Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1989, Page 25
Transcendental Meditation, Bhagwan Rajneesh, Ananda Marga, Unification Church
(“Moonies”), ISKCON-International Society of Krishna Consciousness, D.L.M.-Divine Light
Mission, Finger of God.
Part Three (entitled Appendix “B”) contains a legal survey of the cults and the law, as well
as extracts from legal proceedings brought by one of the groups examined (EST), against
the Committee.
Part Four (entitled “Bibliography) contains an extensive bibliography including a special
bibliography on the cult phenomenon in general, and specific bibliographies on each of the
ten groups examined by the Committee.
The following extract is an abridged translation of Part One of the Report.
Background to the Work of the Committee
Introduction to the Cult Phenomenon
Branches of new international organizations have been active in Israel since the beginning
of the seventies. These organizations have a quasi-religious, quasi-therapeutic orientation
and offer those who join happiness, tranquility, meaning and purpose. At times the price of
salvation is expressed in an apparent change in personality and identity. At others, it is
translated into substantial sums of money, and frequently it is a combination of both.
Among the general public in Israel and abroad these organizations are viewed as mystical
cults. Some academics, researchers, and different official bodies include these groups
under the heading “new religious movements” or “new salvation groups”. Others call them
“destructive cults”. The European Parliament gave them the title “new organizations acting
under the protection given to religious bodies.”
Mystical cults, different religious movements, and therapeutic, scientific or popular schools
of thought which promise more happiness to mankind and/or salvation to the world are not
a new phenomenon in world history. They have appeared in some form or other more or
less continuously on the world stage, and are still appearing. Some find their niche within
the existing culture or even bring about a fundamental change in it. Others disappear as
quickly as they came, with or without leaving their mark.
The confrontation between the esoteric and the dominant culture is an ancient one. In
modern democratic society, which looks favorably on change and innovation that
encourages tolerance and openness, the edge of this confrontation is usually blunted.
Innovations in most areas of science, religion, psychology, literature, and art may be
accepted enthusiastically or may be treated with indifference or derision --but nobody is
likely to mount the barricades on their account. Esoteric and religious ideas (no matter how
strange and off-beat they may be), a different way of life and even withdrawal from the
mainstream, and distancing from previous frames of reference, although they might cause
pain and sorrow to the families concerned, do not invite public censure.
The unique character of modern democratic society, however, is anchored in the delicate
balance between dynamic pluralism (a mix of varied and continually changing sets of
opinions and beliefs), and a small immutable core of common values which guarantee its
existence --values which ensure optimal justice and liberty, which preserve individual worth
of a human being and which guarantee the continuity of a society interested in creativity
and progress. It seems that only an innovation that appears to endanger all of this may
rouse people from all sections of society from their indifference, and lead to a struggle for
legitimacy.
The subject of cults caught public attention when there appeared in the foreign press news
about groups falling afoul of the law, in particular concerning tax evasion, illegal
immigration, trafficking in and use of dangerous drugs, accumulation of weapons and
Transcendental Meditation, Bhagwan Rajneesh, Ananda Marga, Unification Church
(“Moonies”), ISKCON-International Society of Krishna Consciousness, D.L.M.-Divine Light
Mission, Finger of God.
Part Three (entitled Appendix “B”) contains a legal survey of the cults and the law, as well
as extracts from legal proceedings brought by one of the groups examined (EST), against
the Committee.
Part Four (entitled “Bibliography) contains an extensive bibliography including a special
bibliography on the cult phenomenon in general, and specific bibliographies on each of the
ten groups examined by the Committee.
The following extract is an abridged translation of Part One of the Report.
Background to the Work of the Committee
Introduction to the Cult Phenomenon
Branches of new international organizations have been active in Israel since the beginning
of the seventies. These organizations have a quasi-religious, quasi-therapeutic orientation
and offer those who join happiness, tranquility, meaning and purpose. At times the price of
salvation is expressed in an apparent change in personality and identity. At others, it is
translated into substantial sums of money, and frequently it is a combination of both.
Among the general public in Israel and abroad these organizations are viewed as mystical
cults. Some academics, researchers, and different official bodies include these groups
under the heading “new religious movements” or “new salvation groups”. Others call them
“destructive cults”. The European Parliament gave them the title “new organizations acting
under the protection given to religious bodies.”
Mystical cults, different religious movements, and therapeutic, scientific or popular schools
of thought which promise more happiness to mankind and/or salvation to the world are not
a new phenomenon in world history. They have appeared in some form or other more or
less continuously on the world stage, and are still appearing. Some find their niche within
the existing culture or even bring about a fundamental change in it. Others disappear as
quickly as they came, with or without leaving their mark.
The confrontation between the esoteric and the dominant culture is an ancient one. In
modern democratic society, which looks favorably on change and innovation that
encourages tolerance and openness, the edge of this confrontation is usually blunted.
Innovations in most areas of science, religion, psychology, literature, and art may be
accepted enthusiastically or may be treated with indifference or derision --but nobody is
likely to mount the barricades on their account. Esoteric and religious ideas (no matter how
strange and off-beat they may be), a different way of life and even withdrawal from the
mainstream, and distancing from previous frames of reference, although they might cause
pain and sorrow to the families concerned, do not invite public censure.
The unique character of modern democratic society, however, is anchored in the delicate
balance between dynamic pluralism (a mix of varied and continually changing sets of
opinions and beliefs), and a small immutable core of common values which guarantee its
existence --values which ensure optimal justice and liberty, which preserve individual worth
of a human being and which guarantee the continuity of a society interested in creativity
and progress. It seems that only an innovation that appears to endanger all of this may
rouse people from all sections of society from their indifference, and lead to a struggle for
legitimacy.
The subject of cults caught public attention when there appeared in the foreign press news
about groups falling afoul of the law, in particular concerning tax evasion, illegal
immigration, trafficking in and use of dangerous drugs, accumulation of weapons and
