Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 48
Helzer‘s attorney said her client used the training‘s ideas to ―justify his incredibly bizarre
ideas,‖ and the attorney for Helzer‘s brother Justin, also convicted of the crimes, said the
trainings made it difficult for his client to reject his brother‘s plans. (Demian Bulwa, San
Francisco Chronicle, Internet, 12/14/04)
Colonia Dignidad
Cult Breaks Up
Members of the 280-strong Colonia Dignidad, a religious cult established in rural Chile by
German immigrants in the 1960s, have begun to tell the story of the group, some seven
years after the flight of its founder-leader, Paul Schäfer, from charges of child sexual abuse
at the group‘s free health clinic and school.
Schäfer, a World War II German army nurse who ran from earlier child sexual abuse
charges in Germany, was a charismatic personality whom followers thought was God on
earth and who subjected them to a harsh discipline he said would bring them closer to the
Supreme Being.
They lived behind a perimeter fence fitted with cameras and motion detectors, treating him,
according to one follower, ―as a celestial being,‖ and waiting for an apocalypse. Telephones
and television were not allowed, references to love and sex in the Bible were removed —
some members were reportedly forced to take drugs to curb sexual urges — and corporal
punishment was common. They sang German folk songs and worked the fields in 1930s
Bavarian peasant clothing. Once they taunted police with Nazi salutes. Members worked
communally, seven days a week profits from farming, forestry, and construction businesses
went to collective living expenses.
So strong was Schäfer‘s control over residents — defectors years ago reported that he
separated children from parents at birth and banned normal contact among family members
— that they defended Colonia Dignidad and kept it going long after he was gone, in the
teeth of government inquiries. Older members, now in their 80s, at a loss as to what to do
now, are seeking to regain pensions cut off by the German government when it learned the
money went to Schaefer, while younger ones regret sacrificing their child-bearing years to
Schaefer‘s vision. (Fiona Ortiz, Reuters in the Washington Post, Internet, 11/8/04)
Following an eight-year investigation, a Chilean judge in November found Shäfer and 22
Chilean and German members of Colonia Dignidad guilty of sexually abusing 26 children and
sentenced them [Shäfer in absentia] to up to five years each in prison. (Reuters in the New
York Times, Internet, 11/17/04)
Destiny
Fundamentalist Group Called Cult
The Destiny church of Brian Tamaki, who says it will rule New Zealand within four years,
―certainly fits the classic definitions of a cult,‖ according to Dr. Phillip Culbertson, a lecturer
in theology at Auckland University. Destiny strongly emphasizes obligation, and a leader
―who tells people how to think ...who understands himself as a particular agent or voice of
God in some special chosen way.‖
Tamaki, who recently led a demonstration of 5,000 people against civil union legislation,
says that if Destiny is a cult then so are ninety percent of the churches in New Zealand.
―God does choose men. He puts authority on their lives whereby he uses them in a special
way. It‘s not a dictatorship, it‘s not a democracy, it‘s a theocracy.‖ As to taking power, he
says: ―That means you control the wealth, that means you control the riches, that means
you control the politics, that means you control the social order, that means you are in
charge.‖ (TVNZ, Internet, 10/3/04)

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Exorcism
Ritual Killing
A 10-year-old Thai girl‘s throat was slashed repeatedly by her mother, grandmother, and
two aunts in a deadly exorcism ritual aimed to banish an evil spirit, according to police.
The child was found in a pool of blood as the women chanted upstairs to a Hindu goddess
around whom they had built a cult. ―We suspect they committed the crime in a trance-like
state without even knowing what they had done,‖ said a police spokesman. Earlier, the
family frightened neighbors when they said they could communicate with gods and spirits.
(Herald Sun, Australia, Internet, 10/5/04)
Women Beaten for Cure
Hundreds of women in Madhya Pradesh state, India, are gathering to have ghosts beaten
out of them by a broom at the annual ghost fair in an 18th century Hindu temple dedicated
to the Guru Maharaj Deoji, a saint. They believe that the power to exorcise demons has
been inherited though generations of Deoji‘s disciples. A local politician says most of the
women are actually suffering from epilepsy, schizophrenia, or depression. AP in Sydney
Morning Herald, Internet, 2/2/05)
Faith Based Initiative
Grant Blocked Due to Proselytizing
A judge has blocked the federal government from providing Department of Health and
Human Services funds to the Phoenix-based MotorKids USA because the organization used
public money, part of the administration‘s faith based initiative, to directly support
religious activities.
MotorKids hired only Christians as mentors, who were then encouraged to share their faith
with the children for whom they were providing social services. The mentors were also
required to introduce children to scripture and to provide monthly reports on whether the
children had discussed God, participated in Bible study, or attended church. A watchdog
group says that many other groups are using public money to promote religion. (AP in New
York Times, Internet, 1/15/05)
Faith Healing
Leader Buried Alive
Four members of a religious cult that believes in resurrection are being investigated for
burying their leader, Mr. Song, in an underground room and then covering it with concrete,
in JoongAng, South Korea. Song was a faith healer whose failure to cure them apparently
upset followers. Police believe a struggle over property led to Song‘s entombment. But a
police spokesman also said: ―Mr. Song was confined and killed by his followers because they
wanted to experience eternal life and resurrection.‖ (Chung Chan-min, JoongAng Daily,
Internet, 12/14/04)
The Fellowship
Book on “Fractured Families”
Morag Swartz‘s new book, Fractured Families: The Story of a Melbourne Church Cult, tells
about The Fellowship, a 400-member group with several congregations, connected to the
Presbyterian Church, that she describes as pious, elitist, and controlling. A chief
characteristic, she writes, is the destruction of families and friendships, the result not only
of doctrinal disputes but, among other things, an emphasis on public confession that
borders on mental harassment. Followers also reportedly exhibit an almost ―superhuman‖
holiness, and they refuse to reconcile with people who have differing views. Moreover, the