Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2006, Page 87
also begun to collect taxes on FLDS property in the U.S., although it is not clear whether
residents there are paying in defiance of fugitive leader Warren Jeffs‘ orders not to do so, or
because other church leaders have decided to cooperate in order to retain trust assets.
Gentle Wind
The Maine attorney general has sued the Kittery-based Gentle Wind Project for falsely
claiming that its products have healing qualities and for considering income from the sale of
the products as charitable donations. The state wants the Project to liquidate its assets, pay
the government‘s legal fees, and refund payments made for the items sold between 2000
and the present.
Gospel Outreach Christian Fellowship
A judge has dismissed a suit brought by the Pequannock, NJ, Gospel Outreach Christian
Fellowship, a 30-member evangelical group stemming from a 1970s California commune,
accusing critics of falsely claiming it is abusive, that it extracts a great deal of money from
members, and breaks up families. The judge — who dismissed the case on technical
grounds — suggested that the church‘s suit was retaliation for a former member‘s lawsuit
against it alleging it was cult-like. The defendants were the Hawthorne Gospel Church, three
ministers of the Route 208 megachurch, and 11 individuals, including former members of
Gospel Outreach and their relatives.
Grigory Grabovoi
Grigory Grabovoi, indicted for promising parents that he would revive child victims of the
Beslan massacre, has now been charged with ―grand fraud‖ and running a pyramid scheme
based on paid seminars he organized for the grief stricken of Beslan, and elsewhere. Some
of his seminar students — he typically drew 200–300 to Moscow‘s Kosmos Hotel — signed
contracts to spread his teachings to Russian provinces, where they organized additional
seminars and sent him ten percent of their profits.
International Churches of Christ
Nathalie Gettliff, 35, has been jailed in British Columbia for abducting her children and
taking them to France to keep them from the influence of their father and his church, the
International Churches of Christ. A French court ruled that Getliffe had breached the
Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. She was arrested when
she returned to Vancouver to defend her doctoral dissertation at the University of British
Columbia.
British Columbian Scott Grant, a member of the International Churches of Christ, has
regained custody of his children in France, where his estranged wife had taken them, saying
the children were not safe with him because he belonged to a ―cult.‖ A French court ruled
that Nathalie Getliffe Grant had breached the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction. She was arrested when she returned to Vancouver to defend
her doctoral dissertation at the University of British Columbia.
Jehovah’s Witnesses
The Alberta Court of Queen‘s Bench has dismissed Lawrence Hughes‘s lawsuit accusing
Jehovah’s Witnesses members of contributing to the death of his daughter, a teenager
who refused blood transfusions. In reversing a previous ruling, the court said Hughes was
not properly named administrator of the estate of his daughter, Bethany, 17, who died of
leukemia in 2002. Hughes says he cannot afford a further appeal.
also begun to collect taxes on FLDS property in the U.S., although it is not clear whether
residents there are paying in defiance of fugitive leader Warren Jeffs‘ orders not to do so, or
because other church leaders have decided to cooperate in order to retain trust assets.
Gentle Wind
The Maine attorney general has sued the Kittery-based Gentle Wind Project for falsely
claiming that its products have healing qualities and for considering income from the sale of
the products as charitable donations. The state wants the Project to liquidate its assets, pay
the government‘s legal fees, and refund payments made for the items sold between 2000
and the present.
Gospel Outreach Christian Fellowship
A judge has dismissed a suit brought by the Pequannock, NJ, Gospel Outreach Christian
Fellowship, a 30-member evangelical group stemming from a 1970s California commune,
accusing critics of falsely claiming it is abusive, that it extracts a great deal of money from
members, and breaks up families. The judge — who dismissed the case on technical
grounds — suggested that the church‘s suit was retaliation for a former member‘s lawsuit
against it alleging it was cult-like. The defendants were the Hawthorne Gospel Church, three
ministers of the Route 208 megachurch, and 11 individuals, including former members of
Gospel Outreach and their relatives.
Grigory Grabovoi
Grigory Grabovoi, indicted for promising parents that he would revive child victims of the
Beslan massacre, has now been charged with ―grand fraud‖ and running a pyramid scheme
based on paid seminars he organized for the grief stricken of Beslan, and elsewhere. Some
of his seminar students — he typically drew 200–300 to Moscow‘s Kosmos Hotel — signed
contracts to spread his teachings to Russian provinces, where they organized additional
seminars and sent him ten percent of their profits.
International Churches of Christ
Nathalie Gettliff, 35, has been jailed in British Columbia for abducting her children and
taking them to France to keep them from the influence of their father and his church, the
International Churches of Christ. A French court ruled that Getliffe had breached the
Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. She was arrested when
she returned to Vancouver to defend her doctoral dissertation at the University of British
Columbia.
British Columbian Scott Grant, a member of the International Churches of Christ, has
regained custody of his children in France, where his estranged wife had taken them, saying
the children were not safe with him because he belonged to a ―cult.‖ A French court ruled
that Nathalie Getliffe Grant had breached the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction. She was arrested when she returned to Vancouver to defend
her doctoral dissertation at the University of British Columbia.
Jehovah’s Witnesses
The Alberta Court of Queen‘s Bench has dismissed Lawrence Hughes‘s lawsuit accusing
Jehovah’s Witnesses members of contributing to the death of his daughter, a teenager
who refused blood transfusions. In reversing a previous ruling, the court said Hughes was
not properly named administrator of the estate of his daughter, Bethany, 17, who died of
leukemia in 2002. Hughes says he cannot afford a further appeal.
