Manipulation Bob Fellows (Mind Matters, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Easily Led: A History of Propaganda Oliver Tomson (Sutton Press, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Get Anyone to Do Anything and Never Feel Powerless Again : Psychological Secrets to Predict, Control, and Influence Every Situation By David J. Lieberman Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Hidden Persuaders By Vance Packard Order this book from Amazon.com
• Hypnotism Investigated Tony Bamgridge. (1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Influence. Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. (Quill, NY, 1984 (Revised 1993)). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Manipulated Mind: Brainwashing, Conditioning, and Indoctrination Denise Winn (Malor Books, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Obedience to Authority By Stanley MilgramOrder this book from Amazon.com
• Ponzi Schemes, Invaders from Mars and More Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds By Joseph Bulgatz (Harmony Books). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence By Philip Zimbardo Order this book from Amazon.com
• Stages of Faith - The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for MeaningJames W. Fowler Harper Collins, 1995 Order this book from Amazon.com
• The True Believer. Eric Hoffer (Harper and Row, 1951). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism - A Study of Brainwashing in China. Robert J. Lifton, MD. (The University of N.C. Press Original Publisher: Norton and Co., 1961). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Under the Influence: The Destructive Effects of Group Dynamics John D. Goldhammer (Prometheus Books, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• When Prophecy Fails By Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken and Stanley Schachter Order this book from Amazon.com Repressed Memories & MPD
• The Best Kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children Florence Rush. (1980). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Child Sexual Abuse and False Memory Syndrome Robert A. Baker (Editor). (Prometheus Books, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Cognitive Neuropsychology of False Memories: A Special Issue of Cognitive Neuropsychology Daniel L. Schacter (Editor). (Taylor & Francis, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Confabulations: Creating False Memories, Destroying Families Eleanor C. Goldstein, Kevin Farmer (Editor) (Social Issues Resources Series, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Crazy Therapies Margaret Thaler Singer, Janja Lalich (Contributor) (Jossey-Bass, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Creating Hysteria: Women and Multiple Personality Disorder Joan Ross Acocella (Jossey-Bass, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Diagnosis for Disaster: The Devastating Truth About False Memory Syndrome and Its Impact on Accusers and Families Claudette Wassil-Grimm (Penquin USA, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Eyewitness Testimony Elizabeth F. Loftus (Harvard University Press, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• False-Memory Creation in Children and Adults: Theory, Research, and Implications David F. Bjorklund (Editor). (Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• How We Know What Isn\'t So: The Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life Thomas Gilovich (Free Press, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Making Monsters: False Memories, Pyschotherapy and Sexual Hysteria Richard Ofshe and Ethan Watters (Charles Scribner\'s Sons NY, 1994). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Manufacturing Victims: What the Psychology Industry Is Doing to People Tana Dineen (Robert Davies Publishers, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Memory Distortion: How Minds, Brains, and Societies Reconstruct the Past Daniel L. Schacter (Editor). (Harvard University Press, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Myth of Repressed Memory: False Memories and Allegations of Sexual Abuse Elizabeth Loftus, Katherine Ketcham (St. Martin\'s Press, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• National Incidence Studies on Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children in America David Finkelhor (DIANE Publishing, 1990). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Psychology Astray: Fallacies in Studies of \'Repressed Memory\' and Childhood Trauma Harrison G Pope, Jr., MD (Social Issues Resources Series, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Recovered Memories of Child Sexual Abuse: Psychological, Social, and Legal Perspectives on a Contemporary Mental Health Controversy Sheila Taub (Editor). (Charles C. Thomas Publishers, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• \'Recovered Memory\' and Other Assaults upon the Mysteries of Consciousness: Hypnosis, Psychotherapy, Fraud and the Mass Media William Rogers (McFarland and Company, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Second Thoughts Paul Simpson (Thomas Nelson, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Searching for Memory: The Brain, The Mind, and The Past Daniel L. Schacter (Editor). (Harper Collins, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Slaughter of Innocents: Child abuse through the ages and today Sander J. Breiner. (1990). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Smoke and Mirrors: The Devastating Effect of False Sexual Abuse Claims Terrence W. Campbell (Insight Books, Plenum Press, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Suggestions of Abuse: True and False Memories of Childhood Michael D. Yapdo, Ph.D.Order this book from Amazon.com
• Survivor Psychology: The Dark Side of a Mental Health Mission Susan Smith (Social Issues Resources Series, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Therapy Gone Mad : The True Story of Hundreds of Patients and a Generation Betrayed By Carol Lynn Mithers (Basic Books, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Therapy\'s Delusions: The Myth of the Unconscious and the Exploitation of Today\'s Walking Worried Ethan Watters and Richard Ofshe (Simon & Schuster, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Too Scared to Cry: Psychic Trauma in Childhood Lenore Terr (Harper Collins, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Trance on Trial Alan W. Scheflin, LL.M. and Jerold Lee Shaprio, Ph.D.Order this book from Amazon.com
• Truth in Memory Steven J. Lynn (Editor), Kevin M. McConkey (Editor) (Guilford Press, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Victims of Memory - Incest Accusations and Shattered Lives Mark Pendergrast (Upper Access Inc. VT, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Wounded Innocents: The Real Victims of the War Against Child Abuse Richard Wexler (Prometheus Books, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com Terrorists and Terrorism
• American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Amongst Us Steven Emerson (Simon and Schuster, 2002) Order this book from Amazon.com
• American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing Lou Michel, Dan Harbeck (Regan Books, 2001). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Eco-Terrorism & Eco-Extremism Against Agriculture Joseph M. Miller and R.M. Miller (2000) Order this book
• Holy War Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden Peter Bergen (Free Press, 2001) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Inside Terrorism Bruce Hoffman. (Columbia University Press, 1999) Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Militia Threat: Terrorists Among Us Robert L. Snow (Perseus Press, 1999) Order this book
• The New Jackals: Ramzi Youseff, Osama bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism Simon Reeve (Northeastern University Press, 1999) Order this book
• The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction Walter Laqueur (Oxford University Press, 1999) Order this book
• Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind Walter Reich (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998) Order this book
• Profiles in Terrorism: Twenty Years of Anti-Abortion Terrorism Frederick Clarkson (Common Courage Press, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism Patricia Baird-Windle, Eleanor J. Bader (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence Mark Jeurgensmeyer. (University of California Press, 2001) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Usama bin Laden\'s al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network Yonah Alexander and Michael S. Setnam (Transnational Publishing, 2001) Order this book Groups of Interest al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden
• Holy War Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden Peter Bergen (Free Press, 2001) Order this book from Amazon.com
• The New Jackals: Ramzi Youseff, Osama bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism Simon Reeve (Northeastern University Press, 1999) Order this book
• Usama bin Laden\'s al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network Yonah Alexander and Michael S. Setnam (Transnational Publishing, 2001) Order this book Amway
• Amway Motivational Organizations: Behind the Smoke and Mirrors Ruth Carter Order this book from Amazon.com
• Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise Stephen Butterfield (South End Press, 1985) Order this book Aum Shinrikyo
• The Cult at the End of the World: The Terrifying Story of the Aum Doomsday Cult, From the Subways of Tokyo to Arsenals in Russia David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall (Crown Publishing, 1996) Order this book
• Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism By Robert Jay Lifton Order this book from Amazon.com
• Holy Terror: Armageddon in Tokyo D.W. Brackett (Weatherhill, 1996) Order this book from Amazon.com The Brethren
• From Dean\'s List to Dumpsters Jim Guerra (Dorrance Publishing Company, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com Catholic Sects
• The Pope\'s Armada : Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious and Powerful New Sects in the Church Gordon Urquhart (Prometheus Books, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com Children of God/The Family
• Heaven\'s Harlots: My Fifteen Years as a Sacred Prostitute in the Children of God Cult. Miriam Williams (William Morrow, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com Christian Fundamentalists
• Behind the Scenes: The True Face of Fake Faith Healers Yves A. Brault (FirstPublish, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Eternal Hostility--The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy Frederick Clarkson (Common Courage Press, 1997). Order this book
• Faith Beyond Faith Healing: Finding Hope After Shattered Dreams Kimberly Weston (Paraclete Press, 2002) Order this book
• The Faith Healers. James Randi (Prometheus Books, Buffalo, New York, 1987). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Holy Terror - The Fundamentalist War on America\'s Freedoms and Religion Politics in our private lives. Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman (Delta Books, Del Publishing, 1982). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Jew and the Christian Missionary: A Jewish Response to Missionary Christianity Gerald Sigal (KTAV Publishing, 1981). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Leaving the Fold - A guide for Former Fundamentalists. Marlene Winell, Ph.D. (New Harbinger Publications, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Mind of the Bible-Believer Edmund Cohen (Prometheus Books, 1988). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism John Shelby Spong (Harper Collins, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right Sara Diamond (South End Press, 1989). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Stealing Jesus : How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity Bruce Bawer (Three Rivers Press, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Why the Religious Right is Wrong: About Separation of Church and State Rob Boston, Robert Boston and Barry W. Lynn (Prometheus Books, 1994). Order this book from Amazon.com Christian Science
• Faith Beyond Faith Healing: Finding Hope After Shattered Dreams Kimberly Weston (Paraclete Press, 2002) Order this book
• The Religion That Kills - Christian Science: Abuse, Neglect, and Mind Control Dr. Linda S. Kramer (Huntington House Publishers)Order this book Church Universal and Triumphant
• 400 Years of Imaginary Friends: A journey into the world of Adepts, Masters, Ascended Masters, and their Messengers Kenneth Paolini and Talita Paolini (Paolini International, January 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com The Endeavor Academy--Chuck Anderson, a.k.a. "The Master Teacher"
• Complete Story of the Course : The History, the People, and the Controversies Behind a Course in Miracles D. Patrick Miller, (Fearless Books, August 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com Extremists and Hate Groups
• A Force Upon the Plain - The American Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate. Kenneth S. Stern (Simon and Schuster, NY 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• American Militias: Rebellion, Racism and Religion Richard Abanes (Intervarsity Press, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing Lou Michel, Dan Harbeck (Regan Books, 2001). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Animal Rights: History and Scope of a Radical Social Movement Harold D. Guither (Southern Illinois Univ. Press, 1998) Order this book
• Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture Mark Fenster (University of Minnesota Press, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Documents of American Prejudice: An Anthology of Writings on Race from Thomas Jefferson to David Duke S.T. Joshi (Basic Books, 1999) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Dragons of God: A Journey Through Far Right America Vincent Coppola (Longstreet Press, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Eco-Terrorism & Eco-Extremism Against Agriculture Joseph M. Miller and R.M. Miller (2000) Order this book
• Encyclopedia of White power: A Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right Jeffrey Kaplan (Altamira Pass, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America Robert Alan Goldberg (Yale University Press, 2001) Order this book
• The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America Craig Wade (Oxford University Press, 1998) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Gathering Storm: America\'s Militia Threat By James Corcoran Order this book from Amazon.com
• Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan David Mark Chalmers (Duke University Press, 1987). Order this book from Amazon.com
• In God\'s Country: The Patriot Movement and the Pacific Northwest David A. Neiwert (Washington State University Press, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement Kathleen M. Blee (University of California Press, 2002). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Live from the Gates of Hell: An Insider\'s Look at the Anti-Abortion Movement Jerry Reiter (Prometheus Books, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Militia Threat: Terrorists Among Us Robert L. Snow (Perseus Press, 1999) Order this book
• One Aryan Nation Under God: How Religious Extremists Use the Bible to Justify Their Actions Jerome Walters (Sourcebooks, 2001) Order this book
• Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind Walter Reich (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998) Order this book
• The Politics of the Extreme Right: From the Margins to the Mainstream Paul Hainsworth (London: Pinter, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Politics of Unreason Seymour M. Lipset and Earl Raab (Harper & Bro Place of Publication, 1978). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Profiles in Terrorism: Twenty Years of Anti-Abortion Terrorism Frederick Clarkson (Common Courage Press, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Racist Mind: Portraits of American Neo-Nazis and Klansmen Raphael S. Ezekiel (Penguin US, 1996) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Chrisitian Identity Movement Michael Barkun (University of North Carolina Press, 1996) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Selling Fear: Conspiracy Theories and End Times Paranoia Gregory S. Camp (1997) Order this book
• Soldiers of God: White Supremacists and their Holy War for America Howard Bushart (Pinnacle Books, 1999) Order this book
• Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right Lisa McGirr (Princeton University Press, 2001). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Tabernacle of Hate: Why They Bombed Oklahoma City By Kerry Noble (Voyageur Pub, 1998) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism Patricia Baird-Windle, Eleanor J. Bader (Palgrave Macmillan, 2001) Order this book from Amazon.com
• The War Against the Greens: The "Wise Use" Movement, The New Right and Anti-Environmental Violence David Helvarg (Sierra Club Books, 1997) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Waves of Rancor: Tuning in the Radical Right (Media, Communication, and Culture in America) Robert L. Hilliard, Michael C. Keith and Donald Fishman (Published by M.E. Sharpe, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The White Separatist Movement in the United States: White Power, White Pride Betty A. Dobratz, Stephanie L. Shanks-Meile (John Hopkins University Press, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com Heaven\'s Gate
• Cosmic Suicide: The Tragedy and Transcendence of Heaven\'s Gate Forrest Jackson, Rodney Perkins (Pentaradial Press, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Keepers of Heaven\'s Gate: The Millennial Madness, the Religion Behind the Rancho Santa Fe Suicides William Henry, Cary Anderson (Earthpulse Press, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com Benny Hinn
• Behind the Scenes: The True Face of Fake Faith Healers Yves A. Brault (FirstPublish, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Confusing World of Benny Hinn By G. Richard Fisher and M. Kurt Goedelman (Personal Freedom Outreach, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com International Church of Christ
• Bewitchment: You Foolish Galatians Timothy Williams (WinePress Publishing, 2002). Order this book from Amazon.com Islamic Fundamentalism
• Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia Ahmed Rashid (Yale University Press, 2001) Order this book
• Triumph of Disorder: Islamic Fundamentalism, The New Face of War Morgan Norval (McKenna Publishing, 2001) Order this book Jehovah\'s Witnesses
• Answering Jehovah\'s Witnesses: Subject by Subject By David A. Reed Order this book from Amazon.com
• Apocolypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah\'s Witnesses By M. James Penton Order this book from Amazon.com
• Awakening of a Jehovah\'s Witness: Escape from the Watchtower Society Dianne Wilson (Prometheus Books, 2002). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Blood on the Altar: Confessions of a Jehovah\'s Witness Minister By David A. Reed (Prometheus Books, 1996)Order this book from Amazon.com
• Crisis of Conscience. Raymond Franz, former member of the Governing Body of Jehovah\'s Witnessess (Commentary Press, Atlanta, 1983). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Gentile Times Reconsidered: Chronology & Christ\'s Return By Carl O. Jonsson Order this book from Amazon.com
• In Search of Christian Freedom By Raymond Franz (Commentary Press, 1992)Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Sign of the Last Days By Carl Olof Jonsson and Wolfgang Herbst Order this book from Amazon.com
• Understanding Jehovah\'s Witnesses By Robert M. Bowman, Jr.(Baker Book House, 1991)Order this book from Amazon.com "Jews for Jesus"
• Hawking God - A Young Jewish Womans Ordeal in Jews for Jesus. Ellen Kamentsky (Sapphire Press). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Jesus and Judiasm E.P. Sanders (Fortress Press, 1987). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Jew and the Christian Missionary: A Jewish Response to Missionary Christianity Gerald Sigal (KTAV Publishing, 1981). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Judiasm and Chrisitanity: The Differences Trude Weiss-Rosmarin (Jonathan David Pub., 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• What do Jews Believe: The Spiritual Foundations of Judaism David S. Ariel (Schocken Books, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com Jonestown/ Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple
• The Children of Jonestown Kenneth Wooden (McGraw Hill). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Ghosts of November: Memoirs of an Outsider Who Witnessed the Carnage at Jonestown, Guyana Jeffrey Brailey (J&J Publishers, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Seductive Poison. Deborah Layton (Anchor Books, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com Krishna
• Betrayal of the Spirit By Nori Muster Order this book from Amazon.com
• Monkey on a Stick By John Hubner and Lindsey Gruson Order this book from Amazon.com Landmark Education/EST, the Forum
• Outrageous Betrayal : The Real Story of Werner Erhard from Est to Exile. Steven Pressman. Order this book from Amazon.com
• Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man. The Founding of est W.W. Bartley, III. (Clarkson N. Potter, Inc, 1978) Order this book from Amazon.com Lyndon Larouche
• Lyndon Larouche and the New American Fascism By Dennis King (1989). Order this book from Amazon.com Charles Manson
• Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry (Bantam Books, 1996) Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult Karlene Faith (Northeastern University Press, 2001) Order this book
• Manson: The Unholy Trail of Charlie and the Family John Gilmore, Ron Kenner (Amok Books, 2000) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Manson in His Own Words Charles Manson, Nuel Emmons (Grove Press, 1998) Order this book Andrew Cohen and Moksha Foundation
• The Mother of God Luna Tarlo Order this book from Amazon.com The Mormon Church/The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints--LDS
• Early Mormonism and the Magic World View D. Michael Quinn (Signature Books, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Inside the Mind of Joseph Smith : Psychobiography and the Book of Mormon Robert D. Anderson (Signature Books, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Inside the Mormon Mind Elizabeth T. Rice (Pearson Custom Publishing, 2001) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Leaving the Fold: Candid Conversations with Inactive Mormons James W. Ure (Signature Books, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Mormon America: The Power and the Promise Richard N. Ostling, Joan K. Ostling (Harper, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power D. Michael Quinn (Signature Books, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Mormon Polygamy - A History. Richard S. Van Wagoner (Signature Books, 1986 (Salt Lake City, UT). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship David John Buerger (Signature Books, 1994). Order this book from Amazon.com
• No Man Knows My History-The Life of Joseph Smith. Fawn M. Brodie (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1971). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson\'s Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon Stan Larson (Freethinker Press, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Reconsidering No Man Knows My History : Fawn M. Brodie and Joseph Smith in Retrospect Newell G. Bringhurst (Editor), Newell G. Brighurst (Editor) 1996. Order this book from Amazon.com
• Studies of the Book of Mormon Brigham D. Madsen (Editor), B. H. Roberts, Sterling M. McMurrin (September 1992) Order this book from Amazon.com Multi-Level Marketing
• All that Glitters is not God: Breaking Free From the Sweet Deceit of Multi-Level Marketing Athena Dean (Wine Press Publishing, 1998) Order this book
• Consumed by Success: Reaching the Top and Finding God wasn\'t there Athena Dean (Wine Press Publishing, 1997) Order this book
• False Profits: Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes Robert Fitzpatrick and Joyce K. Reynolds (Herald Press, 1997) Order this book from Amazon.com
• Home Businesses You can Buy: The Definitive Guide to Exploring Franchises, Multi-Level Marketing and Business Opportunities Paul and Sarah Edwards (Walter Zooi, JP Tarcher, 1997) Order this book
• Spellbound: My Journey Through a Tangled Web of Success Robert Morgan Styler Order this book from Amazon.com
• You Can\'t Cheat an Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes and Pyramid Frauds Work...and Why They\'re More Common Than Ever James Walsh (Silver Lake) Order this book from Amazon.com Nation of Islam
• Inside the Nation of Islam, A Historical and Personal Testimony by a Black Muslim Vibert White (University Press of Florida, 2001). Order this book from Amazon.com Opus Dei
• Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei Maria del Carmen Tapia (Continuum Pub Group, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com Sai Baba
• Avatar of Night: The Millennial Edition Tal Brooke (End Run Publishing, 1999). Order this book from Amazon.com Sahaja Yoga
• Sahaja Yoga Dr Judith Coney (Curzon Press, 2000). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Shamans, Mystics and Doctors Dr Sudhir Kakar (Oxford Press). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Shortest Journey Philippa Pullar (Unwin Paperbacks, 1984). Order this book from Amazon.com Satanism
• The Black Mask: Satanism in America Today John Charles Cooper (Fleming H. Revell Co., 1990). Order this book from Amazon.com
• In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the Occult Robert D. Hicks (Prometheus Books, 1991). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Satan\'s Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt Debbie Nathan and Michael Snedeker (Basic Books, 1995) Order this book from Amazon.com Scientology
• A Piece of Blue Sky - Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed. Jon Atack (NY Carol, 1990). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Bare Faced Messiah - The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard Russell Miller. Order this book from Amazon.com
• L. Ron Hubbard - Messiah or Madman? Bent Corydon (Fort Lee, NJ Barricade Books, 1992). Order this book from Amazon.com Seventh Day Adventist
• The White Lie Walter Rea (M&R Publications, 1982). Order this book from Amazon.com Synanon
• The Light On Synanon : How A Country Weekly Exposed A Corporate Cult-And Won The Pulitzer Prize Dave Mitchell (The Point Reyes Light, 1979). Order this book Ultra Orthodox Jewish Groups
• The Faith of the Mithnagdim: The Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic Rapture Allan Nadler (Johns Hopkins Jewish Studies, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference David Berger (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, September 2001). Order this book from Amazon.com Unification Church/Rev. Moon
• Hostage to Heaven: Four Years in the Unification Cult By Barbara Underwood, Betty Underwood Order this book from Amazon.com
• In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon\'s Family. Nansook Hong (Little Brown & Company, 1998). Order this book from Amazon.com Urantia
• Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery Martin Gardner (Prometheus Books, 1995). Order this book from Amazon.com Waco Davidians/David Koresh
• See No Evil: Blind Devotion and Blood Shed in David Koresh\'s Holy War. Tim Madigan (The Summit Group, Fort Worth TX, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Mad Man In Waco: The Complete Story of the Davidian Cult, David Koresh and the Waco Massacre by Brad Bailey & Bob Darden (WRS Publishers, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Inside the Cult Marc Breault & Martin King (Signet Books, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Massacre at Waco Clifford Linedecker (St. Martins Paperback, 1993). Order this book from Amazon.com Wicca
• The Law Enforcement Guide to Wicca Kerr Cuhulain (Horned Owl Publishing, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com "Word of Faith" movement
• The Confusing World of Benny Hinn By G. Richard Fisher and M. Kurt Goedelman (Personal Freedom Outreach, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com
• A Different Gospel - A Historical and Biblical Analysis of the Modern Faith Movement. D. R. McConnell (Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1988). Order this book from Amazon.com
• The Walking Wounded-A Look at Faith Theology. Jeremy Reynalds (Huntington House Publishers Lafayette, LA, 1996). Order this book from Amazon.com
• Christianity in Crisis Hank Hanegraff (Harvest House Publishers, Inc, 1997). Order this book from Amazon.com

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