VOLUME 2 |NUMBER 1 |2011 37
thanks to the cutoff of an annual $35
million subsidy from the church fol-
lowing the estrangement of Preston
from his father and brothers. A for-
mer Times editor said, "The most
important thing they [the new own-
ers] can do is bring back credibility
to the newsroom." (Washington Post,
11/3/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Rev. Moon blessed 7,200 South
Korean and foreign couples in early
October at the second Unification
Church mass wedding of the year.
The ceremony was broadcast live on
the internet and via satellite TV to
194 countries, according to church
officials. (Associated Press, 10/9/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Winnfred Wright has been sen-
tenced to 16 years in prison in Cali-
fornia for felony child abuse that led
to the 2001 death of a 19-month old
infant, one among the 12 children he
fathered with three women who
lived with him. Prosecutors said
Wright was the leader of a cult-like
group called The Family, which
raised children under severe condi-
tions determined by a "Book of
Rules" that restricted their diets and
called for binding and whipping.
(San Anselmo-Fairfax Patch,
11/22/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Heredim
("those who tremble" before God),
an insular minority long opposed to
the modernizing and prosperous
Israel in which they live, are likely to
become more numerous and politi-
cally influential thanks to a far higher
birthrate than other communities’—
10 children in a single family is not
uncommon. The Heredim reject
mainstream society even as they are
highly subsidized by the state half of
the ultra-Orthodox don’t work, and
many of the men are full-time Torah
students who receive (admittedly
meager) government stipends. Of
the 700,000 Israeli Heredim (nine
percent of the population), almost
60 percent live below the poverty
line. If the Heredim don’t begin
working in larger numbers, says the
financial daily The Marker, Israel’s
future is threatened. The law that
exempts full-time ultra-Orthodox
students from military service
requires that they not work, leading
Israel’s military chief to say—voicing
a widely shared feeling—that those
who don’t serve in the forces should
be "ashamed."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The lifestyle of the many Heredi
sects in Israel—followers live in their
own neighborhoods, attend separate
schools, and don’t interact much
with the majority—is inspired by the
Jewish world of eastern Europe that
was destroyed in the Holocaust. They
tend to reject what they see as a
morally corrupt secular society and
to sanctify religious study, modesty,
and charity. Heredi attempts to
impose their religious mores on oth-
ers—gender segregation of bus lines
in Heredi neighborhoods, and even
at concerts in secular areas—are
bringing them into conflict with the
wider community. Nonetheless,
author Kobi Arieli— a "liberal" Here-
di—points to examples of growing
integration of Heredi into the main-
stream. "It will happen slowly. From
year to year, more and more Heredi
youth will join the army and go to
work. This is what is already happen-
ing, and it will change everything."
(Canadian Press, 1/14/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Mexican authorities have arrested
David Romo, a leader of Santa
Muerte (Saint Death), the fast-grow-
ing underground cult that has for
years been a headache both for the
government and the Roman Catholic
Church. Some—the marginalized,
impoverished, and sometimes-crimi-
nal element, including drug-traffick-
ers—have become followers of Santa
Muerte in reaction to rising violence
in the country. Drug traffickers and
prison gangs ask Santa Muerte for
protection as they commit crimes.
Romo, a self-appointed bishop of
Santa Muerte, is accused of operat-
ing a kidnapping ring and launder-
ing the ransoms though his personal
bank account. When prosecutors
brought him before TV cameras as
they read out the charges, he shout-
ed that he’d been tortured and that
his arrest was politically motivated.
Some Santa Muerte proponents say
Romero has excessively commercial-
ized the cult’s practices. Eva Aridjis,
who’s film La Santa Muerte was
released in 2007, says not everyone
who worships Santa Muerte is a
criminal. "What I encountered was
many sick people or people who
were in danger of dying or lived in
dangerous environments. Drug
addicts and prostitutes, but also
policemen and taxi-drivers." Santa
Muerte mixes pre-Colombian indige-
nous practice and African customs
with elements of Catholicism. The
government removed Santa Muerte
from the list of officially recognized
religious organizations in 2007. (Los
Angeles Times, 1/5/11) .■
36 ICSA TODAY
judge said that to evaluate this
charge the court would have to
review Scientology’s doctrine pro-
hibiting Sea Org members from rais-
ing children. "Inquiry into these alle-
gations would entangle the court in
the religious doctrine of Scientology
and the doctrinally motivated prac-
tices of the Sea Org."
"It’s a big win for Scientology" said
Stephen A. Kent, a University of
Alberta sociologist who closely fol-
lows Scientology. He believes that
the ruling will help cement the Sea
Org as a religious order despite prac-
tices that set it apart from traditional
orders. "I think it’s a major blow for
people who want the IRS to re-
examine Scientology’s status," he
added. The long-debated issue of
workplace laws remains: how do the
courts protect an accuser’s individual
rights without violating a church’s
right to freely practice religion?
(St. Petersburg Times, 8/6/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A French couple reportedly associat-
ed with the Ramtha School of
Enlightenment, and said to be para-
noid about the end of the world,
allegedly shot and killed a police-
man, wounded another, and chased
a third through the bush in January
on a South African farm from which
they were being evicted. Phillipe and
Agnis Neniere, thought to be survival
experts, had lived on the farm, near
Sutherland, for 12 years but had
been told to leave by the owner
because of their bizarre behavior.
After a decade of friendly visiting
with the owner’s family, the couple
became reclusive, saying, according
to one of the owner’s sons, that
"they wanted to drop off the grid
and study quantum physics." He said
the Nenieres "believed that they
would have to fend for themselves
and survive [the world’s end] in the
bush." Police are said to have found
medical supplies, emergency packs,
survival field guides, and notes on
the Ramtha School of Enlightenment
when they searched the house after
the shootings. J. Z. Knight, the
school’s founder, has visited South
Africa. Her teachings involve "end
times," which are linked to a belief
that the Mayans predicted that 2112
would see the end of the world.
Some of the cult’s students believe
they can gain the power to raise the
dead, freeze a rocket in mid-air,
make gold appear out of thin air, and
predict the future. (Independent
Online, 1/16/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
London-based mystic Benjamin
Crème, founder of the New Age
group Share International, visited
followers in San Francisco in August
and had a private meeting with
author-economist Raj Patel. Crème
devotees had recently identified
Patel, according to prophecies, as the
earthly manifestation of Maitreya,
The World Teacher, a sort of messiah.
Both Crème and Patel—who appar-
ently has no connection to Crème or
Share International—agreed that the
declaration was a case of mistaken
identity. (Bay Citizen, 8/19/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Indonesian government officials say
that their program to persuade con-
victed terrorists to renounce vio-
lence has failed, this following the
arrest of Abdullah Sonata, released
from prison in 2009 for good behav-
ior, but now suspected of plotting to
kill several prominent people, includ-
ing the country’s president. While a
few like him have been reformed,
said the Minister of Justice and
Human Rights, "It is extremely diffi-
cult to reform terrorists because we
are trying to destroy years of indoc-
trination and misrepresentation of
Islam." Methods used thus far, mainly
by police, aim to turn convicted ter-
rorists into informers while providing
financial support to their families.
But little has been done to challenge
terrorists’ radical religious beliefs. In
the future, the minister said, "We will
solicit help from psychologists,
experts, criminologists, and clerics to
determine the best means to reform
hard-core terrorists." Police are con-
cerned that prisons may be breeding
grounds for terrorists.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal
has ordered the school board of the
Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-
Nord to compensate three instruc-
tors it fired when the board learned
of their association with the Raëlian
cult. Daniel, Michel, and Sylvie
Chabot were hired in 2006 to offer
"emotional pedagogy" training ses-
sions to Conseil Scolaire teachers,
and did so through the Academy of
Pleasurology and Emotional Intelli-
gence. The Tribunal said that the
board has discriminated against the
three because of their religious
beliefs. Daniel Chabot said that this
is the first of many human rights
complaints by Raëlins that was
resolved in favor of the com-
plainants. (LifeSiteNews.com, 1/3/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Bibiji, the widow of Yogi Bhajan,
founder of the Sikh community in
the U.S., is involved in arbitration in
California over the use of marks asso-
ciated with "Yogi Tea," a product
developed by the late guru and
licensed to a group of his students,
who formed a company named
Golden Temple. Golden Temple sub-
sequently sold out to another firm,
retaining only its Yogi Tea produc-
tion. The widow Bibiji objects to
Golden Temple’s continued use of
the marks in question and wants to
license the brand to another tea
manufacturer. At issue is: Who owns
the trademark? Golden Temple is
concurrently suing two other com-
panies—one run by a son of Yogi
Bhajan and Bibiji—for using marks
similar to the Yogi Tea marks it
believes it retains. (Register-Guard,
11/28/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Unification Church leader the Rev-
erend Sun Myung Moon, and a
group of Washington Times execu-
tives fired by Moon’s eldest son, Pre-
ston Moon, have purchased the ail-
ing newspaper for $1. Circulation of
87,000 in 2008 has been halved, and
half the newsroom has been laid off,
About the
Author
Joseph F. Kelly,
a graduate of
Temple Univer-
sity, has been a
thought reform
consultant since 1988. He spent
14 years in two different eastern
meditation groups.
He has lectured extensively on
cult-related topics, and is a co-
author of “Ethical Standards for
Thought Reform Consultants,”
published in ICSA’s Cultic Studies
Journal. He is the News Desk Editor
of ICSA Today. Mr. Kelly also co-facil-
itates ICSA workshops for ex-mem-
bers and ICSA’s local- meeting in
Philadelphia. ■
ICSA_volume3_proof6 5/10/11 12:14 PM Page 38
thanks to the cutoff of an annual $35
million subsidy from the church fol-
lowing the estrangement of Preston
from his father and brothers. A for-
mer Times editor said, "The most
important thing they [the new own-
ers] can do is bring back credibility
to the newsroom." (Washington Post,
11/3/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Rev. Moon blessed 7,200 South
Korean and foreign couples in early
October at the second Unification
Church mass wedding of the year.
The ceremony was broadcast live on
the internet and via satellite TV to
194 countries, according to church
officials. (Associated Press, 10/9/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Winnfred Wright has been sen-
tenced to 16 years in prison in Cali-
fornia for felony child abuse that led
to the 2001 death of a 19-month old
infant, one among the 12 children he
fathered with three women who
lived with him. Prosecutors said
Wright was the leader of a cult-like
group called The Family, which
raised children under severe condi-
tions determined by a "Book of
Rules" that restricted their diets and
called for binding and whipping.
(San Anselmo-Fairfax Patch,
11/22/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Heredim
("those who tremble" before God),
an insular minority long opposed to
the modernizing and prosperous
Israel in which they live, are likely to
become more numerous and politi-
cally influential thanks to a far higher
birthrate than other communities’—
10 children in a single family is not
uncommon. The Heredim reject
mainstream society even as they are
highly subsidized by the state half of
the ultra-Orthodox don’t work, and
many of the men are full-time Torah
students who receive (admittedly
meager) government stipends. Of
the 700,000 Israeli Heredim (nine
percent of the population), almost
60 percent live below the poverty
line. If the Heredim don’t begin
working in larger numbers, says the
financial daily The Marker, Israel’s
future is threatened. The law that
exempts full-time ultra-Orthodox
students from military service
requires that they not work, leading
Israel’s military chief to say—voicing
a widely shared feeling—that those
who don’t serve in the forces should
be "ashamed."
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The lifestyle of the many Heredi
sects in Israel—followers live in their
own neighborhoods, attend separate
schools, and don’t interact much
with the majority—is inspired by the
Jewish world of eastern Europe that
was destroyed in the Holocaust. They
tend to reject what they see as a
morally corrupt secular society and
to sanctify religious study, modesty,
and charity. Heredi attempts to
impose their religious mores on oth-
ers—gender segregation of bus lines
in Heredi neighborhoods, and even
at concerts in secular areas—are
bringing them into conflict with the
wider community. Nonetheless,
author Kobi Arieli— a "liberal" Here-
di—points to examples of growing
integration of Heredi into the main-
stream. "It will happen slowly. From
year to year, more and more Heredi
youth will join the army and go to
work. This is what is already happen-
ing, and it will change everything."
(Canadian Press, 1/14/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Mexican authorities have arrested
David Romo, a leader of Santa
Muerte (Saint Death), the fast-grow-
ing underground cult that has for
years been a headache both for the
government and the Roman Catholic
Church. Some—the marginalized,
impoverished, and sometimes-crimi-
nal element, including drug-traffick-
ers—have become followers of Santa
Muerte in reaction to rising violence
in the country. Drug traffickers and
prison gangs ask Santa Muerte for
protection as they commit crimes.
Romo, a self-appointed bishop of
Santa Muerte, is accused of operat-
ing a kidnapping ring and launder-
ing the ransoms though his personal
bank account. When prosecutors
brought him before TV cameras as
they read out the charges, he shout-
ed that he’d been tortured and that
his arrest was politically motivated.
Some Santa Muerte proponents say
Romero has excessively commercial-
ized the cult’s practices. Eva Aridjis,
who’s film La Santa Muerte was
released in 2007, says not everyone
who worships Santa Muerte is a
criminal. "What I encountered was
many sick people or people who
were in danger of dying or lived in
dangerous environments. Drug
addicts and prostitutes, but also
policemen and taxi-drivers." Santa
Muerte mixes pre-Colombian indige-
nous practice and African customs
with elements of Catholicism. The
government removed Santa Muerte
from the list of officially recognized
religious organizations in 2007. (Los
Angeles Times, 1/5/11) .■
36 ICSA TODAY
judge said that to evaluate this
charge the court would have to
review Scientology’s doctrine pro-
hibiting Sea Org members from rais-
ing children. "Inquiry into these alle-
gations would entangle the court in
the religious doctrine of Scientology
and the doctrinally motivated prac-
tices of the Sea Org."
"It’s a big win for Scientology" said
Stephen A. Kent, a University of
Alberta sociologist who closely fol-
lows Scientology. He believes that
the ruling will help cement the Sea
Org as a religious order despite prac-
tices that set it apart from traditional
orders. "I think it’s a major blow for
people who want the IRS to re-
examine Scientology’s status," he
added. The long-debated issue of
workplace laws remains: how do the
courts protect an accuser’s individual
rights without violating a church’s
right to freely practice religion?
(St. Petersburg Times, 8/6/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A French couple reportedly associat-
ed with the Ramtha School of
Enlightenment, and said to be para-
noid about the end of the world,
allegedly shot and killed a police-
man, wounded another, and chased
a third through the bush in January
on a South African farm from which
they were being evicted. Phillipe and
Agnis Neniere, thought to be survival
experts, had lived on the farm, near
Sutherland, for 12 years but had
been told to leave by the owner
because of their bizarre behavior.
After a decade of friendly visiting
with the owner’s family, the couple
became reclusive, saying, according
to one of the owner’s sons, that
"they wanted to drop off the grid
and study quantum physics." He said
the Nenieres "believed that they
would have to fend for themselves
and survive [the world’s end] in the
bush." Police are said to have found
medical supplies, emergency packs,
survival field guides, and notes on
the Ramtha School of Enlightenment
when they searched the house after
the shootings. J. Z. Knight, the
school’s founder, has visited South
Africa. Her teachings involve "end
times," which are linked to a belief
that the Mayans predicted that 2112
would see the end of the world.
Some of the cult’s students believe
they can gain the power to raise the
dead, freeze a rocket in mid-air,
make gold appear out of thin air, and
predict the future. (Independent
Online, 1/16/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
London-based mystic Benjamin
Crème, founder of the New Age
group Share International, visited
followers in San Francisco in August
and had a private meeting with
author-economist Raj Patel. Crème
devotees had recently identified
Patel, according to prophecies, as the
earthly manifestation of Maitreya,
The World Teacher, a sort of messiah.
Both Crème and Patel—who appar-
ently has no connection to Crème or
Share International—agreed that the
declaration was a case of mistaken
identity. (Bay Citizen, 8/19/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Indonesian government officials say
that their program to persuade con-
victed terrorists to renounce vio-
lence has failed, this following the
arrest of Abdullah Sonata, released
from prison in 2009 for good behav-
ior, but now suspected of plotting to
kill several prominent people, includ-
ing the country’s president. While a
few like him have been reformed,
said the Minister of Justice and
Human Rights, "It is extremely diffi-
cult to reform terrorists because we
are trying to destroy years of indoc-
trination and misrepresentation of
Islam." Methods used thus far, mainly
by police, aim to turn convicted ter-
rorists into informers while providing
financial support to their families.
But little has been done to challenge
terrorists’ radical religious beliefs. In
the future, the minister said, "We will
solicit help from psychologists,
experts, criminologists, and clerics to
determine the best means to reform
hard-core terrorists." Police are con-
cerned that prisons may be breeding
grounds for terrorists.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal
has ordered the school board of the
Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-
Nord to compensate three instruc-
tors it fired when the board learned
of their association with the Raëlian
cult. Daniel, Michel, and Sylvie
Chabot were hired in 2006 to offer
"emotional pedagogy" training ses-
sions to Conseil Scolaire teachers,
and did so through the Academy of
Pleasurology and Emotional Intelli-
gence. The Tribunal said that the
board has discriminated against the
three because of their religious
beliefs. Daniel Chabot said that this
is the first of many human rights
complaints by Raëlins that was
resolved in favor of the com-
plainants. (LifeSiteNews.com, 1/3/11)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Bibiji, the widow of Yogi Bhajan,
founder of the Sikh community in
the U.S., is involved in arbitration in
California over the use of marks asso-
ciated with "Yogi Tea," a product
developed by the late guru and
licensed to a group of his students,
who formed a company named
Golden Temple. Golden Temple sub-
sequently sold out to another firm,
retaining only its Yogi Tea produc-
tion. The widow Bibiji objects to
Golden Temple’s continued use of
the marks in question and wants to
license the brand to another tea
manufacturer. At issue is: Who owns
the trademark? Golden Temple is
concurrently suing two other com-
panies—one run by a son of Yogi
Bhajan and Bibiji—for using marks
similar to the Yogi Tea marks it
believes it retains. (Register-Guard,
11/28/10)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Unification Church leader the Rev-
erend Sun Myung Moon, and a
group of Washington Times execu-
tives fired by Moon’s eldest son, Pre-
ston Moon, have purchased the ail-
ing newspaper for $1. Circulation of
87,000 in 2008 has been halved, and
half the newsroom has been laid off,
About the
Author
Joseph F. Kelly,
a graduate of
Temple Univer-
sity, has been a
thought reform
consultant since 1988. He spent
14 years in two different eastern
meditation groups.
He has lectured extensively on
cult-related topics, and is a co-
author of “Ethical Standards for
Thought Reform Consultants,”
published in ICSA’s Cultic Studies
Journal. He is the News Desk Editor
of ICSA Today. Mr. Kelly also co-facil-
itates ICSA workshops for ex-mem-
bers and ICSA’s local- meeting in
Philadelphia. ■
ICSA_volume3_proof6 5/10/11 12:14 PM Page 38
