Cult News

Children in cults often suffer, but unlike adults were never really recruited and have no power to change their circumstances. This is sadly reflected in a recent article about the Branch Davidian children.

The child survivors of the Davidian tragedy offered a frequently ambivalent mix of remarks to the Waco Tribune-Herald about life in the cult and their current feelings about that experience.

Many are still haunted by memories of the compound, Koresh’s past control over their families and the tragic outcome of the standoff.

Describing life in the cult one explained, “We felt like prisoners sometimes. … We started feeling kind of trapped.” But reflecting an ambivalence that seems typical for many cult children added, “I think I had a semblance of happiness. It was also a small hell.”

Some of the surviving children are strongly influenced by their parents continued devotion to the memory of David Koresh. Many Davidian families continue to blame the government for the standoff and refuse to recognize the destructive nature and historical role of the “sinful messiah.”

One Daividian child caught in the middle said, “A lot want me to say [Koresh] was who he said he was. I can’t say that. I can’t say he was or wasn’t a fake.”

Others appear less conflicted.

“Mostly, I avoided [Koresh],” another said, who resented the control the leader had over every aspect of life within the cult compound.

Another that escaped before the standoff advised, “I didn’t want to go back into that situation of being dominated totally.”

A psychiatrist, who examined many of the surviving Davidian children explained, “The environment was much more malignant than it was abusive. It was a subtle and persistent twisting of beliefs rather than an assaultive attack on a person.”

Koresh was also a pedophile who sexually abused girls. DNA tests have definitively proven he fathered the children that perished in the final fire. One Koresh mother gave birth at 14. Another teenager testified before congress that the cult leader molested her at age 10.

However, despite all these abuses the simplicity and clarity of cult life could be comforting. There were no loose ends or perplexing choices; everything was decided upon by the leader.

Reflecting this side of Davidian life one childhood survivor stated,”Now I wish I was back there. I wouldn’t have to worry about everything like I do now. Now, there’s just so many problems.”

Others are more disillusioned. One cynically remarked, “I’m never going to go to church again.”

It is a sad fact that most children raised in cults, that eventually leave or escape, won’t receive professional counseling or assistance to sort through their past.

Instead, the overwhelming majority will struggle with frequently debilitating emotional and psychological residual effects, for the rest of their lives.

In India police are cracking down on “God men,” reports The Telegraph.

Authorities in Calcutta are warning residents to beware of the gurus and swamis who say they have “supernatural powers” and can effect mystical or magical cures.

One police commissioner said, “We will do everything to guard Calcuttans from the clutches of such swindlers.” He added that they frequently prey upon the sick who are in a “vulnerable state.”

Will this crack down eventually include more established Indian gurus such as Sai Baba, who supposedly possesses “supernatural powers”?

Probably not.

But at least in India some attention is being paid to this issue.

In sharp contrast within the United States “God men” like Brooklyn born Frank Jones, who calls himself “Adi Da,” most often operate with impunity.

And then there is the lucrative “faith healing” business, which supports apparent posers such as the popular Benny Hinn. Hinn lives lavishly off of the millions contributed by his faithful, that believe “cures” come from heaven during his crusades.

Does America need a crack down? There certainly seems to be plenty of gullibility on this side of the globe.

American showman P.T. Barnum once claimed that “people like to be humbugged.” And he was attributed incorrectly, as the originator of the old adage; “A sucker is born every minute.”

But despite such observations Westerners often suppose smugly that they are somehow less susceptible to spiritual hucksters, than say people in Calcutta.

However, the facts don’t support such an arrogant conclusion. There seem to be plenty of suckers ready to buy or believe almost anything in America.

Historically, many Indian gurus and swamis sensed this and moved to the United States. Swami Satchidananda, Yogi Bhajan and Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh are three examples of such migrating “God men” who marketed their “supernatural powers” in the United States.

Books have been written about the “vulnerable state” of many Western spiritual seekers visiting India such as Karma Cola by Gita Mehta. And the more common category of largely domestic seekers is examined in The Faith Healers by James Randi.

The “cult” called the “Raelians” staged a “four day seminar” near Lake Mead in Nevada, but they failed to draw much interest.

Only fifty people showed up for their touted “national meeting,” reports the Las Vegas Sun.

It seems the bizarre group that once claimed without evidence it produced a human clone, is now running on empty as its publicity machine plays out.

Apparent megalomaniac and “cult” leader Claude Vorilhon, known to his followers as “Rael,” will no doubt try to come up with a new publicity ploy to generate more attention.

Vorilhon’s need for notice certainly seems insatiable.

First he claimed to be planning an earth embassy for space aliens. Then it was burning crosses to protest the Catholic Church.

The strange “cult leader” finally hit the media jackpot with clone claims, which appear to have been a hoax.

But this time there was no payoff for the Raelians in Nevada.

Has Rael played the media too long? It seems like his ability to work hot news topics is busted.

Vorilhon recently gambled on the Iraq war for publicity. Some of his followers stripped naked at a peace rally, but barely grabbed a mention.

Rael’s streak of luck seems to be over.

One peace movement leader said, “I just don’t take [Raelians] seriously.”

Very few people take Rael and his seemingly mindless “cult” clones seriously these days, which appear to be the only “clones” he ever really produced.

Maybe the French expatriate, whose estranged family once called him “little Claudy,” should pack up his hokey costumes and perform elsewhere?

Interestingly, before becoming a “cult leader” Vorilhon was a failed entertainer. His act doesn’t seem much improved.

Free lounge shows in Vegas are likely to be less boring.

In fact, the only place Rael’s act is likely to be booked, is within his “cult” compound called “UFO Land” in Canada.

Hopefully “little Claudy” will stay there for an indefinite and exclusive engagement.

A woman in California who was jointly responsible for the starvation death of her 19-month-old son was sentenced to ten years in prison this week, reports Associated Press.

Upon sentencing Mary Campbell burst into tears and said, “I’m filled with guilt, anger, sadness about what has happened. I have caused a lot of pain. … I’m trying to understand what has happened.”

But despite the woman’s seemingly genuine remorse, nothing can bring back the life of her child, who suffered an agonizing death at the hands of his mother.

Campbell’s lawyer tried to explain “what…happened” as the result of cult involvement and “brainwashing.” And certainly the group’s rigid “Book of Rules” illustrated the total control maintained by its leader.

However, despite that undue influence the death of a helpless child required retribution.

Campbell will now be forced to gain whatever understanding she seeks during the coming decade in prison.

Winnfred Wright, the leader of the small group known simply as “The Family,” has already been sent to prison to serve 16 years.

Another unnecessary death has been documented due to Jehovah’s Witnesses harsh pronouncements prohibiting blood transfusions.

A 24-year-old mother died in Britain shortly after giving birth to her second child delivered by Caesarian section, reports Local London.

The coroner stated the cause of death was “post-operative complications for which she refused medical intervention, namely, a blood transfusion.”

How many more Witnesses will suffer and die before the organization’s leaders finally change this medically unsound and outdated policy?

A “cult” leader in Australia is garnering bad press as he faces sex charges in criminal court, reports the Illwara Mercury.

William Kamm, who calls himself “Little Pebble,” leads a small splinter group of former Catholics. Kamm claims he receives messages from the “Virgin Mary,” but has been banned by the church.

According to court testimony “Little Pebble” exploited teenage girls in the group. He allegedly persuaded adults under his influence to essentially surrender their children for sex. This was supposedly, “God’s will.”

A teenage girl testified this week compellingly about repeated abuse at Kamm’s hands. She said he called her his “queen.”

Soon it seems “Little Pebble” may be removed from his throne and confined to receiving “messages” from fellow prisoners on his cellblock.

In a recent interview John Travolta disclosed details regarding Priscilla Presley’s introduction to Scientology, reports Go Memphis.com.

While trying to pump up his flop Basic, the star disclosed how he apparently recruited Presley into the controversial church.

Travolta said, “After Elvis died, Priscilla Presley wanted to meet me. She was looking for some answers.”

The vulnerable Presley must have been easy prey for any proselytizer at the time.

Now Travolta sees the Presleys regularly at Scientology activities.

He says, “I see Lisa Marie about three times a year, and see her mom about twice a year. Lisa Marie’s kind of like my surrogate daughter. She always asks me about the guys she gets involved with.”

Lisa Marie may now be as gung-ho as her mother’s Scientology mentor.

The Elvis heir said in a recent interview, ”I took to [Scientology] because I found it answered all the questions to my satisfaction, about men, the mind, sanity. It made sense, and it’s kept me grounded,” reports Gannett News.

But Scientology’s answers “about men” and Travolta’s feedback doesn’t seem to have helped Presley that much in married life. She is a three-time loser at 35.

And the “sanity” Scientology somehow provides doesn’t appear to include common “sense.” Consider Presley’s bizarre marriage to alleged pedophile Michael Jackson.

Has the church’s teachings helped Travolta further develop his “sense” for good movie projects? He has made one flop after another and hasn’t had a hit in five years.

And was it “sanity” when the almost 50 former star of Saturday Night Fever turned down the role that won Richard Gere a Golden Globe in the Oscar winning film Chicago?

Does that make “sense”?

Maybe Presley’s right about one aspect of Scientology though.

It just might be keeping both her romantic life and Travolta’s career “grounded.”

A new short story about a cult-like therapy group is now online.

The writer is Tim Woulforth and the story is titled Self Defense, it ends in a strange twist.

Woulforth is also the co-author with Dennis Tourish of the book On The Edge: Political Cults Right and Left.

Self Defense tells the story of people victimized by “Relational Therapy,” a process that affords its practitioner “complete control of the patient’s mind.”

The protagonist says, “The gurus I had met were hollow creatures, afraid of exposure, needing to dominate others so no one would discover their secret. They knew they were frauds.”

Woulforth’s fictional story might easily describe many so-called “therapy cults” and seems eerily reminiscent of a group led by Fred Newman called “Social Therapy.”

Come to think of it, Newman is more than mentioned in the Woulforth book On the Edge.

Hmmm, very interesting.

Fred Newman wears several hats. He is not only the originator of “Social Therapy,” but also the founder of the New Alliance Party and artistic director of the “All Stars,” an after school children’s program in New York.

A man in Tucson seems to have died needlessly while under the influence of a “cult.”

But authorities have concluded that no one will be charged, reports the Tucson Citizen.

James Killeen was a follower within a group called “World Ministries” in Tucson, Arizona led by Stan Bennett.

Under Bennett’s influence, Killeen a diabetic, undertook a medically dangerous religious fast. He died before the 40-day fast ended.

Members of the group prayed for the man’s “resurrection” as his body decomposed for weeks.

Eventually authorities discovered the death.

Killeen’s sister said, “If they can pull the wool over my brother’s eyes they can brainwash anybody,” reported the Arizona Daily Star.

But there is no criminal charge for “brainwashing” someone to death.

America On Line (AOL) seems to have become “big brother.”

Not necessarily a kindly big brother to help Internet users, but more like what George Orwell calls “big brother” in his classic book 1984.

AOL shut down a long-standing educational website, because the webmaster didn’t remove certain historical information.

One article posted on cult watcher Carol Giambalvo’s website displeased someone important and AOL apparently concluded, much like the pigs on Orwell’s Animal Farm, “Some are more equal than others.”

The “more equal” apparently describes The Hunger Project (THP), an organization closely associated with Landmark Education. A controversial privately owned company, that stages a type of mass marathon training.

Landmark was previously known as Erhard Seminar Training (EST), founded by Werner Erhard. Their introductory weekend seminar is called the Forum.

Giambalvo, a former participant in both EST and THP wrote an article titled, The Hunger Project Inside Out.

But you won’t find it online anymore.

Why?

Giambalvo says it all started when, “The Hunger Project sent me a letter…asking me to remove it…[they said] the article [was] outdated.” The ex-ESTie says that she was given “the usual rap about them not being affiliated with Landmark programs or Werner Erhard.”

However, Christian Century exposed the historic ties between THP and EST in an article run in 1979.

And in fact, the Vice President at THP who sent the letter to Giambalvo, has ties to Landmark.

Giambalvo didn’t remove the offending piece. “I just put [their] letter at the end of [my] article so people could see their point of view,” she explains.

But that just wasn’t good enough.

As one of Orwell’s characters observed in 1984, “up to date…[means] any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was…scraped clean.”

When Giambalvo failed to comply THP complained to AOL and the Internet giant took immediate action. Giambalvo’s website was shut down without notice. And it was only restored after her “expression of opinion” was “scraped clean.”

Doesn’t this sound drastic for a media conglomerate, which includes journalism icon Time Magazine?

After all, Time is widely respected by cult watchers for its 1991 cover story “Scientology: The Cult of Greed.”

AOL it seems, should not be confused with its media partner.

Giambalvo concludes, “Wonderful freedom of speech we have here in America, but not America On Line!”

Has AOL become a corporate version of “big brother,” bent upon censorship to please the “more equal”?

Orwell summed this up neatly within 1984, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

Note: Giambalvo now advises that a copy of the material previously posted about THP at her website is “available by direct request.”

Follow up: Carol Giambalvo advises that AOL brought to her attention the “terms of service” she agreed to, “which basically gives them license to say something is objectionable and to remove it.” She also admits AOL might have sent her a disconnect warning, but “I may have deleted it because…I get so much junk mail on AOL.”

Seems like two good reasons not to be an AOL user, the potential for censorship and spam.