Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 81
Notes
(1) According to CESNUR, the diffusion of the documents of the APA controversy had been
vetoed by the lawyers of those accused by Margaret Singer of having engaged in a
criminal conspiracy against her, including APA officers and several scholars. CESNUR
acknowledges that it was our article that allowed it to prevail upon these lawyers and to
post on CESNUR‘s Web site most of the documents, including the DIMPAC report and
two annexes to the 1987 APA Memorandum, which had never been published before.
Acknowledgment
Earlier versions of this article were originally published first on the GRIS-Roma Web site
(http://www.grisroma.it) and then on the first issue of AFF‘s Internet journal
(www.cultsandsociety.com). It is reprinted here with permission of the authors.
**********
Alberto Amitrani is the former president of GRIS Rome, Italy. GRIS (Group for Research
and Information about Sects [Cults]) is a non-profit cultural and religious association,
organised on February 8, 1987 and involved in researching, studying, and disseminating
information concerning ―new religious movements.‖ On September 25, 1990, the articles
of association of GRIS received the approval of the Italian Bishops‘ Conference.
Raffaella Di Marzio is President, GRIS Rome. She set up a support and counseling centre
in Rome, for all those troubled, directly or indirectly, by experiences associated with
belonging to a cult. Dr. Di Marzio and her husband, Dr. Amitrani, both have two degrees,
one in Psychology (University ―La Sapienza‖ of Rome, 1981) and one in Educational Science
(Pontifical Salesian University, 1981). Moreover they both have the Superior Diploma in
Religious Science from the Institute for Religious Studies Ecclesia Mater, linked to the
faculty of theology of Pontifical Lateran University. They have been teachers in a Senior
High School in Rome since 1981.
This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 2000, Volume 17,
pages 101-121. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound
volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.
Cultic Studies Journal, Volume 17, 2000, Page 82
Blind, or Just Don’t Want to See?
Brainwashing, Mystification, and Suspicion
Alberto Amitrani
Raffaella Di Marzio
GRIS, Roma
Abstract
This paper examines selected points of dispute among scholars and
professionals interested in /new religious movements: the degree to which
the reports of former group members should be accorded credibility the
meaning and existence of the concept of brainwashing the proper
interpretation of certain actions taken by European governmental
committees and the degree to which ideology and/or money provided by
new religious movements has or may in the future corrupt scholarly research
in this area. The paper concludes by embracing a pastoral letter on this
subject by the Italian Bishops‘ Conference.
From a letter written by a mother:
I am a desperate mother. Ten years ago, I lost my daughter to a ferocious
―cult‖…. The unfortunate people whom we meet are completely taken over …
they tell them that their mothers are devils who give out negative energy,
thus hindering their perfect introduction into cult life … I hardly ever hear
from my daughter now. She doesn‘t take part in our family meetings and
calls me only when she needs money. You can well imagine the tragedy of
this poor mother ...Please do something to help these poor people who are in
danger and want to live the life that Our Lord Jesus gave us … I am afraid she
will commit suicide like the others … do something, I repeat, we cannot leave
these kids at the mercy of gaolers, of murderers of the worst kind… I pray
the Lord will help you in your work to help all these kids who are prisoners of
murderous cults.
Says a former member:
I then started to write a farewell letter to my spiritual guide. This cost me a
lot: every word was like a dagger blow, and every now and then I had to
stop since the tears would block my vision. I wasn‘t able to do it all in one
stroke, but every now and then I went back to what was a small calvary for
me, a deserved one however, unlike that of the Lord. My mind went back to
the Good Thief and I hoped Jesus would answer me the same way. When I
got to the end of the letter, I had a feeling of liberation … It had been a long
trail, lasting over 20 years, but this was what had happened ...What I
thought was heaven was actually a pink-coloured hell, painted over with
falsehood ...I got hold of my ancestors and my roots again. For years,
everything which makes a person free and conscious of what he is doing had
been stolen from me. I was picking up my pieces one by one, slowly but
surely. However, many wounds would never close again. It was still hard for
me to free myself from what I had thought was reality but actually was
conditioning: the notion of being one of the elect, somebody different, one of
the Eternal‘s chosen … The feeling I had deep inside is hard to describe: like
being a flower which slowly raises its petals again after having spent a long
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