Ewww.. Speaking as a female, I find absolutely nothing physically appealing about James Ray. I saw him in person a couple of years before this incident and, ick. He looked like a cheesy used car salesman to me. I think he uses emotions to manipulate, it's definitely not his looks... Reading Josh and Megan's police interviews, I don't know understand how they could put themse
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Doesn't James Ray say "balance is bogus"?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Holding someone accountable for shady practices that put people in harms way is not "hatred". When Schirmer talks about people not wanting to take responsibility, is he talking about the injured and dead sweat lodge participants? I don't know what else he could mean in the context of the James Ray sweat lodge events.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hey, fellow James Ray 'bashers', David Schirmer has some stern words for us: QuoteLet’s talk about the James Ray bashers for a moment: Sadly, in every society, there are a handful of people who are filled with hatred, anger and revenge toward their fellow man. They don’t add to society in any meaningful way by edifying one another or building up their brother; rather they seek to
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

My friend had a forensic accountant try to find hidden assets when she and her husband were going through a divorce. Can the civil suits use the same method to get JR to pay if they do win monetary damages for the victim's families? The first thing I thought when he claimed not having enough money for bail was that his fans will try to help him and he will try to bleed them dry. It&#
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Mr. Harmonic Wealth is broke? And people were paying thousands to get financial expertise from him? I wonder how his true believers are processing this information.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

JR's lawyer is on Larry King right now. He says James had CPR staff on hand and that James held someone's IV until the paramedics arrived. There's no one on right now to give the other side to the story.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quote"One participant in the latest sweat lodge questioned the worth of having Ray behind bars and said he could do more good by speaking publicly about how to handle adversity and contributing financially to the families of the deceased — something the families have said hasn't been done so far. "'He can't change what happened, but he can respond to what happened in a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

No more cheesy smile.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think the police in Arizona probably want to be thorough so they can make a strong case, but I think the San Diego PD need to re-examine Colleen Conaway's case. It was ruled as a suicide, I'm not sure how they can prove otherwise, but the behavior of JR and his staff after Colleen's death is very strange and should be at least looked into. I've talked to the Salty Droid
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotebuffmanI've been reading that article on L. Ron Hubbard and Malignant Narcissism and have to say that Lakhani's responding with such attacks on all criticism looks a whole lot like narcissistic rage--something a lot of these professional persuaders seem to share. You'd think a good 'persuasion' expert like Lakhani would keep his fits of rage in check if for nothing
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

It's amazing that Lakhani has the nerve to try to pull his BS on a site like this. Reading his responses were infuriating; Christa you brilliantly called him out on specific tactics, it was a relief to read your replies to his nonsense. And Anticult, this is the stuff you've warned people about in other threads, it's fascinating to see it being done right in front of your eyes.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteMeadowAnd here is the next twitter: QuoteYou don’t experience anxiety unless you’ve attached to a thought that isn’t true for you. It’s that simple In the light of what just happened, and is still happening in Haiti, this is an outrage, especially coming from someone who is raking in the millions, and living in a Hollywood-like estate. How anyone could come out in public with a statemen
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I can imagine the advice she and her fellow enlightened new age teachers would give to the Haitian victims: Byron Katie -become a vase of flowers Rhonda Byne - stop attracting earthquakes! Eckhart Tolle - you are way too attached to form, stop being so egotistical Neale Donald Walsh - there are no victims Abraham-Hicks - let them eat cake
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I don't know if this has been brought up already (this is a pretty long thread and I haven't gotten through all the posts), but Illusionist Derren Brown is a great resource if you want to understand NLP and hypnosis techniques. He's not very famous in the U.S. but he's done a lot of TV specials in Britain. You can find a lot of his stuff on Youtube, it's very entertaini
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Byron Katie's formula for creating 'peace' could be easier achieved by a frontal lobotomy. (It probably costs less too.) I noticed that James Arthur Ray used some of the same techniques as Byron Katie in his seminars/retreats, like the 'homeless' exercise, the 36-hour fasting, taking away IDs and personal items. Is this some kind of scripted formula that has proven
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hi Hope, Eric Jong is a feminist author and poet, I find it hard to believe that someone who advocates empowering women wouldn't see through BK immediately. Ugh, I read the first few pages of one of BK's books and she starts out saying something about if your husband isn't listening to you, you need to see that you are not listening to yourself, and stop trying to 'control
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm new here, I've been following this thread for the last week and I am just flabbergasted. BK's books and CDs are everywhere, and in New Age bookstores they are displayed very prominently and they seem so harmless. I would never have guessed she was involved in such distructive practices and tactics, she looks like a sweet old auntie or grandma in her photos. I feel for th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I've been fascinated by the paranormal from a very young age, and I've read many new age books as an adult. I stayed away from the "channeled" stuff for a long time, I think mainly due to my Christian upbringing. (I always had a fear that somehow it might be 'satanic' or something silly like that.) When I finally got over that fear, I picked up a copy of The N
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