Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 232
New Life Tabernacle/Ariel Ben Sherman
Follower Indicted
A Loudon County (KY) grand jury has indicted Jacqueline Crank on misdemeanor child abuse
and misdemeanor child neglect charges in connection with her refusal to seek medical care
for her daughter, who died of cancer in 2002. Also indicted was Ariel Ben Sherman, leader
of the small religious group to which Crank belonged. (WATE TV News, Internet, 4/16/03)
North Korea
Education in Hatred Pervasive
The encouragement of hatred toward the United States is a deeply pervasive everyday
theme of North Korean life from kindergarten onwards. In schools, teachers tell students
that Americans are ―two-legged wolves‖ and that the U.S. is a ―hotbed of all evils swarming
with beggars.‖ Textbooks tell stories like the one about an American missionary who
tattooed ―thief‖ on a Korean boy who picked an apple from his orchard. Animated cartoons
depict Americans as sharp-toothed wolves. A defector says that hurling rocks at the effigy of
a U.S. soldier was a schoolyard sport.
Cho Myong Chul, a college professor who defected to South Korea in 1994, says that the
North, where the news media are full of hostile slogans, and TV commentators who usually
speak in raised, militant voices, has created a ―whole new linguistic culture,‖ both
militaristic and anti-American. (Sang-Hun Cho, AP in Tacoma News Tribune, Internet,
1/15/03)
Order of Saint Charbel/Little Pebble
William Kamm, 53, sometimes called Little Pebble, leader of the Order of Saint
Charbel, a religious sect in New South Wales, Australia, has been charged with sexually
assaulting a young woman in the group in 1994, when she was 14. A document describing
the Order, entered into evidence, divides women into ―queens,‖ ―princesses,‖ and
―baronesses,‖ who are ―mystically bound‖ to Kamm and would, therefore, get a divine
blessing. (ABC Illawarra, NSW, Internet, 4/2/03)
Our Savior's Church
$26 Million Award for Abduction and Indoctrination
The Rev. Gordon Winrod’s Our Savior’s Church, and his Ozarks farm, will be sold in
March to pay a $26 million jury award as punishment for abducting his grandchildren and
indoctrinating them in his anti-Semitic beliefs. A civil suit accused Winrod, as well as his son
and daughter, and the church itself (located near Gainesville, MO), of using mind-altering
techniques on the children, including isolation and whipping to impress his attitudes on
them.
Winrod, who preached hatred of Jews and government for decades, is now serving a 30-
year prison sentence for kidnapping. The award money will be used to pay nearly $300,000
in doctor and hospital bills incurred by the children, who spent months in psychiatric
treatment. (AP, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Internet, 2/28/03)
Palo Mayombe
Miriam Mirabel, a priestess of the Palo Mayombe religion, which originated among slaves
of West African origin, has been charged in Newark, NJ, with leading a ―cult‖ that stole
bodies from cemeteries and used them for religious ceremonies. She was ordered held on
$500,000 bail. (AP in Newsday, Internet, 3/5/03)
New Life Tabernacle/Ariel Ben Sherman
Follower Indicted
A Loudon County (KY) grand jury has indicted Jacqueline Crank on misdemeanor child abuse
and misdemeanor child neglect charges in connection with her refusal to seek medical care
for her daughter, who died of cancer in 2002. Also indicted was Ariel Ben Sherman, leader
of the small religious group to which Crank belonged. (WATE TV News, Internet, 4/16/03)
North Korea
Education in Hatred Pervasive
The encouragement of hatred toward the United States is a deeply pervasive everyday
theme of North Korean life from kindergarten onwards. In schools, teachers tell students
that Americans are ―two-legged wolves‖ and that the U.S. is a ―hotbed of all evils swarming
with beggars.‖ Textbooks tell stories like the one about an American missionary who
tattooed ―thief‖ on a Korean boy who picked an apple from his orchard. Animated cartoons
depict Americans as sharp-toothed wolves. A defector says that hurling rocks at the effigy of
a U.S. soldier was a schoolyard sport.
Cho Myong Chul, a college professor who defected to South Korea in 1994, says that the
North, where the news media are full of hostile slogans, and TV commentators who usually
speak in raised, militant voices, has created a ―whole new linguistic culture,‖ both
militaristic and anti-American. (Sang-Hun Cho, AP in Tacoma News Tribune, Internet,
1/15/03)
Order of Saint Charbel/Little Pebble
William Kamm, 53, sometimes called Little Pebble, leader of the Order of Saint
Charbel, a religious sect in New South Wales, Australia, has been charged with sexually
assaulting a young woman in the group in 1994, when she was 14. A document describing
the Order, entered into evidence, divides women into ―queens,‖ ―princesses,‖ and
―baronesses,‖ who are ―mystically bound‖ to Kamm and would, therefore, get a divine
blessing. (ABC Illawarra, NSW, Internet, 4/2/03)
Our Savior's Church
$26 Million Award for Abduction and Indoctrination
The Rev. Gordon Winrod’s Our Savior’s Church, and his Ozarks farm, will be sold in
March to pay a $26 million jury award as punishment for abducting his grandchildren and
indoctrinating them in his anti-Semitic beliefs. A civil suit accused Winrod, as well as his son
and daughter, and the church itself (located near Gainesville, MO), of using mind-altering
techniques on the children, including isolation and whipping to impress his attitudes on
them.
Winrod, who preached hatred of Jews and government for decades, is now serving a 30-
year prison sentence for kidnapping. The award money will be used to pay nearly $300,000
in doctor and hospital bills incurred by the children, who spent months in psychiatric
treatment. (AP, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Internet, 2/28/03)
Palo Mayombe
Miriam Mirabel, a priestess of the Palo Mayombe religion, which originated among slaves
of West African origin, has been charged in Newark, NJ, with leading a ―cult‖ that stole
bodies from cemeteries and used them for religious ceremonies. She was ordered held on
$500,000 bail. (AP in Newsday, Internet, 3/5/03)
