Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2005, Page 106
community so that they don‘t compete with older men for wives.] They usually end up living
on the streets. ..
―B.C.‘s (soon to be retired) attorney general has refused to even investigate the allegations of
child trafficking [of young potential wives among Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints communities] and the admitted practice of polygamy. Our federal
justice minister, Irwin Cotler ...was very explicit in speaking about trafficking: Canada‘s
policy is, and I quote, ‗Protection, prosecution, prevention.‘
―So I call on him, and on our community, to ask for protection for the ‗lost boys‘ ousted from
this cult, for prosecution of polygamists, and for prevention of this odious cult from continuing
to share our country while flouting its laws. I call on the federal government to enforce the
law, to go to Bountiful, to investigate, and to proceed to remove these people from our
midst.‖ (Jean M. Gerber, Canadian Jewish News, Internet, 5/11/05)
Branch Davidians
TV Biography of Koresh
A&E TV has produced a biography of Branch Davidian leader David Koresh. ―We explore his
brilliant evangelical skills, [his] decree that women followers have sex with him, and [his]
showdown with Attorney General Janet Reno.‖ (Info-Secte, Internet, 3/19/05)
Calvary Christian Church
Parents Say Pastor Brainwashed Daughter
John and Dinah Stroich, of Shelby Township, MI, have been excommunicated by the Calvary
Christian Church for carrying out a campaign to remove the Rev. Mark Byers, whom they
accuse of influencing their 18-year-old scholar-athlete daughter, Ashleigh, to give up her
family, friends, and college plans to become the ―Stepford wife‖ of Byers‘ youngest son,
Justin, 19. Byers says the now grown-up Ashleigh is an adult, and calls the allegations that
he‘s running a cult ludicrous.
After beginning to date Justin, Ashleigh left her Christian school to attend another that is
linked to one run by Calvary Christian, and soon began to denounce her mother for working
outside the home. Her grades went down. She reportedly told her parents that her old
school was too liberal and demanding, and that she had decided not to attend college. She
eventually left home and now refuses to speak with them unless they repent. ―If they‘re
committed to the religion, they need to be under a pastor,‖ she says. ―They never learned
submission, yet they expect it out of me.‖ (Catherine Kavenaugh, Daily Oakland Press,
Internet, 3/24/05)
Colonia Dignidad (Villa Baviera)
Leader’s Control Diminished in Absentia
Colonia Dignidad founder and leader Paul Schafer’s power over members weakened, when
he fled from Chile to Argentina in 1998, because ―he could no longer punish people himself or
have drugs administered to them to control their lives,‖ according to Hernan Fernandez, the
lawyer who filed sexual abuse charges against Schafer. ―But now that he is in prison, the
psychological threat, the fear that he would come back to punish those rebelling against him,
has evaporated.‖
Authorities say they didn‘t move against ―Permanent Uncle‖ Schafer sooner because they
feared a mass suicide. Psychiatrist Luis Peebles, a political prisoner [of Chilean dictator
Pinochet] held at the anti-communist anti-Semitic Colonia Dignidad in the 1970s, said that
followers ―are accomplices to horrendous crimes, yes, but they have been programmed like
robots and were treated as slaves, robbed of their own human rights. It is hard for the victims
community so that they don‘t compete with older men for wives.] They usually end up living
on the streets. ..
―B.C.‘s (soon to be retired) attorney general has refused to even investigate the allegations of
child trafficking [of young potential wives among Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints communities] and the admitted practice of polygamy. Our federal
justice minister, Irwin Cotler ...was very explicit in speaking about trafficking: Canada‘s
policy is, and I quote, ‗Protection, prosecution, prevention.‘
―So I call on him, and on our community, to ask for protection for the ‗lost boys‘ ousted from
this cult, for prosecution of polygamists, and for prevention of this odious cult from continuing
to share our country while flouting its laws. I call on the federal government to enforce the
law, to go to Bountiful, to investigate, and to proceed to remove these people from our
midst.‖ (Jean M. Gerber, Canadian Jewish News, Internet, 5/11/05)
Branch Davidians
TV Biography of Koresh
A&E TV has produced a biography of Branch Davidian leader David Koresh. ―We explore his
brilliant evangelical skills, [his] decree that women followers have sex with him, and [his]
showdown with Attorney General Janet Reno.‖ (Info-Secte, Internet, 3/19/05)
Calvary Christian Church
Parents Say Pastor Brainwashed Daughter
John and Dinah Stroich, of Shelby Township, MI, have been excommunicated by the Calvary
Christian Church for carrying out a campaign to remove the Rev. Mark Byers, whom they
accuse of influencing their 18-year-old scholar-athlete daughter, Ashleigh, to give up her
family, friends, and college plans to become the ―Stepford wife‖ of Byers‘ youngest son,
Justin, 19. Byers says the now grown-up Ashleigh is an adult, and calls the allegations that
he‘s running a cult ludicrous.
After beginning to date Justin, Ashleigh left her Christian school to attend another that is
linked to one run by Calvary Christian, and soon began to denounce her mother for working
outside the home. Her grades went down. She reportedly told her parents that her old
school was too liberal and demanding, and that she had decided not to attend college. She
eventually left home and now refuses to speak with them unless they repent. ―If they‘re
committed to the religion, they need to be under a pastor,‖ she says. ―They never learned
submission, yet they expect it out of me.‖ (Catherine Kavenaugh, Daily Oakland Press,
Internet, 3/24/05)
Colonia Dignidad (Villa Baviera)
Leader’s Control Diminished in Absentia
Colonia Dignidad founder and leader Paul Schafer’s power over members weakened, when
he fled from Chile to Argentina in 1998, because ―he could no longer punish people himself or
have drugs administered to them to control their lives,‖ according to Hernan Fernandez, the
lawyer who filed sexual abuse charges against Schafer. ―But now that he is in prison, the
psychological threat, the fear that he would come back to punish those rebelling against him,
has evaporated.‖
Authorities say they didn‘t move against ―Permanent Uncle‖ Schafer sooner because they
feared a mass suicide. Psychiatrist Luis Peebles, a political prisoner [of Chilean dictator
Pinochet] held at the anti-communist anti-Semitic Colonia Dignidad in the 1970s, said that
followers ―are accomplices to horrendous crimes, yes, but they have been programmed like
robots and were treated as slaves, robbed of their own human rights. It is hard for the victims
