Just a Note,

I hope we still have freedom of speech in the USA.

Several of the groups made it know to their followers that if you talk about them or cause any problems for them; they would make your life misrable or sue you.

This for me, is one of the ways that these cults keep their secrets quiet. I find it very healing to just write it out. I love this place for that aspect.

I privately know about a murder that happened with one of the Gurus, but becuase I have no proof, there was not much I could do about going to the authorities... but one day, I will write a book and reveal all that I know..

I just deleted all of my post that made reference to any names becuase a friend just told me I could be sued for speaking up. I certainly do not need that hasses in my life now.

So, for my New Year I will only talk about the groups without Naming any names...

Gold Dust :

Tx for your contributions.

Yes, good to be speaking out! Likewise, I know of one murder, a number of suicides, a number of cult-induced schizophrenics living now on SSI, innumerable bankruptices, lawsuits and counter suits, harrassment, not to menton the untold familes destroyed, rapes, buried pedophilia, SEC violations on and on .... from my personal exposure to a couple of groups w/o ever being part of an inner circle.

Not only does it 'feel good to be speaking out', I believe it's a personal responsibility to share the stories as fair warning to others.

Happy New Year!

In response to your self editing :

Have you yet read "Cults In Our Midst" by Margaret Singer? It's " a must" on many levels.

- excellent about cult thought reform and recovery; will help you understand your experience & background

- she also writes, in the intro, about her various law suits and threats to herself and family.

OK, I'm no attorney, but Rick Ross has one. Rick was recently sued by Landmark because of all the postings here - you could probably search the website to find the outcome of that suit - but the Landmark postings remain here.

IMHO, as long 'we' reference the names with 'in my opinion' or 'in my experience' and are not directly slandering... just sharing our OWN experiences.. then we should be safe from law suits. Besides, we're anonymous here.

They'd have to obtain a court order for RickRoss.com to reveal our identities. Again, I'm NOT an attorney, but have a gradute degree from a medical school; we were educated about legal issues regarding medical practice - not about this situation though. In medical-legal issue there has to be proven damage for a medical lawsuit to have credence. I don't know if similar would apply to charges of slander. It's pretty nebulous.

The people who read these postings are already questioning a particular group(s). This is a targerted audience. Posting here is NOT the same as going on national television, or buying a full page ad in the New York Times.