Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1991, Page 19
2. Conway, Flo and Siegelman, Jim. Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality
Change, J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia and New York, 1978, p. 12.
3. Stark, R. and Bainbridge, W.W. “Of Churches, Sects, and Cults: Preliminary Concepts
for a Theory of Religious Movements,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, June
1979, p. 125.
4. Says Dr. Ronald Enroth, a leading Evangelical cult critic, “Traditionally, the criteria [for
drawing the line between legitimate religious groups and cults] have almost exclusively
been doctrinal in nature. Any religious group which departs from the historic, biblical
Christian faith as summarized, for example, in the Apostles‟ Creed, can be termed
„cultic‟ by traditional fundamentalists and Evangelicals. ..It‟s not that they are
unconcerned about practices. ..however, they will argue that bad practice results from
bad theology and theology must always be the bottom line.” (Letter to the authors
from Dr. Ronald Enroth, March 3, 1987.)
5. “Fundamentalists Anonymous Media Blitz Reaches 100 Million”. The Fundamentalists
Anonymous Newsletter, January, 1986, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 5 The Today Show, NBC-TV,
March 30, 1987.L
6. Locus. Cit.
7. Blood, Linda. “Shepherding/Discipleship: Theology and Practice of Absolute
Obedience,” Cultic Studies Journal, Fall/Winter 1985, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 235-245.
These groups, Catholic, Protestant, and interdenominational (Haferd, Laura. “Covenant
Groups Called Parish Mavericks,” Akron [Ohio] Beacon Journal, December 26, 1985
cited in The Cult Observer, March/April 1986, p. 10. Reimers, Adrian J. “Charismatic
Covenant Community: A Failed Promise,” Cultic Studies Journal, Spring/Summer,
1986, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 36-56 [reprinted from Fidelity]) teach that each “sheep” or
disciple must submit to a “shepherd,” a church elder charged by God to oversee the
“sheep‟s” spiritual development. Shepherds in turn submit to another spiritual elder,
forming a chain of submission to the “apostles” at the top of the pyramidal
organization that connects the individuals and groups together. (Blood, Op. Cit, p.
235) Some estimate members of these Covenant Community
Shepherding/Discipleship groups to be 250,000 in the U.S. and perhaps over a million
throughout the world. (Ibid., p. 238)
8. D‟Antonio, Michael. “Legitimacy by Degree,” Newsday, January 27, 1987, pp. 4-5,
Kelly, Michael J. “The New Moonies: A Mainstream Way of Life,” The [Bergen County]
Record, September 8, 1986, pp. A-1, A-18.
9. West, Louis J. and Singer, Margaret T. “Cults, Quacks, and Nonprofessional
Psychotherapies,” in Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry/III, Third Edition, Vol. 3,
edited by Kaplan, Harold I., Freedman, Alfred M., and Sadock, Benjamin J. Williams &
Wilkins, Baltimore/London, p. 3246. Imprisoned members of the El Rukens, a Chicago
street gang, have sought --and failed --to gain legal recognition as a religious
organization (“Gang Sues from Prison for Religious Recognition,” The New York Times,
December 27, 1985, cited in The Cult Observer, March/April 1986, p. 21, “Judge Rules
El Rukens Gang not a Religion,” Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1986 cited in The Cult
Awareness News, October 1986, p. 5) and the Church of Scientology strives for the
legal status of a religion (Anderson, William. “Local Psychiatrist Locked in Duel with
Scientologists,” Middlesex News, March 10, 1985, p. 11-C, “Science: What Is It?”
Advertising supplement in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston
Globe, The Tampa Tribune, The Las Vegas Review Journal, p. 3).
10. “Alamo Attacks Catholic Church,” Citizens Freedom Foundation News, Volume 9, #4,
Summer, 1984, p. 3, “Alamo Anti-Catholicism,” The Cult Observer, June 1984, p. 26,
“Alamo Foundation Suspected in Anti-Catholic Poster Campaign,” Arlington (Virginia)
Catholic Herald, March 28, 1985, p. 12, “Anti-Semitism and Ties to Hate Groups,”
Institutional Analysis, The Heritage Foundation, July 19, 1984, cited in The Cult
Observer, June 1985, pp. 3,4, “Unusual Religious Sect has Local Roots,” Colorado
2. Conway, Flo and Siegelman, Jim. Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality
Change, J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia and New York, 1978, p. 12.
3. Stark, R. and Bainbridge, W.W. “Of Churches, Sects, and Cults: Preliminary Concepts
for a Theory of Religious Movements,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, June
1979, p. 125.
4. Says Dr. Ronald Enroth, a leading Evangelical cult critic, “Traditionally, the criteria [for
drawing the line between legitimate religious groups and cults] have almost exclusively
been doctrinal in nature. Any religious group which departs from the historic, biblical
Christian faith as summarized, for example, in the Apostles‟ Creed, can be termed
„cultic‟ by traditional fundamentalists and Evangelicals. ..It‟s not that they are
unconcerned about practices. ..however, they will argue that bad practice results from
bad theology and theology must always be the bottom line.” (Letter to the authors
from Dr. Ronald Enroth, March 3, 1987.)
5. “Fundamentalists Anonymous Media Blitz Reaches 100 Million”. The Fundamentalists
Anonymous Newsletter, January, 1986, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 5 The Today Show, NBC-TV,
March 30, 1987.L
6. Locus. Cit.
7. Blood, Linda. “Shepherding/Discipleship: Theology and Practice of Absolute
Obedience,” Cultic Studies Journal, Fall/Winter 1985, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 235-245.
These groups, Catholic, Protestant, and interdenominational (Haferd, Laura. “Covenant
Groups Called Parish Mavericks,” Akron [Ohio] Beacon Journal, December 26, 1985
cited in The Cult Observer, March/April 1986, p. 10. Reimers, Adrian J. “Charismatic
Covenant Community: A Failed Promise,” Cultic Studies Journal, Spring/Summer,
1986, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 36-56 [reprinted from Fidelity]) teach that each “sheep” or
disciple must submit to a “shepherd,” a church elder charged by God to oversee the
“sheep‟s” spiritual development. Shepherds in turn submit to another spiritual elder,
forming a chain of submission to the “apostles” at the top of the pyramidal
organization that connects the individuals and groups together. (Blood, Op. Cit, p.
235) Some estimate members of these Covenant Community
Shepherding/Discipleship groups to be 250,000 in the U.S. and perhaps over a million
throughout the world. (Ibid., p. 238)
8. D‟Antonio, Michael. “Legitimacy by Degree,” Newsday, January 27, 1987, pp. 4-5,
Kelly, Michael J. “The New Moonies: A Mainstream Way of Life,” The [Bergen County]
Record, September 8, 1986, pp. A-1, A-18.
9. West, Louis J. and Singer, Margaret T. “Cults, Quacks, and Nonprofessional
Psychotherapies,” in Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry/III, Third Edition, Vol. 3,
edited by Kaplan, Harold I., Freedman, Alfred M., and Sadock, Benjamin J. Williams &
Wilkins, Baltimore/London, p. 3246. Imprisoned members of the El Rukens, a Chicago
street gang, have sought --and failed --to gain legal recognition as a religious
organization (“Gang Sues from Prison for Religious Recognition,” The New York Times,
December 27, 1985, cited in The Cult Observer, March/April 1986, p. 21, “Judge Rules
El Rukens Gang not a Religion,” Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1986 cited in The Cult
Awareness News, October 1986, p. 5) and the Church of Scientology strives for the
legal status of a religion (Anderson, William. “Local Psychiatrist Locked in Duel with
Scientologists,” Middlesex News, March 10, 1985, p. 11-C, “Science: What Is It?”
Advertising supplement in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston
Globe, The Tampa Tribune, The Las Vegas Review Journal, p. 3).
10. “Alamo Attacks Catholic Church,” Citizens Freedom Foundation News, Volume 9, #4,
Summer, 1984, p. 3, “Alamo Anti-Catholicism,” The Cult Observer, June 1984, p. 26,
“Alamo Foundation Suspected in Anti-Catholic Poster Campaign,” Arlington (Virginia)
Catholic Herald, March 28, 1985, p. 12, “Anti-Semitism and Ties to Hate Groups,”
Institutional Analysis, The Heritage Foundation, July 19, 1984, cited in The Cult
Observer, June 1985, pp. 3,4, “Unusual Religious Sect has Local Roots,” Colorado
