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their needs. Then they can be offered alternatives. (Sharon Begley, Science Journal,
Internet, 10/9/04)
Symbionese Liberation Army
Documentary Treatment
Robert Stone‘s documentary film about the Symbionese Liberation Army, entitled,
―Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst,‖ opened in November in San Francisco and Berkeley,
where the events it recounts took place. According to Stone, Hearst says the documentary
is ―the fairest thing that‘s ever been done on the story.‖ He continued: ―For everything
she‘s been through, she‘s a remarkably well-balanced and together person and has a very
happy and stable family life.‖ (John McMurtrie, San Francisco Chronicle, Internet, 11/25/04)
Transcendental Meditation
Book Warns of Dangers
Walt Larimore, a physician and co-author of Alternative Medicine: The Christian Handbook,
says a recent Washington Post article that praised Transcendental Meditation failed to
describe the potential emotional damage shown to be associated with the practice.
"One study showed that almost half of those that were active as transcendental meditation
trainers reported episodes of anxiety, depression, and confusion, while some of them have
frustration, mental and physical tension. ..It was really dramatically negative." He also
notes another study documenting psychiatric hospitalizations and attempted suicides among
practitioners. He added that TM, by opening the mind, makes it vulnerable to evil spirits.
(Mary Rettig, Agape Press, 1/18/05)
Unification Church
Moon Graduates Involved in Federal “Faith-based” Funding
Four ―operatives‖ of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church (UC) are
prominently involved in ―faith-based‖ programs funded by the federal government.
Unification Theological Seminary graduate Josephine Hauer, recently hired as a ―marriage
specialist‖ with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, led a ―Certified
Marriage Education Training Seminar‖ for pastors and social workers in San Francisco, in
October, assisted by the Rev. Bento Leal, another Moon seminary graduate who is minister
of a Unification Church congregation in San Leandro. Hauer was previously director of
marriage education at the University of Bridgeport, which is run by a Moon-affiliated
organization.
Hauer refused to speak about her ties to the UC, saying: ―I‘m a professional. I don‘t talk
about my religion or my politics. The assistant secretary for children and families at the
Department of Health and Human Services said: ―We don‘t ask people‘s religious affiliation
before we hire them. But if someone uses federal funds to proselytize, that would be a
violation.‖
Another Moon seminary graduate, Richard Panzer, heads Free Teens USA, an after-school
program in New Jersey that promotes abstinence until marriage. Free Teens has received a
$475,000 grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
In addition, longtime Moon political operative David Caprara is running the Office of Faith-
Based and Community Initiatives for the federal government‘s Corporation for National and
Community Service, which includes AmeriCorps Vista. It disbursed $61 million in 2003.
(Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle, Internet, 10/3/04)

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Moon Church Accused of Narcotics Operations
A Paraguayan politician says that the two chief interests of the Unification Church [UC] in
the country are ―control of the largest fresh water drinking source in the world and control
of the narcotics business.‖ Sen. Domingo Laino points to the church‘s purchase of large
areas on both sides of the Paraguay-Brazil border and the ―takeover‖ of a number of towns
in the region.
The area is one through which much of the drug trade of Peru and Bolivia passes, and it
contains the Guarani aquifer, over which the UC leader, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, wants
to build an ecological paradise. The UC has also become involved in various schemes
elsewhere in South America, where it has set up media and industrial outlets and sought to
gain political influence. (Seamus Mirodan, European Intelligence Wire in the Irish Times,
Internet, 10/14/04)
Moon Campus Group Seeks Charter
The Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles, an arm of the Rev. Sun Myung
Moon’s Unification Church, has applied a second time for a Student Association charter at
Binghamton University [of the State University of New York]. The organization ―has
garnered some infamy in years past for its often controversial practices and beliefs. ..They
have also been said to conduct mass prearranged weddings, and there are contested
allegations against them of kidnappings and brainwashing on CARP retreats.‖ (Michelle
Cornett, Binghamton University Pipe Dream, Internet, 1/4/05)
Moon-Linked Tourism Raises Israeli Concern
Israelis involved in counter-missionary work are concerned that a Unification Church
program has brought in some 10,000 pilgrims and tourists from 190 countries — at a time
when visitor numbers are diminished due to the Middle East conflict. They are concerned
because the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace was created by a
man whose church allegedly ―brainwashes its members into giving up their lives,
disconnecting ties with family members, and proselytizing for Rev. Moon.‖ (Gail Lichtman,
Jerusalem Post, 2/6/05)
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG)
Manipulation for Cash
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a Brazil-based evangelical group,
is being criticized in Mexico for promising miracles in return for cash donations from
parishioners. ―They [the UCKG] work on people‘s despair and their message is very effective
in poor sectors,‖ says Elio Masferrer, an expert in Latin American religions. ―It‘s an
organization structured to make money. Its growth has been meteoric.‖
In addition to regular donations, ministers urge congregants to give more money, saying
God might then be moved to help save a dying loved-one, find a job, or bind a broken
marriage. Says one: ―My boyfriend ran off and married another woman. Ever since, I suffer.
I cry. I can‘t sleep. I want God to bring me peace. I'm unemployed, but if I find a job I'll
give a lot. A good service makes you want to give everything you have."
Responding to government investigations to see whether the UCKG conforms to regulations
for religious groups, the church says it‘s being ―persecuted like Jesus was.‖ Founded by Edir
Macedo in 1977, UCKG, which has been probed in Britain and ―blacklisted‖ in France, owns
a leading Brazilian TV network, a bank, newspapers, and radio stations. A 1995 video shows
Macedo teaching pastors how to raise cash and telling them that stingy people could ―go to
hell.‖ (Catherine Bremer, Reuters, 1/19/05)