Actually, those Google Ads on that site are like a morbid comedy show. If you reload the page they keep coming.

QUOTE: Bible Extra-terrestrials, UFOs, Jesus, God - what's the link? Get Answers! Free eBook Download.
QUOTE: Wanted: A Better Life Rediscover Your Joy & Passion & Create A Breakthrough Life
QUOTE: Would you Listen to UFOs? They do give advice to those who listen. Their advice= Meditation.


If one wants to see the hottest New Age scams, check those Google Ads, those are the sects who are spending money on advertising.

You can be sure that sects target those kind of websites, by buying keywords used on websites that are critical of the group. One can bet that Scientology buys Ads for sites that use the words...Scientology cult scam...etc.

Thanks Anticult. Yes, that is the site I meant. The Scientology Ad is the one at the top & not the side bar. But I take your point that once the website subscribes to ads, they have no control over what is put there. It was unnerving to click on the link and see Scientology in big letters though.

Thanks for bringing that up, its interesting. [www.michaelshermer.com]
The banner Ads rotate, for textbooks, numerology, etc. No doubt Scientology would target critical websites, with their ads.

Frankly, one suspects that guys like Shermer find that ironically amusing, and have made the banner ad so prominent, as an object lesson in internet ads. From the viewpoint of a Skeptic, that is how it reads.

A typical skeptical site should have no problem with "legal" ads like that, as most skeptics are able to sort through that deception and marketing, that is what its about.

But a site about cults, that might be different, as sometimes people are approaching it from a different angle.


For example, SkepDic always has amusing Google ads on their site, as its criticizing all that stuff.
frauds & hoaxes [www.skepdic.com]

Ads [www.skepdic.com]
Note: This is a skeptical and educational website. We will not actively promote psychics, quack remedies, pseudoscientific devices, illegal activity, or pornography.

If one looks at the logo for eSkeptic, its the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie. [www.michaelshermer.com]
So its pretty sarcastic.

But I have never seen any evidence that any mainstream Skeptics are pro-Scientology at all.
If it ever crops up, it would be worth looking into, to see if someone is pulling a deception.

But Skeptics tend to criticize Scientology differently than many cult-busters do.

Haven't seen any info about this book, Tragedy in Sedona - My Life in James Arthur Ray's Inner Circle, on this thread.

Here's an excerpt about the author and her family:

Quote

Connie and her husband Richard are among the few people who were members of the World Wealth Society (WWS), Ray’s inner cir­cle, from its inception. They attended every event that he offered as either participants or volunteers. Connie has a unique insight into how his organization was run and has developed friendships with Ray’s employees, other members of the WWS and participants in his events. She was trained in activities such as fire walking, breaking a board with your hand, and rebar bending using your throat, and coached participants through those activities at his events.



Connie has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Santa Clara, and an A.A.S in Medical Laboratory Technology & Elec­tron Microscopy. She has worked as a medical laboratory technician, chemical engineer, and a large computer systems sales person. Cur­rently she and her husband are real estate brokers and own The Joys of Real Estate which operates under Keller Williams Realty. Connie resides in San Diego, CA, with her husband Richard and daughter, Erica.
[www.tragedyinsedona.com]

Thanks for the book update. One has to wonder to what extent former followers of James Ray understand what really happened to them. He preyed on people who did not have experience in this area.
For example, the list of stuff from above, like breaking boards and walking on coals, that stuff is literally 25 years old. The first NLPer LGAT scam artists were doing that decades ago.
Its truly scary to see someone like James Ray use such old tricks, so badly done, and get away with it.

Some of his alleged "former" followers have made comments about the book at Amazon, using the EXACT SAME language patterns used by James Ray, that he copied from Tony Robbins and the other LGAT Gurus. They are still totally indoctrinated in those systems.

What happened with James Ray was no "accident", or mistake. As shown with Colleen Conaway, James Ray Inc knew what they were doing to people, and simply did not care, it was collateral damage to them, or worse.


It would be interesting to read the book, to see what her views are.
There are some horrendous blind-spots and misinformation coming right from the publisher of the book, who apparently has no problem with "brainwashing and cults"?
Those people did not die in a quest to improve their lives, they were victimized and exploited by an extreme manipulator and sociopath.



_________________________________

Tragedy in Sedona - Sample Chapters
[www.transformationmediabooks.com]
Publisher's Note

I agreed to publish this book only when the author assured me this would not be a muck-racking "tell-all" tome written to frighten the reader about the spiritual self-help movement. Transformation Media Books focuses on publishing authors who are dedicated to improving the lives of their readers in the Mind, Body, Spirit genre.

Personally, I have experienced and benefited from many of the books, workshops and seminars that the media and general public have considered “brainwashing” or “cults.” While I never attended a James Arthur Ray event, I did meet him once at the start of his career and found him to be as charismatic and engaging as described in this book.
.....

This book is in memory of Colleen Conaway, Kirby Brown, Liz Neuman and James Shore who paid the ultimate price in a quest to improve their lives. They will not be forgotten.

Ginny Weissman, Publisher
Transformation Media Books



--------------------
[www.amazon.com]
Tragedy in Sedona: My Life in James Arthur Ray's Inner Circle [Paperback]
Connie Joy (Author)

# Publisher: Transformation Media Books (October 1, 2010)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0984575162
----------------------

[www.tragedyinsedona.com]

About the Author Connie Joy


Raised in a very religious Roman Catholic family, Connie had a paradigm shift as an adult that put her on a lifelong path as a student of spirituality. She has belonged to several spiritual groups, including leading a Sylvia Browne study group, and was trained as a Practitioner of Hypnosis with emphasis in past life regression. After watching the movie The Secret, Connie attended one of James Arthur Ray’s seminars in 2007 with her husband Richard and signed up for his Harmonic Wealth Weekend (HWW) event held in February, 2007. Over the next three years, Connie and Richard participated in or volunteered for 27 James Arthur Ray seminars and events.



In 2007, Connie and Richard attended the following James Ray seminars and events:



01/07


Learning Annex: Secret of Attracting True Wealth with James Ray, San Diego, CA

02/07


Harmonic Wealth Weekend (HWW), San Diego, CA

05/07


Creating Absolute Wealth (CAW),San Diego, CA

07/07


Practical Mysticism (PM), Tahoe, CA

09/07


James Ray International’s Grand Opening Reception, Carlsbad, CA

09/07


Spiritual Warrior (SW), Sedona, AZ

11/07


Quantum Leap (QL), Las Vegas, NV

11/07


While attending Quantum Leap (QL) we became one of the 5 founding members of the World Wealth Society (WWS) when it was first announced

11/07


Volunteered at The Secret of Attracting True Wealth, Del Mar, CA



In 2008, Connie and Richard attended the following James Ray seminars and events:



01/08


Volunteered at Harmonic Wealth Weekend (HWW), San Diego, CA

04/08


Modern Magick (MM), Kona, HI

04/08


WWS members worked for Habitat for Humanity, Kona, HI

04/08


World Wealth Congress, Kona, HI

07/08


Volunteered at Practical Mysticism (PM), Tahoe, CA

08/08


Volunteered at Harmonic Wealth Weekend (HWW), San Diego, CA

10/08


WWS excursion to Egypt (WWS members only)

11/08


Quantum Leap (QL), Las Vegas, NV

11/08


World Wealth Extravaganza, Las Vegas, NV

12/08


Creating Absolute Wealth (CAW), San Diego, CA

12/08


We reenrolled for the 2009 membership in WWS

12/08


WWS New Year’s Eve Celebration, San Diego, CA (WWS members only)


In 2009, Connie and Richard attended the following James Ray seminars and events:



02/09


World Wealth Congress, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (WWS members only)

04/09


Modern Magick (MM), Dana Point, CA

04/09


Secret of Attracting the Life You Want, Carlsbad, CA

06/09


Invited to Dream Team 2009 Spiritual Warrior (SW), but declined

07/09


Their daughter attended Creating Absolute Wealth (CAW), San Diego, CA. (Colleen Conaway commits suicide.) We attended the final night black tie dinner dance

08/09


WWS excursion to Peru (WWS members only)

08/09


Volunteered at Secret of Attracting the Life You Want, Carlsbad, CA

10/09


World Wealth Summit, San Diego, CA



In preparation for a trip to Peru with a group led by Ray, Connie lost 80 lbs which she credits in part to what she learned from James and her goal of being in better physical shape before going to Peru.



Connie and her husband Richard are among the few people who were members of the World Wealth Society (WWS), Ray’s inner circle, from its inception. They attended every event that he offered as either participants or volunteers. Connie has a unique insight into how his organization was run and has developed friendships with Ray’s employees, other members of the WWS and participants in his events. She was trained in activities such as fire walking, breaking a board with your hand, and rebar bending using your throat, and coached participants through those activities at his events.
----------------------------------

From the Foreward, written by Carole Lieberman, M.D., M.P.H.

(a Beverly Hills forensic psychiatrist, who examined two of James Ray’s followers who were in the sweat lodge that fateful day of tragedy in Sedona. Her background encompasses additional experiences that give her deep insights into self-styled gurus like James Arthur Ray. These include having: spent weeks in the Peruvian Amazon convening with shamans and experiencing their ayahuasca ceremonies, hiked to the vortexes of Sedona with guides of the spiritual and llama variety, been in the ‘inner’ orbit of other gurus, written Bad Boys: Why We Love Them, How To Live with Them and When to Leave Them, and — like James — been on Oprah and Larry King Live.)


"In Harmonic Wealth, James wrote, “The Darth Vader move, as I call it—the transition from a man of light to a monster of darkness—can happen at any level. Regardless of how high you grow and evolve, you can still fall . . . . You need to guard against this as if your very life depends on it . . . . The allure of increasing wealth and fame is always a seductive reality, slithering around your ankles, ready to strike in the blink of an eye. It’s even seductive for me, and I know what to watch out for, my anti-venom always at the ready because it gets really comfortable receiving adulation and gifts, the accoutrements of success.” His own words lead us to the inescapable and ultimate question: where was his “anti-venom” when he needed it most—in Sedona?"

For a forensic psychiatrist to pose that question---where was his “anti-venom” when he needed it most---- shows that this lady is more than half-way down the rabbit hole herself, IMO. To aquiesce in the notion that the trajectory of a lifetime spent in trying to mask one's normal human vulnerabilities with braggado and showmanship can be arrested with a quick dose of 'anti-venom' is less than forensic thinking.
The fans of James Ray and his wisdumb are still so bewitched by his words that they overlook the obvious choices in behaviour that he made at a very early age and never saw fit to modify in any way.



"In his book, Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want, published a year before the sweat lodge incident in Sedona, James unwittingly revealed the clues that explain why and how he unconsciously attracted this tragedy. As with all unconscious manifestations, the seeds began in his childhood.

“I was the kid with the big Coke bottle glasses and buckteeth who everyone made fun of . . . . To make matters worse, I failed at every sport. I just curled up inside myself to avoid the pain. Since I knew I’d never get the girls being a nerd . . . I became a workoutaholic . . . . Becoming a competitive bodybuilder seemed like the answer to all of my problems."

So, James 'unconsciously attracted this tragedy' typical LOA believer-speak, his continuing series of choices to fake a god-like superior persona had no impact at all.

The Greeks had a good word for it: hubris, (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (in Greek tragedy) an excess of ambition, pride, etc., ultimately causing the transgressor's ruin.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2010 01:35AM by Stoic.

James Ray was a brazen con-man going back years. A trained-eye identified him in minutes, even in his brief appearance on Oprah, as all he did was run patterns. Every word, every phrase, was a pattern copied from someone else.

And James Ray's "stories" about his past, have been shown to be false, fabricated concocted histories.

James Ray did not unconsciously attract a "tragedy".
It was a ruthless con-game, and people were props to be used and abused.
The cover-up of the death of Colleen Conaway was not an unconscious tragedy. It was a carefully planned cover-up by a group of people.

Its very sad that some followers of James Ray, still can't see what really went on. It is going to take a lot of study of the techniques used by James Ray, until they can see that he was conning and manipulating them from day one.

To a trained-eye, James Ray was an obvious, brazen ruthless reckless con-artist, right from day one.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2010 03:24AM by The Anticult.

As shown in this thread, Oprah was the person who made James Ray famous, and gave him credibility by Oprah endorsing James Ray on her show several times. Oprah served her own viewers to James Ray on a platter.

Today, Oprah ran a show about the discredited "Multiple Personality" craze she helped launch decades ago.
In fact, its been shown that MI was largely manufactured by incompetent therapists, through suggestion, imagination, hypnosis, etc.
multiple personality disorder
[dissociative identity disorder] [www.skepdic.com]

So again, Oprah is serving up her audience to be exploited by quacks and cranks.
Hundreds and thousands will now again seek out the discredited "multiple personality" therapy, and have their lives ripped apart, but incompetent "therapists". Again.

No real critics or skeptics allowed on Oprah to show the other side of the coin.

Please forgive me, I know this is a but off topic. I cringe every time I hear someone state it's a "fact" that MPD/DID doesn't exist and/or is a fallacious disorder. I also cringe when Oprah or the media does a show on MPD/DID. The way they lay people bare, and so over hype their symptoms is so shameful it makes me want to cry.

I was diagnosed with MPD in the early 80s ... well before all the media hoopla. Not something I share with the world at large these days, for more reasons than I could post on this site, the least of which being the horrendous stigma attached to this particular diagnosis.

I endured the unspeakable in my childhood (long term sexual, physical and emotional abuse combined with heartbreaking neglect), and lived. Unlike many with dissociative symptoms and repressed memories, there were plenty of witnesses to much of what transpired. Not that it matters, but over 45 years after the fact ... I still bear physical scars.

As a young woman I sought therapy and worked at coming to terms with my past ... learning ways live NOW and grow beyond what had been. Unlike the vast majority of abused children who grow into abusive adults ... I beat the odds and DID NOT.

I never asked for or sought a diagnosis of MPD (today's D.I.D.) and was so mortified when first diagnosed I refused to even discuss dissociative symptoms for two over years. I've never acted like the so-called stereotypical MPD patient (dysfunctional, manipulative, unreliable, controlling, hysterical, Translation: SCARY in a really BAD way), so most people attributed my changes as "me being me" ... a successful, reliable, highly functional individual.

It wasn't until a met a young woman, similar to myself in personality and career ... that I finally opened up to exploring MPD as a diagnosis. When word of my diagnosis spread to my coworkers I became the target of so much fear and insults that I felt compelled to quit working in the medical field. Eventually I became an anti-stigma spokesperson and patient advocate, for NAMI and various other mental health organizations. I returned to college and started a second ultimately successful career.

The effects of severe child abuse never really go completely away. (You can get better, but there's always some residual) People who tell you otherwise, either don't know or lie. That said, should an adult survivor display symptoms (flashbacks, dissociative states, panic or anxiety) years after the fact ... people who didn't experience abuse generally expect you to "get over it". It's not that easy.

The abuse I survived was real, my memories are real and the symptoms I have/had are/were real as well. While it's within the realm of possibility that a number of people were misdiagnosed as having MPD/DID, that doesn't mean the entire diagnosis is now false for EVERYONE. Lastly, I am so much more than a diagnosis, and/or the symptoms and stigma that goes with it.

I love this website and the people who post on it. You helped me to understand how and why people like James Arthur Ray target people of all walks of life (however well educated they may be).

Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Jeannika