International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010 21
A: No, I have never heard that. (Crown
and Witness #19, R. v. Shearing,
1997:1547)
Another statement echoes this testimony:
Q: To your knowledge, is there any
body of writing or teachings about the
actual process or techniques of mental
work?
A: Not to my knowledge. (Defense and
Witness #19, R. v. Shearing, 1997:1504)
The absence of scripture indicates the level of
reliance that members had placed on Shearing’s
proclamations and the power that this
charismatic leader possessed. It is no small feat
to have convinced so many women of his ‘right’
to sexual privileges without the existence of
written doctrines that specified the alleged
spiritual benefits of such contact.
Even if supporters might suggest that Shearing
did not intentionally abuse the Kabalarian
women during the spiritual clearing rituals, this
position is undermined by the following
testimony:
Mr. Shearing and I … were eating
[together] and he said that he had
noticed that I was extremely
uncomfortable around him. I mean,
throughout the years I’ve had a dreadful
time of it, of trying to be natural around
him [after having been sexually
molested by him]. So he said that he
noticed this, that he had noticed I had
extreme discomfort. And I said, yes, I
was very uncomfortable. And he said to
me, with regards to past events where
we were—when I was young, do you
feel like I’ve abused or molested you in
any way? And he used the words abused
and molested. (Witness #9, R. v.
Shearing, 1997:812-813 italics mine)
Certainly, this testimony indicates that Shearing
knew that his actions were abusive and
suspected that the young woman had not
completely accepted that what he had done was
spiritual in nature. Since Shearing seemed to
have had the intention of receiving sexual
gratification from his victims from the beginning
of his relationship with them, he always looked
for signs of disenchantment in his victims after
he had abused them. Despite the evidence
suggesting that not all of the women with whom
he engaged in sexual activities even realized that
he was molesting them until years after the
fact,10 Shearing’s motivations appeared clear
each time that he entered into a sexual
relationship with a Kabalarian student.
Dissension and Secrecy
The believability of the clearing rituals and
Shearing’s credibility in the eyes of his
followers, however, did reach a critical point in
1995. A grassroots insurrection had begun to
form that would, in due course, cause Shearing
to lose his revered position as spiritual leader of
the Kabalarian Philosophy and be charged with
sexually based offenses. Although he had
managed to maintain a high level of secrecy
around the exploitative relationships he had with
the Kabalarian devotees, dissension spread
throughout the movement as disenchanted
women began to break the bonds of
confidentiality that they, as dedicated members,
had sworn to Shearing.
As described in the court documents, the genesis
of the disharmony that Shearing’s victims felt
traced back to a single woman who felt as
though she had been “living a lie” (Witness #4,
R. v. Shearing, 1997:318). Believing that this lie
was having a negative effect on her life, she had
become depressed and highly emotional.
According to her testimony, she never had
spoken of her anguish to anyone until her friend,
a fellow Kabalarian woman, noticed her
10 Shearing had begun engaging in sexually abusive behavior with
members of the movement very early in his tenure as leader. Many
of the girls he abused were in their early teens, but they did not
press charges for years, even decades, after their molestation (see
testimony of Witness #9 and #8 in R. v. Shearing, 1997:816 667,
for example). The reasons for this delayed reaction on the part of
the victims extends somewhat beyond the scope of the actual
sexual abuse endured by the women, falling more into the area of
deconversion theories and why abused members stay in a
movement. Generally speaking, though, one could theorize that
affective bonding (Liebman Jacobs, 1989) played a significant role
in the women’s slow acceptance of what happened to them, as did
Shearing’s charismatic power and members’ unwillingness to
admit their belief in an unworthy spiritual teacher. To some degree,
each of these factors contributed to their ongoing abuse, but to
uncover fully the complex dynamics surrounding the issue, there
needs to be much more study concerning the decades of silence
that some members maintained.
A: No, I have never heard that. (Crown
and Witness #19, R. v. Shearing,
1997:1547)
Another statement echoes this testimony:
Q: To your knowledge, is there any
body of writing or teachings about the
actual process or techniques of mental
work?
A: Not to my knowledge. (Defense and
Witness #19, R. v. Shearing, 1997:1504)
The absence of scripture indicates the level of
reliance that members had placed on Shearing’s
proclamations and the power that this
charismatic leader possessed. It is no small feat
to have convinced so many women of his ‘right’
to sexual privileges without the existence of
written doctrines that specified the alleged
spiritual benefits of such contact.
Even if supporters might suggest that Shearing
did not intentionally abuse the Kabalarian
women during the spiritual clearing rituals, this
position is undermined by the following
testimony:
Mr. Shearing and I … were eating
[together] and he said that he had
noticed that I was extremely
uncomfortable around him. I mean,
throughout the years I’ve had a dreadful
time of it, of trying to be natural around
him [after having been sexually
molested by him]. So he said that he
noticed this, that he had noticed I had
extreme discomfort. And I said, yes, I
was very uncomfortable. And he said to
me, with regards to past events where
we were—when I was young, do you
feel like I’ve abused or molested you in
any way? And he used the words abused
and molested. (Witness #9, R. v.
Shearing, 1997:812-813 italics mine)
Certainly, this testimony indicates that Shearing
knew that his actions were abusive and
suspected that the young woman had not
completely accepted that what he had done was
spiritual in nature. Since Shearing seemed to
have had the intention of receiving sexual
gratification from his victims from the beginning
of his relationship with them, he always looked
for signs of disenchantment in his victims after
he had abused them. Despite the evidence
suggesting that not all of the women with whom
he engaged in sexual activities even realized that
he was molesting them until years after the
fact,10 Shearing’s motivations appeared clear
each time that he entered into a sexual
relationship with a Kabalarian student.
Dissension and Secrecy
The believability of the clearing rituals and
Shearing’s credibility in the eyes of his
followers, however, did reach a critical point in
1995. A grassroots insurrection had begun to
form that would, in due course, cause Shearing
to lose his revered position as spiritual leader of
the Kabalarian Philosophy and be charged with
sexually based offenses. Although he had
managed to maintain a high level of secrecy
around the exploitative relationships he had with
the Kabalarian devotees, dissension spread
throughout the movement as disenchanted
women began to break the bonds of
confidentiality that they, as dedicated members,
had sworn to Shearing.
As described in the court documents, the genesis
of the disharmony that Shearing’s victims felt
traced back to a single woman who felt as
though she had been “living a lie” (Witness #4,
R. v. Shearing, 1997:318). Believing that this lie
was having a negative effect on her life, she had
become depressed and highly emotional.
According to her testimony, she never had
spoken of her anguish to anyone until her friend,
a fellow Kabalarian woman, noticed her
10 Shearing had begun engaging in sexually abusive behavior with
members of the movement very early in his tenure as leader. Many
of the girls he abused were in their early teens, but they did not
press charges for years, even decades, after their molestation (see
testimony of Witness #9 and #8 in R. v. Shearing, 1997:816 667,
for example). The reasons for this delayed reaction on the part of
the victims extends somewhat beyond the scope of the actual
sexual abuse endured by the women, falling more into the area of
deconversion theories and why abused members stay in a
movement. Generally speaking, though, one could theorize that
affective bonding (Liebman Jacobs, 1989) played a significant role
in the women’s slow acceptance of what happened to them, as did
Shearing’s charismatic power and members’ unwillingness to
admit their belief in an unworthy spiritual teacher. To some degree,
each of these factors contributed to their ongoing abuse, but to
uncover fully the complex dynamics surrounding the issue, there
needs to be much more study concerning the decades of silence
that some members maintained.
