Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 56
Leader Suffers Stroke
Rabbi Philip Berg, leader of the Beverly Hills Kabbalah Center and Madonna‘s personal
guru, has suffered a stroke and is now wheelchair bound. An assistant said: ―He‘s doing OK
right now, but we‘ll see in time.‖ (Marianne Garvey, New York Post, Internet, 10/17/04)
Madonna Proselytizing
Rapper Missy Elliott has reportedly refused her friend Madonna‘s invitation to become
involved in Kabbalah. ―I love Madonna,‖ said Elliott. ―We became friends after the Gap
advert. She introduced me to Kabbalah and gave me a red bracelet [of the kind worn by
some other Hollywood adepts of Kabbalah]. I‘m Christian, so I didn‘t join. But we‘re still
close.‖ (New Karela News [India], Internet, 10/22/04)
Kingston Clan/The Order
Father’s Visitation Privileges Revoked
A Salt Lake City juvenile court has revoked the visitation privileges of polygamous Kingston
Clan [The Order] leader John Daniel Kingston — who has some 100 children by 14
wives. The judge relied on the testimony of a social worker who said Kingston told the
children that their situation was like biblical persecution. She also said that he tried to
prejudice them against their foster parents and influence their testimony. The court
originally removed a number of his children from Kingston‘s custody after finding that he
abused them.
Court documents allege that Kingston‘s 4-year-old son soils himself before and after his
father‘s visits, and that a 9-year-old son wets his bed the night before his father is
scheduled to arrive. State officials say the visits serve Kingston‘s needs more than the
children‘s. (AP in the Casper Star-Tribune, Internet, 11/24/04)
Dispute with Miners
The mostly Mexican workforce of a Utah coal mine owned by the polygamous Kingston
Clan is fighting to unionize in order to improve what it describes as low wages and bad
safety conditions. But, they say, management fired dozens of workers just before the recent
election to authorize a union. They say that management has challenged all but seven of
142 votes cast, and that 101 votes cast by relatives of the Kingston clan should not be
counted. Management says the votes of the 34-fired workers should be thrown out. (John
Hollenhorst, KSL TV News, Internet, 12/20/04)
Death Threats Against Judge Alleged
Utah Third District Court Judge Andrew Valdez has been given police protection following
allegations by the 16-year-old estranged daughter of John Daniel Kingston, a leader of
the polygamous Kingston Clan, that she heard members of her family talk about killing the
judge as well as the Assistant Attorney General and the girl‘s state-appointed guardian.
(Linda Thompson, Deseret Morning News, Internet, 1/13/05)
Parental Rights
The Utah Guardian Ad Litem Office has ruled that John Daniel Kingston, a prominent
member of the polygamous Kingston Clan, has a ―residual parental right‖ to determine the
religious affiliation of his daughter, a 16-year-old placed in state custody last June who says
she wants to become a member of the mainline Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints.
The Guardian said Kingston is also responsible for supporting the girl, who was removed
from his home after authorities determined that he and his wife had abused her. In

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 57
addition, the Guardian ruled that Kingston has the right to consent to adoption as well as to
reasonable visitation, unless restricted by the court.
Juvenile Judge Andrew Valdez said he is not opposed to granting the girl‘s request to
become a member of the mainline Mormon church. ―If the girl wants to talk to missionaries,
what‘s the harm?‖ (Leon D‘Souza, AP in Casper Star-Tribune, Internet, 1/25/05)
Lord’s Resistance Army
Escapees Recount Life in Group
Ten young women abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda eight
years ago have returned to St. Mary‘s School to tell their stories at the annual school
ceremony memorializing the raid. They tell how they were each assigned to be wives of
rebel commanders, beaten, tortured, taught to kill, and made to believe that leader Joseph
Kony was a disciple of God, with supernatural power.
There was tension at the ceremony between one of the returnees, Charlotte Awino, and her
mother, Atyam, who had continued to campaign publicly against the Lord‘s Resistance Army
despite an offer to release her daughter if she desisted. Yet Atyam said: I don‘t have much
anger,‖ and she clearly wants to forget the experience. But the former top student no
longer wishes to become a doctor: ―I have seen too much to work in a hospital.‖ She now
also has two unplanned children and no way to independently support them.
Returnees undergo army debriefing and counseling at the Rachele Rehabilitation Center,
where they draw pictures of their horrible memories and become aware that they have been
victims despite the atrocities they were forced to commit. (Marc Lacey, New York Times,
Internet, 10/10/04)
Cease Fire
Representatives of the Uganda Government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
[known for kidnapping children and indoctrinating them to become soldiers who kill], have
agreed to sign a cease fire to end the 18-year-old conflict. (Alfred Waskie, New Vision,
Uganda, Internet, 12/31/04)
MOVE
Lawsuit Amidst Evolution of Radical Group
Jack Gilbride, father of murdered former MOVE member John Gilbride, Jr., has filed a
wrongful-death suit against his son‘s still unknown killer, thus meeting a two-year deadline
for the filing of such cases and making a future prosecution possible. John Gilbride was
killed a few hours before a planned visit with a son he fathered with Alberta Africa, the
matriarch of the radical anti-establishment group that had deadly confrontations with
Philadelphia police in the 1970s and 1980s.
The suit names Alberta Africa as a suspect in the crime — the County Prosecutor says only
that the murder investigation is ongoing — but she has strenuously denied any involvement,
saying: ―MOVE is having a hard time having people look at reality as opposed to
supposition.‖ (Frank Kummer and Stephen Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/28/04)
Recently, Tony and Lori Allen left MOVE after eight years‘ involvement and began to speak
of the shame they feel for what they did before rejecting the group. Once, they posted
Gilbride‘s parent‘s neighborhood with 1,200 flyers that falsely labeled the elderly couple
child molesters. The Allen‘s accounts of life in MOVE brought a chilling phone call from Sue
Africa, MOVE‘s ―minister of confrontation,‖ saying, ―You‘re a traitor. You‘re worse than John
Gilbride.‖