Cult News

According to an obscure guru some call a “cult leader” living in Jamaica Queens, New York, saying his name can get you to a “very good higher world.” This sage advice and other supposed gems can be found in the book titled “The Wisdom of Sri Chinmoy” reports the Queens Chronicle.

Here is another example of the guru’s so-called “wisdom.”

Guru Sri Chinmoy writes, “A young wife was terribly afraid of staying alone at night, so the Master said to the husband…I shall take care of her. That night she saw the Master in a corner of the room, not the Master’s physical body but his luminous subtle body.”

Hmmm.

Chinmoy claims to be celibate, but persistent allegations have arisen that his “physical body” has wandered about a bit and it’s not so “subtle.” The guru apparently has a penchant for pursuing sexual favors from his female followers.

The New York Post once named him “‘Sleazy’ Sri.”

The now 74-year-old guru still has about 2,000 seriously committed followers. A core group composed of some of his most devoted believers has clustered around his house in Queens. They are known for frequently working long and hard hours at the guru’s businesses, at times for little more than subsistence wages.

New York businesses associated with Sri Chinmoy include the Smile of the Beyond luncheonette in Jamaica Queens and the Oneness-Fountain-Heart restaurant in Flushing.

Chinmoy has a long history of staging self-serving publicity stunts, which include everything from “Peace Runs” to his followers performing feats in their guru’s name to get him into the Guinness Book of World Records.

One devotee Ashrita Furman has held more than 86 Guinness records for such feats as pogo stick jumping, juggling while running 50 miles and playing the most games of hopscotch.

Last year Chinmoy had his faithful gather more than 1,000 roses to commemorate his 73rd birthday, no doubt hoping to set another record.

The guru teaches that overcoming ego is a spiritual goal, but apparently this doesn’t include his own, which requires constant feeding.

Such staged theater took a dark turn when one of his disciples died apparently practicing a trick to please the guru.

In his latest book of “wisdom” Sri Chinmoy holds forth on the topics of “belief,” “doubt” and “worry.”

But Chinmoy doesn’t have much to “worry” about with all his followers taking such good care of him. He lives a life of relative ease often leaving New York in the winter for balmy weather elsewhere.

Beyond “belief” though are Chinmoy’s persistent claims that he can reportedly lift 7,064 pounds with his right arm and 7,040 with his left.

More amazing than this claim is that his followers don’t seem to “doubt” such preposterous nonsense.

Anyone interested enough to scrutinize the guru’s weightlifting will find out that he relies more upon machines to do the job for him rather than his muscles. But like so many devices used by this guru it seemingly serves to pumps up his ego.

“If one enters secret domains where the inherent powers of the cosmic realities exist, one can get the capacity to do anything,” says Sri Chinmoy.

But it’s hard to understand how the followers of this bizarre man continue to devote their lives to his various schemes and scams—is there some “cosmic” reason they seem willing “to do anything”?

Some say that Chinmoy’s “inherent powers” are a form of “brainwashing.” And that this is accomplished in part through a form of self-hypnosis, which renders them more suggestible and compliant, achieved through what the guru calls “meditation.” Then there is also the so-called “cult” lifestyle, largely dependent upon living within what can be seen as a controlled environment dominated and defined by Chinmoy.

Maybe his disciples have bought into the proposition that their rewards from the guru won’t be realized in this world, but rather in the next one?

In his book Chinmoy appears to cultivates this notion telling readers that as a teenager he followed his sister’s soul “for about three hours in the world of death.”

The guru also says he was once busy “fighting with three death forces that wanted to snatch away three of my close disciples…”

Hmmm.

Would those “forces” be families, old friends or maybe actually an attack of doubt and/or critical thinking?

Chinmoy wants readers to know that his “teaching is not a kind of miracle-mongering.” Instead, his “business is to help the aspirant to reach God.”

Perhaps it is a “business.”

Famed musician Carlos Santana followed Sri Chinmoy for almost a decade and then left that “business” behind him.

“This shit is not for me–I don’t care how enlightening it is,” he told Rolling Stone.

Maybe that’s a mantra that might help Sri Chinmoy’s disciples “reach God.” According to Deborah Santana, it didn’t hurt her life, or her husband’s life to get away from “Chinmoy’s controlling ways.”

Patrick L. Ryan, “thought reform consultant” (TRC), a job more commonly called “cult deprogrammer,” recently lost a court appeal filed in Philadelphia. Ryan attempted to reverse a two thousand-dollar judgement awarded against him regarding an unearned deposit the TRC would not return to a potential client.

Ryan is closely associated with the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) previously known as the American Family Foundation (AFF).

CultNews reported details of Ryan’s first trial.

Another CultNews article reported the interest expressed by “Judge Judy” to televise that proceeding, but the plaintiffs passed on her offer.

On September 17th an appeals panel of the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas ruled, “We find in favor of the plaintiffs and against the defendant [Patrick L. Ryan] in the amount of $2,447.00.”

Interestingly, the arbitration panel composed of three attorneys, increased the amount of the judgment against the TRC by about $400.00.

Nevertheless Ryan has decided to try again and the TRC filed yet another appeal on October 17th further forestalling payment of the money he owes.

Early last week just before Thanksgiving a courthouse conference was scheduled in downtown Philadelphia concerning Ryan’s latest motion.

Diehard legal maneuvering like this is typical of Scientology lawyers engaged in seemingly endless legal wrangling with a plaintiff they don’t want to pay.

But Mr. Ryan is a TRC, which is supposedly someone devoted to helping the victims of alleged “cults,” not working for one.

Ryan was represented by Robert A. Rosin, Esquire an attorney in the Philadelphia area.

The plaintiffs had no lawyer and represented themselves pro se; nevertheless they scored their second victory.

Patrick Ryan is the Webmaster for the ICSA, a member of its Cultic Studies Review Editorial Board and he also helps to facilitate the organization’s conferences.

Ryan, TRC Joseph F. Kelly and TRC/ICSA Bord of Directors member Carol Giambalvo essentially make up what is considered the TRC professional association. Their bios and papers appear on the ICSA Web site, which promotes them and is largely either directly and/or indirectly responsible for many of their client referrals.

This same trio was also largely responsible for putting together the TRC “Ethical Standards,” which were published by the ICSA and sold through its Web site.

But it seems Ryan violated one of those standards that states; “a subscribing consultant recognizes the importance of clear understandings on financial matters with clients. Arrangements for payments are settled at the beginning of the consultation relationship. Each consultant will provide a written and dated schedule of fees to potential clients.”

However, according to the facts as established in court and the rulings of one judge and subsequently an appellate panel Ryan had no “clear understandings on financial matters with [his] client.”

CultNews repeatedly attempted to contact ICSA President Alan Scheflin for comment concerning Mr. Ryan, but he never responded. Scheflin likewise did not respond to previous requests for comment before each of the other two reports were run about Ryan’s legal problems, despite the TRC’s close ties to ICSA and its programs.

It should also be noted that the TRC ethical standards Carol Giambalvo co-authored with Ryan state, “when information is possessed that raises doubt as to the ethical behavior of a professional colleague…the member should take action to attempt to rectify such a condition.”

However, TRC member Carol Giambalvo gave no response when asked by CultNews what “action” she has taken or plans to take in an “attempt to rectify” Ryan’s behavior.

Ms. Giambalvo has personally and professionally recommended Ryan, including an endorsement to the would-be client that now holds a judgment against him.

However, Ryan’s fellow TRC member has failed to resolve this professional dilemma.

The only TRC that has taken action specifically related to Patrick Ryan’s legal problems is Joseph Kelly.

Kelly offered testimony in court on his domestic partner/professional associate Ryan’s behalf in an attempt to keep the unearned deposit.

When asked to support his professional standing at the September appeal hearing Patrick Ryan presented certificates to the court issued to him by the ICSA.

ICSA states at its Web site that it is “known for its professionalism and capacity to respond effectively to families.”

But how is Ryan’s behavior coupled with the deafening silence of both ICSA President Alan Scheflin and its board member Ms. Giambalvo a reflection of that claim?

Alan Scheflin certainly cannot say he doesn’t understand the weight and significance of two court rulings against Ryan. After all Scheflin is a lawyer with a LL.M. from Harvard Law School and he teaches law at Santa Clara University.

CultNews also contacted Steve K. D. Eichel, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Pennsylvania who has been associated with both ICSA and Patrick Ryan for some time.

Ryan cited Eichel during his testimony in court as a mental health professional that would work with him.

Dr. Eichel responded through a prepared written statement.

The psychologist said that he is “greatly pained by what has happened” and has “deep empathy and respect for the travails and tribulations of the client” that sued Ryan.

He also says that “most professional associations have mandated consequences when a member of that association breaches its ethics code” and that “an ethics code without some means of enforcement…is of educational value and little more.” Eichel added, that a “meaningful venue for enforcing an ethics code” is required or a “‘code of ethics’ is simply a set of aspirations that has no bearing on actual behavior.”

No “consequences” appear likely for Patrick Ryan due to his “breaches” through either ICSA or the TRC professional association. The only meaningful “venue” for any of Ryan’s injured or potential clients with grievances appears to be before a judge in court.

Dr. Eichel also observed that perhaps the “ethical standards put together by Ryan and Giambalvo and published by the ICSA” may be little more than “a political platform.”

This is an interesting point.

The TRC “ethical standards” can be seen as politics or advertising. And the TRC professional association essentially uses ICSA as its “platform” for business purposes.

Eichel concludes that Ryan’s current situation may “clearly demonstrate the need for some form of accountability.”

But based upon the history of this situation don’t expect any “accountability” at ICSA, the TRC group or from Patrick L. Ryan outside of a courtroom.

Update 2006: After losing a second time in court Ryan filed yet another appeal again. But this time his former clients decided that they were done with the seemingly endless and time consuming litigation process, so they did not appear in court. The case was then dismissed  due to the plaintiff’s “failure to appear”  (May 2006). Despite the fact that Ryan had lost twice in court, he managed to abuse the appeals process to quite literally wear his victims out, and in this way avoided paying the judgment recorded against him.

Nothing was every done to enforce the TRC ethical standards. And there was nothing done by ICSA concerning Ryan’s conduct, despite repeated court rulings against him and pleas from his former clients.

Whoever once said, “there’s no business like show business” probably didn’t know about the “cult” business, with only a few devoted followers you can accumulate millions of dollars quite quickly (not to mention tax-exempt status).

Witness the financial success of former psychologist Peter Bowes and his sidekick Clare Watts, now known as the dynamic duo “Father Peter” and “Mother Clare.”

The pair, both formerly members of a purported California “cult” called the “Holy Order of Mans,” started up their very own religious organization the “Order of Christ Sophia” (OCS) also known as the “Centers of Light,” which has been called a “cult.”

Essentially OCS is a copy of the Mans group with one big difference, instead of Earl Blighton (deceased); a former electrician responsible for training and ordaining Bowes, it’s Bowes and Watts that run this group.

And Blighton’s “spiritual” progeny have apparently put together a similar scheme not much different from the now defunct Mans order, which accumulates assets and cash largely through group housing, labor, tithes and offerings.

OCS opens “houses” for its members who pay rent to the order and tithes. The group, which has been called a “cult,” has successfully set up such housing in Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Haven, Seattle and Oakland.

Bowes and Watts have their own personal houses. Bowes keeps a private place in Oakland next to the “Order House” there and Watts has her digs near Seattle.

With less than 200 active members OCS has already accumulated millions of dollars in assets at a breathtaking pace.

Last year OCS bought a historical house in Milwaukee for $909,000 and this year they topped that by purchasing a retreat in Colorado for more than a million.

“Mother Clare” reportedly raised approximately $1,225,000 from her “parishioners” for the down payment.

Avatar Financial Group helped her out by providing transitional financing to the tune of $1,725,000.

The company reports, “The retreat and conference center sleeps 60 and seats 100+. There is a beautifully appointed 7-year old lodge and bunkhouse on 30 acres of inspiring Colorado landscape. The property is in excellent condition and both the Lodge and Bunkhouse are fully equipped to continue to be a turn-key event and retreat center.”

Wow! And to think that only a few short years ago before going full-time as a “Master Teacher” at OCS Peter Bowes surrendered his license as a clinical psychologist in Wisconsin, effectively ending that career choice after complaints were filed against him by former clients.

It just goes to show that there’s no business like “cult” business.

With less than 200 followers paying rent, doing remodeling work on OCS properties shelling out tithes, offerings and seminar fees Bowes and his associate Watts have built a spiritual empire worth millions.

The pair jets around the country ministering to their minions, though they manage to find some downtime to relax in Italy.

What a life!

However, for the families of many current OCS members the supposed “spiritual” teachings of this duo appear to be devastating.

Parents say they have been cut off from the children.

According to one estranged mother Bowes and Watts “use deception, mind control, hypnosis, all kinds of devious tactics to get you to follow them blindly.”

Whatever the pair practices though one thing is for sure, it has proven to be quite profitable.

Douglas Macarthur once observed, “old soldiers never die,” but perhaps the general might have also included old “cult leaders.”

Terri Hoffman now known as Terri Lilya Keanely, a notorious “spiritualist” who made headlines in the early 1990s, is still plying her trade even though she is pushing seventy.

Ms. Hoffman/Keanely became notorious because she allegedly committed “murder through mind control.”

No less than ten of the Dallas guru’s associates met with untimely deaths while under her influence.

Hoffman launched her career during the disco days of the 1970s and eventually founded a company called “Conscious Development of Body, Mind and Soul Inc.” in Dallas, Texas.

Terri’s devoted disciples wrote her big checks, one couple alone gave Hoffman more than a hundred thousand dollars.

However, the spiritualist eventually declared bankruptcy after a series of lawsuits and an ongoing criminal investigation supposedly exhausted her resources.

In 1993 Hoffman seemed to hit bottom when she was convicted on ten counts of bankruptcy fraud.

Never mind.

Flash forward to today and Terri Lilya Keanely has reinvented herself and is now a “visionary cloud artist” with a spiffy little Web site selling “angel photographs” featuring “a view into God’s kingdom, normally not seen by physical eyes.”

In her new bio, which not surprisingly neglects to mention Hoffman’s past woes, Terri touts herself as a “self-taught” jewelry, floral and clothing “designer,” not to mention an inspirational writer, speaker, consultant, counselor and seminar leader.

The Web site states, “Terri has had a series of classes for over 30 years…[teaching] methods…to grow and develop in consciousness.”

Hmmm, doesn’t this sound suspiciously like her old company “Conscious Development of Body, Mind and Soul Inc.” that went belly up more than a decade ago?

Terri also wants her Web site visitors to know that “a great deal of her work has been within the area of healing which encompasses many levels of energy.”

Is Hoffman/Keanely referring to the “healing” she performed on her ten dead former associates left in the wake of her previous failed business?

The guru’s latest technique for healing is “called Multi-Body Release therapy, which…involves removal of ‘stuck’ energies from the body.”

Does Ms. Hoffman/Keanely mean the removal of the soul from the body, which many believe, occurs upon death? This could relate to her claimed “view into God’s kingdom,” a place some of her past students have moved on to.

Maybe Terri is talking about simply separating people from some green “energies” they are “stuck” to, more often simply called money.

Hoffman/Keanely says she is also offering “financial (planning) workshops.”

Well there it is, old “cult” leaders never die and Terri Hoffman is a diehard.

Note: An old crony of Ms. Hoffman/Keanely and a fellow “healer” also appears to be something of a diehard in her devotion to the old guru. Ariana Mariah Geoffrey Stahlka who is doing “energy work” around Chicago names Keanely within the “Philosophy/Approach” of an interview as her source of learning and attributes the “healing technique developed by Terri” as a basis “for work on others.”

Update: Apparently Ms. Stahlka is not quite so devoted to her old friend and mentor Hoffman/Keanely. Since this article first appeared she has had deleted any reference to “Terri” from the previously cited interview. However, to see the reference to “Terri Lilya Keanely” as it appeared originally through the Internet archive Way Back Machine click here.

Stahlda said, “My answers started flooding in when I began to learn and apply the techniques Terri Lilya Keanely offers through A Balanced Path to Mastery and Enlightenment. I had a great deal of inner healing to do, and my desire for Spiritual Evolution and growth is ever growing. Application of these techniques, including meditation, has brought me closer to myself, closer to God and inspired me to help bring these possibilities to others. I have been teaching meditation and energy techniques and practicing Krashada, an energy healing technique developed by Terri for work on others for 15 years.”

Madonna is in an awkward position regarding her beloved Kabbalah Centre (KC), now that one of its most important leaders has been charged with fraud.

Shaul Youdkevitch head of the Israeli branch of the KC, the man that prompted the 1980s diva’s recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land, has been charged with bilking a dying woman that was once his disciple.

Mrs. Youdkevitch has been pulled in for questioning too by Israeli authorities concerning the activities of the religious organization, which has been called a “cult.”

The husband of a ten-year member stricken with cancer says his wife was told if she gave tens of thousands of dollars to the KC, it would somehow improve her condition.

She gave the money, but died at the age of 50.

Subsequently, her husband filed an official complaint alleging fraud.

Such allegations against the Kabbalah Centre are not new.

Earlier this year the London branch of the religious organization was filmed undercover making similar claims to a cancer patient in Britain. This was later broadcast nationally and reported widely in the British press.

But now it’s not just bad press that Madonna and her fellow KC groupies have to contend with, it’s criminal charges and the prospect of jail time hanging over their leader’s head.

So far Madonna seems to believe whatever the KC tells her and continues to ignore the implications of these serious charges.

Madonna has reportedly given the organization millions.

Perhaps, the former “Material Girl” is more cocerned with protecting her investment and subsequent sense of equity, than her fans and the public from the “cult” she has promoted for so many years.

The 47-year-old 1980s pop queen told the New York Daily News, “We’re all in a cult.” And reportedly sounds “not wildly dissimilar to Pat Robertson” when going on about her spirituality.

The singer claims that the KC is “not hurting anybody.”

Maybe Madonna should amend that statement given the current circumstances, which includes her spritual mentor being held under house arrest.

In the same Daily News interview the singer went on to defend Tom Cruise, another celebrity, who constantly is out shilling for Scientology, another group often called a “cult.”

“If [Scientology] makes Tom Cruise happy, I don’t care if he prays to turtles,” Madonna says. “And I don’t think anybody else should.”

However, making celebrities “happy” isn’t the issue.

Since celebs like Madonna and Tom Cruise constantly use their status to proselytize, shouldn’t they accept some of the responsibility when things go wrong and people get hurt by their controversial religions?

Scientology has paid out millions in settlements over personal injury claims regarding its bad behavior and faced criminal charges.

Now it seems that the KC may be following in its footsteps.

Let’s hope the media begins ask Madonna some tough questions, instead of allowing her to use interviews much like infomercials to promote the Kabbalah Centre. After all, her spiritual mentors in Israel are facing tough questioning from the police.

Guy Ritchie “cult” career casualty?

Groups that have been called “cults” such as Scientology and the Kabbalah Centre include many celebrities and claim that their teachings somehow enhance a person’s life, notably the hi-profile stars that tout them.

However, do Hollywood stars ultimately benefit or lose because of these groups? Have they been sucked into something like a “black hole” that instead of increasing their success may limit or even extinguish their light?

Certainly, stars like John Travolta, Madonna and Tom Cruise want the public to think that their spiritual commitment has somehow elevated them in virtually every aspect of their lives, but what about their careers?

John Travolta’s career has been plummeting ever since he signed off on a Scientology-linked film called “Battlefield Earth,” which was reviewed as one of the worst movies of all time and based upon a book by his hero L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.

Since then Travolta has increasingly become Scientology’s paunchy pitchman, jetting himself around for the religion’s related photo ops while his career crashes.

Arguably since Madonna took up with the Kabbalah Centre her career likewise has been steadily trending downward.

A pop music queen in the 1980s Madonna doesn’t seem to be following in the footsteps of Cher and Tina Turner who maintained their standing for decades, instead the 47-year-old star may burn out before reaching fifty.

The one-time “Material Girl” trained in dance now apparently dances to the tune of her spiritual mentors. The singer’s most recent concert tour included a flashing light show in Hebrew and Kabbalah Centre souvenirs for sale, but her fans don’t seem to be buying it.

Maybe Madonna believes that her name is more than just a past publicity ploy and she sees herself as a proselytizing “spiritual mother,” a contradiction of her hit song that admonished a parent for preaching.

Who would have ever imagined this fiercely independent woman that once mocked the church establishment would one day become so seemingly compliant and subservient to some religious group?

Does slavish devotion to groups called “cults” ultimately lead to some sort of professional meltdown?

The casualty list appears to be growing.

Guy Rtichie, Madonna’s husband, embraced his wife’s passion for the Kabbalah Centre. And according to critics his latest film Revolver may flop largely due to its influence reports Daily Snack.

It seems Ritchie may now want to “kick” his Kabbalah habit, but if he does it might cost him his marriage, due to Madonna’s diehard devotion.

The “world’s biggest movie star” may also be waning due to purported “cult” influence. Tom Cruise has become better known lately for couch jumping on Oprah and ranting at Today Show host Matt Laurer about psychiatry instead of his latest picture.

Scientology’s leading celebrity wants his would-be wife to get his religion too, so Katie Holmes may soon be hearing the same sucking sound as Madonna’s mate.

But Holmes can always cling to the hope career-wise that in the future she will end up like one of Cruise’s ex-wives Nicole Kidman, who found out that dumping him and Scientology led to both a career boost and an Oscar.

Endnote: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how ephemeral you really are. Once above the world so high like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little star now I wonder what you are!

Kathleen Turner, an actress known for her sultry and soothing vocal tones, donated voiceover for a soon to be released documentary titled “Answering The Call,” which according to its press kit “reveals the plight of Ground Zero workers and their illnesses.”

But it looks like Ms. Turner may be “answering the call” of Scientology.

The documentary by Lou Angeli was produced and written by diehard Scientologist Bunny Dubin (see credits).

Dubin won a Scientology Freedom Medal in 2001 for her efforts as a volunteer minister at Ground Zero. She and her husband are both big givers and active promoters of the controversial church, which has been called a “cult.”

Another Scientologist Geoff Levin provided original music for “Answering The Call.”

Not mentioned in the film or press kit is that Scientology volunteers were eventually asked to leave Ground Zero, a tragedy they arguably seemed anxious to exploit.

Disturbing is the way that Dubin apparently shaped “Answering The Call” into a vehicle that can be used by Scientology like an infomercial to promote a controversial project that was dumped by the New York Fireman’s Union amidst much bad press in 2003.

The documentary press kit states that Ground Zero workers have “found relief through the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project, a program partially funded by actor, Tom Cruise.”

And as everyone knows Tom Cruise is Scientology’s number one celebrity booster and winner of its Freedom Medal of Valor.

Maybe Kathleen Turner doesn’t know the details regarding every charity she supports, but there can be no doubt that Cruise knows it all, just ask Matt Laurer.

The process that is the pivotal centerpiece for the documentary’s cited “detoxification project” is called the “purification rundown” invented by the founder of Scientology L. Ron Hubbard.

The rundown is a religious ritual that is reportedly “neither medically safe nor scientifically verified.”

According to the documentary press kit the purification rundown is “a precise regimen that includes doses of the vitamin niacin, exercise, saunas, repeated showers and the digestion of a small amount of polyunsaturated oils.”

However, the chief medical officer for FDNY Dr. Kerry Kelly said, “The essence of their program is you stay in it until you suddenly wake up and say, ‘I feel great.’ It’s hard to have faith in a program like that.” Kelly concluded that there is no “objective evidence” to support the claims made by the program reported the NY Daily News.

“While we are aware some members of the department have availed themselves of the program, we in no way endorse it,” NY Fire Department Deputy Commissioner Francis X. Gribbon told the New York Times.

Prominently featured in “Answering The Call” are two paid members of the Advisory Board of the Scientology-linked project, retired fireman Joseph Higgins and Dr. David Root.

To better understand the labyrinth of links between Scientology and such programs click here.

But despite all the ties between Scientology and the project none of these connections are explicitly made clear within the documentary. There is only a passing reference about Church of Scientology volunteer ministers.

Kathleen Turner was center stage for the press conference held yesterday after the preview of “Answering The Call” at the Lutnick Theater inside the USS Intrepid, a floating museum moored at Manhattan’s Pier 86.

Standing next to the actress was Bunny Dubin who has said that her work as a volunteer minister is part of an ongoing “crusade” for Scientology.

Interestingly, all the proceeds from the documentary will be given to actor Denis Leary’s Firefighters Foundation. This is the second time Cult News has reported links between Leary, Cruise and Scientology.

Dubin announced at the press conference that she hopes to create a national network based upon the success of “Answering The Call,” which may mean this documentary could prove to be a promotional bonanza of free advertising for Scientology.

Note: This is not the first time an actress has donated voiceover work regarding some dubious documentary. Rosie O’Donnell was hooked into providing such services for free by a “homophobic cult” in 2002.

WhiteWind Weaver

WhiteWind Weaver, also known as WhiteWind Swan Fisher and Susan Kilborne Musumeci self-proclaimed “shaman” and founder of “Friends Landing” has gone bankrupt a second time, but this time for more than a million dollars.

Details have been disclosed regarding the Eugene and Springfield, Oregon would-be guru’s discharge of debts in September 2003 US Bankruptcy Court, District of Oregon (case number 603-6649-aer7).

In what may become something of a regular event for WhiteWind the economically challenged shaman dumped debts to her attorneys Gleaves, Swearingen, Potter, Behrands; local accountants Fleek, McElhany, Merwin, Shotola; local doctors Ghandour, Marzano, Cherne, Ducker Ruckman, Richie; Wellsprings Friends School and numerous collection agencies.

Unfortunately for her many creditors the debts were largely unsecured.

Over $200,000 of WhiteWind’s debts were to long-time friends and/or associates. Some that can be seen as her most devoted followers.

But this reportedly “cultic” guru seems to repay loans made by her devotees by discharging them through bankruptcy.

For those considering becoming a WhiteWind devotee perhaps pondering the potential financial costs might prove meaningful.

According to her most recent bankruptcy filing the debts to individuals, which she apparently flushed away without any further payment arrangements, included the following:

Long-time childhood friend Marie Freyre said goodbye to $30,000.

Devoted student Robert Reid was listed for the discharge of $72,500.

Chrysta Anderson, one of the first “practitioners” who began working with WhiteWind in the 1980s, took the plunge to the tune of $141,495.

Martin Starr, a substance abuse counselor who once taught at Friends Landing, got off easy only losing $15,000.

WhiteWind listed her total liabilities at the time of bankruptcy at a staggering $1,103,620.51 with assets of only $7,660.

It appears that the guru business in Oregon has not paid off for the former California therapist once sued for medical malpractice and sexual battery by a former patient before leaving that state.

The former therapist turned “shaman” currently is trying to turn a profit selling puppies as a dog breeder, but it doesn’t seem that this business has worked out for WhiteWind that well either.

Hopefully, life for the guru’s dogs won’t be as deprived, as it has apparently become for her devotees, lawyers and other unfortunates within the Eugene and Springfield, Oregon business community.

The moral of this story may follow along the old adage; “if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas.” But with a subsequent twist, if you lay down with this dog breeder, you may be lucky to get away with only a few fleas and your assets intact.

WhiteWind’s dogs may take a relieving tick and flea bath at the dog-seller’s kennel, but the bottom line for her less fortunate followers, friends and creditors seems to be just taking a financial bath.

According to the May issue of Source, an official Scientology magazine, “Bella Cruise” has completed the “Basic Study Manual,” which is an introductory level of Scientology.

The course completion was accomplished at what is referred to as the “FLAG Land Base” in Clearwater, Florida, which is Scientology’s spiritual headquarters.

The Cruise kids, Isabella, 12, and Connor, 10 are also home-schooled according to Fox News.

Tom Cruise’s sisters, both Scientologists tutor the adopted children of their brother and his ex-wife Nicole Kidman.

Perhaps this is a trend amongst Scientology’s celebs; John Travolta has his kids home schooled too.

It seems that whatever decision making provisions were once agreed upon in 2001 by the divorced couple, Nicole Kidman may have somehow lost the ability to say much about the education of her children.

But the Cruise/Kidman divorce reportedly provided for joint custody, with educational decisions to be made by both parents jointly.

Rumors swirled that Scientology was the primary cause for the last Cruise marriage meltdown. And Kidman once cool and somewhat distant about her former husband’s religion has since their breakup apparently abandoned it completely.

Could the Oscar-winning actress’s worst nightmare now be just around the corner?

Reportedly within Scientology kids are hooked up to “lie detectors” called “e-meters” and Scientology auditors then “interrogate them about their families” and may “denounce non-believers as enemies.”

One day Nicole Kidman might be labeled a “Suppressive Person”(SP), which is Scientology-speak for someone negative that should be avoided.

“I don’t have time…to be suppressed,” said former sitcom star and Scientologist Jenna Elfman. SPs are “the biggest cowards that exist,” she told Scientology’s Celebrity magazine.

This type of attitude could potentially affect the relationship Nicole Kidman has with her children. The actress could be declared an SP if she opposes her ex-husband’s religious choices for their children.

Maybe this is why Ms. Kidman has been so guarded in her comments and/or kept quiet about Scientology, Tom Cruise and his recent rants.

“You want to be aware of everything your children are up to, When they hit 13, there’s a lot of secrets, and my daughter will be 13 this year,” she recently told the Houston Chronicle in an interview about her new movie Bewitched.

Tom Cruise, arguably Scientology’s number one crusader, has converted his entire immediate family and now seems intent upon arranging for the intensive indoctrination of his adopted children into the often-secretive religion, which has been called a “cult.”

Nicole Kidman says she is “desperately trying to be a good mom,” but is she really “aware of everything” that her daughter is being taught behind Scientology’s closed doors?

Note: Dave Touretzky contributed supporting material for this article.

Salon calls Scientology Dianetics “stranger than fiction”

Academics often called “cult apologists” have come to the rescue and defended both Tom Cruise and Scientology in the press lately.

J. Gordon Melton and David G. Bromley were both quoted in a recent article run within the Chicago Sun-Times.

Bromley is an old friend of Scientology and has been officially recommended by the controversial church as a “religious resource.”

The so-called “new Cult Awareness Network” reportedly run by Scientology also once recommended both Bromley and Melton for “factual information on new religions,” in the wake of a California cult (“Heaven’s Gate“) mass suicide in 1997.

David Bromley’s frequent writing partner Anson Shupe made a bundle working for Scientology lawyers. He helped Scientology knock off its perceived nemesis the “old Cult Awareness Network” enabling a Scientologist attorney to eventually buy its name and files through a bankruptcy proceeding.

The files of Scientology’s former foe were later handed over to J. Gordon Melton.

Melton and Bromley can almost always be counted on to defend virtually any group called a “cult” no matter how heinous or harmful.

Bromley told the Chicago Sun-Times, “Cult is a four-letter word for a religion you don’t like.”

It seems Time Magazine must have got it wrong when it called Scientology the “Cult of Greed,” despite the fact that a subsequent libel suit filed against the publication by the purported “cult” sputtered to a dismissal without ever going to trial.

Mr. Melton has raked in quite a nest egg working for groups like the Children of God and the International Church of Christ. He was paid by J.Z. Knight (known as Ramtha) to write a book, not to mention his all expenses paid trip to Japan courtesy of the infamous cult known as “Aum Supreme Truth.”

Melton arrived in Japan in 1995 and promptly pronounced that Aum was the victim of “persecution,” despite the fact that the cult had gassed the Tokyo Subway system sending thousands of Japanese to hospitals and killing twelve.

Melton told the Chicago Sun-Times that “new religions,” his supposedly politically correct euphemism to describe “cults,” put people off because of their “newness.”

However, it appears that what puts people off most about Tom Cruise’s behavior and his strange Scientology banter is the bizarre nature of it all.

Today the London Free Press asked, “Has Cruise Cracked?”

Meanwhile Salon Magazine published a critique of Scientology and its founder titled “Stranger than Fiction.”

How convenient is the timing that these two alleged academics Melton and Bromley are now helping out Scientology’s “poster boy” Tom Cruise.

But the news media should know that such specious scholars cannot be counted upon for any meaningful objectivity, they are politically if not literally invested in their positions.

Benjamin Zablocki, a professor of sociology at Rutgers University put it succinctly when he said, “The sociology of religion can no longer avoid the unpleasant ethical question of how to deal with the large sums of money being pumped into the field by the religious groups being studied…This is an issue that is slowly but surely building toward a public scandal.”

Stephen Kent, a professor of sociology at the University of Alberta in Canada concluded, “Scholars who compromise objectivity or academic integrity threaten to diminish the reputation of social science.”

Rich religious groups like Scientology can easily afford to pump cash into the pockets of quite a few professors and assorted academics. Perhaps the press should scrutinize more carefully the likes of sources such as David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton.