writeforchange, if you go into your "My Control Center" and select "Forum Settings" from the list in the left-hand column, you can set the board to your own zone. The default on it is probably Greenwich Mean Time although the Rick Ross Institute is in New Jersey. The board itself is not limited to any one place because there are people who come in and share information &am
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

It seems like you had friends before these people came into your life, and as I read through your story, I see the old friends have disappeared. Maybe they got chased off? Most states have a very simple "cease and desist" law by which you can tell anyone to stop bothering you and unless they have a legally legitimate reason to ignore your request, they then can face charges of st
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Blue Lady, I faced off with a mafia-involvede cult. Here are some methods, some of which I was taught by police who helped me get out. They could not prosecute the cult because of "connections". 1. Be so loud and so well-identified that no one who is in power in the cult wants you getting hurt even by accident. They want to be able to say you imagine the dangers, after all. 2
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Blue lady, no one can kill your spirit. You do no harm in speaking out. Once you have made a decision, then go with it. I cannot advise others to be open because I don't know what they face. I have been in a cult that did indeed destroy my life but being secretive and silent did no good, they ran on fear anyway. Since I decided the heck with it and have been almost irresponsibly open, I
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Blue Lady, Often cult leaders will say "I heard... blablabla.." just to see how you react, for example to see if you will accuse someone else of betrayal, etc. It is an old trick designed both to unsettle you and possibly to find out more. If your trusted friend in the other city also has issues and there are more people who have issues, (as usually there are lots of silent questi
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

southdakota, "mindfulness" is just the ability to pay attention in a conscious manner. It can be developed or anhanced through effort, but mostly it is the result of being relaxed and not distracted. If a person is suffering from some kind of neurological disturbance like severe ADHD or ADD, they might not get results from the different kinds of exercises one can use. 'All one
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

They need to study the fate of Huronia, which was the agricultural Huron tribe's fragile advance into a less hunter-gatherer lifestyle that could not survive the Iroquois culture of waiting for the harvest and storage to be finished before raiding and killing, all along the Great Lakes. The only reason we even know the Huron existed is that this annual dance of seasonal famine was happening
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

That edufire site looks interesting. Maybe someone should sign up as a teacher of cult-discernment? **lol** Not me, though. Someone more "senior".
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Angley, it sounds like you are reacting to a double situation: a religious cult combined with a family cult. You will most likely need some kind of support network to get yourself free from such a toxic combination. Feelings don't come from the Devil. They are natural parts of human beings, and in themselves are neither good not bad. If we feel frightened or angry or sad, then the feeli
Forum: Destructive Churches

I think permaculture itself is a lot wider and more natural than anything to do with Anthroposoohy. Most Permaculture just uses common sense gardening that used to be common in many groups before agriculture became mechanized. QuoteMapleI did a search for Transition and Steiner and found this comment on a Transition website to be interesting: We have to re-educate the populous quickly.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Well maybe sending him off with a back-pack will give you time to get set to divorce if the hiking cure doesn't work. That thing about influence of your past relationships on "his" fatherhood is very scary. If you stick with him and have a child, and that thinking creeps back, he might become abusive.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

"peer review" becomes meaningless if Tolle is a peer..... :(
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This is a common practice kind of Pentecostalism and so to call it a "cult" you would have to look for a little more of the outright manipulative tactics, however I am betting you already see them, because this kind of Pentecostalism is usually driven strictly by the preacher and not part of a larger denominational body with any kind of accountability. There is a lot of cult stuff th
Forum: Destructive Churches

There may also be conflicts with the laws in Texas or USA regarding education and background, licensing, etc such as where the School District regulations are being ignored. It might be a good idea to alert the schools because there are legitimate teachers who have an interest in teaching those assistance couses on the side (teachers moonlighting during the summer months is a common thing, afte
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is a quote from a UK discussion of Waldorf/Steiner that mentions a Transition Town there, "Totnes": @ Mrs Dawkins Yes, I live in Totnes. I used to think the hippies were just harmless goofs but I’m finding their anti-rationalism and smiling selfishness increasingly hard to tolerate. Though I have not seen any statistics about the incidence of mental health problems, someo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

My goodness! There has got to be a way you can get him to start trying to apply enough of his dream in your present setting so that he can discover the obstacles for himself, since he apparently is explaining away anything you show him in media that is an obstacle for others. You know, I have been prone to the "back to eden" syndrome and I found that a few half-way measures cured me.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

There are a number of "Destiny" related orgs in this list in Harris County (Houston Tx area) Most are likely to be African-American and another thing, "Desteny" is a spelling of a common girl's name in that region. I point this out because Desteny is going after people who are seeking a leg up in education (see next link) and so they might be able to run their organiz
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I just read that whole article that you linked. He repeats himself a lot and refers to "official records" without showing them or how these records differ, except for the obvious fact that media references are all second-hand and airline data can be confusing. He asks questions about the existence of the passengers who are assumed to have been killed on 9/11, but of course, where can an
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I am not intrerested in fighting the Reformation, but I am interested in deceptive cults today. I know that many people do not accept the Catholic Church. The heresy that is intrinsic to Lutheran teachings is for a religious debate, not for a cult discussion. The cults we are talking about in Rick Ross forums are not dependent on Bible theology. They are dependent on deliberate deception by hu
Forum: Destructive Churches

There were other currencies up there in the early 90's, about when I left. I don't think the first one was called Berkshares. You know, there are some heavy hitters int he US financial world with Berkshire County connections. We might be moving off the TT cult topic and into conspiracy-land, though, so this might not be a good tangent. However, the local currency thing did seem to ha
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Well, to be "correct" one must have an accepted standard by which a thing is judged for its correctness. To be fully unbiased means there can be no standard.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

corboy, I just listened to the NPR program interviewing the NYT journalist who covers Somalia, and I say "amen" to that! The picture of a society with no government and no concept of one is not a pretty picture.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

This goes back to that video in which Poolman states that the existence of laws against crimes are what creates criminals. He can claim consistency by saying he is defining whatever he allows as not "abuse" of a drug, and he allows alcohol for "rotten" people, thus everyone is "rotten". As for Ecstacy, why isn't South Africa arresting Desteny over this? It i
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

So how does the word "correct" fit in to this "unbiased" view of evil?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The website does not explain anything about this religion except for three "ethics" of behavior. There is a form for prayer requests but no explanation of what this religion believes about the process of prayer. The downloadable booklet is in a "damaged file" that would not open. I was hoping DavidXW would be willing to answer questions about this religion, such as: --&g
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is an interesting conversation confusing Larouche and NatLfed but rich in links and participant comments, and they do figure out the different cults by the end: And this interesting political view of Jim Jones: WARNING: these links are to a community of left-wing activists, so make sure you know what you are doing if you register there. (They are probably all fine people but a littl
Forum: Coercive Persuasion and Undue Influence

What is taakatism? What does a taakatist do?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

You know, racism is always fascinating when it is promoted by people who think they are not racist. I thought the Waldorf people in the Great Barrington area were conscious of the racism because it was so obviously embedded in the material, but they explained it to themselves in all kinds of other ways. In a small community it is easy to believe you are excluding only individuals and not categori
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Well, I think you are right. I did not read the whole thing but what jumped out and grabbed me was the word "correct". Hmmmm..... How about that? A maoist new-ager, maybe?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here is my guru:
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"