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  AFF News Briefs

1. Update on AFF 2003 Conferences
   Special sessions for families and ex-members

2. Cultic Studies Review - New Postings

3. New Bookstore Items and Specials

4. Education and Research News
   Passing of Anne Greek

   Jonestown 25th Anniversary Event

   Marcia Rudin Play in Finals

   CESNUR call for papers

   Russian Youth Protest

   Bob Pardon on Top Ten Cults

   Web Discussion regarding CWI

5. Books, Articles, and Web Sites Brought to Our Attention
   Spirituality, Religion, and Health

   Religioni e Sette nel Mondo (2001-2002, Volume 6, Number 3)

   Dangerous Ideas

   Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate

   Scientology: Religion or Racket

   Religious and Other Paranormal Beliefs in the U.S.

   Symposium on Religious Freedom and Religious Pluralism

   The Latest Japanese Cult Panic

6. Group News
   Lubavitch

   Suit Against Christian Writers

   Scientology Suit Rejected by Hague Court

7. Remember to Refresh Your Browser

8. Please Donate

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Education and Research News

Passing of Anne Greek

Anne Greek, long-time cult educator with the old Cult Awareness Network and a runner-up for Oregon Mother of the Year in 1982, died of cancer Sept. 6, 2003.  She was 73.

In the 1970s a stepson and a stepdaughter joined the Unification Church, controversial because of its mass weddings, recruiting techniques and claims by its founder, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. The children were cut off from the family.  Anne and her husband, Adrian, became active in cult awareness and were co-directors of the Positive Action Center for 18 years. They tried to get families back together and co-wrote a book, Mind Abuse by Cults and Others.  Their son was reunited with his parents after more than a year, but it took many more years for their daughter to reconnect. She eventually moved close by, and they made up for lost years.

Jonestown 25th Anniversary Event

Fielding M. McGehee III has sent us the following news release:

On November 18, 2003, the survivors and relatives of the 913 people who died in Jonestown, Guyana, will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1978 tragedy. Much of the press coverage surrounding the anniversary may be little more than a review of the news from that period, but there is a great deal that has occurred on the story in the past quarter century, including government investigations, lawsuits, Freedom of Information Act requests, and periodic discoveries of primary source material from Peoples Temple which challenges the popular perception of what happened and why. There is also the matter of the people who did survive the deaths: where they went, how they coped, what they are doing now, what perspectives they have on their experiences in Jonestown.

We have just published a special 25th anniversary edition of the Jonestown Report—located at http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume5/vol5.htm —a resource guide for primary source information and ongoing research related to Peoples Temple and Jonestown. We hope you will find this resource to be of value, as we approach the 25th anniversary of the mass deaths in Guyana.

We also invite you to visit the larger site itself at http://jonestown.sdsu.edu, which includes many primary sources documents about Peoples Temple and Jonestown not available any other place on the web. Among other features, the site has the most comprehensive list of the Jonestown dead, the largest collection of transcribed tapes from Jonestown, and the biggest online photo gallery of photographs showing everyday life in Jonestown.

The newest addition to the site, though, may also be its most important. The writings of almost 20 former members and relatives—many of whom have never spoken of their experiences with Peoples Temple before —appear in a section called "Reflections and Observations," located at http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/25Anniversary/reflec_observ/reflc_observ.htm.  It is a location on the site which promises to grow in the months leading up to the November 18 anniversary date.

This new section of the Jonestown Report set out to present a multitude of voices from a wide range of perspectives, all of them unfiltered and unmediated. We began with an appreciation that a community exists of survivors, apostates and relatives of the Jonestown dead, and we have tried to acknowledge our common loss while recognizing the differences in our views.

We hope that this work contributes to a wider understanding of what everyone associated with Peoples Temple knows, that there is no one "Jonestown" story.  If you have any questions about the report or the people who wrote for it, please feel free to e-mail me or call me at 619-584-1841. Thank you.

Marcia Rudin Finalist in Theater Contest

Marcia Rudin, long-time AFF advisor and founder and former director of the International Cult Education Program, has written a play, "The Lady Godiva of Flamingo Landing," that is a finalist for the 2003 Heideman Award and 2003 National Ten-Minute Play Contest, sponsored by the Actors Theatre of Louisville.  1,500 ten-minute plays were entered.

CESNUR Call for Papers

CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) has issued a call for papers for its 2004 conference, scheduled for June 18-20 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.  The theme of the conference is "Religious Movements, Conflict, and Democracy: International Perspectives."  Additional information can be found at http://www.cesnur.org/2004/waco_cfp.htm.

Russian Youth Protest Scientology

September 22. St. Irinaeus of Lyon Religious Studies Center—Press-Release

Yesterday, September 22, there began an All-Russian Protest Action against Scientology. The activists of Youth Movement 'Fellow Travelers' together with Russian Orthodox Youth organizations started picketing Scientology/Dianetics centers throughout the country. As the leader of the 'Fellow Travelers' movement Vasily Yakimenko said the anti-scientology protests will be held in 15 Russian cities. All week young people will hold a round the clock pickets by the doors of Scientology centers. The large posters will inform the passers-by that the buildings are occupied by a dangerous cult. The picketers will try to talk to every person entering and exiting the buildings and convince him/her not to enter or leave the cult. The exhibit stands located also by the doors of the cult show various Scientology-related documents and two portraits of Lisa McPherson ("before" and "after" Scientology). The opening of the All-Russian Action was held by the main Scientology office in Russia - 'Humanitarian Hubbard Center' (and umbrella organization which houses 'The Moscow Scientology Church', 'Dianetics Center', 'Studema', et. al.). there gathered around 300 participants of the protest diluted by some 30 Scientologists trying to compromise the action. The media presence was significant and the action was broadcast in all major news channels. All participants were addressed by a Russian Orthodox priest Alexey Doroshevich, Professor Alexander L. Dvorkin, Vasily Yakimenko and others. After about an hour all who had gathered for the meeting had left, and there remained the first shift of the picketers (about 10 of them) who, together with their colleagues in 15 Russian cities will conduct a week-long watch.

Bob Pardon on Top Ten Cults

Rev. Robert Pardon authored an article for Christian Answers Network (http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aiia/aiia-top10cults.html) on the top ten cults in the U.S.

Web Discussion of CWI

Dr. Dennis Tourish, co-author of On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, tells us that a member of Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) responded in detail to the critique of the group in On the Edge.  This reply started a lengthy discussion on this group and cultism on an Indymedia website, at http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=60690. 

Send news updates on your education and research activities to Dr. Langone at aff@affcultinfoserve.com.

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Books, Articles, and Web Sites Brought to Our Attention

Spirituality, Religion, and Health

The January 2003 issue (Vol. 58, No. 1) of American Psychologist, journal of the American Psychological Association, includes a four-part section on spirituality, religion, and health.  The articles are titled:

Religioni e Sette nel Mondo (2001-2002, Volume 6, Number 3)

This issue of the Italian journal, Religioni e Sette nel Mondo (Religions and Cults in the World), which is published by GRIS (Gruppo per la Ricerca ed Informazione sulle Sette – Group for Research and Information on Cults – www.religioniesette.org) includes the following articles:

Dangerous Ideas

The March 2003 issue (Vol. 58, No. 3) of American Psychologist includes an article entitled, "Dangerous Ideas: Five Beliefs that Propel Groups Toward Conflict" (by Roy J. Eidelson & Judy I. Eidelson – pp. 182-192).  "The authors focus on the parallels between the core beliefs of individuals and the collective worldviews of groups that may operate to trigger or constrain violent struggles.  On the basis of a review of relevant literatures, 5 belief domains—superiority, injustice, vulnerability, distrust, and helplessness—are identified as particularly important for further study."

Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate

Dr. Steve Kent of the University of Alberta has published in the Web journal, Marburg Journal of Religion (Vol. 8, No. 1, September 2003), "Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study." Kent concludes: "I am concerned, moreover, about the implications of the Sea Organization/RPF studies produced by Gordon Melton and the European scholars. They are vague (almost to the point of silence) about how they came to undertake their research; how the Scientology organization fit into their research design; how much the studies cost; and whether Scientology itself assisted with any of the expenses. After the Aum Shinrikyo debacle, scholars should have learned how important it is to provide readers and the public with as much information as we can about the practicalities of the studies themselves. Now this lesson is even more important, since Scientology has told its members how it is using our findings to further their cause. (Just for the record, I conducted this research with no additional funding and support beyond what my university provides its professors in the everyday conduct of their jobs.)"

Scientology: Religion or Racket?

Also published in Marburg Journal of Religion (Vol. 8, No. 1, September 2003) is an article with the above title by Dr. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi of the University of Haifa.  Dr. Beit-Hallahmi concludes: "Some of the scholars claiming that Scientology is some kind of a religion have put their statements to an empirical test. . . More than two decades later (for Bainbridge & Stark, 1981) and more than a decade later (for Passas & Castillo, 1992) these predictions have turned out to be totally wrong.  Scientology has not become more religious in any discernible way since 1981 or 1992.  It is as much a religion today as it has ever been, and as it will ever be.

Alexandra Stein Article in Open Democracy

In the September 18, 2003 Open Democracy (http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-3-33-1496.jsp), Alexandra Stein has an article entitled, "The human dimension: a response to Gitlin and Monbiot." Ms. Stein states: " A central task for today’s global justice movement is to go beyond simply condemning sectarianism. We need to develop a very specific understanding of closed organisational structures headed by charismatic, authoritarian leaders, and of how relationships, behaviours, and beliefs are manipulated within these groups.. . . The same social-psychological thread – one I call charismatic authoritarianism – runs through an array of what are, in cultural and ideological terms, vastly diverse organisations. It thrives on an absolutist or fundamentalist ideology: left-wing, right-wing, on the wings of the angels of the Christian identity movement or the wings of spiritual beings in the New Age. But in the end, the ideological wings don’t matter, the social relationships of people to each other do. . . The myth of the pathetic and vulnerable individual ‘seeker’—or, on the left, the person with the wrong political line—still holds fast, while little progress has been made in helping people understand the universal human response of compliance when faced with conditions of isolation, bullying, fear, authority and deprivation."

Religious and Other Paranormal Beliefs in the U.S.

The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Volume 42, No. 1, March 2003) includes an article by Tom W. Rice (pp. 95-106): "Believe It or Not: Religious and Other Paranormal Beliefs in the United States."  The abstract states: "Paranormal beliefs are often divided between those that are central to traditional Christian doctrine, such as the belief in heaven and hell, and those that are commonly associated with the supernatural or occult, such as the belief in ESP and psychic healing. This study employs data from a recent nationwide random sample general population survey to catalog the social correlates of paranormal beliefs and to examine the relationships between religious and other paranormal beliefs.  The results indicate that standard social background factors do a poor job of accounting for who believes in paranormal phenomena and that the importance of specific background factors changes dramatically from phenomenon to phenomenon.  The results also show that the correlations between belief in religious phenomena and other paranormal phenomena are largely insignificant.  These findings call into question many prevailing theories about paranormal beliefs."

Symposium on Religious Freedom and Religious Pluralism

The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Volume 42, No. 3, September 2003) is a special issue on the above topic.  Article titles of note include:

The Latest Japanese Cult Panic

The Summer 2003 issue of Religion in the News (supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. and published by The Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut) contains an article with the above title by Benjamin Dorman.  The author discusses the recent media coverage of the Japanese group, Pana Wave.

Send information on noteworthy new books and articles to Dr. Langone at aff@affcultinfoserve.com.

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Group News

Lubavitch

An article entitled, "Waiting for the Messiah of Eastern Parkway," written by Jonathan Mahler, was published in the 9/21/03 New York Times.  The article describes the conflict between groups of Lubavitchers who do or do not accept the late Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson as the Jewish messiah.  Although the Lubavitch account for a small percentage of the global Jewish population, its influence has far exceeded its numbers.  The Lubavitch have devoted much time and energy to encouraging secular Jews to become more observant. "Between its emissaries and far-flung outposts (last year alone, Lubavitch opened 34 Jewish schools around the world), the movement has almost certainly done more to promote the growth of Judaism than any other organization."  Hence the conflict between messianists and anti-messianists has far-reaching implications, according to David Berger, "a professor of Jewish history at Brooklyn College and the author of an unusually vitriolic academic book attacking Lubavitch messianism."

Suit Against Christian Writers

Apologia Report (9/18/03) summarizes a Christianity Today article: "State District Court Judge Kent Sullivan of Texas has ordered a $136 million libel suit against Harvest House Publishers and authors John Ankerberg and John Weldon to proceed. Living Stream Ministry and the Local Church are suing the three for libel over statements in the out-of-print Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, first published in 1999. The book included an article critical of the Local Church, founded by Watchman Nee. In June Sullivan dismissed a motion for summary judgment filed by the defendants. A trial date of January 12, 2004, has been set."

Scientology Suit Rejected by Hague Court

Religion News Blog (http://www.religionnewsblog.com/4260-.html) provides a hyperlink to a September 4, 2003 Court decision at The Hague concerning Scientology's suit concerning Web site publications.  Religion News Blog summarizes the decision: "A court in The Hague, Netherlands today rejected Scientology's appeal against author Karin Spaink, Dutch ISP XS4ALL, and 10 other Dutch Internet providers for alleged copyright violations. All of Scientology's claims have been rejected. The court concluded that citations from Scientology publications as found on Karin Spaink's website are lawful. The court notes that freedom of speech should not be trumped by copyright law.  The court's statement says that Scientology's teachings and organization show that the 'organisation' [not "church"] does not hesitate to reject democratic values. It also notes that the wish to keep OT II and OT III secret stems partly from the organisation's desire to wield power over its members and to hinder discussion of Scientology's teachings and practices."

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Remember to Refresh Your Browser

When you visit a Web site, such as www.culticstudiesreview.org, you should refresh your browser because sometimes your Internet browser shows you the Web page from “memory,” so to speak.  The browser may have to be told to show any changes that have been made to the page since your last visit.  In Microsoft’s Internet Explorer you do this by clicking “View” at the top of your screen and then clicking “Refresh” in the drop-down menu that comes up.  Hence, if we send you a notice that there are new postings on www.culticstudiesreview.org, you may have to hit “Refresh” before your browser will show you the changes.

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