I went to a few spiritualist church, when is a step beyond Unity... they advertise and support TALKING TO THE DEAD.... yea... what I saw there when I attended a few classes is blaten GAMES... they teach you how to be a FACK READER... .and the word PSYCHIC is a bad word to them. They say all of their messages come from the dead loved onces who come back to this world to give you messages and he
Forum: Destructive Churches

Quotesupermonkey Free thinkers do not get involved with cults Don't we wish it was so black and white? According to AFF, the premier nonsecterian, academic & professional group that resarches cults and thought reforms, the 'average' cult member (if there is such) is of higher than intelligence than the population mean. No one 'joins' saying "Hey - si
Forum: Destructive Churches

spiritualism like unity is a cult that con people and lead people into believing in a false god and nonexistant spirit world. Wake up people and see that they may not hold brainwashing sessions in a harsh manner they may be all so new agey and nice but the niceness and the lies they teach do NOT encourage critical thinking. Free thinkers DO NOT follow this type of new age hodge podge!! Free t
Forum: Destructive Churches

In my experience, Unity is totally a church for free thinkers. They do not have dogma, welcome other religions, and never force a minister's beliefs or a speaker's beliefs on anyone. This is a "do-it-yourself" religion, and people are expected to accept some teachings and disregard others, as they see fit. The object is to look at the teachings as theories, and prove to
Forum: Destructive Churches

KEY COMMENTS FROM THE FACTNET FORUM: This is how CP Wagner got involved in MSI (Morningstar). First Steve Mureell who used to be a maranatha have changed his ways, have also fired people that are legallistic in his church , this happened after maranatha disband. The whole church, repented of being legalistic. Because he is fruitful, his name is getting known, thats how CP Wagner got to know hi
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Is this the way it really happened? A TIME TO BUILD UP AND A TIME TO TEAR DOWN by Walter Walker Journal of the Teaching Ministry November 1989 You will find that this edition of Table Talk is quite different than any that I have written be-fore. I usually get my ideas for Table Talk articles from various situations in which I find my-self. The past two articles, Authority in th
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Sometimes the best way to expose the truth about someone is to let them talk about themselves: HISTORY OF MARANATHA - From the Post-Maranatha Website Maranatha was a cutting-edge, charismatic campus ministry founded by Bob and Rose Weiner in 1973, which grew phenomenally in the late 1970s and 1980s. The churches planted around the world by Maranatha are having a lasting impact even to
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Another good expose at: looks to be orginally from Salon. Bleep" of faith An indie film gets buzz and a big rollout. But "What the Bleep Do We Know!?" uses questionable on-screen experts -- and appears to be an infomercial for a controversial New Age sect. - - - - - - - - - - - - By John Gorenfeld Sept. 16, 2004 | Last week, the national release of the independent fil
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Thanks once again for your observations and clarity, Corboy. One issue, however appears to be missing from your most recent analysis which I would like to briefly address. In the case of the Pathwork (which my friend Tom belonged to) he not only was the patient of a Pathwork therapist, he attended Pathwork seminars and intensives and "lecture study" groups and "lecture study"
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

While many people don't understand why members of this organization dress the way they do and worship the way they do, the fact is that these people love God with all their hearts. Not everyone associated with this organization is close minded and feels that if you don't believe in the doctrine that you are bound for hell. Many of us believe that we shouldn't judge other christ
Forum: Destructive Churches

I thought this was interesting and worth the read: A View From the Eye of the Storm A talk delivered by a famous Israeli scientist at a meeting of the international Advisory Board of a large multinational corporation, April, 2004 As you know, I usually provide the scientific and technological "entertainment" in our meetings, but, on this occasion, our Chairman suggested that I
Forum: Terrorist and Extremist Groups

Larry, A lot of the things you wrote struck a chord with me. Many in my old church also enjoyed their “dirtiest sinner” pasts and the cleansed-notoriety their pasts brought them. This was confusing to me. I also saw many of the works there as superficial — works for the sake of works, sometimes with very ugly purpose behind them. Those who succeeded in that church revered the pastor and other
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

I agree Unity Church tends to be very open and sometimes awfully trusting. It has become, however, a place a new cult is operating. Basically, the general beliefs of the New Age have now been codified into a single belief system, and members of this group are using the "Spiritual" churches to gain converts. THis would not present a problem if this codified belief system were seen a
Forum: Destructive Churches

Unity is a very open place. Many self help groups (eg 12 Step meetings) lease meeting rooms at Unity churches. This applies to other churches, too. This hospitality could potentially be abused by persons and groups with ulterior motives if they lease space for meetings and events at a Unity church, or any other church.. In such a case, the church would not know what was being done. Whe
Forum: Destructive Churches

I am trying to find any information concerning complaints of abuse, misconduct, or cultish activities being performed by the Unity Church. Any response is welcome. Thanks
Forum: Destructive Churches

Many years ago, i actually did "infiltrate" a number of cults, merely out of personal interest. I am a professional actor, so i am fascinated by wacked out people. I personally have an intense curiousity in wacko people doing wacked out things. I have used this info in my work many times! I have also read many many books on cults, propaganda, etc. Frankly, if i was an evil sociopath,
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

MOD writes: This is a list largely compiled based upon theological and not objective criteria. That is, regarding the behavior of the group, as previously linked and explained. For example; Roman Catholicsim,>>>> ********** The most dangerous cult in history. What is a "cult?" In his book, Rise of the Cults, Walter Martin defined cultism as "
Forum: Destructive Churches

I always suspected there were snake handlers in my neck of the woods-lots of MidSoutherners here. But yes, I agree with your suggestion. There is certainly something for everyone. That's one neat thing about the American religious scene. I have yet to visit the Unitarians. I have visited the Community of Christ and Unity as far as liberal churches are concerned. As far as conservati
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

This is my experience, escape and recovery from a Christian cult. I came from a small, mostly independent, Reformed Baptist church and although I don't regard Reform Baptists as cultic, I do regard my former church as being that way. I spent 15 years in a church that preached legalism and fear instead of love and mercy. Combining this with an authoritarian, controlling pastor who had an obse
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

a situation that has been a problem in the church from the very beginning. Read some of Paul's early letters, especially Corinthians I and II, Colossians, Romans and Galatians. These letters were memos that Paul wrote in response to crisis situations that boiled up. The early house churches were getting out of control due to the behavior you are describing. Or opportunists were sowing discor
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Not everyone uses these methods. As I mentioned in the other article, recruitment methods used by ambitious 'export guru' are going to be different from those used by an entity such as Human Potential training program or a commerical indoctrinational group Human Potential Groups and Large Group Awareness Trainings They often use material from pre-existing groups--either they purch
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Another case study is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. His lineage claims are debatable (go to trancenet.org for more info) MMY marketed his material and marketed it to Western seekers who were already hungry for esoteric eastern wisdom. His first point of recruitment were persons in societies dedicated to the study of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. And in the late 50s early 60s, nobody knew how to fact check
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

A church like Unity may be OK, but a if a particular Unity church does not screen persons or groups who request use of its facilities, that particular Unity church can, unwittingly, wind up as a platform for cult activity. To use a computer analogy, You can run a variety of application programs using an operating system like Windows 98 (Unity). If one of the programs happens to harbor a virus (e
Forum: Destructive Churches

In the last year my wife, who suffers from several disabling physical ailments, has come under the increasing influence of a woman named Solomae who appears to be bringing people in need to her feet (primarily women) for spiritual enlightenment. I believe her connection with Solomae began through the well-meaning suggestions of people she came into contact with through legitimate Internet-based s
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I sure would like to see something like that that isn't so tied to Christian terminology. As it is, it isn't that useful to me, because some of it is so much like what I would find at a Christian evangelical counter-cult site. Such sites regularly condemn my church, Unity, on theological grounds. I totally reject the idea that theology determines whether or not a group is a cult. Auth
Forum: Destructive Churches

I've been involved in Unity for many years. I don't consider it to be a true cult (though the evangelicals do, on theological grounds) but I have certainly experienced and witnessed a great deal of cult-like control, manipulation and secrecy. In my opinion, there has been considerable cultic influence by groups such as the A Course In Miracles study groups. There seems to be somethin
Forum: Destructive Churches

darin_selby@hotmail.com > (In depth Twelve Tribes Exp. Part 2) But most importantly, how much the elders and leaders want to listen and hear each week from the young people (and anyone else) so much that they, (for example), make a special weekly time to get together for an even
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From: darin_selby@hotmail.com This is the actual letter that I sent to the Twelve Tribes at the beginning of 2002, and afterward is their response. I have a short commentary on my own personal feelings about what Yoneq and Ha-emeq (the leaders) had to write back to me - so I feel th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"