31 VOLUME 7 |ISSUE 2 |2016
and July 2013 ...Curtis, now of Bloxworth Close, Wallington,
was cleared of five further counts of assaulting a child as well as
one count of assaulting a female over 13 by penetration. During
the four-week trial the jury heard evidence from a former CCF
parishioner who said Curtis had physically restrained women
during private ‘counselling sessions’ intended to deliver his
worshippers from ‘evil spirits.’’’ (Sutton Guardian, 3/29/16)
Hulu to launch TV series on the cult experience
An International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) member
has told us about a new original Hulu fiction TV series that
may interest some readers: “The Path follows a family at the
center of a controversial cult movement as they struggle with
relationships, faith, and power. Each episode takes an in-depth
look at the gravitational pull of belief and what it means to
choose between the life we live and the life we want. The series
blends elements of mystery-thriller, romance, and mysticism.”
More information is available at hulu.com/press/shows/the-path
Knesset passes law based on cult-busting bill approved by
Ministerial Committee
The Israeli legislature, Knesset, has passed a law “that would
have sexual relations between a religious leader and a follower
be considered assault, even if they were consensual. ..The
law, proposed by MK Michal Rosin (Meretz), would consider
the relationship between a guru or cult leader and a follower,
during or soon after the leader provided guidance, to be one of
authority over the follower. ..‘We will continue fighting against
sexual violence,’ she vowed. ‘We believe in the justice of our way
and are acting to stop this plague.’ The law passed in a third
(final) reading with 28 in favor and none opposed.”
The bill initially approved by the Ministerial Committee for the
legislation represents “the first time a cult is defined by law and
differentiated from other, non-abusive religious groups” and
includes the definition of an abusive cult as “a group of people,
incorporated or not, who unite around a person or idea in a
way that takes advantage of a relationship of dependence or
authority or of emotional distress of one or more members
by using methods of control through thought processes and
behavioral patterns and acts in an organized, systematic and
sustained pattern while committing crimes according to Israeli
law.” Leadership in a cult would be considered a crime with a
prison sentence of 10 years. The bill also includes “a system of
confiscating property obtained as a result of an abusive cult’s
activities, which is similar to that in the Law to Fight Organized
Crime.” The bill also proposes the creation of an “online database
of information about cults, their leaders, their activities and
location, as well as a department for helping victims of abusive
cults.” (Jerusalem Post Israel News, 2/14/16 3/30/16)
The United Kingdom criminalizes the act of controlling
others’ behavior
In England and Wales, it is a crime to use repeated threats,
humiliation, and intimidation to control people. The presence
of violence is no longer necessary to prosecute someone
for domestic abuse. Alison Saunders, the director of Public
Prosecutions, says that this type of behavior “can limit victims’
basic human rights” and says that many victims say the trauma
from psychological abuse is worse than the trauma of physical
abuse. (CBS News, AP, 12/29/15)
Canadian beauty queen accuses Ottawa of Letting China
bully her
Winner of the Miss World Canada competition, Anastasia
Lin, has been denied entry into China for a pageant because
of her public support of the Falun Gong religion, which has
been banned by the Chinese government. After the Chinese-
born Canadian Lin won the Miss World Canada title, her father,
who still lives in China, started receiving threats from the
Chinese government. Lin has claimed that the Chinese media
occasionally publish nasty editorials about her, and that makes
life hard for her father. She criticized the Canadian government
for not standing up for her and warned that the 2022 Winter
Olympics in Beijing might result in China’s denying Canadian
athletes entry into the country because of their political beliefs.
(CTV News, 12/4/15)
Former Grenville Christian College students tell harrowing
stories of abuse
From 1973 until its closing in 2007, Grenville Christian College
promised its students an elite boarding-school education.
In Ontario, a $225 million, class-action lawsuit claims that
the students who attended the school were left mentally,
emotionally, sexually, physically, and spiritually traumatized.
Nearly 200 students have shown interest in making a claim. One
student who enrolled in the college back in 1985 says that, after
2 weeks of being there, he was awakened by a punch to the
groin for talking in his sleep. He claims to have been dragged
into the washroom and forced to clean it with a toothbrush. He
was in the college for 4 years and then left. Now 46, he says he
still has self-esteem issues as a result of what he went through
at the college. Another former student claims that he was
physically abused, put through sleep deprivation, and subjected
to forced labor while he was at the college from 1988 to 1999.
He was even subjected to an exorcism to “cure” his dyslexia.
Grenville Christian College denies these accusations in the suit,
which was launched in 2008 and certified in 2014. (Toronto Star,
11/29/16)
Church of Jediism signing up thousands ahead of new Star
Wars film
As the premiere of the new movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens
was preparing for release on December 14, 2015, a thousand or
more fans a day were signing up to join the Church of Jediism.
Patrick Day-Childs, a member of the group's five-strong council,
told the Daily Telegraph that the group had more than 250,000
members. The Jedi religion began in 2001 when Commonwealth
countries were asked during a census to tell details of their
religious beliefs. The New Zealand-based Jedi Church and
the international Temple of the Jedi Order are among other
claimants having “authority over the mystical energy field
imagined by George Lucas in 1977’s Star Wars and its many
sequels.” (The Guardian, 12/14/15)
and July 2013 ...Curtis, now of Bloxworth Close, Wallington,
was cleared of five further counts of assaulting a child as well as
one count of assaulting a female over 13 by penetration. During
the four-week trial the jury heard evidence from a former CCF
parishioner who said Curtis had physically restrained women
during private ‘counselling sessions’ intended to deliver his
worshippers from ‘evil spirits.’’’ (Sutton Guardian, 3/29/16)
Hulu to launch TV series on the cult experience
An International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) member
has told us about a new original Hulu fiction TV series that
may interest some readers: “The Path follows a family at the
center of a controversial cult movement as they struggle with
relationships, faith, and power. Each episode takes an in-depth
look at the gravitational pull of belief and what it means to
choose between the life we live and the life we want. The series
blends elements of mystery-thriller, romance, and mysticism.”
More information is available at hulu.com/press/shows/the-path
Knesset passes law based on cult-busting bill approved by
Ministerial Committee
The Israeli legislature, Knesset, has passed a law “that would
have sexual relations between a religious leader and a follower
be considered assault, even if they were consensual. ..The
law, proposed by MK Michal Rosin (Meretz), would consider
the relationship between a guru or cult leader and a follower,
during or soon after the leader provided guidance, to be one of
authority over the follower. ..‘We will continue fighting against
sexual violence,’ she vowed. ‘We believe in the justice of our way
and are acting to stop this plague.’ The law passed in a third
(final) reading with 28 in favor and none opposed.”
The bill initially approved by the Ministerial Committee for the
legislation represents “the first time a cult is defined by law and
differentiated from other, non-abusive religious groups” and
includes the definition of an abusive cult as “a group of people,
incorporated or not, who unite around a person or idea in a
way that takes advantage of a relationship of dependence or
authority or of emotional distress of one or more members
by using methods of control through thought processes and
behavioral patterns and acts in an organized, systematic and
sustained pattern while committing crimes according to Israeli
law.” Leadership in a cult would be considered a crime with a
prison sentence of 10 years. The bill also includes “a system of
confiscating property obtained as a result of an abusive cult’s
activities, which is similar to that in the Law to Fight Organized
Crime.” The bill also proposes the creation of an “online database
of information about cults, their leaders, their activities and
location, as well as a department for helping victims of abusive
cults.” (Jerusalem Post Israel News, 2/14/16 3/30/16)
The United Kingdom criminalizes the act of controlling
others’ behavior
In England and Wales, it is a crime to use repeated threats,
humiliation, and intimidation to control people. The presence
of violence is no longer necessary to prosecute someone
for domestic abuse. Alison Saunders, the director of Public
Prosecutions, says that this type of behavior “can limit victims’
basic human rights” and says that many victims say the trauma
from psychological abuse is worse than the trauma of physical
abuse. (CBS News, AP, 12/29/15)
Canadian beauty queen accuses Ottawa of Letting China
bully her
Winner of the Miss World Canada competition, Anastasia
Lin, has been denied entry into China for a pageant because
of her public support of the Falun Gong religion, which has
been banned by the Chinese government. After the Chinese-
born Canadian Lin won the Miss World Canada title, her father,
who still lives in China, started receiving threats from the
Chinese government. Lin has claimed that the Chinese media
occasionally publish nasty editorials about her, and that makes
life hard for her father. She criticized the Canadian government
for not standing up for her and warned that the 2022 Winter
Olympics in Beijing might result in China’s denying Canadian
athletes entry into the country because of their political beliefs.
(CTV News, 12/4/15)
Former Grenville Christian College students tell harrowing
stories of abuse
From 1973 until its closing in 2007, Grenville Christian College
promised its students an elite boarding-school education.
In Ontario, a $225 million, class-action lawsuit claims that
the students who attended the school were left mentally,
emotionally, sexually, physically, and spiritually traumatized.
Nearly 200 students have shown interest in making a claim. One
student who enrolled in the college back in 1985 says that, after
2 weeks of being there, he was awakened by a punch to the
groin for talking in his sleep. He claims to have been dragged
into the washroom and forced to clean it with a toothbrush. He
was in the college for 4 years and then left. Now 46, he says he
still has self-esteem issues as a result of what he went through
at the college. Another former student claims that he was
physically abused, put through sleep deprivation, and subjected
to forced labor while he was at the college from 1988 to 1999.
He was even subjected to an exorcism to “cure” his dyslexia.
Grenville Christian College denies these accusations in the suit,
which was launched in 2008 and certified in 2014. (Toronto Star,
11/29/16)
Church of Jediism signing up thousands ahead of new Star
Wars film
As the premiere of the new movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens
was preparing for release on December 14, 2015, a thousand or
more fans a day were signing up to join the Church of Jediism.
Patrick Day-Childs, a member of the group's five-strong council,
told the Daily Telegraph that the group had more than 250,000
members. The Jedi religion began in 2001 when Commonwealth
countries were asked during a census to tell details of their
religious beliefs. The New Zealand-based Jedi Church and
the international Temple of the Jedi Order are among other
claimants having “authority over the mystical energy field
imagined by George Lucas in 1977’s Star Wars and its many
sequels.” (The Guardian, 12/14/15)
