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two reasons,‖ says Institute scientist Brian Cummings. ―One, to advertise that he was invited
to give a lecture at UC Irvine so he could have an official brochure saying he went there and,
second, to convince us that there‘s something to this brain respiration and that we should
study it. It was just silly.‖ (Shawn Cohen, Journal News, NY, Internet, 8/7/05)
False Memory/Recovered Memory
Mother Finds Alleged False Memory Victim
An Illinois mother has located a daughter who disappeared 15 years ago, at the age of 19,
when a mental health counselor convinced the girl, the mother says, that the teenager had
been the victim of intergenerational satanic sexual abuse. Pamela Freyd, Executive director
of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, in Philadelphia, says that since 1992 23,000
families have asked the foundation‘s help in finding relatives who have broken off contact
after being persuaded through therapy that they were abused as children.
The foundation says that about 18 percent of the families they surveyed have been accused
of being part of a cult whose members dress in robes, sacrifice babies, and engage in
cannibalism and bestiality. She adds that there is no evidence for the existence of such a
cult. (Karin Grunden, Terre Haute Tribune-Star, Internet, 6/16/05)
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Dr. Phil Refers Runaways to Cult Counselor
TV talk-show host Dr. Phil recently aired a program featuring teenagers Fawn Broadbent and
Fawn Holm, who say they fled their polygamous families in the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) for fear they‘d be married off to older men with
other wives, and because of limited educational opportunities provided by the community.
He suggested the girls consult Stephen Hassan, the Massachusetts cult exit counselor. They
spent three days with Hassan, author of Combatting Cult Mind Control, and are now receiving
counseling in Utah.
―I no longer want to go back [to her family],‖ said Broadbent. ―I am learning not to be scared
of men. I‘m learning to talk more to people I don‘t know. It‘s made me feel much happier. I‘m
not as stressed. I‘m learning to speak my own opinions, too.‖ Holm said she now understands
that ―my family just wants me to be like them. Every time I start getting happy it makes
them ...scared and they try to bring my self-esteem down. Now I realize it [the FLDS] is a
cult, not the one true thing. I just don‘t want people to bring me down like that. I love [my
family] so much it hurts, but I need to take care of me before I can love or take care of
anybody else.‖ (Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune, Internet, 5/4/05)State Supporting Moves
to Curb Leader‘s Power
The attorneys general of Utah and Arizona say they will support motions before Utah‘s 3rd
Judicial District Court to curb the power of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. The court action,
requested by excommunicated members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, who are suing Jeffs for sexual abuse and for ruining the lives of young
men he ejected from the sect, seeks to end Jeffs‘ domination of a financial trust operating in
FLDS enclaves on the Arizona-Utah border, where he controls virtually all property, jobs, and
political influence. The attorneys general fear that Jeffs, who appears to have relocated to
Texas, where the FLDS is building a new town, will siphon off trust money meant to support
the towns he has apparently abandoned. (Joseph A. Reeves, Arizona Republic, Internet,
4/18/05)
Bountiful Holds Media Day
The polygamous settlement of Bountiful, British Columbia — a breakaway faction of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — under increasing scrutiny

Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2005, Page 117
for its practices, recently presented ―a well-orchestrated media blitz designed to ‗create
bridges‘ between themselves and the rest of Canada.‖
A PowerPoint presentation stressed the benefits of living in a polygamous community, while
teenagers as well as women involved in plural marriages spoke about being happy with their
lives. ―The evening very much carried with it a plea for tolerance and understanding.‖ The
event stressed that Bountiful represented a distinct culture. Leader Winston Blackmore
attacked the media for its coverage, and one of his wives said the number of attacks against
members of the community by non-members in the area had increased as a result of
―negative press.‖
―There is no doubt that what is ...happening in Bountiful is illegal under the laws of Canada.
Does a community‘s right to religious freedoms trump the rights of women and children and
basic human rights as decided under Canada‘s laws? What remains in doubt is how — and
when — the government is going to respond.‖ (Amanda Euringer, www.the tyee.ca, Internet,
4/22/05)
Individuality Discouraged
Laureen Jessop, and her sister Flora, both of whom grew up in the Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [FLDS], told a student group at the University of
Arizona College of Law that the FLDS suppresses individuality, forbidding words like ―I,‖ ―me,‖
and ―mine.‖ They also spoke of girls being assigned husbands by the prophet [Warren Jeffs]
soon after reaching puberty. (Linda Valdez, Arizona Republic, Internet, 5/1/05)
Convicted Polygamist Resumes Life
Rodney Holm, a former policeman in the Arizona communities dominated by the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is now reportedly living
with two wives, a violation of his parole. He was convicted in 2003 of unlawful sexual conduct
with a minor — a 16-year-old third wife — and bigamy. The judge who sentenced him said he
did not really expect Holm to feel remorse for his crime. (The Spectrum, So. Utah, Internet,
6/5/05)
Meanwhile, eight FLDS members have been indicted on charges of sexual misconduct with a
minor [an underage wife]. One of them [Rodney Holm] is an ex-police officer previously
convicted of bigamy and illegal sex with a teenage girl he had taken as a third wife. (AP in
The Guardian, UK, 7/12/05)
Effects of Polygamy
With reference to the new settlement of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, in Eldorado, TX, ―Polygamy is not an activity whose effects are
restricted to the bedroom and consenting adults. Rather, it seems to corrupt civil society as
a whole, destroying education, individual rights, and the rule of law — in other words, the
foundations of democratic governance. Just as with slavery, to which polygamy was
compared in the presidential election of 1856, even a single instance can fundamentally
alter a society.‖ (Naomi Schaefer Riley, Dallas Morning News, Internet, 6/5/05)
General Assembly and Church of the First Born
Another Faith Healing Death
In the past three decades more than 300 children around the country have died from
medical neglect motivated by religious beliefs, according to Dr. Seth M. Asser, a critical care
pediatrician at the University of California San Diego who has studied the phenomenon. His
comments come in the context of the case of Maleta and Dewayne Schmidt, members of the
General Assembly and Church of the First Born, in Morgantown, IN, who were recently