Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2002, Page 68
whom were malnourished. (Jaxon Van Derbeken, Peter Fimrite, Kevin Fagan, San Francisco
Chronicle, 2/14, 15/02, Internet)
Friends of Andrew Cohen
Andrew Cohen's FACE Causing Concern /England
Ian Haworth, director of the Cult Information Centre, in London, says he has received
complaints from families about their relatives' involvement in FACE — Friends of Andrew
Cohen Everywhere, also known as the Impersonal Enlightenment Fellowship, and the Moska
Foundation — a small religious group of upscale membership with a facility in London's chic
Belsize park section. Cohen is a native New Yorker with a Jewish background who travels
the world giving seminars that reflect the ideas of Eastern religions, with a touch of
"psychobabble." The Massachusetts-based Cohen has about 800 disciples worldwide — 80 in
London, where several are well-known entertainment and media names.
The 46-year-old Cohen's mother is worried about his delusions of grandeur: "He thinks he is
God," she says. "He behaves like an emperor. He makes people feel so guilty about
themselves they hand over all their money." The middle-class members who live in one of
eight flats in the neighborhood, and join for an hour of meditation morning and evening,
and eat meals together, are expected to donate around $60 per month, but in practice give
much more. There are countless meetings as well as weekly discussions where members
challenge each other about how faithfully they are living out Cohen's teachings. Haworth is
especially worried about this hothouse environment: "We've had allegations that community
members live together so one can watch the other. ..The group is all-important and each
person enforces following the group's ideas." (Charlotte Williamson, Evening Standard,
London, 12/21/01, Internet)
Government Policy
Commentary: China's "Crackdown" on Religion
From: "China's Human Rights Abuses: Giving the Devil His Due," by John W. Whitehead,
Rutherford Institute Report, 1/9/02, Internet)
"Indeed, the persecution of religion has been so systematic that the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom's 2001 annual report noted that religious freedom in China
has "sharply deteriorated." Among the Commission's details of the Chinese government's
intensified crackdown on religious communities were: the destruction or government
confiscation of as many as 3,000 churches, temples and shrines in China increased
government control over official Protestant and Catholic churches the extension of
restrictions on Tibetan Buddhists' religious practices to apply to ordinary citizens in private
homes "oppressive, often brutal measures" targeting Muslims a rise in the reported
number of cases of torture by government officials and instances of foreigners being
detained and/or sentenced for religious activities in China.
"As a result of these atrocities, the Commission on Human Rights recommended that the
American government "persistently urge" the Chinese government to take steps to protect
religious freedom. It also suggested that the American government use its influence with
other governments to ensure that Beijing not be selected as the site of the International
Olympic Games."
Treatment for "Rocking The Boat" in Rural China
As a result of protesting a land dispute with her local government in rural Suileng County of
Heilongjiang Province, in northeast China, stubborn Huang Shuron has been forcibly
committed to a series of psychiatric hospitals, five times in the last three years.
whom were malnourished. (Jaxon Van Derbeken, Peter Fimrite, Kevin Fagan, San Francisco
Chronicle, 2/14, 15/02, Internet)
Friends of Andrew Cohen
Andrew Cohen's FACE Causing Concern /England
Ian Haworth, director of the Cult Information Centre, in London, says he has received
complaints from families about their relatives' involvement in FACE — Friends of Andrew
Cohen Everywhere, also known as the Impersonal Enlightenment Fellowship, and the Moska
Foundation — a small religious group of upscale membership with a facility in London's chic
Belsize park section. Cohen is a native New Yorker with a Jewish background who travels
the world giving seminars that reflect the ideas of Eastern religions, with a touch of
"psychobabble." The Massachusetts-based Cohen has about 800 disciples worldwide — 80 in
London, where several are well-known entertainment and media names.
The 46-year-old Cohen's mother is worried about his delusions of grandeur: "He thinks he is
God," she says. "He behaves like an emperor. He makes people feel so guilty about
themselves they hand over all their money." The middle-class members who live in one of
eight flats in the neighborhood, and join for an hour of meditation morning and evening,
and eat meals together, are expected to donate around $60 per month, but in practice give
much more. There are countless meetings as well as weekly discussions where members
challenge each other about how faithfully they are living out Cohen's teachings. Haworth is
especially worried about this hothouse environment: "We've had allegations that community
members live together so one can watch the other. ..The group is all-important and each
person enforces following the group's ideas." (Charlotte Williamson, Evening Standard,
London, 12/21/01, Internet)
Government Policy
Commentary: China's "Crackdown" on Religion
From: "China's Human Rights Abuses: Giving the Devil His Due," by John W. Whitehead,
Rutherford Institute Report, 1/9/02, Internet)
"Indeed, the persecution of religion has been so systematic that the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom's 2001 annual report noted that religious freedom in China
has "sharply deteriorated." Among the Commission's details of the Chinese government's
intensified crackdown on religious communities were: the destruction or government
confiscation of as many as 3,000 churches, temples and shrines in China increased
government control over official Protestant and Catholic churches the extension of
restrictions on Tibetan Buddhists' religious practices to apply to ordinary citizens in private
homes "oppressive, often brutal measures" targeting Muslims a rise in the reported
number of cases of torture by government officials and instances of foreigners being
detained and/or sentenced for religious activities in China.
"As a result of these atrocities, the Commission on Human Rights recommended that the
American government "persistently urge" the Chinese government to take steps to protect
religious freedom. It also suggested that the American government use its influence with
other governments to ensure that Beijing not be selected as the site of the International
Olympic Games."
Treatment for "Rocking The Boat" in Rural China
As a result of protesting a land dispute with her local government in rural Suileng County of
Heilongjiang Province, in northeast China, stubborn Huang Shuron has been forcibly
committed to a series of psychiatric hospitals, five times in the last three years.
