And here are some articles about organ harvesting of Chinese prisoners in general: and
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotekathThat is what I mean. Massage practictioners are actually limiting what new agers can do (or so the reiki-ists believe) not the opposite as the bloke who started this thread said. Ah, ok! I understand now.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

They don't just do it to Falun Gong; they do it to all prisoners. I've read articles about this before. It's a shocking, unethical practice, but it's not targeted specifically at Falun Gong members.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotenobody I have mainly massage therapist friends and have been steeped in the massage therapy world for a long time. I did a huge "wahhhhh...???" when I read this thread because I have no--NONE--ZIP experience of what the heck you are talking about. Show me some proof and maybe then I will entertain that you may have a point..... I am glad you said this, because I am also won
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotekath 'Real' massage therapists have the upper hand. There are laws now in Florida and other places that mean effectively reiki cannot be done unless you have a massage qualification. I've never heard that before. I have friends who do reiki and friends who are massage therapists, but I don't know anyone who does both.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think it's possible to enjoy Castaneda's books as works of fiction.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I never heard the term "hyperreligiosity" before, but I do believe there is such a thing. I saw a lot of it when I was on a guru path. People would tell stories about "magical" stuff the guru had said and done. And the guru himself would tell these crazy stories that everyone would just accept as gospel truth. One time he told a story about his meeting with another guru
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

I have friends who are massage therapists in NY and TX and I've never heard anything about this. What state(s) did this happen in?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm not going to vote, because I honestly don't know enough about this issue to form an opinion. I've never heard of either of those people or their books.
Forum: Terrorist and Extremist Groups

Quotekath But I know that if the group I was involved in ever had a 'democratic' election, the same leaders would be voted for unanimously. This is because it is effectively a personality cult and also people are deferentially loyal to the existing leaders. Exactly.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotebarabara To clarify, if someone had been a child in the 1960s and 1970s, (when there was a resurgence of popularity for Satanism), they would be in their late 30s, 40s, or early 50s today. You certainly can't claim that someone in their 40s or 50s could not possibly have had parents who were involved with Satanism because of their age. There are undoubtedly more accurate reasons t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotekath Also that this 'bad' therapy distracts them from getting real therapy that could help them. Hopefully most of them are seeing therapists in addition to group therapy or online message boards. I know most of the women in the meetings I went to were also seeing therapists.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotebarabara Someone who was 5 years old in 1960 would be 50 or 51 now. Someone who was 5 years old in 1770 would be 40 or 41 now. If there was a resurgance of Satanism during the 60s and 70s, people who are now in their 40s, 50s and possibly 30s would be the precise ones who would have witnessed it or experienced it as small children. I don't understand your math. I was not clear a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I don't think there is anything you can do, really. I used to run into a lot of women who claimed they were "ritual abuse survivors" when I used to go to SIA (Survivors of Incest Anonymous) meetings. I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine from the program about it, and I told her I didn't believe that it could possibly be that common, especially for women
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotesuziWhat is the reasoning behind this ayruvedic diet and how can one argue the absurdity of it? It looks like a low/no calorie diet to me. First of all, it's spelled "ayurvedic". Second of all, it's a fairly common diet in India that has been around for thousands of years. It's not exclusive to any particular sect or cult - unless you consider the entire relig
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Just out of curiousity, what exactly is Subud? I know that the Syda Yoga/Gurumayi organization has Tuesday night programs in a Subud building in New York City. But I don't know anything about Subud itself. Best of luck locating your friends!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quotexfeedthe5000x I actually can observe Intelligent Design. For example if you have a coyote, wolf, a retreiver, and a bananna which is not alike. If you guess bananna you are right. The rest are all dogs. They are the same KIND of animal not different species. Same thing with all animals. We all bascially work the same not because we came from one type of species but we had a maker who had a
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I think this is a good idea. The main problem I can think of, however, is deciding who is qualified to decide on the licensing standards, administer any applicable exams, and judge qualifications. It would be easy for an LGAT to infiltrate such a government agency or self-regulatory organization.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

I have a photo of myself with the Dalai Lama too. It's from Mme. Tussaud's wax museum. I've actually fooled people with it.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here's a U.S. website that tells you a bit about the spiritualist movement:
Forum: Destructive Churches

I don't think all life coaches are bad. But someone did post here that there was some sort of Landmark connection with life coaching. Maybe you should ask your therapist some questions about the life coaching, like where she trained, who she trained with, what classes she took, etc.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Spiritualist churches have been around since the 1800s at least. An old friend of mine and his wife are involved in a spiritualist church in Vermont. It never sounded that harmful or dangerous to me, but then again, I'm pretty open-minded about stuff like that. There is a town in upstate NY called Lily Dale that is supposedly a historically spiritualist town.
Forum: Destructive Churches

Lots of companies require applicants to take personality tests. I is a standard practice for certain types of jobs (especially sales and customer service jobs) and it has nothing to do with Scientology. I've also been turned down for jobs because my personality type didn't jibe with the ideal personality profile for that particular job. Sure, I was upset, but I understand their deci
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

What does this have to do with celebrities and cults?
Forum: Celebrities associated with "cult-like" groups

QuotediIf Primerica wouldn't be so good, why would the Rock try to change its name? http://www.pramerica.pl/images/logo2-1.gifhttp://www.pramerica.pl/images/logo2-2.gif Why is it spelled Pramerica?
Forum: Multi Level Marketing and Commercial Schemes

Are you talking about Anand Bhavan? I've been to the one in Queens, NY and the food is very good. I was told, however, by the friend I went with, that the employees all work there for free as "seva" (selfless service) and are not paid or allowed to keep their tips.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotelivingthequestions I have since learned that one of the primary no-no's with satsang is that you don't share it with or in any way try to convert others. I met a guy who was so thrilled that I'd asked him if he'd heard of it because even his best friends didn't know about it. He said you are taught to never bring it up unless someone asks you about it first. I ten
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotebarabara Why is the anger directed against the children rather than the adults? I don't recall anyone in this thread being angry at children. I think my point was very clear - it is the fault of the adults for not raising their children properly.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotef0rTyLeGz You seem to accept their existence, but in the same vein, can you prove the existence of white bread? HUH? I certainly DON'T accept the existence of indigo children - on the contrary. You seem to lack basic reading comprehension. And I have no idea what the white bread has to do with anything.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotef0rTyLeGz I've read plenty of Alice Miller, FYI. I agree with much of what she has to say. I am very offended that you and others are accusing me of supporting child abuse. I never said any such thing.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"