Cult News

Buddhism seems to be getting a bad rap in Tallahassee.

Without context or qualification a story produced by Knight Ridder was run about “Buddhism” that included the controversial organization “Sokka Gakkai,” within the Tallahassee Democrat.

But critics and former members have often called one Buddhist group named in the article called “Sokka Gakkai” a “cult”.

Apparently reporter Franklin Awori didn’t bother to do much research.

Like many groups called “cults” Sokka Gakkai has a celebrity member. Rocker Tina Turner has touted the group through interviews and it gained attention through her film “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”

But many seem to feel that mainstream “Buddhism” is not that basis for Sokka Gakkai and it is instead largely the idiosyncratic creation of its founder and leader Japanese businessman Daisaku Ikeda.

Sokka Gakkai members believe that virtually anything you want can be chanted for. However, this is not the hallmark of mainstream Buddhism as practiced by Richard Gere, another celebrity named within the Knight Ridder article. Nor is such a belief the focus of Tibetan Buddhism.

It is sad that the author of this article did not make such distinctions and simply lumped all Buddhists together.

The Raelians may not have produced a clone, but they do seem to have a publicity plan. Claim a clone is born at regular intervals and try to milk the press again.

But the press doesn’t seem to be buying this nonsense any more.

No proof whatsoever has been provided regarding their first clone claim. And the second claimed birth seems to have received scant coverage, reports the Chicago Sun Times.

Raelian bishop and Clonaid CEO Brigitte Boisselier didn’t get 30 minutes for an announcement on CNN this time.

Boisselier said at her CNN press conference last month that reporters only had “one week” to treat her as a “fraud.” This was based upon her boast that proof of her preposterous claim was coming soon.

But it’s now been more than a week and Boisselier has proven nothing.

It seems safe to say that the Raelian bishop may now be regarded as a “fraud.”

Of course the Raelians have their excuses. Boisselier claims “the parents” are reluctant to have tests, reports the NY Post.

Right.

Rael also was working on a good excuse. He claimed that a “judge in Florida signed a paper saying that the baby Eve should be taken from the family, from her mother.” And thus her parents would not come forward for fear of losing their child.

Uh huh.

But no such ruling exists, reports CNN.

Joe Soucharay of the Pioneer Press summed things up pretty well. He said, “This story should not have been printed. When Boisselier called a press conference nobody should have gone. She has no credibility. The Raelians have no credibility.” He added, “They have offered no scientific or medical writings. They have produced no proof of their claims. They have not produced the mother of the child. They have not produced the child.”

Brigitte Boisselier will now likely assume her proper place in the annals of science. That is, as one of the biggest “frauds” ever recorded.

And what about Clonaid’s handpicked “expert” for verification Michael Guillen?

The “Pigasus” award winner and former science reporter for ABC seems to be in hiding and only speaking through a “friend.” His friend says, “If something doesn’t give by the end of the weekend, it’s safe to say Guillen will be making a statement at the beginning of the week,” reports the NY Daily News.

But does anyone care now about what Guillen has to say?

Guillen who describes himself as a “free lance journalist” may have trouble finding employment by a credible news outlet, though he just might pick up another “Pigasus.”

Clone claims will now become part of Raelian mythology, but there is no reason why anyone else should give this attention.

The question appears to be can Shana Muse receive justice in Spindale?

Authorities in the small North Carolina community have not helped the mother of four regain her children from a purported “cult.”

Muse who escaped the “cult” and then went to a well-known licensed mental health facility for former cult members called Wellspring Retreat in Albany, Ohio wants her children out of the Word of Faith Fellowship. But Whaley and her followers seem to think they know what’s best for Muse’s kids and want to keep them.

It has been said that “silence is assent” and the sound of silence is deafening in Spindale.

District Attorney Jeff Hunt has decided to effectively do nothing to compel the Word of Faith Fellowship, its members or leader to return Muse’s four minor children, even though she is their custodial parent.

Instead the DA relies upon a dubious document obtained “under duress” according to Muse, through which church members assert a claim of contractual custody. Essentially, they say Muse gave them her children under contract.

However, a family law attorney in North Carolina says, “The contract would not likely hold up in court,” reports GoUpstate.com.

But authorities in Spindale have decided to give this “contract” every possible consideration.

It seems that in the town of Spindale Jane Whaley has considerable influence. Some say through the votes, businesses and contacts of her church’s 400 active members, she effectively wields disproportionate power in this relatively small community.

The sheriff and District Attorney both seem reluctant to do anything that might potentially upset Ms. Whaley or her followers.

The local police chief even claims the flimsy paperwork signed by Muse may be “legally binding,” reports GoUpstate.com.

Within this apparent vacuum of ethical and/or decisive civil authority Whaley and her people have so far gotten their way. But it is unlikely they will ultimately prevail in court.

The impoverished mother was at first helpless to fight the “cult” leader without the money to hire a lawyer, but now a coalition of churches have decided to help her.

The real question is this. Does a religious leader’s authority somehow trump parental rights?

Some in Spindale seem to think they do. Or are at least afraid to say otherwise.

The so-called “World Church of the Creator” can no longer use its name.

The hate group founded by non-practicing attorney Matt Hale lost the right to its purported name, according to a federal judge’s ruling in Illinois, reports Associated Press.

It is not surprising that the church that originated the name in the state of Washington doesn’t like Hale abusing its good name. They want him to cease and desist immediately.

But Hale is not known for accepting court rulings. He rejects the judge’s findings and no doubt will appeal.

The one thing Hale can use his law degree for in Illinois is acting pro se. But the Illinois State Bar won’t allow the racist to practice law on behalf of any other clients.

Hale appealed that decision, but repeatedly lost.

The white supremacist has also lost two bids for East Peoria City Council.

Hale does seem to be a loser, albeit a “sore loser” and now he has even lost his name.

The media is beginning to reflect critically upon the frenzy that surrounded cloning claims made by the Raelian “Sci-fi cult” shortly after Christmas.

It increasingly looks like Claude Vorilhon now known as “Rael” and his acolyte Brigitte Boisselier cynically staged a media event, hoping to cash in on a well-established slow news cycle just after Christmas.

Many within the media hungry for a sensational story were easily and quickly hooked by the duo.

Without any evidence whatsoever Boisselier managed to get 30 uninterrupted minutes for her monologue on CNN. Other news outlets quickly ran with the story, without any meaningful proof or additional sources to verify her outlandish claims.

Eric Lander, Director Whitehead/MIT genome sequencing center in Cambridge, Massachusetts said it is really quite “simple…to verify this claim scientifically,” reports the Washington Post in the story “Cloning a Previous Hoax?” by Rick Weiss (December 31, 2002).

So why didn’t anyone in the media require such proof before running this story?

LA Times reporter Tim Rutten offers some context.

“Consider, for one moment, the objective circumstances: a crackpot cult, whose French founder says he got his marching orders from a space alien, calls a press conference in Miami to announce that a cloned child has been born to an unidentified woman in an unspecified place the day after Christmas,” the reporter jibed within the LA Times in his piece titled, “Cult ‘clones’ a baby! Read (and read) all about it” (January 1, 2003).

Orville Schell, dean of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism summarized the so-called news story about “cloning” succinctly. “This story is a very obvious example of a larger, more worrisome problem, which is that there are a thousand ways every day in which the contemporary media doesn’t know how to make the dignified decision.” Schell concluded, “Everybody associated with the media became a little less dignified.”

Amen.

And Rael laughed all the way back to “UFO Land,” his Canadian base of operations, the proud recipient of a belated Christmas present from the media. That is, the greatest news bonanza the known publicity hound has ever received.

Don’t expect too much self-analysis and contrition from those who irresponsibly ran with this story. It’s just too embarrassing to admit you’ve been had, and by no less than a “cult leader” and ridiculous buffoon like “Rael.”

Neil and Christy Edgar, pastors of “God’s Creation Outreach Ministry” in Kansas City, Kansas are in jail and charged with the first-degree murder of their 9-year-old son Brian, reports the Kansas City Star.

The church has a history of abusing children, which has included beatings while bound and gagged. Brian Edgar apparently suffocated in his own vomit after such a session.

Two years ago a follower of the Edgars was charged and convicted for abusing his child with a stun gun.

The Edgar group is yet another example of the horrific plight often suffered by children in “cult” or “cult-like” groups their parents have joined.

Many cult leaders tell their flock they are only accountable to “God not man.” But it seems the Edgars will be held accountable in court long before receiving their ultimate judgement from heaven.

It looks like a friendly relationship continues to develop between Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam and Rev. Moon’s Unification Church.

Unification Church members literally rolled out the “red carpet” for Mother Tynnetta Muhammad, a leader within the Nation of Islam. She was on a tour apparently sponsored by the Moon organization during December, reports the Nation of Islam’s “Final Call.”

The growing friendship and collaboration between Minister Farrakhan and Rev. Moon is interesting. Farrakhan is reportedly short of cash, and Moon is flush with it.

Moon has often given large amounts of money to ailing ministries, such as Jerry Falwell. Falwell has appeared at Moon functions and there seems to be a “quid pro quo” understanding in such situations. Specifically, Moon gives cash apparently in exchange for photo ops and seeming endorsements.

Moon has made some inroads within the African American community, but this has typically been through Christian clergy. Now it appears he hopes to include Black Muslims in his ongoing effort to gain greater influence.

Apparently Raelian “expert” Michael Guillen attempted to act as a go-between for potential cloning clients and cloning companies. That is, if he could obtain exclusive rights to the story, according to an article in the NY Times (“For Clonaid, a Trail of Unproven Claims” January 1, 2003 By GINA KOLATA and KENNETH CHANG).

Guillen comes across as someone with a vested interest in the story and not an objective observer. He continues to remain unavailable for comment.

More revelations about Boisselier and Clonaid make it increasingly clear that their claims of producing a human clone are probably bogus. And as a “science reporter” with an “Ivy League” education it seems that Guillen should have known this.

Cloinaid’s “lab” was nothing more than a rented room in an abandoned high school. FDA experts who reviewed their “research records” said, “They were inadequate.”

Boisselier was working with cow embryos, but nothing in her notes indicated an advanced stage of research and/or any scientific breakthrough.

In September of 2001 Guillen reported that Boisselier was being “investigated for fraud.” But just seven months later announced on the TV program 20/20, “I met with Dr. Boisselier…she told me that in two weeks they’re expecting to conceive the first human clone…Ready or not, the technology is on its way.”

It seems that despite his doctorate, Guillen was focused upon sensational headlines, not science. Repeatedly his name comes up, but not as an investigative journalist. He appears to be more of a collaborator. Is this why the Raelians like him so much?

Clonaid Vice President Thomas Kaenzig now admits the whole cloning business was initiated as “a project to create controversy.” He also has confessed that for three years the company was nothing more than a mail drop and “no research was going on.”

The real story about Boisselier, Clonaid and the Raelians is how they seem to have conned both cloning clients and the media for profit and promotion without actually producing anything.

This may be the only “cow” Clonaid successfully conceived in its laboratories, a “cash cow” milked for free publicity.

Henry Ford, founder of the automotive giant, would likely disapprove of his great-grandson’s ideas. Alfred B. Ford, an heir to the auto manufacturing fortune, hopes to establish a “Vatican” for the Hare Krishna “cult” in India, reports Associated Press.

Ford has given the group $10 million dollars to help build the massive complex, which has a projected total cost of $100 million dollars.

Alfred Ford has been a Krishna devotee for more than 25 years.

The Krishna organization is now being sued through a class action lawsuit for more than $400 million in the United States. The former children of Krishna devotees who were horribly abused within its school compounds years ago filed the suit.

And though Krishna leaders have acknowledged the claims as largely valid and based upon fact, they have threatened bankruptcy rather than offer a meaningful settlement to date.

Perhaps the Ford heir should have created a fund for taking care of Krishna’s victims before building them a “Vatican”?

Both the historic Vatican and the one Ford hopes to create have a rocky road ahead regarding child abuse claims.

The expert Raelians hand picked to oversee the validation of their clone claims may just be a “ringer.”

Michael Guillen, who once worked for ABC news as a science reporter, has a history of supporting pseudo-science, reports the Washington Post.

James Randi a noted debunker of fakes and quackery said, “This man has a reputation. He has supported every bit of pseudoscience that’s come along. Scientology was just fine with him. Human cloning by a religious cult is right up his alley, and to put him in charge of this kind of thing is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.”

The fraud-buster awarded Guillen the “Pigasus” in 1997, which symbolizes the adage “When Pigs Fly.” Randi said the award is “the gold standard of impossibility for…indiscriminate promotion of pseudoscience and quackery.”

Michael Guillen was unavailable for comment and seems to have virtually disappeared in recent days.

What is very clear is that any DNA testing must be rigorously supervised regarding the clone allegedly produced by the Raelians.

This means, from drawing the blood to transporting it for testing, the entire process must be observed second by second in minute detail. And the experts involved must be credible scientists who are impartial, not a friend of the Raelians like Guillen.

It is very doubtful that the Raelians or Clonaid will allow such a meaningful process for conclusive verification to take place. Instead they are far more likely to prove their claims through their own dubious process and questionable standards.

Perhaps it’s time for Randi to get another “Pigasus” ready for Clonaid CEO and Raelian Bishop Brigitte Boisselier. It certainly looks like she has earned one.