Cult News

A “Moonie” (moniker denoting a loyal follower of purported “cult leader” Rev. Moon) may soon be running the UN’s World Food Program. 

That is, if US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Ambassador to the UN John Bolton have anything to say about it.

Inner City Press reported that Rice and Bolton apparently hope to slip the appointment through before General Secretary Kofi Annan ends his term of office this year.

The five-year appointment just might be one of the last things the controversial Annan does before he packs up and leaves his office in New York. 

The would-be UN official and long-time fan of Rev. Moon is Josette Sheeran (Shiner), currently a US trade ambassador appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate.

Sheeran was once the managing editor of the Moon-controlled Washington Times before she left that newspaper and experienced something like a religious epiphany.

Suddenly in 1996 Sheeran went from two decades of devotion to the self-proclaimed “messiah” and membership in his controversial Unification Church, to an Episcopalian.

The ambassador has never offered many details concerning her religious conversion and/or whatever prompted her to apparently abandon Moon, but the timing sure was convenient.

Ms. Sheerhan’s conversion took place just before she entered government through a series of opportunities and appointments.

It is no secret that Rev. Moon has long sought world influence and his disciples believe the world would be a better place unified under his “divine” guidance.

According to Rev. Moon deceased presidents of the United States have even decreed this and a few of his political sycophants crowned him in Washington not that long ago.

Ambassador Sheeran herself once claimed, “There is one man, one couple, in the world, which has taken on the power of the anti-values media. That is Reverend and Mrs. Moon.”

What power might Moon garner through Sheeran if she is appointed to a position of authority at the UN?

As CultNews previously reported the Bush/Moon connection goes back to the first President Bush, who received millions in honorariums for speaking engagements tied to Rev. Moon and his interests.

President George H. Bush has also benefited from Rev. Moon’s generous contributions to help build his Presidential Library.

It seems though that Rev. Moon’s gifts come with strings attached.

And that appears to include political appointments for his long-time supporters and perhaps a pardon is in the works for his tax-fraud conviction, before the present President Bush leaves the White House.

Of course there is nothing new here regarding Washington politics.

Big givers typically expect big favors.

But having a “Moonie” running a major program at the UN would be a really big favor indeed, potentially affecting the world.

Is that what big bucks buys from the Bush family? And is global influence so easily for sale at this White House?

The “anti-values media” Ms. Sheeran/Shiner once mocked has not reported that much about apparent influence peddling by the Bush White House regarding the Unification Church.

At times people wonder “what happened to all those ‘cults’ from the 1970s”?

Well, some of those groups have effectively maneuvered from the fringes of society to the centers of power and influence potentially affecting our daily lives.

Note: Japan Today reported that a Tokyo District Court ordered the Unification Church to pay about 280 million yen in damages to a woman who said she was swindled. What’s next world hunger?

Landmark Education, the mass marathon training company founded by 1970s self-styled seminar guru Werner Erhard (a.k.a. “Jack” Rosenberg), has apparently permanently left France and shut down its branch there.

But why?

Can it be that this for-profit privately owned company, which is currently run by Erhard’s brother Harry and his sister Joan and boasts 52 offices in 21 countries and combined global revenue of more than $70 million dollars in 2004, doesn’t think Paris is profitable?

Perhaps the reasoning behind the departure from Paris by the controversial company formerly known as “est” (Erhard Seminars Training), was a scathing expose’ aired on France’s Channel 3 TV.

Up until recently only the French viewing audience understood just how damaging this television program might be.

However, thanks to “You Tube” the complete program about Landmark can now be seen with English subtitles (click on the links provided within this article to see each segment).

What the French investigative report accomplished was a candid view of Landmark training.

The crew of channel 3 effectively penetrated the shroud of secrecy that surrounds Landmark’s introductory seminar called the Forum, by using hidden cameras.

This provided firsthand proof to the French about what goes on within the three days of training sessions.

In the first segment the audience is introduced to Alain Roth, Landmark’s former French director, who leads the seminar.

Roth subjects one woman to “public humiliation” before hundreds of participants and calls her an “asshole.” After being berated by the Landmark leader for about an hour she breaks down in tears while he insults and mocks her.

In this segment the audience is also introduced to some of Landmark’s jargon, comprised of thought-terminating cliches such as “racket” and “inauthentic.” Terms Roth routinely uses to dismiss anyone that asks him questions that he doesn’t really want to answer.

In the second segment a lawyer and “brainwashing expert” explains that Landmark “breaks a person” and he labels its methods “totalitarian.”

On balance an interview is included with Landmark’s designated spokesperson, Sophie McLean, flown in from New York.

Ms. McLean attempts to dismiss the description that her company is a “cult” or “cult-like” and that its business is somehow based upon “brainwashing.”

McLean specifically cites a report that Landmark paid a French psychiatrist Jean-Marie Abigrall to prepare.

However, despite being paid more than 45,000 Euro Dr. Abigrall is less than positive about Landmark. He laments that Landmark’s leaders lack meaningful training and calls that “shocking.” He then refuses to take a position as to whether the company is a cult or not.

During segment three unhappy Landmark customers refer to it as a “sect,” which is the word most commonly used by Europeans to describe what Americans would call a “cult.”

One woman says she was treated “like a puppet.”

Channel 3 then interviews Jean-Pierre Brard the Deputy Mayor of Montreuil who once served as vice-president of the French Assembly committee designated to investigate and identify “sects.”

Brard says McLean is “lying” and explains that Landmark meets the criteria of a “sect” because it features a “guru who destabilizes people to enslave them” and “relinquish critical thought.”

Brard then goes on to describe Landmark as a “network of money” focused primarily on making profits.

In segment four one former student describes the long grueling hours of training, within a tightly controlled environment, which allows participants little time for critical thinking or “perspective.”

Landmark’s method of “education” is labeled “emotional abuse.”

Then an expert sociologist discusses the “structured” and “organized” seminar format that engenders “total power” for the leader. He also concludes, “the goal is to destabilize the individual.”

The “brainwashing expert” adds that Landmark participants are systematically regressed to a “child-like state,” that affords the guru/leader a “stranglehold.”

The fifth segment reveals that much of what outsiders might perceive as spontaneous about Landmark and its students is in fact carefully rehearsed. The so-called “graduation” event at the end of a Forum is actually a “well-oiled ritual” devised for “seduction” or recruitment.

A former seven-year member of Scientology compares her “sect” to what is shown about Landmark. She observes that the two organizations have a very similar approach.

Roth is called a “manipulator” who uses a contrived vocabulary “incomprehensible” to those outside of Landmark.

In the final sixth segment Landmark’s “volunteers” are filmed doing everything from working the phones to scrubbing the bathroom floor for free.

Channel 3 also captures firsthand how the company’s volunteers repeatedly call, some say harass, past participants to take more courses.

Never before has what’s wrong with Landmark been so precisely captured firsthand on film.

At the end of the program it’s not hard to understand why the company gave up on France.

One French Landmark supporter interviewed by Channel 3 cries as she is confronted with the footage recording the bad behavior of her mentor Alain Roth. She then attempts to deny that anything is wrong, but even this diehard believer apparently ultimately finds the film footage undeniably disturbing.

No doubt Landmark Education will find the sharing of this revealing television program through “You Tube” disturbing as well.

It is difficult if not impossible to refute the stark evidence provided of Landmark’s inner workings when it’s captured by cameras.

During the 1970s Werner Erhard relied upon the secrecy that surrounded his seminar business to protect its practices, but now with the Internet and hidden cameras it is much harder to control information.

Erhard is now 70, certainly a wealthy man, who reportedly lives in the Cayman Islands with his long-time girlfriend.

But lately it seems he is concerned about his “legacy.”

A documentary titled “Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard” has been making the rounds at film festivals, which is focused on Erhard’s supposed contribution to the so-called “human potential movement.”

The documentary was done with Erhard’s full cooperation and produced by his former lawyer.

Don’t expect to see any of the French footage in what might be easily labled a “puff piece,” which paints the aging guru as positively as possible.

You can also see the 2003 French documentary “Inside Landmark Forum,” by downloading it here.

Postscript: Since this article was posted all the video clips have been removed. There is no longer any Internet access to the French television program about Landmark Education. All that remains at You Tube is a clip promoting the “documentary” titled “Transformation” about the so-called “legacy” of Werner Erhard. At You Tube it says “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.” At the Internet Archive, which formally featured the complete 2003 French documentary it states, “The item is not available due to issues with the item’s content.” Who do you suppose had “issues” with the content of this material and pressured the servers to suspend access? It seems that when some people can’t defeat the facts they resort to censorship.

Update: The video can be viewed and/or downloaded from Google Video.

Another update: Google has removed the documentary. But streaming video is now available through another site called “Daily Motion” click here. If you would rather download the documentary it’s available through Torrents click here.

Another update: “Daily Motion” also pulled the video, but now it may be viewed through the “Cult Awareness and Information Centre in Australia.” 

Does Scientology have a “cure” for homosexuality, or does the controversial church just beard (disguise) its gay celebrities through arranged marriages?

Scientologist John Travolta married fellow Scientologist Kelly Preston in what seemed like convenient timing, just after the National Enquirer ran a story about an alleged two-year homosexual affair between the actor and a male porn star.

The subsequent Travolta/Preston union produced two offspring and paved the way for the actor to continue a lucrative career as a leading man.

The National Inquirer later ran a retraction and Travolta’s alleged lover recanted, after the star’s lawyer reportedly applied some pressure.

Another Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley was quickly wed to Michael Jackson after allegations surfaced that he was a pedophile that preyed upon little boys. A source told CultNews that a Scientology minister participated and/or officiated when the couple was married at a secluded spot (other sources say it was a local judge).

But this marriage didn’t last and now the former “King of Pop” is living in self-imposed exile as a single in the Arab emirate of Bahrain.

Was it some Scientology agenda or really romance that led to the Presley/Jackson nuptials?

Could it be that Elvis’s daughter was wowed by Jackson’s dance moves or overwhelmed by his sexual charisma?

Now it looks like the National Enquirer might have the last word and/or the latest evidence regarding the sexual preference of John Travolta reports Canada.com.

While doing his first film turn in drag as mama Edna Turnblad for the movie “Hairspray” in Canada, Travolta was caught on camera kissing a man, but not in costume.

Instead, it appears this smooch was spontaneous and not per any contract agreement.

In photographs published by the National Enquirer, Travolta is seen planting a wet one on an unidentified young man while balancing tiptoe on the stair of his private jet.

Is this only a lighthearted gesture bestowed by the 52-year-old star upon his special friends or further grist for the rumor mill about his sexuality?

One source told CultNews that Mrs. Travolta was seated aboard the aircraft when this happened, which if true might raise some interesting questions about the nature of the couple’s marital arrangement.

The official word from the Travolta camp is that he is not gay. 

A friend of the star said, “John is furious about these new gay claims. It’s ridiculous ” he’s answered this over and over and he denies being gay” reports The Bosh.

But should Mr. Travolta be quite so “furious” given his latest career move to embrace a comedic character popular amongst the gay community?

CultNews previously questioned if a man rumored to be a closeted homosexual was right for a role made popular by openly gay actors.

Maybe the diehard 30-year Scientologist is more concerned about how his idol, the late L. Ron Hubbard founder of Scientology, might have perceived his penchant for kissing men? 

Hubbard once stated that gays “should be taken from¦society as rapidly as possible” because “no social order will survive which does not remove these people from its midst” reported Rolling Stone.

One former gay Scientologist even claimed that John Travolta was the proof that he was offered that “Scientology processing and courses would ‘handle’ [his] own homosexuality.” He paid the church a bundle for the process, but later sued when it didn’t work. 

Maybe it’s not about a “cure,” but rather a cover, which the church provides for its generous and/or important gay members?

Mrs. Travolta must know for sure, but it seems unlikely that she would spill, even if the rumors were true.

Meanwhile neither John Travolta’s fading star status or his marriage is likely to suffer because of the generous affection he doles out to his chosen male companions.

Postscript: Travolta’s lawyer Martin Singer subsequently made the following statement: “As a manner of customary greeting and saying farewell, Mr Travolta kisses both women and men whom he considers to be extremely close friends. People who are close to Mr Travolta are aware of his customary, non-romantic gesture.”

Is Scientology responsible for making Tom Cruise into “someone who effectuates creative suicide” as Viacom President Sumner Redstone told the Wall Street Journal?

The billionaire media mogul explained “His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.”

And then Redstone did the unthinkable, he effectively dumped the “world’s greatest movie star.”

Now the former “Top Gun” is hoping some “hedge fund” will back his production company and Hollywood is buzzing with questions.

How could a star so high fall so far and this quickly?

Wasn’t it just a couple years ago that Tom Cruise could do no wrong?

Could the often-secretive Church of Scientology be part of the answer?

A writer for the Huffington Post claims that “anti-Scientology religious bigotry” was somehow responsible for the star’s demise.

But was it “bigotry” over Scientology or a reaction to Cruise’s increasingly bizarre behavior linked to the church that led to his downfall?

It’s been a heady ride for Tom Cruise from “Risky Business” to “Mission Impossible.” But has the star risen to such a height that his demands and hubris overreached the limit. And was his judgement somehow impaired?

Cruise arguably became both vindictive and punitive.

His often quoted rant about Brooke Shields taking anti-depression medication and an apparent absence of humor regarding a hilarious South Park send-up paved the way for the public to perceive the once popular star quite differently.

Instead of the carefully crafted image his former publicist Pat Kingsley helped to construct and burnish over the years when she represented the actor, cracks began to show in his famous facade.

The smile that once made Cruise a romantic leading man, appeared more like the demented grin of Jack Nicholson playing a madman.

What happened?

As CultNews reported previously strange behavior could be a byproduct of Scientology. 

Sitcom star Jeanna Elfman also appeared to be getting stranger as she moved up the ladder of Scientology’s spiritual training levels. Both Elfman and Cruise had been working on “Operating Thetan Level 7” (OT-7). Scientology has eight OT levels to ascend.

Rich stars like John Travolta (an OT-7), Cruise and Elfman have no problem paying for the expensive courses and “auditing” that enables them to reach this higher plateau within the organization that Time Magazine once called a “The Cult of Greed.”

But does continued Scientology training cause mental and/or emotional disturbances?

One example might be the case of Lisa McPherson, a dedicated long-term Scientologist that experienced a mental meltdown before dying under the care of Scientology.

Shortly before her untimely death at 36 the Scientologist who began taking courses at 23 told her spiritual caregivers in Clearwater, Florida “I am L. Ron Hubbard…I created time 3 billion years ago.”

A wrongful death suit filed by the young woman’s family ended after seven years of litigation when Scientology paid them off rather than go to trial.

Another claimed casualty of the controversial church was Lawrence Wollersheim, who said that Scientology’s influence drove him into a mental disorder and to the brink of suicide. 

Scientology eventually paid Wollersheim an $8.6 million dollar settlement.

What could this organization some have labeled a “Sci-fi cult” do to send its adherents into orbit?

According to the testimony of one former long-term member in a personal injury court case there are church drills and courses that “brainwash them.”

Tom Cruise “brainwashed”?

Perhaps “brainwashing” explains how a super star at the top of his game plunged into “creative suicide” through a series of personal and public meltdowns. 

Pat Kingsley must be shaking her head pondering how her once cooperative client went through such a series of hapless blunders, which ultimately led to an end result that Viacom chief Redstone said “costs the company revenue.” 

According to Joe Keldani, a Scientologist trained by that organization’s elite “Guardians Office,” something strange happened at the highest levels of Scientology during his watch.

Keldani claimed that “the first few hundred OT 8 got ill and had to be recalled for repair.”

Does Tom Cruise need to be recalled?

Sumner Redstone seems to think so, but he is not willing to pay the “repair” bill.

As reported by the Ellsworth American a purported “cult” called the “Gentle Wind Project” (GWP) has been “blown away” by Maine’s top law enforcer.

Maine’s motto is “Dirigo”, which means “I lead” and its Attorney General (AG) Steven Rowe has led the way for law enforcement, by shutting down GWP in his state.

Former 17-year GWP members and Maine residents Judy Garvey and Jim Bergin first led the way by exposing the organization through their Web site “Wind of Changes,” which shared information about the group founded by John D. Miller and his companion Mary E. “Moe” Miller.

GWP sells so-called “healing instruments” based upon designs that allegedly came from the “Spirit World” via telepathic impressions received by John Miller

GWP has been called a “cult.”

Suggested donations for these “instruments,” which look more like plastic cards and hockey pucks than anything technological, range from $250 to $7,800.

Maine’s AG filed a lawsuit against GWP for both unlawful mismanagement of charitable funds and making deceptive health claims about its paraphernalia.

Rather than go forward and take their chances in court the Millers chose instead to settle, but the terms of that settlement were withering and will likely be devastating to GWP.

According to a published consent decree released this week by the AG, GWP has “agreed to pay civil penalties and costs and to an injunction that prohibits them from making certain health and research claims about the ‘healing instruments’ or from serving as fiduciaries or advisors for any other Maine nonprofit. The parties have also agreed that GWP will be dissolved, and its remaining assets distributed by the Attorney General as restitution to consumers who purchased a ‘healing instrument’ since 2003 and to a Maine charity whose charitable mission is to provide services to those with mental health disabilities.”

Rowe told the press that GWP “damaged the public’s trust and it should not be allowed to continue.”

The Millers must pay civil penalties of $20,000 for violations of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act. And GWP’s directors agreed to pay the $30,000 cost of investigating the group and related attorney’s fees.

Included in the agreed upon liquidation of GWP’s assets is a building in Kittery, Maine assessed at $440,500, and another property in Durham, assessed at $879,500.

The Millers attempted to put their own spin on the settlement.

In a public statement Mary Miller claimed, “People around the globe” would continue to benefit from the “healing instruments” GWP sells.

Miller also claimed that GWP directors were “the victims of…classic cyber-smear campaigning.”

The “campaigning” she refers to was essentially the information posted through the Internet by Judy Garvey and Jim Bergin. The couple launched their Web site as an effort to inform the general public and also GWP’s “instrument keepers” about what they knew regarding the practices of the group and its leaders. That effort ultimately paved the way for further investigation, which led to the current shutdown.

Garvey/Bergin were sued by GWP in an apparent attempt to silence them, but the couple stood firm and fought the Millers through the courts in a battle that began in 2004.

Other Internet sites that provided information about “cults” were also either threatened with legal action or sued by GWP for posting information about the group.

Some settled quickly by deleting that information, while others stood firm.

The Ross Institute of New Jersey (RI), sponsor of CultNews, was threatened and then included in the Garvey/Bergin lawsuit after refusing to remove a single link to the Wind of Changes Web site and a brief remark posted at “Flaming Websites” in response to allegations made by the Millers.

RI was dismissed from the GWP litigation last year.

Responding to the settlement announced this week Judy Garvey told the press, “It shows that we were telling the truth,” reported Foster’s Sunday Citizen.

Garvey and Bergin’s lawyer Jerroll Crouter said, “Now we see the Gentle Wind Project has admitted that claims about the healing instruments are false. The damage to their reputation was caused by their own misrepresentations. We believe the defamation claims should be dismissed.”

Mary Miller seemingly is clinging to the idea that GWP will somehow continue its litigation against Garvey/Bergin.

However, the Miller’s lawyer Daniel Rosenthal of Verrill Dana seems to have other ideas. A motion has been filed by the Portland law firm to vacate the case as counsel, and a reliable source has told CultNews this was probably the result of the Millers not paying their legal bills.

Apparently Verrill Dana may become one of those standing in line for money dispersed by the AG through the liquidation of GWP assets.

Mary Miller boasted that GWP would continue, albeit outside the state of Maine, reported the Portland Press Herald.

“We have a very large group of volunteers all around the world,” she said.

Assistant Attorney General Carolyn Silsby lamented, “We would love to see Gentle Wind stop making their claims everywhere, but we can only enforce the laws of the state of Maine.”

Perhaps with Maine leading the way other state attorney generals will follow suit through similar actions across the United States, especially given the admissions the Millers have made in the consent decree, which is now a matter of public record.

According to the AG of Maine GWP distributed “more than $500,000 in so-called medical grants to patients who were asked to use and advocate for the instruments” reported Foster’s Sunday Citizen.

Robert Lang, a doctor in Connecticut and reportedly an associate professor at Yale University’s School of Nursing, touted GWP publicly and says that he hands out the Miller’s plastic paraphernalia to his patients.

“I thought they were doing a very honorable thing,” Lang told the press.

However, the AG’s investigation concluded otherwise and that there is no scientific evidence whatsoever to support GWP claims concerning its “healing instruments.”

GWP declared assets of $1.3 million in August 2004 and John Miller received a salary of $70,270. The supposed nonprofit charity seemed to have become something like a “cash cow” for the Millers, which they milked for their personal benefit.

GWP has become an example of how the “Information Age,” has changed the study of groups called “cults.”

So-called “cults” often rely upon the control of information, but the Internet has increasingly made that impossible.

GWP was once a relatively obscure group, but now information about the Millers and their “healing instruments” has become ubiquitous through the Internet.

Anyone with Internet access can now instantly learn why the Millers were shut down in Maine. And also read their tacit admissions of wrongdoing through the court’s consent decree and order, which they signed as part of their settlement agreement.

CultNews reported previously how the Gentle Wind blew it by suing Judy Garvey and Jim Bergin.

If the Millers had not initiated that litigation GWP might have gotten by unnoticed and not drawn the attention of law enforcement. But by filing a lawsuit against their former followers and others the Millers provided a platform for grievances against them and drew increasing media attention, which ultimately paved the way to GWP’s demise.

Phil Malone, director of the Clinical Program in Cyberlaw at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, provided help to Garvey and Bergin.

“One of our priorities is to work to protect free speech on the Internet, particularly speech that discusses matters of important public interest or seeks to expose questionable or fraudulent activities. Gentle Wind’s lawsuit was particularly troubling to us because it tried to use the legal system to stifle such speech,” Malone told the press.

In the end what the Miller’s accomplished unwittingly was not only their own undoing, but also an expansion of freedom of expression and information about “cults” tangentially through the Internet.

Has Paris Hilton somehow hooked up with a Los Angeles “cult”? The hotel heiress reportedly booked a gospel choir to perform for a private funeral at “Los Angeles’ International Church of Christ” (ICC) reports Tonight and Independent on-line.

The International Church of Christ founded by Kip McKean is a splinter group that broke away from the mainline independent churches of Christ in the 1970s. Led by the notorious and charismatic McKean the consortium of churches rose to span the globe, with LA eventually becoming its headquarters.

Critics called the ICC a “cult” and it was banned by colleges across the US where it targeted students for recruitment. McKean himself was ultimately banned by his own followers in something like a “palace coup” and is essentially exiled in Portland, Oregon, apparently praying for a comeback.

But has the ICC hooked itself a Hilton?

The church boasted as many as 200,000 members at its peak by the end of the 1990s, but has fallen on hard times to perhaps no more than half that number today.

Could the hottie Hilton become the church’s celebrity spokesperson, something like Scientology’s “Top Gun” Tom Cruise?

Probably not.

According to the same report Paris has also bought a grave next to Marilyn Monroe in the prestigious Hollywood cemetery often chosen as a final venue for deceased stars.

However, it’s rumored that Hilton wants to bury a goat there.  

This all sounds like just another publicity stunt to launch her latest commercial venture. 

First the “reality TV” star dabbled in Madonna’s Kabbalah Centre favored by her parents and now it’s the ICC, or is it?

The 25-year-old celebrity curiosity will seemingly do anything for attention.

Paris Hilton calls herself as an “iconic blonde” comparable to Monroe.

But the only thing Hilton has in common with the genuine 20th Century icon is that they both became blondes. 

Meanwhile, Ms. Hilton has made the Guinness Book of World Records as the most overrated person in the world, not exactly the kind of star status she keeps grasping for.

J. Gordon Melton has made a substantial income over the years by selling himself as a “cult apologist.” His list of clients has included the notorious “Children of God” (COG) known for its fund raising through prostitution and child sexual abuse.

As CultNews previously reported Melton received $10,000.00 from a charity controlled by COG members, now known as “The Family.”

He has also defended the existence of “Ramtha” — the 35,000-year-old spirit from the “Lost Continent of Atlantis” allegedly channeled by Judy Z. Knight for her follower’s edification in Yelm, Washington.

Melton was hired by Knight to “research” her claims and concluded that she is “not a fraud.”

It seems that no matter how bad or ridiculous a purported “cult” may be Gordon Melton can come up with an apology, for the right price.

This same “researcher” also traveled to Japan after the cult Aum gassed subways in Tokyo and surmised quickly that the group “was a victim of excessive police pressure.” Aum reportedly paid for all of his travel expenses.

Now Mr. Melton offers up his apologies for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

In an article published by the Grand Rapids Press, largely skewed to the Witness point-of-view, the supposed “religious scholar” and former UC Santa Barbara library worker claimed the controversial religious organization is “very benign.”

Melton apparently chose to ignore the many Witnesses that have died due to their religion’s rules regarding blood transfusion. And he likewise neglected mentioning the frequent court interventions ordered by judges around the world that have at times saved the lives of Witness children. Kids that needed blood who would have otherwise become a needless sacrifice made by Witness parents through medical neglect.

Melton also ignored the countless families that become estranged because of the undue influence exerted by Jehovah’s Witnesses and its leaders. A seemingly endless stream of child custody battles that trail in the wake of Witness divorces, when one spouse won’t follow another into conversion, prompted by the door-to-door proselytizers.

And then there is the Jehovah’s Witnesses sexual abuse scandal, a series of allegations concerning the church’s inadequate handling of reports regarding child molestation made by its members.

Never mind about all these very serious issues.

Mr. Melton says the Witnesses should be thanked for “some of the basic rights we enjoy today [which] they won for us.” He means like the right to pester people at their homes repeatedly through unwanted visits with redundant prophecies of doom.

Mr. Melton is also reportedly fascinated with vampires.

Maybe there  is something about people dying over blood loss that makes Melton a fan of both Jehovah’s Witnesses and the mythical predators of the night?

Perhaps Gordon Melton sees himself as something like a familiar, the people who according to some stories guard the vampire’s lair during the day when they are confined to coffins. Protecting their “Master” while the sun shines, so that he can crawl out safely at night to prey upon humanity.

In much the same sense Melton the “scholar” can be seen as a protector providing cover for his “cult” patrons that exploit others. He offers up apologies about how supposedly benevolent they are, thus shielding them from “persecution” so that they can continue to recruit unsuspecting potential victims.

Sound a bit over the top?

Jim Jones was responsible for the cult mass murder-suicide of more than 900 people in Jonestown November 18, 1978. However, Mr. Melton said, “This wasn’t a cult. This was a respectable, mainline Christian group.”

Whether it’s Dracula or a murderous cult leader like Jim Jones, J. Gordon Melton apparently sees something “respectable.”

“I don’t want to lynch any Jews¦I love them. I pray for them,” Mel Gibson once said somewhat cryptically while doing the rounds to promote his film “Passion of the Christ.”

Critics said that Gibson’s “artistic” choices for that film often appeared “anti-Semitic” and at times could not be supported either historically and/or biblically. Nevertheless this blockbuster may have generated more wealth for Mel Gibson than his long film career as an actor, which now seems to be winding down. 

During one screening the director who won an Oscar for “Braveheart” was reportedly overheard describing those Jews who rejected Jesus as “either Satanic or the dupes of Satan.”

Mel Gibson has claimed repeatedly that he is not “anti-Semitic.”

Of course few bigots readily admit to their prejudice, at least not openly.

In his public apology Gibson says, “There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law-enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.” 

However, during his drunken rage the director’s raw uncut persona may have come through as he ranted passionately about how “f—ing Jews” were responsible for everything from wars to his arrest in Malibu.

The California police officer that bore the brunt of Gibson’s insults was in fact Jewish. At least this time the once popular Hollywood star got something right, a Jew was taking him in.

Now comes the spin.

First a “mea culpa” rendered through a carefully scripted public apology.

“I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display,” the actor told the press and quickly entered rehab.

But will Gibson get off the hook by blaming booze for his bigotry?

It’s common knowledge a few drinks can cause people to let their real feelings slip out, lubricated loose with a little liquor. And for anyone that has studied the Gibson family history it’s not difficult to understand where “those vicious words came from.”

The former “Mad Max” seems to be a “chip off the old block.”

Hutton Gibson, the 87-year-old father of the famous actor/director, raised his family as so-called “traditional Catholics,” which is something of an oxymoron, given that the Gibsons don’t belong to the traditional Roman Catholic Church.

Instead, Mel built his own chapel in Malibu and bought another one for his dad in West Virginia.

Mel Gibson was raised by an anti-Semitic father that fed his son on a steady diet of conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and ethnocentric dogma, which not only consigned the Jews to hell, but also the many Protestants that bought tickets to see his film “Passion.”

In an interview with the Herald Sun in Australia when asked specifically if Protestants are denied eternal salvation the star said, “There is no salvation for those outside the Church” (meaning his own version of Catholicism).

Gibson also apparently believes his spouse is damned.

“My wife is a¦Episcopalian¦She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff¦she’s better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair” reported MSNBC. 

So much for anyone that thought a belief in Jesus and “that stuff” along with a ticket to “Passion” might purchase redemption.

Meanwhile Gibson has garnered some interesting Hollywood apologists rallying to his support.

“Sometimes when you have a couple too many you’re stupid,” says Patrick Swayze. And the “Dirty Dancing” star should know given his reported battle with the bottle.

Two-time Oscar-winner Jodie Foster, who starred with Mel in “Maverick” during 1994 posed the question, “Is he an anti-Semite?” And then answered quickly, “Absolutely not.”

Ironically, though Gibson may have played a gambler, but he probably wouldn’t bet on his co-star’s likelihood of entering heaven. After all, Foster has repeatedly been rumored to be a lesbian, which would easily put her on Mel’s hot for hell list.

Doe that sound a bit hateful?

What would Mel’s diehard “Passion” fans say if their hero ran his mouth publicly about “f—ing” Protestants?

Perhaps they wouldn’t be willing to hear any excuses.

Not all Christian fundamentalists apparently want to forgive the director, despite his recent religious movie.

“Gibson’s latest rant was not an aberration influenced by booze. Other statements he’s made about other groups and individuals, while presumably sober, indicate a pattern,” says columnist Cal Thomas, once Rev. Jerry Falwell’s right hand man.

Amen?

Thomas stopped short of placing the director’s anti-Semitic slant in “Passion” as part of that perceived “pattern.” 

And isn’t it the height of irony that Jesus the star of Gibson’s film had a Jewish mother?

Wait a minute, wouldn’t that make Mary and her son “f—ing Jews”?

Jesus warned that many would come in his name, but they wouldn’t always be nice.

Might that include Mel Gibson?

Has the Oscar-winning director deceived the faithful while making millions cynically marketing and merchandising Jesus?

It seems that Gibson was often good at keeping up appearances, but failed when it came to performing the precepts of tolerance and kindness he supposedly believed in. 

The Gentle Wind Project (GWP) founded by John and Mary “Moe” Miller sued its critics Judy Garvey and her husband James Bergin apparently hoping to silence the couple, but instead called attention to its practices, finances and leadership.

After two years of litigation it looks like GWP is experiencing something of a meltdown.

The Millers sued former followers Garvey/Bergin because their Web site shared insider information about GWP through the Internet. The Miller’s lawsuit alleged defamation and slander.

When the Ross Institute (RI), which sponsors CultNews, posted a link to the critical Web site GWP began a “war of words” with its perceived enemies through its own Web site.

RI gave GWP a “Flaming Websites” award.

However, John and Mary didn’t think that was funny so they sued RI too. And they also legally threatened and/or sued others including a man in New Zealand for calling GWP a “cult.”

GWP is a controversial “nonprofit” organization that manufactures so-called “healing instruments” in the form of plastic cards and pucks, which they claim, have healing powers.

CultNews reported in 2004 that a Special Investigative Agency in California looked into GWP and announced that its claims were “not supported by any scientific evidence.”

But John and “Moe” say the secret plans for their instruments come from outer space. And how can you disprove that?

Shades of Scientology and its story about Xenu?

Press reports began to pile up about GWP after the lawsuit was filed, which brought growing attention to the group and a continuous stream of interesting court documents. All of this afforded RI enough material to launch a subsection within its database about the group.

This once little known organization had become a news story as more and more interest was garnered through its lawsuit.

Is that the kind of attention what John and “Moe” Miller really wanted?

Probably not.

Instead of silencing their critics the Millers had effectively provided them with a platform to share their story. Meanwhile John and “Moe” were draining their once considerable financial resources on court costs, while simultaneously watching GWP revenues decline due to bad press.

In the new “Information Age” the Internet has seemingly become a nightmare for some groups called “cults” that rely upon the control of information.

Now anyone with Internet access can read what former members have to say about GWP and follow the Miller’s saga in the press through archived articles.

The most recent article about GWP includes information about an apparent liquidation of the group’s assets. Property accumulated by the group in Maine is being sold off to finance its legal fees and court costs.

Meanwhile Garvey/Bergin have received some pro bono help from lawyers interested in defending First Amendment free speech rights.

Again and again withering judicial decisions have come down, which have left the Millers with what appears to be a hopeless legal situation.

RI was dismissed out of the GWP lawsuit some time ago and so was the defendant in New Zealand, various causes of action have also been stripped away and then the whole case was tossed out of federal court.

Did all this discourage or dissuade the Millers?

Apparently not.

John and Mary “Moe” refiled their suit in a Maine State court seemingly oblivious to both their legal situation and worsening circumstances.

This month delivered what may be the final blow to GWP and perhaps last significant twist to the story. The Millers have been sued by the Attorney General of Maine.

That’s right, the plaintiffs have become defendants. But unlike the lawsuits they have filed the Millers face very serious litigation.

The Attorney General of Maine has alleged that GWP engaged in no less than 13 violations of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act.

In court documents filed this month GWP is accused of lying about medical studies that supposedly proved their instruments worked.

A spokesman for Maine’s top prosecutor told the press, “We’re trying to put them out of business and we want restitution for the people who have been taken.”

Things are getting scary for John and Mary.

It seems that the Millers would have been better off if they had simply ignored their critics and/or laughed off any criticism rather than drawing so much attention to themselves through lawsuits.

It has been said that “pride comes before a fall.” And perhaps purported “cults” and their leaders have more pride and hubris than almost anyone else does.

The Millers once controlled a spiritual empire, but now they may end up broke.

The growing legal storm swirling around the pair is hardly a “gentle wind” and may just blow GWP to bits.

Perhaps the moral of this story is that controversial groups hoping to sue into silence their perceived enemies should consider the consequences carefully before filing such frivolous litigation.

They should consider if they have anything to hide?

And if they can afford the public scrutiny that often accompanies such litigation?

The Millers apparently never gave such things serious consideration.

It seems that John and “Moe” Miller of Maine must now face the consequences for that blunder.

Note: GWP has a new nonprofit spin-off registered in New Hampshire called “Allies for Trauma Relief.” Despite the new name and no mention of GWP at the organization’s Web site, people are still holding the cards called “healing instruments” made by GWP for “relief.”

Attention President Bush and world leaders concerned about recent developments in the Middle East, someone has a way to “prevent the impending danger,” which can become “the basis of indomitable peace.”

Who has this fantastic peace plan?

None other than Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, former guru to the Beatles.  

John Hagelin, Maharishi’s point man and a past presidential candidate, wants to “mobilize the entire country” to “pull together in this hour of need,” according to an urgent message he sent to key leaders within the guru’s Transcendental Meditation (TM) network this week.

CultNews received a copy of Hagelin’s communication, which amounts to “marching orders” or rather flying orders, for what TM calls its “yogic flyers.”

“Yogic flyers” are something like Maharishi’s spiritual air force.

However, these pilots have an unconventional takeoff that consists of essentially going into a trance and then hopping around within various buildings controlled by the guru.

This is what TM devotees mean when they claim to be airborne doing “yogic flying.”

Figuratively they are “flying high” through their guru’s meditation techniques, which can produce dissociated states of altered consciousness through something, more commonly called hypnosis.

Just like a stage hypnotist can get a subject to cluck like a chicken, Maharishi’s methods make them think they can fly and feel the sensation.

Hagelin reports, “I am returning to America today to rally…1,500 Yogic Flyers from Fairfield [Iowa]…and to mobilize another 1,000 from across the nation to fly together in the Domes. [Other TM devotees] will immediately mobilize 1,000 for Washington, DC…Only we can save the nation and bring peace at this critical time.”

And to think world governments rely upon diplomacy and at times military defenses.

Why bother when Maharishi has this magical solution?

But there might be some cost for the faithful to participate in the old guru’s peace plan, at least “$30.00 per day” for “room and board” according to Hagelin.

The official name for the plan is the “Invincible America Course” and it’s all part of the Maharishi pitch that includes “Peace Palaces.”

Those palaces have price tags, and Maharishi devotees like film director David Lynch travels around engaged in seemingly perpetual fund raising.

Despite Maharishi’s advanced age the guru wants to keep building his global spiritual empire that reportedly is now worth between $6 and $9 billion dollars.

At thirty bucks a day the guru’s billions could fund a virtual wave of “yogic flyers” to cover the earth, but something tells me that if Maharishi had to personally pay for his peace plan the guru’s spiritual air force would be grounded.