Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002, Page 16
Religion News -Directs visitors to credible Web and print resources specializing in
religious news.
Newsletter -Provides visitors with a free newsletter that informs them about changes to
the site, events of note, and, ultimately, conferences and workshops that
faithresource.org might conduct.
Interactive Web forums for youth -If this project continues to be funded,
faithresource.org will, to the extent resources permit, answer, through e-mail, young
persons‘ questions about religion, spirituality, and spiritual seeking. Over time a
Question-and-Answer Index will be developed and kept on the Web site for the
benefit of all visitors (inquirers‘ identities will, of course, remain anonymous).
Project staff will answer questions, but, in a form of peer review, the staff‘s answers
will not be posted until they have been reviewed and approved by at least two expert
advisors. Other interactive forums will also be explored.
Currently, this project is more or less on hold, for the seed grant expired in the summer of
2001. We hope, however, to refund it in 2002 and continue its development.
In 2002 AFF merged Cultic Studies Journal and Cult Observer into the journal in which this
article is published, Cultic Studies Review: An Internet Journal of Research, News &Opinion
(CSR). Although designed as an Internet journal, CSR has a print version for those
supporters not yet online, libraries, and those supporters who believe that cyberspace can
never substitute for the heft of paper in the hand. We decided to merge the two periodicals
in order to make more efficient use of manpower and to take advantage of the Internet‘s
immunity to printing and postage costs. CSR is supplemented by AFF‘s free electronic
newsletter, AFF News Briefs, which also includes a print version. The newsletter provides
limited group news, announcements of upcoming events, brief essays, and news on the
activities of researchers and cult educators around the world.
CSR will soon be supplemented by AFF‘s latest Website, www.CulticStudies.org. This site
will complement the current site, www.csj.org. CulticStudies.org is rebuilding and greatly
expanding the quantity and quality of free information available to visitors in order to more
effectively address the needs of educators, clergy, mental health professionals, and
individuals and families needing help.
In January 2002 AFF also made public a secure-pay bookstore, www.cultinfobooks.com.
Thoughts on the Future
Although AFF has grown remarkably since its founding, two vital elements of the
organization have remained constant:
A focus on professionalism and research aimed at helping those harmed by cultic
involvements and forewarning those who might be harmed in the future.
Continuity of leadership, management efficiency, and financial discipline.
AFF‘s enduring focus on professionalism, its administrative efficiency and effectiveness, and
the hard work and dedication of its volunteer professionals have resulted in the following
general achievements:
1. A remarkable increase in the quantity and quality of information available to families,
former group members, helping professionals, and others.
2. A more nuanced articulation of the cult phenomenon. This journal‘s name and the
new Website‘s name, ―CulticStudies.org,‖ for example, emphasize that we do not see
the issue that concerns us in black-and-white terms, ―cult‖ and ―not cult.‖ We see a
wide range of groups that change over time and reveal a spectrum of ―cultishness.‖
Religion News -Directs visitors to credible Web and print resources specializing in
religious news.
Newsletter -Provides visitors with a free newsletter that informs them about changes to
the site, events of note, and, ultimately, conferences and workshops that
faithresource.org might conduct.
Interactive Web forums for youth -If this project continues to be funded,
faithresource.org will, to the extent resources permit, answer, through e-mail, young
persons‘ questions about religion, spirituality, and spiritual seeking. Over time a
Question-and-Answer Index will be developed and kept on the Web site for the
benefit of all visitors (inquirers‘ identities will, of course, remain anonymous).
Project staff will answer questions, but, in a form of peer review, the staff‘s answers
will not be posted until they have been reviewed and approved by at least two expert
advisors. Other interactive forums will also be explored.
Currently, this project is more or less on hold, for the seed grant expired in the summer of
2001. We hope, however, to refund it in 2002 and continue its development.
In 2002 AFF merged Cultic Studies Journal and Cult Observer into the journal in which this
article is published, Cultic Studies Review: An Internet Journal of Research, News &Opinion
(CSR). Although designed as an Internet journal, CSR has a print version for those
supporters not yet online, libraries, and those supporters who believe that cyberspace can
never substitute for the heft of paper in the hand. We decided to merge the two periodicals
in order to make more efficient use of manpower and to take advantage of the Internet‘s
immunity to printing and postage costs. CSR is supplemented by AFF‘s free electronic
newsletter, AFF News Briefs, which also includes a print version. The newsletter provides
limited group news, announcements of upcoming events, brief essays, and news on the
activities of researchers and cult educators around the world.
CSR will soon be supplemented by AFF‘s latest Website, www.CulticStudies.org. This site
will complement the current site, www.csj.org. CulticStudies.org is rebuilding and greatly
expanding the quantity and quality of free information available to visitors in order to more
effectively address the needs of educators, clergy, mental health professionals, and
individuals and families needing help.
In January 2002 AFF also made public a secure-pay bookstore, www.cultinfobooks.com.
Thoughts on the Future
Although AFF has grown remarkably since its founding, two vital elements of the
organization have remained constant:
A focus on professionalism and research aimed at helping those harmed by cultic
involvements and forewarning those who might be harmed in the future.
Continuity of leadership, management efficiency, and financial discipline.
AFF‘s enduring focus on professionalism, its administrative efficiency and effectiveness, and
the hard work and dedication of its volunteer professionals have resulted in the following
general achievements:
1. A remarkable increase in the quantity and quality of information available to families,
former group members, helping professionals, and others.
2. A more nuanced articulation of the cult phenomenon. This journal‘s name and the
new Website‘s name, ―CulticStudies.org,‖ for example, emphasize that we do not see
the issue that concerns us in black-and-white terms, ―cult‖ and ―not cult.‖ We see a
wide range of groups that change over time and reveal a spectrum of ―cultishness.‖
