Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2008, Page 54
in 2002, Kent writes: "Berg, alas, is not a great religious figure, and his solution to his own
childhood-based guilt brought havoc unto those who relied upon him for guidance. He
alienated the older generation of his mother‘s friends, destroyed his own marriage along
with the marriages of others, probably lost a son to suicide, ―eroticized‖ the relationships
with his daughters and granddaughters, and denounced his eldest daughter, all in the
process of the pursuit of his own passions.‖
Having said recently that cults are ―an inexistent problem in France,‖ and that a
parliamentary commission‘s 1995 list of cults was ―disgraceful,‖ President Sarkozy‘s chief of
staff, Emmanuelle Mignon, now adds, in response to the controversy engendered by her
remarks, that the list was complied without ―thorough verification‖ and ―No one doubts
today that certain groups should not have been included in that list. Just because a spiritual
group is not officially linked with a traditional church does not mean that it is necessarily a
cult.‖
Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, writing at length in The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine (3/9/08),
tells the story of Maria and Jose Azevdo, a Jehovah’s Witnesses couple he counseled who
refused to allow life-saving surgery for their newborn, which would have involved blood
transfusions. The Azevedos eventually acquiesced in a judge‘s ―authorization,‖ following the
doctor‘s request for a court order, to allow the operation to go forward. The couple does not
feel they have betrayed their religious principles, and the Jehovah‘s Witnesses ―seem to
endorse this end run around the transfusion ban for children,‖ says Dr. Darshak.
Mississippi officials announced in February that they will close the Columbia Training
School for troubled young women following charges by former detainees, and their
advocates, of ―horrendous physical and sexual abuse,‖ even death while being restrained, at
the hands of supervisors. Columbia, which was sued twice in the past on similar grounds,
illustrates a widespread national problem: a survey indicates that there were 13,000 claims
of abuse at juvenile correction centers from 2004 through 2007 — in a population of
46,000 detainees (2007) — although only some ten percent were confirmed by
investigators.
An expert says that training of guards, and oversight, could minimize or reduce the
problem, and some states are reforming their systems. [An article in the March 3, 2008
Daytona Beach News-Journal, taken from an AP survey, illustrates some of the reported
abuses.]
Some members of the doomsday cult near Penza, central Russia, have left the group‘s cave,
and those who remain say little as they await the end of the world, scheduled for May.
Previous attempts of local people to establish contact with the cultists drew gunshots. Sect
founder Pyotr Kuznetsov is currently being treated for paranoid schizophrenia at a
psychiatric hospital.
The Utah legislature has voted more than $300,000 to support a ―Safety Net Initiative‖
aimed to provide services to people suffering abuse and neglect in polygamous
communities. An original bill was broadened to include residents of ―underserved‖ and
―culturally isolated‖ communities in Utah and northern Arizona that are not polygamous.
The program coordinator said the measure ―fits with the goals of the attorney general‘s
office. We want communities to be healthy and people to be safe and know that help is
available.‖ Various agencies had cut back their services to the target population when a
$700,000 federal grant for a similar purpose was not renewed.
Scientology critic Keith Henson was recently released from a U.S. prison after serving four
months of a six-month sentence in California for anti-Scientology activities that included
criminal threats, picketing Scientology facilities, and posting copyrighted Scientology
material on the Internet. Henson fled to Canada when charged and asked for permanent
in 2002, Kent writes: "Berg, alas, is not a great religious figure, and his solution to his own
childhood-based guilt brought havoc unto those who relied upon him for guidance. He
alienated the older generation of his mother‘s friends, destroyed his own marriage along
with the marriages of others, probably lost a son to suicide, ―eroticized‖ the relationships
with his daughters and granddaughters, and denounced his eldest daughter, all in the
process of the pursuit of his own passions.‖
Having said recently that cults are ―an inexistent problem in France,‖ and that a
parliamentary commission‘s 1995 list of cults was ―disgraceful,‖ President Sarkozy‘s chief of
staff, Emmanuelle Mignon, now adds, in response to the controversy engendered by her
remarks, that the list was complied without ―thorough verification‖ and ―No one doubts
today that certain groups should not have been included in that list. Just because a spiritual
group is not officially linked with a traditional church does not mean that it is necessarily a
cult.‖
Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, writing at length in The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine (3/9/08),
tells the story of Maria and Jose Azevdo, a Jehovah’s Witnesses couple he counseled who
refused to allow life-saving surgery for their newborn, which would have involved blood
transfusions. The Azevedos eventually acquiesced in a judge‘s ―authorization,‖ following the
doctor‘s request for a court order, to allow the operation to go forward. The couple does not
feel they have betrayed their religious principles, and the Jehovah‘s Witnesses ―seem to
endorse this end run around the transfusion ban for children,‖ says Dr. Darshak.
Mississippi officials announced in February that they will close the Columbia Training
School for troubled young women following charges by former detainees, and their
advocates, of ―horrendous physical and sexual abuse,‖ even death while being restrained, at
the hands of supervisors. Columbia, which was sued twice in the past on similar grounds,
illustrates a widespread national problem: a survey indicates that there were 13,000 claims
of abuse at juvenile correction centers from 2004 through 2007 — in a population of
46,000 detainees (2007) — although only some ten percent were confirmed by
investigators.
An expert says that training of guards, and oversight, could minimize or reduce the
problem, and some states are reforming their systems. [An article in the March 3, 2008
Daytona Beach News-Journal, taken from an AP survey, illustrates some of the reported
abuses.]
Some members of the doomsday cult near Penza, central Russia, have left the group‘s cave,
and those who remain say little as they await the end of the world, scheduled for May.
Previous attempts of local people to establish contact with the cultists drew gunshots. Sect
founder Pyotr Kuznetsov is currently being treated for paranoid schizophrenia at a
psychiatric hospital.
The Utah legislature has voted more than $300,000 to support a ―Safety Net Initiative‖
aimed to provide services to people suffering abuse and neglect in polygamous
communities. An original bill was broadened to include residents of ―underserved‖ and
―culturally isolated‖ communities in Utah and northern Arizona that are not polygamous.
The program coordinator said the measure ―fits with the goals of the attorney general‘s
office. We want communities to be healthy and people to be safe and know that help is
available.‖ Various agencies had cut back their services to the target population when a
$700,000 federal grant for a similar purpose was not renewed.
Scientology critic Keith Henson was recently released from a U.S. prison after serving four
months of a six-month sentence in California for anti-Scientology activities that included
criminal threats, picketing Scientology facilities, and posting copyrighted Scientology
material on the Internet. Henson fled to Canada when charged and asked for permanent
