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The last time Info-Cult had contact with Richard Bergeron was in the mid 1980s, more than
10 years before the above-cited comment.
More recently, during a visit to the offices of Info-Cult, Jacques Cherblanc, a doctoral
student from France had this to say about Bergeron‘s ―analysis‖ of Info-Cult:
… que l‘organisme a beaucoup évolué depuis cette époque, et son directeur
général, Mike Kropveld, est le premier à la dire, et sa biographie est très
différente de celle présentée par M. Bergeron (p.4). (English translation:
―…the organization has evolved a lot since that period [referring to the 1980s]
and its Executive Director, Mike Kropveld, is the first to admit that and his
story is very different from that presented by Mr. Bergeron.) (Cherblanc,
2001, February)
Conclusion
The above examples have been selected to expose certain problems regarding the nature of
discussion and research about cults/new religious movements. My premise is that the
labeling of Info-Cult, when it first started as a so-called ―anti-cult‖ group is one that is still
used unthinkingly. Moreover, this labeling has led to the portrayal of the organization in a
simplistic, static, and one dimensional manner.
The kinds of inaccuracies I‘ve described above have occurred time and time again. I use
these as examples of how the stereotypes that have fueled the ―cult wars‖ endure because
of a lack of scholarly rigor.
I am not the first to raise the issue of the harmful aspects of the ―cult wars‖. Others have
done so very eloquently (Barker, 2002 Langone, 2000 Robbins, 2000 Zablocki &Robbins,
2001). I hope that the examples and suggestions offered here reaffirm the need to
dialogue and to bring together individuals and organizations on all sides of this complex and
controversial issue.
References
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Montreal Gazette, A1 &A4.
Baker, G. (1995, 29 September). Spiritualists leaving Val-David Harassment over beliefs
prompts couple to say they‘re packing. Montreal Gazette, A5.
Barker, E. (2002). Watching for violence: A comparative analysis of the roles of five types of
cult-watching groups. In D. G. Bromley &J. G. Melton (Eds.), Cults, Religion and
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Zablocki, B. &Robbins, T. (2001), Introduction: Finding a middle ground in a polarized
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Acknowledgments
This article is based on a presentation given by Michael Kropveld at the AFF (American
Family Foundation) Annual Conference, June 2002 in Orlando, Florida. The translations of
the French texts are the author‘s. My appreciation and thanks to Debbie Carroll and Andrea
Moore Emmett for their editorial comments. My gratitude, as well, to Marie-Andrée Pelland
for her research into the sociological studies of the ACM and to Michael Langone for his
―surgical‖ insights.
This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Review, 2003, Volume 2,
Number 2, pages 130-150. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the
bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
Comment [MK1]: