Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 61
what you know there.‖ She says that the abuse went beyond child molestation to include
the separation of families, and mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse over many
years. Girls and boys lived in separate buildings and York directed their every move. He
taught them that everything they had learned from white society was wrong, and that his
way was right, says Washington. He even changed them all from Muslims to ―Hebrews,‖ and
when the group moved to rural Georgia, where they are now, their settlement took on an
Egyptian theme. Some even became Christians, but the high ―god‖ was still York, who
enjoyed a ―Savior‘s Day‖ each June.
Washington said that York assured followers that they were helping other black people, so
they should not think of themselves as being in a ―cult.‖ He would ask them if they knew of
any black cults, and pointed out that all of the cults that the government had ―busted‖ were
white.
Looking back, Washington said: ―The community took the most important part of our lives
away from us. ..our childhood, when we were most vulnerable.‖ (WABC, New York,
Internet, 2/7/03)
Waldorf Schools
Lawsuit Renewed
A former Waldorf School parent and president of the People for Legal and Nonsectarian
Schools says that her group is suing public school districts in Sacramento and Nevada City,
CA, once again, claiming that the Waldorf school curriculum cannot be separated from the
religious philosophy of the late Rudolph Steiner. ―If Catholic or Lutheran schools cannot be
publicly funded, then neither can Waldorf,‖ she said.
The principal of the Waldorf School in Sacramento says: ―We teach about religion, but we
don‘t teach religion.‖ Anti-Waldorf activists say that classroom displays of natural objects,
like leaves and bark, are endowed by Waldorf teaching with a spiritual meaning, that they
are in fact pagan altars because some schools light a candle near them and recite a prayer
to the sun. (Bill Lindelhof, Sacramento Bee, Internet, 4/6/03)
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)
Judge Allows Bail for ―Deprogramming‖ Time
A Marin County, CA, judge has granted bail to Dierdre Hart Wilson—one of three women
convicted in the malnutrition death of a toddler they raised—in order that she can enter the
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, in Ohio, a treatment facility for former cult
what you know there.‖ She says that the abuse went beyond child molestation to include
the separation of families, and mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse over many
years. Girls and boys lived in separate buildings and York directed their every move. He
taught them that everything they had learned from white society was wrong, and that his
way was right, says Washington. He even changed them all from Muslims to ―Hebrews,‖ and
when the group moved to rural Georgia, where they are now, their settlement took on an
Egyptian theme. Some even became Christians, but the high ―god‖ was still York, who
enjoyed a ―Savior‘s Day‖ each June.
Washington said that York assured followers that they were helping other black people, so
they should not think of themselves as being in a ―cult.‖ He would ask them if they knew of
any black cults, and pointed out that all of the cults that the government had ―busted‖ were
white.
Looking back, Washington said: ―The community took the most important part of our lives
away from us. ..our childhood, when we were most vulnerable.‖ (WABC, New York,
Internet, 2/7/03)
Waldorf Schools
Lawsuit Renewed
A former Waldorf School parent and president of the People for Legal and Nonsectarian
Schools says that her group is suing public school districts in Sacramento and Nevada City,
CA, once again, claiming that the Waldorf school curriculum cannot be separated from the
religious philosophy of the late Rudolph Steiner. ―If Catholic or Lutheran schools cannot be
publicly funded, then neither can Waldorf,‖ she said.
The principal of the Waldorf School in Sacramento says: ―We teach about religion, but we
don‘t teach religion.‖ Anti-Waldorf activists say that classroom displays of natural objects,
like leaves and bark, are endowed by Waldorf teaching with a spiritual meaning, that they
are in fact pagan altars because some schools light a candle near them and recite a prayer
to the sun. (Bill Lindelhof, Sacramento Bee, Internet, 4/6/03)
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)
Judge Allows Bail for ―Deprogramming‖ Time
A Marin County, CA, judge has granted bail to Dierdre Hart Wilson—one of three women
convicted in the malnutrition death of a toddler they raised—in order that she can enter the
Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, in Ohio, a treatment facility for former cult
