Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 238
people it seeks to help with its social programs, unlike other social service agencies in the
area, even religious ones, which refrain from proselytizing.
Labor Action, which provides free food and clothing to its members, as well as access to
doctors, dentists, and legal advocates, includes in its sponsors‘ guide numerous prominent
businesses, doctors, and lawyers in Berkshire County. (Kevin Moran and Carrie Saldo, North
Adams Transcript, Internet, 1/10/03)
White Supremacist
Former Skinhead Tells of Recruitment Practices
Former Neo-Nazi skinhead Tom Leyden tells how he and fellow white supremacists
recruited young people by posting hate flyers that stimulated conflicts between white
students and minority students that drove some of the former to join the racists. He also
said that hate groups use the ―teardown and rebuild‖ method to ―brainwash‖ a new recruit,
something like what goes on in the military, or in sororities and fraternities, which employ
negative reinforcement for undesirable behavior and positive reinforcement for desirable
behavior.
Leyden, speaking to students at Ohio University, said that ―music is the most powerful
recruitment tool ever,‖ because ―it will dictate the way you walk, the way you talk—even
your politics revolve around music.‖
He added that he began to alter his racist views when his 3-year-old son told him (as they
were watching a TV program): ―Daddy, you know we don‘t watch shows with niggers on
them in this house.‖ (Adam Townsend, Athens News, 1/30/03)
Wiccan
Prison Space for Religious Ceremonies
The Canadian Correctional Service is paying for priests of the Wiccan faith to hold religious
services in prison for witches, as some 200 followers across the country call themselves.
Members are allowed to wear ceremonial robes and keep altars in their cells. Officials say
that they are obliged to allow this under human rights legislation. Other non-traditional
religions recognized by the corrections system include Druidry, Rastafarianism, and the
Hare Krishna way. (Tome Blackwell. National Post, Internet, 1/25/03)
Winifred Wright/Child Abuse
Prison Term for Starvation Death
Winifred Wright, whose religiously-based regimen of strict discipline and diet led to the
starvation death of an infant in the small group he led, has been sentenced to more than 16
years by a Marin County, CA, judge. Wright headed a household of four women and twelve
children.
Police say that Wright employed physical force and psychological coercion to control his
family, guided by a ―Book of Rules‖ that provided harsh punishment for those who broke
them, as when someone would sneak food during a routine 3-day fast. Punishments
included belt lashings and force-feeding of jalpeño peppers.
―If we had believed in taking him [the dead child] to the mainstream doctors for a checkup,
his life would have been spared,‖ Wright said. ―I have great sorrow over this, but our
shunning of Western doctors was not based on blind belief.‖
Wright‘s lawyer said that while the group‘s beliefs were unorthodox, perhaps even
―delusional,‖ they meant well. (Justin Pritchard, AP, Internet 3/15/03)
people it seeks to help with its social programs, unlike other social service agencies in the
area, even religious ones, which refrain from proselytizing.
Labor Action, which provides free food and clothing to its members, as well as access to
doctors, dentists, and legal advocates, includes in its sponsors‘ guide numerous prominent
businesses, doctors, and lawyers in Berkshire County. (Kevin Moran and Carrie Saldo, North
Adams Transcript, Internet, 1/10/03)
White Supremacist
Former Skinhead Tells of Recruitment Practices
Former Neo-Nazi skinhead Tom Leyden tells how he and fellow white supremacists
recruited young people by posting hate flyers that stimulated conflicts between white
students and minority students that drove some of the former to join the racists. He also
said that hate groups use the ―teardown and rebuild‖ method to ―brainwash‖ a new recruit,
something like what goes on in the military, or in sororities and fraternities, which employ
negative reinforcement for undesirable behavior and positive reinforcement for desirable
behavior.
Leyden, speaking to students at Ohio University, said that ―music is the most powerful
recruitment tool ever,‖ because ―it will dictate the way you walk, the way you talk—even
your politics revolve around music.‖
He added that he began to alter his racist views when his 3-year-old son told him (as they
were watching a TV program): ―Daddy, you know we don‘t watch shows with niggers on
them in this house.‖ (Adam Townsend, Athens News, 1/30/03)
Wiccan
Prison Space for Religious Ceremonies
The Canadian Correctional Service is paying for priests of the Wiccan faith to hold religious
services in prison for witches, as some 200 followers across the country call themselves.
Members are allowed to wear ceremonial robes and keep altars in their cells. Officials say
that they are obliged to allow this under human rights legislation. Other non-traditional
religions recognized by the corrections system include Druidry, Rastafarianism, and the
Hare Krishna way. (Tome Blackwell. National Post, Internet, 1/25/03)
Winifred Wright/Child Abuse
Prison Term for Starvation Death
Winifred Wright, whose religiously-based regimen of strict discipline and diet led to the
starvation death of an infant in the small group he led, has been sentenced to more than 16
years by a Marin County, CA, judge. Wright headed a household of four women and twelve
children.
Police say that Wright employed physical force and psychological coercion to control his
family, guided by a ―Book of Rules‖ that provided harsh punishment for those who broke
them, as when someone would sneak food during a routine 3-day fast. Punishments
included belt lashings and force-feeding of jalpeño peppers.
―If we had believed in taking him [the dead child] to the mainstream doctors for a checkup,
his life would have been spared,‖ Wright said. ―I have great sorrow over this, but our
shunning of Western doctors was not based on blind belief.‖
Wright‘s lawyer said that while the group‘s beliefs were unorthodox, perhaps even
―delusional,‖ they meant well. (Justin Pritchard, AP, Internet 3/15/03)
