Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2006, Page 43
Miami businessman who handles corporate donations to Cresciendo, says, ―I will be thankful
to him in as many ways as I can, especially with money, because money is nothing.‖ A
wealthy Miami entrepreneur, who has given Miranda millions, credits the preacher with his
financial success, although he no longer speaks with his parents, who left the church,
suspicious of their son‘s generosity. Cresciendo congregants run more than 450 businesses
worldwide, including a massage parlor in Honduras and a mortgage company and Brazilian
restaurant in Miami. Miranda preaches that sin was abolished when Jesus died and that
God‘s chosen are predestined for salvation. A member says that his message freed her from
feeling like a sinner, and now, ―My life belongs to him.‖ Followers use a distinct religious
vocabulary, referring to other religions as ―the system‖ and to Miranda‘s religious messages
as ―codes.‖
Dalai Lama
China says that the Dalai Lama’s rejection of the political system in Tibet, his call for
autonomy, and his wish to reintroduce the old system that features ―temporal religious
administration,‖ runs counter to the Chinese constitution.
Dominion Christian Center
Hamilton, Ontario, police have charged family physician Dr. Renato Brun Del Re, and his
brother, with the 2003 abduction of a family member from the Dominion Christian Center
(DCC) in connection with an alleged attempt to deprogram her from what they considered
to be a cult. DCC leader Pastor Peter Rego says the family brought in the Tennessee-based
intervention consultant Mary Alice Chrnalogar to talk the young woman out of the group.
Chrnalogar says she came only to speak with the family. The young woman escaped after
ten days in captivity, according police. Rego says, ―We believe in taking young adults most
of the time, 20 and over, and train them in life skills ...and entrepreneurship.‖
Dominion Christian Centre (DCC), an evangelical group in Hamilton, Ontario, that uses
raucous music-based services in a run-down area of town to draw in wayward young adults,
and others, is at the center of a developing case in which police accuse Dr. Renato Brun Del
Re, and his brother, of abducting the doctor‘s adult daughter and bringing in intervention
expert Mary Alice Chrnalogar to consult on their problem. The daughter escaped after a few
days, returned to the DCC, and then pressed charges. DCC leader Pastor Peter Rego said,
―We believe in taking young adults most of the time, 20 and over, and train them in life
skills ...and entrepreneurship.‖ Chrnalogar says, from her Tennessee home, ―Nothing
matters when your kid is in trouble.‖ Mrs. Brun del Re reports that her daughter, trying to
find her way as a young adult, had become increasingly alienated from the family. After
joining the DCC, she asked her parents to move closer to the church, and eventually cut off
contact when they didn‘t, says her mother. The DCC‘s many unconventional practices
include the use of debit machines for donations in lieu of collection envelopes.
Educo
Hypnotherapist Tony Quinn, a former butcher, has been accused by critics in Ireland of
manipulating the minds of followers and traumatizing individuals and splitting families and
putting them deep in debt. Scottish immunologist Dr. Mhairi Livingstone is now recruiting
clients for an Educo franchise in Glasgow and hopes to open many more. Practitioners pay
£300 for a 12-day health and fitness course, £200 for twelve 15-minute weight-training
sessions, and £100 for five of Quinn‘s nutritional supplements. His self-help seminars cost
£12,000 and the two-week ―Mind Masters‖ course, during which the guru reads a follower‘s
aura in order to reveal his or her destiny, costs £40,000. The charge for a personal
consultation is £100,000. Quinn teaches individuals to tap into their unconscious and
become a ―super you.‖ Livingstone says Quinn has ―cured people of cancer and all sorts of
Miami businessman who handles corporate donations to Cresciendo, says, ―I will be thankful
to him in as many ways as I can, especially with money, because money is nothing.‖ A
wealthy Miami entrepreneur, who has given Miranda millions, credits the preacher with his
financial success, although he no longer speaks with his parents, who left the church,
suspicious of their son‘s generosity. Cresciendo congregants run more than 450 businesses
worldwide, including a massage parlor in Honduras and a mortgage company and Brazilian
restaurant in Miami. Miranda preaches that sin was abolished when Jesus died and that
God‘s chosen are predestined for salvation. A member says that his message freed her from
feeling like a sinner, and now, ―My life belongs to him.‖ Followers use a distinct religious
vocabulary, referring to other religions as ―the system‖ and to Miranda‘s religious messages
as ―codes.‖
Dalai Lama
China says that the Dalai Lama’s rejection of the political system in Tibet, his call for
autonomy, and his wish to reintroduce the old system that features ―temporal religious
administration,‖ runs counter to the Chinese constitution.
Dominion Christian Center
Hamilton, Ontario, police have charged family physician Dr. Renato Brun Del Re, and his
brother, with the 2003 abduction of a family member from the Dominion Christian Center
(DCC) in connection with an alleged attempt to deprogram her from what they considered
to be a cult. DCC leader Pastor Peter Rego says the family brought in the Tennessee-based
intervention consultant Mary Alice Chrnalogar to talk the young woman out of the group.
Chrnalogar says she came only to speak with the family. The young woman escaped after
ten days in captivity, according police. Rego says, ―We believe in taking young adults most
of the time, 20 and over, and train them in life skills ...and entrepreneurship.‖
Dominion Christian Centre (DCC), an evangelical group in Hamilton, Ontario, that uses
raucous music-based services in a run-down area of town to draw in wayward young adults,
and others, is at the center of a developing case in which police accuse Dr. Renato Brun Del
Re, and his brother, of abducting the doctor‘s adult daughter and bringing in intervention
expert Mary Alice Chrnalogar to consult on their problem. The daughter escaped after a few
days, returned to the DCC, and then pressed charges. DCC leader Pastor Peter Rego said,
―We believe in taking young adults most of the time, 20 and over, and train them in life
skills ...and entrepreneurship.‖ Chrnalogar says, from her Tennessee home, ―Nothing
matters when your kid is in trouble.‖ Mrs. Brun del Re reports that her daughter, trying to
find her way as a young adult, had become increasingly alienated from the family. After
joining the DCC, she asked her parents to move closer to the church, and eventually cut off
contact when they didn‘t, says her mother. The DCC‘s many unconventional practices
include the use of debit machines for donations in lieu of collection envelopes.
Educo
Hypnotherapist Tony Quinn, a former butcher, has been accused by critics in Ireland of
manipulating the minds of followers and traumatizing individuals and splitting families and
putting them deep in debt. Scottish immunologist Dr. Mhairi Livingstone is now recruiting
clients for an Educo franchise in Glasgow and hopes to open many more. Practitioners pay
£300 for a 12-day health and fitness course, £200 for twelve 15-minute weight-training
sessions, and £100 for five of Quinn‘s nutritional supplements. His self-help seminars cost
£12,000 and the two-week ―Mind Masters‖ course, during which the guru reads a follower‘s
aura in order to reveal his or her destiny, costs £40,000. The charge for a personal
consultation is £100,000. Quinn teaches individuals to tap into their unconscious and
become a ―super you.‖ Livingstone says Quinn has ―cured people of cancer and all sorts of
