Cult Information Bookstore
  AFF News Briefs

Number 1, 2002

1. Announcing Cultic Studies Review

2. New AFF Online Bookstore

3. AFF 2002 Annual Conference

4. Eastern Ruminations

5. Featured Resources

6. Cult Education News

7. Please Donate

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Announcing Cultic Studies Review

AFF is proud to announce Cultic Studies Review: An Internet Journal of Research, News & Opinion (CSR). Although CSR constitutes a great cyberspace advance for AFF, the organization will continue to inform its supporters who are not online by publishing a triennial, bound, print version of CSR. The new periodical merges and expands AFF's Cult Observer, Cultic Studies Journal, and Cults and Society. This newsletter, AFF News Briefs, will complement Cultic Studies Review.

Current subscribers of the Cult Observer and/or Cultic Studies Journal and/or Cults and Society will receive the new periodical, which will, especially online, include more news and articles than were published in the old periodicals.

The first online issue will be a free examination copy. If you do not subscribe to any AFF periodicals, make sure you check out CSR. We will notify you when we begin to post articles online, probably in early February. The print version will be mailed in March to current subscribers of AFF periodicals. The final issues of Cult Observer and Cultic Studies Journal will be mailed in late January and late February, respectively.

Cultic Studies Review’s interest areas include a family of related yet distinct phenomena (described in an essay posted on www.cultinfobooks.com and www.csj.org, The Definitional Ambiguity of “Cult” and AFF’s Mission), as well as practical responses to concerns people have about these phenomena. Thus, Cultic Studies Review provides information on cults, psychological manipulation, psychological abuse, spiritual abuse, brainwashing, mind control, thought reform, abusive churches, extremism, totalistic groups, authoritarian groups, new religious movements, charisma, alternative and mainstream religions, group dynamics, exit counseling, recovery, and practical suggestions for families, individuals, helping professionals, clergy, journalists, researchers, students, educators, and others interested in these topics.

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New AFF Online Bookstore

Go to www.cultinfobooks.com and inspect AFF’s new online bookstore, your online resource for quality information in this field. Using a secure pay shopping cart, this bookstore makes it easier than ever to order AFF books, videos, and Cultic Studies Journal reprints (all past articles of CSJ are available as electronic reprints) - more than 200 items in total. You can also register online for AFF’s Annual Conference and workshops for families and for ex-members.

The new bookstore includes lists of recommended resources for the following categories of inquirer: families, former group members, current group members, educators, mental health professionals, clergy, legal professionals, students, researchers, and press. This newsletter will let you know when new items are added to the Bookstore.

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AFF 2002 Annual Conference

This year’s conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Orlando-Airport Hotel in Orlando, Florida June 14-15. As usual preconference workshops for families, ex-members, and mental health professionals will be conducted on Thursday June 13^th. Go to www.cultinfobooks.com and click on “Conferences” to get details and to register online or to download a form that you can use to register by mail or fax. Or call the AFF Information Line: M-F 9am-5pm Order Line:(239) 514-3081 . Here is the program (subject to change):

Thursday, June 13, 2002 (Pre-Conference Events)

1. Workshop for Former Group Members (10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.)
   Coordinator: Carol Giambalvo
2. Workshop for Families and Friends (10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.)
   Coordinator: Livia Bardin, M.S.W.
3. Free Workshop for Mental Health Professionals (7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.)
   Coordinator: Rosanne Henry, M.A., L.P.C.; Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.; William Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
4. Social – Cash Bar

Friday, June 14, 2002

Introduction (Herbert Rosedale, Esq.; Michael D. Langone, Ph.D.)

Brainwashing, Social Psychology, and the Courts (Alan Scheflin, J.D., L.L.M., Coordinator; Edward Frishholz, Ph.D.; Paul Martin, Ph.D.)

A Conversation with Dr. Margaret Singer (Margaret T. Singer, Ph.D.)

Anyone Can Be Fooled (Sandy Andron, Ed.D.)

International Churches of Christ (Carol Giambalvo, Coordinator;

Ron Burks, M.A.; David Clark; Kathy Kelly Endres, M.A.)

Political Groups: Deed and Creed (Rod Marshall, Ph.D., Coordinator; Dennis Tourish, Ph.D.; Discussant: Janja Lalich, Ph.D.)

The Jim Roberts Group Parents Network (Ronald Loomis, Coordinator; Joseph Szimhart; James Foster; Larry Wilcox)

Advances in Social Science Research (Miriam Williams Boeri, Doctoral Candidate; Catherine Delhaire, M.A., Ph.D. Student; Marie-Andree Pelland, Ph.D. Student)

Waldorf Schools: Theory & Practice (Dan Dugan; Sharon Lombard)

Inside Polygamy (Andrea Moore Emmett)

Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves (Steven Hassan, M.Ed.)

Clinical and Diagnostic Issues (Josep Jansa, M.D., Coordinator; Pere Cubero Bros, M.D.; Miguel Perlado Recacha)

Research in Latin America (Paul Carden, Coordinator; Lourdes Arguelles, Ph.D.; Jorge Erdely, Ph.D.; Cesar Mascarenas, M.D.; Anne Rivero, M.S.W.)

RETIRN: Lessons from 20 Years of Counseling Against Coercion (Linda Dubrow, Ph.D.; Steve Dubrow-Eichel, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.; Roberta Cobrin Eisenberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., BCD)

Social – Cash Bar

Saturday, June 15, 2002

Church Universal and Triumphant (Joseph Szimhart, Coordinator)

Harm in New Religious Movements: Perspectives from Sociology, Religious Studies, and Psychology (Jean-Francois Mayer, Ph.D., Coordinator; Eileen Barker, Ph.D.; Arthur Dole, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.; Phillip Lucas, Ph.D.; Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D.)

Report from Canada (Mike Kropveld)

Research on the Jehovah’s Witnesses (Paul Carden, Coordinator; Jerry Bergman, Ph.D.; Herbert Rosedale, Esq., Discussant)

Kashi (Rosanne Henry, M.A., Coordinator; Harry Brodie, M.D.; Paul Martin, Ph.D.; Discussant: Steve Dubrow-Eichel, Ph.D.)

Marriage After the Cult (Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.)

Advances in Psychological Research (Ron Burks, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate; Rod Marshall, Ph.D.; Jonibeth Whitney,Ph.D.; Carmen Almendros, Doctoral Student; Discussant: Paul Martin, Ph.D.)

Cults and Terrorism: Similarities and Differences (Christopher Centner, M.A.)

Social – Cash Bar

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Eastern Ruminations

Herbert L. Rosedale, Esq., President, AFF

I recently returned from attendance at the China Anticult Associations' Annual Conference in Beijing, where I was invited to speak. My expenses were paid, but I received no money for speaking. I want to share a number of impressions about my trip because I think they are very important in shattering the stereotypes and expectations I had before the experience.

First of all, I found that the experience was an intellectually stimulating one and not rigid, predictable, or boring. I found the members of the Chinese Anticult Association to be a fascinating group of people. They were not political officials, but rather were a combination of religious leaders of various faiths and university professors, scientists, and engineers concerned about the cultic denigration of scientific thought and rational thinking in favor of New Age and occult modes of thought.  I found a real concern about fanaticism, whether its genesis was religion, politics, or an unquestioned loyalty to a charismatic leader.

Above all, I found a warm sense of comradeship and a concern about how to approach issues that are of mounting importance in our current society.  That does not mean I found a perfect world.  I still found a society struggling with a desire to become more Westernized, open, and critical, but nevertheless, a society with a history and tradition of state involvement and secretiveness.

While attending the conference, I also spoke to a class in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Beijing University of the Nationalities. There were representatives of over 56 different ethnic groups in the class I addressed. There were no restrictions placed on what I could talk about or what opinions I could express, and there were free and open dialogues among myself, members of the China Anticult Association, the students of the university, and teachers and administrators.  While I submitted a paper for the conference so it could be translated and circulated in advance in a language accessible to conference attendees, I spoke extemporaneously, as is my wont, to the students.

At the conference, I addressed issues of cultic characteristics and the balance of individual rights, leadership’s responsibilities, and state concerns. To the students, I expanded upon the dangers of leadership’s stifling dissent, whether the leaders be religious, political, or academic.  I expanded upon the concept of human rights and discussed the necessity for tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and the inevitability of societies’ becoming pluralistic.  Dialogue in both instances was very spirited and free, and it was rewarding to exchange perspectives and views with people having cultural differences but similar concerns about humanity.  Certainly, there are differences in views about the role of religion in society, just as there are other cultural differences in areas relating to family, the extent of society's control over the individual, and other areas of personal privacy. I believe that my experience offers a window for continued dialogue, not because we have identical views and opinions, but because we have demonstrated an ability to talk about issues of shared concern.

Changing attitudes in the world about terrorists and fanaticism have focused attention on religious zealots and the threats they pose to society in general. I hope that dialogue about religious divergence and pluralism may increase tolerance of different views and practices where they do not pose a threat to social order. The boundaries between government control and individual liberty differ from state to state and culture to culture, but the differences in the boundary lines should be able to be discussed without compelling agreement to a single result.

I do believe that part of a predicate for continued discussion and dialogue is an increase in openness and the opportunity for verification of some of the information and claims that appear in the press about actions in China. Objective verification will help evaluate the bona fides of actions taken and the actuality of situations existing as opposed to the concern that circumstances which are not subject to inquiry are really efforts to conceal embarrassing or detrimental information.  During the course of my discussions, there was an indication of a desire for continued dialogue and a hope that dialogue will occur in a spirit of free inquiry with the ability to challenge and verify factual assertions and conclusions.

It is an exciting opportunity and one which may well open new areas of dialogue with many unanticipated beneficial consequences, but we will have to see, if it works out, how far the commitment follows the spirit.

I hope that the realization and actuality match the scope of the opportunity.

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Featured AFF Resources

Coping with Cult Involvement: A Handbook for Families and Friends

Written by social worker, Livia Bardin, this book offers practical suggestions for anyone worried about a loved one’s actual or possible cult involvement.  Based on extensive professional work with cult victims and their families, this book elaborates upon a series of forms designed to help the reader better understand how the involved person has changed, what factors within the person and within the group need to be considered, what resources to call upon, how to communicate more effectively, and how to develop a plan tailored to the individual situation. 

Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse

Published by W. W. Norton and Company and edited by Michael Langone, Ph.D., Executive Director, AFF and Editor, Cultic Studies Journal, this Behavioral Science Book Service selection contains a preface by Margaret Singer, Ph.D. and an introduction and historical background chapter by the editor. It includes chapters on mind control, leaving cults, recovery issues, family issues, children and cults, and legal issues.  

Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge

Edited by Marcia R. Rudin, M.A., this collection of essays by college and university administrators, counselors, clergy, and others provides information about campus cult-recruitment techniques and why college students are vulnerable.  Contents include: overviews, cult recruitment of international students, policy and legal issues, developing an ethical code for proselytizers, training residence-hall staff, working with cult-affected families, counseling cult-impacted students, advice for chaplains, understanding ex-members recovery issues, advice for campus law-enforcement, and educating students. 

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Cult Education News

Award for AFF ’s  www.csj.org

“Congratulations! Your website has received an award from PsychNet-UK. A web directory dedicated to publishing the very best mental health and psychology information links on the Internet. You and your organization have been chosen above others for superior content, ease of use, layout and/or overall appeal.

“The award for your site is attached, which signifies that our cataloguers have reviewed and chosen yours as a `Recommended’ PsychNet-UK site.  This recommendation ensures that our readers can find the sort of information they are seeking within a very short time and be assured of quality and relevance.”

Mental Health Course

Daniel Shaw , CSW will teach a course for mental health professionals at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies in April in New York City . The course is entitled "The Dark Side of Enlightenment: Trauma and Recovery from Abuse in Cults". Daniel Shaw , CSW is a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City , with many years of experience in working with cult issues. 3 sessions:  Mondays,  8:00 pm to 9:30 pm , April 8, 15, and 27, 2002. Location:  NIP, 330 W. 58th St., Ste. 200 . Fee:  $90. For further information, contact Beth Dorfman at (212) 245-3980

Anita Solomon

Dr. Anita and Fred Solomon visited Israel recently and met with Netanel Blasbalg, a cult educator in Israel . Commenting on the vulnerability of overstressed Israeli soldiers, Dr. Solomon says, “There is a wonderful program to help them to rehabilitate from these experiences, to talk and express themselves about their participation in the army, for some have witnessed horrifying sights, e.g., seeing Palestinian children preparing and throwing bombs, or retaliations when the children are actually innocent.”

AFF Ex-Member Weekend Workshop

July 12-14, 2002 in Estes Park , Colorado . Go to AFF ’s bookstore, www.cultinfobooks.com and click on “Conferences” for details.

Please Donate

AFF depends completely upon the generosity of individuals like you. Please be generous.

All donors will receive AFF News Briefs. Cultic Studies Review subscription: e-mail only version - $25/yr.; e-mail and/or print version - $45/yr. (U.S.); $55/yr. (Canada/Mexico); $65/yr. (other). Subscription will be entered/renewed with appropriate donation.

Section: Indexes

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