QuotecorboyACIM ... turns G-D and Jesus and the Holy Spirit Jesus into an ATM. ... I used to be Catholic and figure that Jesus didnt go through all that stuff just to be turned into a focus for wish fulfillment. Wanted to add a little focus on this one issue here because I feel it's a very good point. This is a good warning sign in general to look for when in doubt about a particular group,
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

As rrmoderator noted earlier in the discussion here, most ACIM groups appear to be fairly benign. I'd like to add here though, that on the individual level, I personally feel that there are some psychological concerns worth noting for those that jump head first into a deep study of the text. First off, what is A Course in Miracles? It's a book that was a combined project of Helen Sch
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Great post on the first page of this thread pointing out the distortion and attempted ownership of the term "gnosis" by the Samael Aun Weor Gnostic cult and related splinter groups. Here's the relevant extract from that post, then I'll add the actual history and meaning of the word, which wasn't included with the original. QuoteWhen a person called Victor Gomez change
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Sorry, don't mean to double post on this, but found a good quote regarding Isaac Hayes' statement on why he quit. QuoteStone told The AP that he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin." I thought tha
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteIsaac Hayes has quit South Park, stating that he is unhappy with jokes about religion in episodes of the hit cartoon. Hayes, who has provided the voice of Chef since the show first started, has asked to be let out of his South Park contract and has criticised the show’s producers for including jokes about religion in recent episodes. "There is a place in this world for satire,” said
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteToniHappy Holi-daze all! http://images5.theimagehosting.com/laugh.16.gif Mjr40, your points on exaggerated fears is a good call. I don't know how much is simply irrational fears and knee jerk reactions, and how much is fanning of public fears to increase power. I think that would make the difference between being cult-like or simply reactionary and going into a panicky fight or f
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hey, thanks for the link to the South Park clips on the episode. Didn't know these were going around. Very cool. For those that haven't seen the full episode, I recommend catching it when you can. The clips highlight some key parts, but a lot is missed. And I see they're getting some official recognition from the cult education community, this is great: QuoteThe recent Sou
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Angela wrote: QuoteCute lol... but I wonder what it says about us that we enjoy watching such a serious issue turned into comedy... *sigh* For South Park, I think they covered it in a serious way, mixed with humor. They showed quite clearly how they lure people into the cult with "free" personality tests. They made it clear that these are fake tests just to lure you in for paid "
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Templar, thanks for the heads up. I'm glad you mentioned it because I only catch South Park off and on. I'm sure I would have missed this one. I figured they were just going to mildly poke and make fun of some aspects of Scientology, but figured what the heck, it'll still be worth watching. Wow! I just watched it tonight. This was as exciting as when Rick Ross was on Penn &am
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm kind of late in offering a response here. Haven't checking in in awhile. Sorry about that. Thanks Cosmophilospher for your ideas on managing a cult recovery forum. Much appreciation there for your insights. I also received an email offering support from someone that wished to remain unmentioned, so many thanks to them as well. And thanks Cosmophilospher for this latest piece o
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I just saw Rick Ross on Penn & Teller's series Bullsh*t discussing the potential problems with "life coaches". It was a very interesting episode, and it was a pretty cool surprise to see Rick Ross appear. For those of you that subscribe to the cable station Showtime, you should be able to catch a replay of the episode. Also, I highly recommend catching the show in genera
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

‘Bliss bunny’ is a colloquial term used in the world surrounding Eastern religious cults usually to describe new recruits. These are people all excited by the flowery words and promises of eternal loyalty and unimaginable fulfillment. The bliss bunny stage inevitably fades as the person finds all the same problems, fighting, and confusion present in the spiritual environment as they experienc
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Great new compilation of information, research and commentary out on SRF and Yogananda in a chapter in the eBook Stripping the Gurus by Geoffrey Falk. This chapter can be read for free at: In fact, 50% of the book is available for free there. The book covers more or less the "top forty" spiritual leaders and their associated groups to have influenced Western spirituality over the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Excellent points and well said Coz. In one of the topics covered on Penn & Teller's series Bullsh*t, they covered Ouija boards. They did a pretty good job with it. Actually the entire series is very good. For those that aren't familiar with Penn & Teller, they're magicians like Randi, and they've fairly recently started a series called Bullsh*t where the
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

On our message board (mentioned in the preceding post), does anyone have any comments on whether a disclaimer should be used on the site? Do disclaimers actually really do anything? Let's say someone files for defamation of character, would a disclaimer actually have any effect on limiting such legal harassment efforts? Other than disclaimers, anyone have any ideas on what other action
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

If interested in a more in-depth look into issues related to SRF, feel free to visit: Cult Busters - SRF Division
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

:) http://www.cvc3.org/modelcourses/ahoppenagao/images/walking.gif
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I've been playing the online game EverQuest off and on since Christmas of 1999 when I received a copy as a gift. I haven't had the pleasure of playing EverQuest 2 like Glofishy, but I hear it's better structured to help avoid players from investing extraordinary amounts of time in it, such as instead of massive guild raids to progress to most interesting parts on the game as in EQ
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Much appreciation for your comments here. Lots of food for thought and investigation. Unfortunately I don't have any answers on these questions.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

From Evaluating Spiritual and Utopian Groups by Arthur J. Deikman: (I'll put the quotes from the article in bold. My comments will be written in regular text.) In order to do this one must recognize that the experience of the truly spiritual is not a fantasy, a delusion or an emotional binge but a valid aspect of human life known to almost everyone to some degree. How can the autho
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The letter describing the myth-making process surrounding Da Free John / Adi Dam Samiraj was great and should probably be required reading for anyone interested in learning more on how intelligent and free-thinking individuals can get caught up within a cultic relationship. I'm tempted to quote and comment on many sections of the letter, but there's so much that this post would become w
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Nice link on Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit. Lot of good material there. If anyone seriously following this thread hasn't followed that link, I highly recommend that you do so. I've heard so much good about it, but never got around to picking up a copy. I'll be sticking that on my Christmas wish list. :D
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Much appreciation for your post Corboy. Lot of material to digest there, so I'm working on delving into those areas now. I remember you mentioning Carlos Castaneda in another thread, but I never took the time to followup on the links. I'll be doing that now. I'll also be taking a more in-depth look into the Mark Miller material. From my initial browsing into the first link provi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Cosmophilospher wrote: QuoteAlso, i can't recall, did Yogananda make claims to be able to perform "miracles" himself? Paramahansa Yogananda use to perform a "pulse trick" in front of audiences (along with other tricks) to demonstrate how he had superhuman mastery over his body. I'm going to present two article excerpts here. The first documents him actually perf
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Cosmophilospher wrote: QuoteJust like the nutty "proof" that his body rotted slower than a mere mortal when he "left his body", that is, when he DIED like the rest of us mere mortals will. In an article which appeared in the Rational Enquirer, The Skeptics’ Newsletter for Western Canada, Leonard Angel, a professor of philosophy at the University of Columbia, recounts how
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Toni wrote: Quote... "Dear Prudence" was written to Prudence Farrow (Mia's sister) who was meditating as she was told to, and wouldn't 'come out to play'. I tend to go with this view of the event: “At some point, Mia Farrow's sister Prudence lapsed into something like meditation-induced autism (another almost inevitable result of offering a trance-induci
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Cosmophilospher wrote: QuoteI was tricked by reading "Autobiography of a Yogi" when I was a lot younger, and naive. ... I did order some tapes of Yogananda speaking, and he was a damn good speaker! A year ago or so I was corresponding with someone who was recovering from SRF involvement. He had a really sharp mind and was able to hammer out in fiery and inspiring detail on how sill
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Yourmaster wrote: QuoteThe relationships krishna has with the women is not to be understood as being between a earthly man and woman. It is a relationship that we all have with God as individuals, expressed in terms and emotions and situations that are physical. If we remove the male and female aspects and replace those with the relationship between God and man, this is even worse then. We n
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Dervish wrote: Quote... no reason to pit your tan carpenter versus someone's blue cowherder. Guess I need to add a little clarification here. I was in no way promoting any religion as being more sound than the particular form of Hinduism in question here. And how you've come to believe that I was promoting Christianity in particular is a mystery to me. Please see my posts in the th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

BhaktaMax wrote: QuoteI have to say that this site does shed some information on cults and the dangers of them. The only problem is Krishna Consciousness isn't a cult ... Some questions here for you to consider, if you wish. They may sound a bit pointed, but they're not personal assaults of any kind; they're just some ideas for you to kick around that you may find helpful:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"