Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 65
Praying with Victims
Scientologists set up a tent and prayed with the relatives of missing children as authorities
searched for the youngsters‘ bodies following a flash flood near Johannesburg, South Africa.
(Jonathan Ancer, Lee Rondaganger, and Shaun Smillie, The Star, Internet, 12/10/04)
Cruise Promotes Nobel Concert
Tom Cruise referred with pride to his being a Scientologist as he co-hosted a Nobel Peace
Prize Concert with Oprah Winfrey in Norway in December. ―One of the things that we
[Scientologists] believe is peace, freedom. I‘m just proud to be here, and very proud to be a
Scientologist here and to be part of this.‖ (Jeanette Walls, MSNBC News, Internet,
12/14/04)
Teaching Tibetan Monks
American Scientologist Agnes Barton and several of her co-religionists have conducted a
series of workshops in Mysore, India, teaching Tibetan Buddhist monks easy techniques
developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard to help the body heal from injuries and
accidents. She also held a series of workshops for students at colleges and universities in
Mysore in conjunction with the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society. (Star of Mysore, Internet,
12/21/04)
Scientology-Trained Monks Aid Victims
Tibetan Buddhist monks living in exile in India have arrived in the town of Nagapattinam to
counsel victims of the tsunami, using the ―Assist,‖ a method learned from Scientology and
based on persuading people not to focus on a particular event. (AFP, Internet, 1/7/05)
Assisting Australians
Scientology volunteers from the US have been assisting Australian efforts to preserve
bodies of tsunami victims in Thailand. The leader of the Scientology team, Patrick Bundock,
says his group has formed close bonds with the Australian police on the scene, and that
they have counseled relief workers as well as victims. (AAP in The Australian, Internet,
1/2/05)
Helping Psychiatric Patient
Rodney Yoder, who spent almost 15 years in an institution for the criminally insane after
beating his wife, has gained his freedom thanks partly to the support of Scientology and
Chicago attorney Randy Kretchmar, a Scientologist. They supported Yoder‘s claim — he
studied psychiatry while in confinement and mounted a campaign to gain his freedom —
that he was a ―psychiatric prisoner‖ who had been subjected to ―forced psychiatry.‖
Prison officials argued that Yoder be admitted to a regular penal institution, and not simply
released, because of his alleged violent outbursts. While in prison, Yoder wrote to judges
and famous people, including Playboy‘s Hugh Hefner, threatening to kill them. (Scott
Moyers, Southeast Missourian, Internet, 1/16/05)
Weight Loss Credit
Actress Kirstie Alley credits Scientology and Oprah Winfrey for giving her the fortitude to
lose weight in 2005. Winfrey‘s own diet, calculated to deal with heart palpitations, according
to Alley, stimulated the actress, ―so I went over to my Scientology center and did a little
program.‖ Alley has become a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig and will try to lose 50 pounds
by this summer. (Contactmusic.com, Internet, 1/13/05)

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 66
Servants of the Holy Family
Radical Parish Called Cultish
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs has sent a letter to about 60 households
asking members of the Servants of the Holy Family, led by the Rev. Anthony Ward, to
leave it. Former members say the church and seminary of 100–150 members is a
personality cult, that its priests berate members from the pulpit and demand unquestioned
loyalty. The result is the sundering of families. Many members refuse — or are unable — to
speak with parents, children, or siblings who have left the church, which offers a traditional
Latin Mass six days a week. It is said that members regularly ask Rev. Ward for permission
to marry or change jobs. (Paul Asay, The Gazette, Internet, 11/15/04)
Social Therapy
Newman Party Endorsed Nader
Ralph Nader received an endorsement during the recent election campaign from the
Independence Party, ―a cult-like political organization‖ headed by Fred Newman associate
Lenora Fulani. Newman, once allied with Lyndon LaRouche, developed social therapy,
which has been described by ex-members as ―sophisticated indoctrination methodology
which impairs critical thinking skills and which uses repression, dependency, and guilt-
inducing techniques to control and lure patients into political activity and, ultimately, into
blind allegiance to Newman.‖ (John Eder and David Siegal, Political News Today, Internet,
10/4/04)
Steiner (Waldorf Schools)
In Australian Public School
The Trinity Gardens, a public primary school in South Australia, will soon offer two optional
alternative classes using the Steiner method [which is associated with the Waldorf
schools]. Critics say Steiner schools operate ―like a religious cult,‖ and some parents plan to
remove their children from the school. (Miles Kemp, The Advertiser, Internet, 1/7/05)
Suicide Bombers
Defusing Suicide Bombers
Social scientists say that it‘s the group with which one identifies, and not one‘s personality,
that often determines behavior. This insight is affecting our understanding of suicide
bombers, who are not sociopaths or psychopaths, or otherwise mentally unbalanced, or
from fanatically religious families, or even socially estranged. This view is confirmed by a
recent National Science foundation study in Gaza and the West Bank undertaken by
anthropologist Scott Atran, which finds likely suicide bombers — strong Hamas supporters,
for example — to be idealistic and compassionate, from among the elite, young people who
think they can change the world.
They also seem irrational in that they don‘t weigh risks and benefits or winning and losing
strategies, but allow ―sacred values‖ to overwhelm other considerations. A potential suicide
bomber says, at least when he is in a group, that it doesn‘t matter whether he kill‘s 100
people or no one at all, so long as he makes his sacrifice. Yet when alone, the same
informants are more doubtful of the prospect of martyrdom and flexible in their approaches
to it. A conclusion of the study is that group dynamics rather than individual psychology will
provide greater understanding of suicide bombers.
Retired Air Force general Todd Stewart says profiling won‘t prevent suicide attacks. He
believes it will take an understanding of how terrorist groups socialize recruits and exploit