And yet "eric pearl fraud" is still the first suggestion!! Looks like karma optimized this search.
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuoteDavidXWForgive my ignorance, but what on earth has a somewhat bizarre story about prison violence have to do with the religion of Taakatism? I wish all the happiness in the world to both yourself and all creatures. I'm afraid your ignorance is unforgivable. Sorry. I strongly recommend everyone click on Corboy's link-- it leads to one of the funniest pieces of writing on th
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteStoicIncidentally, although there are an infinite variety of con games and tricks, as well as an infinite variety of con men and women, the dynamic behind the operation of the trick is always the same: "Confidence tricks exploit typical human qualities such as greed, dishonesty, vanity, honesty, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility and naïveté. The common factor is that the ma
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I'm not relying on anything Madoff said after his arrest, or for that matter, very much of what he said before it. I'm looking at the actions he took after he realized, back in the 1960s, that he wasn't a great stock picker. That realization seems to have led him down the road he took. If he'd been content to make money in the low-profile but lucrative areas in which he is tal
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteStoicSNIP None of us is wholly good or wholly evil (although I can cheerfully label some as completely evil---that is my way of reminding myself to avoid such types) and we all make choices. When those choices are solely driven by self-interest, eg JAR's and Genpo's overriding desires for money and power then the fallout to victims becomes an issue of rigid denial. To be successfu
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

@Jeannika (or anyone who might know) All of those achievements on Genpo Roshi's web page-- do any external sources verify them? Anyone can claim anything about his/her past -- my favorite so far is Keith Raniere's claim that he was the record holder for male high-school age New Yorkers in the 100 yard dash. AFAIK, no one's ever found records to back up that claim. But it mus
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Here's a comment from a reader of the Daily Mail article. Pretty much sums up all the objections. QuoteAny organization that demands that sort of secrecy is designed to break up relationships. How could anyone "accept and love him as he is" when he refuses to communicate with her or put into the relationship even 1% of the energy he devotes to his cult? - BrianF, St Paul, MN,
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuoterustycandyHI all, I am not sure i am on the right forum here. My 34 yr old son, is seeing a "life coach" for the last 3 years. He refuses to talk about the past, but is still saying his Dad is at fault for leaving the family years ago. He tells me he will NO longer take care of me his mom and his brother who is very sick with Crohn's disease. He is rude, crude, could care less
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuoteOnetimeposterQuoteThe Anticult... It is bold faced lie, not bald-faced lie. You've said it more than once and it's funny. I went to the free 3-hour intro to MMI and couldn't go for anylonger while keeping any dignity. I'm not sure it's useful to join a board just to spread misinformation. "Bald-faced lie" is quite correct. This term is related
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Monitor NXIVM, this is the first I've heard of Raniere making claims about doing stem cell research. Could you say more about this? Or point me towards more information?
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Quotecuriousnycgirl But what is the purpose of the MKP plan? What are they trying to achieve with their bushwacking? I've heard first hand accounts of how this group has saved some marriages and has damaged and destroyed others. Is that their plan? To eliminate certain women from the lives of MKP men? Surely there must be more to it. The purpose of MKP is to meet the ego needs
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

Quotecuriousnycgirl I don't need articles, I live my life that way. I work in a very male dominated industry. You missed my point. Which was that he listened to these men, who he barely know,s who did not know his son, The articles in the literature don't just describe this phenomenon, they explain the reasons for it, and occasionally ways to confront it. Some readers of thi
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuotecuriousnycgirlSNIP Last week he had his first i group meeting. He felt it was great, he felt supported, he felt the guys gave him really great advice - specifically on how to gain a relationship with his son (he would say repair, but I don't feel they have one). Interesting that they told him to do the same things I've been saying for years, me (who actually knows and has a real
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

dsm, Oerlikon is not a spammer and I am not a troll. It is extremely offensive for you to throw those terms around in this most inappropriate fashion. Oerlikon posts interesting links in many threads; I find that very helpful, and from the feedback he gets, so do many other people. People who don't like his links don't have to click on them. It is also common practice on these b
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

nm.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotedsmOerlikon, are you Catholic ? Has your school, family or neighborhood been affected by this cult? Is there a reason for posting those links? SNIP It is my purpose to enable Catholics and other directly-impacted individuals to discuss their experiences with this cult and its active companion-cults inside our communities. dsm, I've posted the forum rules below. Rick Ross's in
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotedsm Unfortunately, most cult damage does include relapse at a future time, but fortunately, you can be better prepared to keep the relapse brief and minimize the harm if you have a written record in journal or letter form that can remind you of the path you already have trodden. Do you have evidence to support the statement above? I haven't seen any, and I can't think of any re
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

BUMP.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotelauren ....I will say that I did not get the impression that she is a money-hungry, ego-satisfying con artist. Not at all. I believe that she truly wants to help people. No doubt in my mind. She knew suffering firsthand and she found a way to find peace from it, and she hasn't selfishly kept this knowledge to herself. She shares it with the world. Just knowing that my suffering c
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteHippoTo The Anticult: With all respect, the Carl Sagan book looks too hard for me to read, which is why I suggested an easier book for Jeannika. Maybe it's more of a gender thing. The Robert Levine book is written in a conversational style, with humorous anecdotes, pointing out various ways that we get manipulated. It's not as technical as the Carl Sagan book, and I&#
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteStoicI like the frog and scorpion story but don't think it applicable here. Human beings are considerably more removed from their basic natures than either frogs or scorpions, they are socialised from birth to rise above the instinct to kill for pleasure or gain or simply because of a whim of the moment. Whatever James Ray learned from his own early socialisation process, he has also
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I have less of a problem with Ray than I do with his followers. James Ray is a sociopath who's behaving sociopathically. He can't behave any other way; if sociopaths could act humanely, they wouldn't be sociopaths. It's like that old joke about the frog who carries the scorpion across the river. The frog has his doubts, but the scorpion swears he won't sting the frog;
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Hippo, you do not recall correctly. Quote Patrick James McKenna was a private detective hired to assist the other investigators working with Simpson's defense team. Through a contact, he discovered the existence of tape recordings held by a woman called Laura Hart McKinney, who worked as a professor at the North Carolina School of Arts. The recordings had been made over a period of s
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Shii a troll who obviously hasn't read a newspaper since 1981. Ignore him. Protests that began in 2008 have severely weakened Scientology. It is important to be careful, but the fact is you are very low down on the list of people they'd want to "fair game," even if they had the personnel to do so. Which they don't. Scientology is in no way a legitimate religion. On
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

bump
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

bump
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

QuoteShiiIs the worst thing you can say about Eckhart Tolle really an anonymous comment from someone who claims to know him and says the fame has gone to his head? Anyway, this comment shows that the poster isn't familiar with Tolle's philosophy:QuoteWanderer77Let me put it to you this way: Hitler could have a spiritual experience, but would his nature really change? That is no
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotebigskepticI won't appologize for having an opinion. It is difficult to convey feelings when you are simply writing, and not talking to someone face to face. So, you will have to take me at my word that I do have compassion for anyone affected by NXIVM, even the ones who don't know yet that they have issues. I’m not asking you to apologize for having an opinion. I'm saying
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

QuotebigskepticTen years ago when I was being pressured to attend the classes, the first thing I did was start to research Keith Raniere on the internet. There wasn't much information, but there were articles on Consumers Buyline along with mention of his genious IQ. I thought he was a conman, had no interest in learning anything from the guy and watched as person after person went to the
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"

@Macumazahn Well, some people in Australia are trying: Quote Cults should be given nowhere to hide MICHAEL BACHELARD March 21, 2010 Despite criminal investigations, these groups continue unfettered. THE recent evidence of the psychological harm caused by religious cults could not be more graphic. On ABC TV's Four Corners, Liz and James Anderson told how their indoctrination
Forum: Large Group Awareness Training, "Human Potential"