Cult News

Lawyers representing “cult leader” Dwight “Malachi” York have asked that their client be evaluated regarding his competency for trial reported the Macon Telegraph.

The judge ordered the psychological evaluation Monday.

York is charged for sexually abusing 13 minor children. The “cult leader” admitted his guilt as part of a plea agreement, but the judge who wanted more time for the pedophile in prison rejected the deal.

York who once led the group known as the Nuwaubians says he is immune from prosecution due to his status as an Indian chief.

He now calls himself “Chief Black Eagle.”

York has previously assumed titles such as “The Imperial Grand Potentate” and “The Grand Al Mufti Divan.”

The judge will probably not be too surprised if the evaluation shows that the “cult leader” is deeply disturbed. Based upon York’s behavior it appears he is a psychopath, sociopath and/or at least stricken with a serious personality disorder.

But his lawyers insist, “This is not an insanity issue.”

However, “cult leaders” like York often appear to be crazy.

Shoko Asahara the bizarre leader of Aum, who is facing murder charges, mumbles to himself and won’t answer questions in court.

Marshall Applewhite of “Heaven’s Gate” spent time in a mental health facility. He checked himself in.

Joseph Kibwetere who led hundreds of Africans to death in Uganda was likewise once hospitalized.

Charles Manson has also not been described glowingly in psychiatric reports.

The problem is crazy is as crazy does.

This means that crazy cult leaders often do damage through insane acts, such as staging their own personal Armageddon, “Helter Skelter” or leading others to mass suicide as they unravel.

Some cults seem “crazy” because cult followers are most often modeling their behavior after a deeply disturbed leader and/or living out his or her delusions.

Interestingly, York’s followers now think their Indians too and have taken to wearing Native American costumes outside the courthouse during demonstrations of support for their jailed leader.

“Less than a year ago [York] was a Jewish Rabbi and today they were all dressed like Indians again,” observed an amazed Sheriff.

Sounds crazy doesn’t it?

Organizations or groups that are personality-driven and/or essentially defined by the personality of a charismatic leader, have often been called “cults.”

However, not all cults are destructive and many over the centuries have been relatively benign.

It seems some American corporations can be seen as consumer “cults,” often driven and/or defined by their founder’s personality.

The saga of the corporate Multi-media Empire wrought by Martha Stewart appears to be one example.

This commercial kingdom is so identified and defined by its creator, it is called “Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.”

But Martha’s empire has lost half its value, since the stature of its leader began to crumble.

Would Stewart’s cult following stay loyal to the brand without the presence of her personality?

Martha Stewart is an “extreme case of this corporate cult of personality,” reports the Boston Globe.

But there are other personality-driven enterprises such as Oprah Winfey’s synergistic media holdings, which continue to thrive.

Rosie O’Donnell seemed to be embarking on the path of Oprah, until “coming out” became more important to the talk show host than being in the money.

What will be Martha Stewart’s corporate legacy if she is killed in court?

Will her magazine fold, like George did, not long after founder John F. Kennedy Jr. died?

Most cults end or slowly whither away after the leader dies or self-destructs.

There is no “Family” without Charles Manson. And groups like Synanon, Aum and the Nuwaubians faded after their leaders were prosecuted.

But it seems that if there are significant assets and an ample cash flow “cults” can continue after a founder dies.

Witness how Scientology soldiers on undaunted by L. Ron Hubbard’s death in the 80s. Its celebrity faithful like John Travolta and Tom Cruise have not lost faith and keep paying for Hubbard’s “technology.”

The die-hard followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh still watch his videos long after their leader’s demise. And they gather to honor him at the still active ashram he started in India.

But after Herbert Armstrong died his Worldwide Church of God struggled to establish a new identity. And it shrank as adherents exited. It seems without Armstrong there was no lasting loyalty.

Which historical “cult” example will Stewart’s “corporate cult of personality” parallel?

Will there be consumer fealty for “Martha Stewart Living,” if Martha is living in prison?

Her fans might move on to a less controversial and/or embattled “domestic diva.”

Martha Stewart may have taught Americans that simplicity is timeless, but it seems probable that her cult following will dwindle if she does any time.

Yesterday was supposedly slated as the “end of the world.” That is, according to Yuko Chino and her Pana Wave followers in Japan.

But the planet’s destruction has been postponed, reports Mainichi Daily News.

Likewise, Chino’s claim that she is “dying of cancer” seems to be a bit exaggerated. The “cult leader” has reportedly been on the brink of death for at least a decade.

Chino likes to indulge in drama regarding her health as well as the fate of humanity.

Expect the “coming end” to be an ongoing saga in installments. And it looks like media coverage may turn Pana Wave into a mini-series.

All this keeps Chino’s followers preoccupied and attentive.

Preeminent cult expert Margaret Singer has said, “Cult leaders are like con men, only the con never ends.”

Pana Wave seems to be a never-ending story.

What alarms the Japanese is that Chino’s hype about Armageddon reminds them of Aum cult leader Shoko Asahara. He decided to personally fulfill his doomsday predictions.

A former member says Chino is an unstable and delusion ridden woman, which certainly isn’t reassuring. And she loves some type of type of green tea pudding.

Marshall Applewhite, the leader of the suicide cult “Heaven’s Gate,” had a penchant for pudding too. The San Diego UFO group ingested a lethal concoction of vodka and barbiturates mixed into pudding.

But police apparently found nothing to worry about in a recent search of Pana Wave facilities, reports The Strait Times.

It seems that Chino’s delusions revolve around lost seals, dressing everyone in white and television spots.

Hopefully it will stay that way.

Tomorrow the world may end, or so says Yuko Chino, the 69-year-old leader of the bizarre wandering “Japanese cult” clad in white called Pana Wave, reports England’s The Independent .

However, a purported “cult” making doomsday predictions is nothing new.

Many groups before the turn of the century seemed enveloped in a kind of “millennial madness,” making dire predictions of coming catastrophe and calamity.

If it were not quite planetary extinction, then at least there would be a kind of technological meltdown due to the “Y2K” computer glitch.

Nothing happened.

Never mind. Cult leaders and/or prophets of doom simply came up with some savvy spin to satisfy their followers and moved on, with the tragic exception of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments in Uganda.

Historically long-established groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses have learned that failed end times dates don’t mean “The End” for them and actually may increase baptisms, essentially becoming a useful recruitment tool.

People join up as if membership is the equivalent of an insurance policy against the event of Armageddon.

Yuko Chino seems to be carefully hedging her bets, by alternating between the claim that a lost seal in the news will somehow save humanity and/or that changes in outer space have already provided for a postponement, reports the New York Times.

One Pana Wave follower said, “I think it will be delayed till around May 22.”

But Japan’s Prime Minister just doesn’t get “why people believe in things said by such a group,” he asked plaintively.

After cult tragedies like “Heaven’s Gate,” the Solar Temple and most notably for the Japanese the doomsday cult called Aum, authorities in Japan are not taking any chances.

This week police raided Pana Wave locations just to make sure the group wasn’t concealing anything dangerous, like Aum once did, reports Mainichi Daily News.

However, one Japanese resident observed, “They’re not dangerous.” And added his main worry was “their…cars blocking…traffic.”

Yuko Chino has become a familiar figure in Japan through a series of such traffic jams. Perhaps that is what she always wanted.

Many cult leaders do seem to crave attention.

Despite Chino’s claims that she is suffering from terminal cancer and at death’s door, it appears the woman in white will be around for the foreseeable future.

Though judging from the reactions reported from several Japanese towns, Pana Wave is not a popular potential neighbor.

Tomomasa Nakagawa once a top leader in the doomsday cult Aum led by Shoko Asahara apologized publicly at the conclusion of his trial for murder, reports Mainichi Daily.

He said, “I’ve been disqualified as a human being, as a doctor and as a religionist.” And admitted, “Mr. Asahara murdered a large number of people. I devoted myself to supporting him. I apologize to those affected by the crimes.”

But Nakagawa’s recognition of the cult’s criminal behavior comes too late. Twelve people are dead. And it is unlikely the Aum leader will escape death himself, as a penalty for his role in this tragedy.

As is often the case regarding the violent crimes of a criminal cult, undue influence and/or diminished mental capacity, which is often sensationally called “brainwashing” does not excuse a crime.

Most frequently a cult member’s apology will not mitigate sentencing.

Despite the fact that Aum members themselves may have been victims of Asahara’s manipulation and madness, the people they murdered and their families remain as the most important victims and the definitive ones to determine sentencing.

The prosecution is acutely sensitive and attentive to those cult victims.

Prosecutors and surviving family members have repeatedly called for the death penalty, which is uncommon in Japan.

A team of 100 Japanese riot police is presently tracking the “cult” Pana Wave, reports The Guardian.

Village after village has protested the group and made it clear they are unwelcome.

But Pana Wave has not been connected to any crime.

However, the ominous predictions of coming doom made by its leader Yuko Chino, deeply disturb many Japanese who remember the cult Aum.

An editorial in Asahi News noted, “In hindsight…Aum became increasingly bloody-minded, the police were late in taking appropriate action” and warned they should now “be prepared to move swift and sure if [Pana Wave] breaks any laws.”

However, that same editorial said, “Police need to keep in mind the possibility that groups of this sort, when pressed too hard, can sometimes lash out dangerously.”

So Japanese authorities are engaged in a precarious balancing act, between protecting the public from a potentially unsafe group, while being sensitive to the group itself.

Even the Prime Minister of Japan weighed in and said, “I would like groups, whatever kind, not to cause inconvenience to local areas and other people,” reported Japan Today.

Of course the crucial ingredient in all this remains Yuko Chino.

Much like Aum leader Shoko Asahara, Chino is the impetus behind her group and she largely defines it. The 69-year-old woman has the power to keep Pana Wave peaceful, or act as its ignition point.

Asahi lamented the intense nonstop TV coverage of the “cult” citing this as “One of the main reasons so much attention is being drawn to this group.”

However, Chino seems to be directing her followers in a series of sensational stunts that have garnered the group increasing attention.

Maybe with so many news cameras now focused on her group, 100 police engaged in ongoing surveillance and the Japanese Prime Minister commenting about Pana Wave, Chino is satisfied and has finally received all the attention she wants.

Japanese authorities continue to closely monitor a strange “cult” called “Pana Wave.”

The nomadic group’s eerie caravan of white vans continues to roam across Japan, reports The Japan Times.

Pana Wave’s leader Yuko Chino makes increasingly strange pronouncements and proclamations.

In one statement the 69-year-old woman said, “approach of the Nibiru star will be delayed nearly a week from Monday, and those who do not listen to this message will face death.”

This may mean her previous prophecy that the world would end May 15th has been “delayed.”

Chino claims she is dying from cancer, which her followers attribute to a conspiracy by “extremists” and “radicals” bombarding her with “harmful electromagnetic transmissions.”

Pana Wave members wear white to protect themselves from these alleged death rays.

In one recent interview the cult’s leader said that a baby seal “would spare mankind from certain destruction,” reports Mainichi Daily News.

It must be understood that the Japanese have good reason to be disturbed by doomsday cults. After all, in 1995 the city of Tokyo endured a poison gas attack launched by the doomsday cult called Aum.

Aum’s leader Shoko Asahara, much like Yuko Chino, fed his followers with constant prophecies of coming catastrophe.

Eventually, this madman personally fulfilled his dark visions by creating a catastrophe himself that sent thousands of Japanese to hospitals and killed twelve.

Asahara’s long trial only recently ended and he is likely to be sentenced to death by hanging.

However, it is also possible that Chino and her cult following are simply publicity seekers. After all, most cult leaders are ego-driven and appear to need and feed upon attention.

Despite reports that the Pana Wave leader will die in days, it seems Ms. Chino is well enough to do demanding interviews and prepare public statements, reports BBC.

It may be that Pana Wave has more in common with a “cult” called the Raelians than it does with Aum.

The Raelians and their leader “Rael” (Claude Vorilhon) became known through a series of publicity stunts. The most recent was the claim that they had produced the “first human clone,” which now appears to have been a deliberate hoax.

Perhaps Chino like Rael craves the media spotlight. And the strange activities of Pana Wave are cynically calculated to garner as much attention for the cult and its leader as possible.

Let’s hope so.

After the horrors of Aum the Japanese could use a good laugh.

A strange cult called Pana Wave ceased blocking a road in Japan and moved on, but only after Japanese police searched the group’s vans and insisted they leave, reports the Herald Sun.

An apparently terminally ill woman named Yuko Chino 69 leads the group. The self-proclaimed “prophet” is reportedly dying from cancer.

Literature produced by the cult focuses on disturbing doomsday scenarios, with Chino as the exclusive savior of humanity, reports Associated Press.

Many Pana Wave members now live nomadically in tents and wander about Japan in a van caravan, most likely this has been directed by their “prophet” and motivated by her delusions.

One Japanese cult watcher said, “This is a cult in its terminal phase.”

Cults can be extremely volatile under such circumstances.

After the horrific attack of Tokyo’s subway system by another doomsday cult Aum in 1995, the Japanese are not taking any chances with another potentially dangerous group.

Authorities in Japan seem to be closely monitoring Pana Wave.

A bizarre cult has recently drawn heightened media attention in Japan through its strange behavior, reports BBC.

The group is called “Pana Wave,” led by 69-year old Hiroko Chino, a woman who began drawing a cult following during the 1970s.

Pana Wave overwhelmed and temporarily obstructed an isolated roadway near Giffo, Japan.

Their actions were prompted by a paranoid conspiracy theory, which claims there is an ongoing plot to kill their leader with a “weapon using electromagnetic waves.”

It appears Chino is dying from terminal cancer. And rather than accept that illness, she has spun a paranoid world of lurking enemies to maintain control and manipulate her followers further through fear.

Members of the group wore all white, including facemasks, to protect themselves from “harmful electromagnetic waves.” Even their vehicles were covered with white cloth.

Pana Wave members believe that white cloth blocks out the suspected destructive transmissions.

Chino has predicted the earth’s end is near. And Pana Wave reportedly has about 1,200 adherents.

One pamphlet states that if the leader dies cult members should “exterminate all humankind at once,” reports Reuters.

After the devastating gas attack of Tokyo’s subways in 1995 by another doomsday cult called Aum, the Japanese view such cult threats very seriously.

Police surrounded, questioned and eventually dispersed Chino’s followers. But the group remains under investigation.

Doomsday groups like Pana Wave are relatively common within the world of cults. And their leaders often manipulate members through fear of annihilation.

Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh and Jim Jones all used such dire predictions of coming catastrophe to draw their followers into compound life, within an insulated and isolated world of dread.

Rather than seeking to block out “electromagnetic waves,” Chino actually seems to be engaged in an ongoing process of blocking an outside frame of reference, which might provide her disciples with accurate feedback.

But historically as such a leader’s physical and/or mental well being unravels, a situation of high risk may develop.

Cult followers are often deeply dependent upon their leader to determine and/or define reality. They also typically allow that leader to do much of their thinking for them.

Given the history of destructive cults and Chino’s reported deteriorating health, the Japanese authorities have good reason to be concerned and monitor Pana Wave closely.

Long-time “cult apologist” James Lewis has produced another book defending destructive cults.

But a review dismissed his work as “inflammatory” with “generalizations, and simplistic explanations,” reports YellowBrix.com.

For example, Lewis claims that those who criticize cults are “applying the cult stereotype to every religious group that strikes one as strange or different.”

Cult apologists he says are actually “defenders of the rights of minority religions.”

Following what seems to have become a Lewis standard regarding research, much of the material within the book “has been vetted by the groups themselves,” reports the reviewer.

An interesting example of Lewis acting as one of the “defenders of the rights of minority religions” took place in 1995.

The apologist flew to Japan as one of the “defenders” of the now infamous cult Aum. He claimed that the group was a victim of “persecution.”

Lewis was accompanied by two other well known “defenders of…minority religions,” Gordon Melton and James Fisher. And the trio’s travel expenses were paid for completely by the cult.

After spending only days in Japan Lewis quickly concluded that Aum could not have produced the poison gas used in the Tokyo subway attack, which sent thousands to hospitals and killed 12.

He came to this startling conclusion by examining material provided to him by Aum leaders. No doubt that material “had been vetted” first by Aum.

This essentially typifies the quality of “scholarship” and/or “research,” which has become a Lewis standard.

Needless to say the apologist’s conclusions regarding Aum have been proven totally false.

Overwhelming evidence has substantiated without question, that not only did Aum produce the poison gas used for the subway attack, the cult was also working on an array of other weapons of mass destruction.

Numerous criminal convictions of Aum members have since taken place.

Lewis, rather than representing objective scholarship, seems to be more of an academic cult collaborator, who produces opinions largely subject to a sponsor’s approval.

He has also worked closely with the Church of Scientology, which has recommended him as a “religious resource.”