Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 6, 2006, Page 60
but a dozen former members interviewed by the Dallas Observer agree that Trinity exhibits
numerous cult-like characteristics and that Duncan‘s book is accurate.
Investigations have also revealed that one of Anthony‘s campaigns to expose a rival
televangelist, in which Trinity collaborated in an undercover effort with ABC-TV, was based
in part on false evidence and may have been stimulated by a personal vendetta as well as a
bid to gain national attention.
Tvind/Humana
Mogens Amdi Petersen, founder of the Danish charity Tvind, known worldwide as
Humana People-to-People, has been found not guilty by a Danish court of orchestrating a
tax fraud scheme, as alleged by former foundation members [who also accused the
organization, which collects used clothing for sale in the underdeveloped world, of being
cult-like].
Twelve Tribes
After seven years in town and the failure early on to disarm local suspicion and hostility at a
community forum, the 50-member Twelve Tribes branch in Plymouth, MA, recently held a
weekend festival and open house that indicates apparent wide acceptance in the area for
the controversial religious sect. The communal group, which owns a construction business
and a café, also takes part in many civic events.
The German state of Bavaria, where home schooling is illegal, has granted the Twelve
Tribes (Zwölf Stämme) the right to teach its children in a private school financed by the
group, using its own teachers, at least for the next year. The group has for a long time
objected to the curriculum of state schools, in which some Tribe children were forced to
enroll. Many Tribe families were assessed fines — unpaid — for not enrolling their children.
The state approved a curriculum for the new school, which is to be subject to state
supervision — in which sex education is absent but ethics, rather than religion, must be
taught. Green party politicians say the children‘s best interest is not served when a
―questionable religious community is given the freedom to educate outside the system.‖
Unification Church
The Unification Church (UC) has been ordered by the Tokyo District Court to pay over $2
million to a woman who said the UC made her feel insecure and frightened her, forced her
to donate money and purchase expensive products from the church, and threatened her by
saying her ―family line‖ would fall and she would ―fall into hell.‖ ...Cardinal Oscar Andres
Rodriguez, of Honduras, has rejected an ―ambassador of peace‖ award because the
sponsoring organization is connected to the UC. The award was to have been presented at
an elaborate ceremony at a hotel in the capital. ..The American Clergy Leadership
Conference (ACLC) is a growing and potent alliance between Sun Myung Moon’s church
and black religious leaders around the country. Dozens of Chicago-area ministers join
thousands of others nationally at monthly prayer breakfasts, according to organizers, where
the participating clergy refer to Moon and his wife as Father and Mother, and many have
taken expenses-paid trips to attend Moon-sponsored events in Korea, Japan, and Europe.
Gifts to clergy include $12,000 wristwatches. Moon‘s outreach among these largely Baptist
and Pentecostal clergy is successful despite his claim that he is the Second Coming, here to
complete Jesus‘ mission. One minister says, ―No [to Moon‘s claim], I already have a
messiah, that‘s Jesus Christ. I don‘t need another messiah. But I do need a friend.‖ Moon,
who has officiated at many interracial weddings, has said, ―Little by little, the color of black
people will gradually become lighter‖ until a single, ―all yellow‖ race is produced in an age in
which Asian culture and people will become dominant. ―If I could live under the hard,
oppressive rule of the white man,‖ says D.C.-based pastor Bishop C. Phillip Johnson,
―certainly I have no problem with the Koreans. If God so chooses to raise them up to be the
but a dozen former members interviewed by the Dallas Observer agree that Trinity exhibits
numerous cult-like characteristics and that Duncan‘s book is accurate.
Investigations have also revealed that one of Anthony‘s campaigns to expose a rival
televangelist, in which Trinity collaborated in an undercover effort with ABC-TV, was based
in part on false evidence and may have been stimulated by a personal vendetta as well as a
bid to gain national attention.
Tvind/Humana
Mogens Amdi Petersen, founder of the Danish charity Tvind, known worldwide as
Humana People-to-People, has been found not guilty by a Danish court of orchestrating a
tax fraud scheme, as alleged by former foundation members [who also accused the
organization, which collects used clothing for sale in the underdeveloped world, of being
cult-like].
Twelve Tribes
After seven years in town and the failure early on to disarm local suspicion and hostility at a
community forum, the 50-member Twelve Tribes branch in Plymouth, MA, recently held a
weekend festival and open house that indicates apparent wide acceptance in the area for
the controversial religious sect. The communal group, which owns a construction business
and a café, also takes part in many civic events.
The German state of Bavaria, where home schooling is illegal, has granted the Twelve
Tribes (Zwölf Stämme) the right to teach its children in a private school financed by the
group, using its own teachers, at least for the next year. The group has for a long time
objected to the curriculum of state schools, in which some Tribe children were forced to
enroll. Many Tribe families were assessed fines — unpaid — for not enrolling their children.
The state approved a curriculum for the new school, which is to be subject to state
supervision — in which sex education is absent but ethics, rather than religion, must be
taught. Green party politicians say the children‘s best interest is not served when a
―questionable religious community is given the freedom to educate outside the system.‖
Unification Church
The Unification Church (UC) has been ordered by the Tokyo District Court to pay over $2
million to a woman who said the UC made her feel insecure and frightened her, forced her
to donate money and purchase expensive products from the church, and threatened her by
saying her ―family line‖ would fall and she would ―fall into hell.‖ ...Cardinal Oscar Andres
Rodriguez, of Honduras, has rejected an ―ambassador of peace‖ award because the
sponsoring organization is connected to the UC. The award was to have been presented at
an elaborate ceremony at a hotel in the capital. ..The American Clergy Leadership
Conference (ACLC) is a growing and potent alliance between Sun Myung Moon’s church
and black religious leaders around the country. Dozens of Chicago-area ministers join
thousands of others nationally at monthly prayer breakfasts, according to organizers, where
the participating clergy refer to Moon and his wife as Father and Mother, and many have
taken expenses-paid trips to attend Moon-sponsored events in Korea, Japan, and Europe.
Gifts to clergy include $12,000 wristwatches. Moon‘s outreach among these largely Baptist
and Pentecostal clergy is successful despite his claim that he is the Second Coming, here to
complete Jesus‘ mission. One minister says, ―No [to Moon‘s claim], I already have a
messiah, that‘s Jesus Christ. I don‘t need another messiah. But I do need a friend.‖ Moon,
who has officiated at many interracial weddings, has said, ―Little by little, the color of black
people will gradually become lighter‖ until a single, ―all yellow‖ race is produced in an age in
which Asian culture and people will become dominant. ―If I could live under the hard,
oppressive rule of the white man,‖ says D.C.-based pastor Bishop C. Phillip Johnson,
―certainly I have no problem with the Koreans. If God so chooses to raise them up to be the
