http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/cults/ en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:31:26 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418583/posts They advanced to the Church of Scientology's highest spiritual level, to "Operating Thetan VIII," a vaunted realm said to endow extraordinary powers of perception and force of will.(edit)Isene left first, a decision that emboldened Leavitt, who inspired Katz. Such departures are rare among the church's elite group of OT VIIIs, who are held up as role models in Scientology. The three each told the St. Petersburg Times that they had spent decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach the church's spiritual pinnacle. (edit)The three OT VIIIs said they want reform of leadership. They pointed to the revelations... The Saint Petersburg Times (Florida) / Tampa Bay.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418583/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:31:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402691/posts The phrase "doomsday cult" entered our collective vo cabulary after John Lof land published his 1966 study, "Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith." Lofland wrote about the Unification Church. His subject could almost as easily have been the Church of Warmism. Its college of cardinals has gathered in Copenhagen amid professions of an imminent global apocalypse that allow no room for doubt or deviation. "The clock has ticked down to zero," declared UN climate chief Yvo de Boer. Yes, the end is nigh -- just as surely as when the Millerites gathered on Oct. 22,... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402691/posts#comment Tue, 8 Dec 2009 11:30:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399801/posts Brian David Mitchell and a murderous polygamous family patriarch shared many similar traits and operated in very similar ways, an expert on religious cults and their members who commit crimes testified Wednesday. Richard Forbes, a retired law enforcer for both Salt Lake and Los Angeles counties, investigated killers Ervil LeBaron and Charles Manson during his career. Forbes is an expert on LeBaron and his followers. During the third day of Mitchell's competency hearing in federal court, Forbes compared the man accused of kidnapping and raping Elizabeth Smart to LeBaron and other religious cult leaders. Both men used revelation as a... Deseret News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399801/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 00:47:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378332/posts Elementary Epidemic: 11 Uncovered Videos Show School Children Performing Praises to Obama By John Nolte Created 2009-11-04 10:29 Big Hollywood has already posted [1] a couple [2] disturbing videos of young school children singing/speaking praises to President Obama, but when eleven more dropped in our email box it came as quite a shock. What seemed like an aberration now appears to be a troubling pattern. Maybe “epidemic” is a better word. Each one of the videos below is creepier than the last because the further down you go, the younger the children — brace yourself for kindergartners – except for... Newsbusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378332/posts#comment Wed, 4 Nov 2009 15:35:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2347643/posts   Cults, wonderful on the outside but on the inside are very manipulating. Cult leaders are desperate to trick you into joining. They are after your obedience, your time and your money. Cults use sophisticated mind control and recruitment techniques that have been refined over time. Beware of thinking that you are immune from cult involvement, the cults have millions of members around the world who once thought they were immune, and still don't know they are in a cult! To spot a cult you need to know how they work and you need to understand the techniques they use.... CultWatch.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2347643/posts#comment Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:19:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2348670/posts Are radical environmentalists members of a political movement or more like the devotees of a religious cult, one that might dubbed the Branch Carbonians? Truespeak.org’s Jim Guirardi suggests the label and offers an illuminating case for the latter in this post from the American Thinker. There is much more to Guirardi’s piece, but as a sample, here are his 10 reasons these fanatical devotees qualify as participants in a cult. If these sound somehow familiar, they are based on the criteria elaborated upon in the 2003 book, “Kingdom of the Cults,” by Walter Martin and Ravi Zacharia:     1.... Washington Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2348670/posts#comment Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:34:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2340149/posts “HI, we’d like to talk to you about Jesus Christ!” Standing tall, two young and well-dressed American boys at my door broke the ice instantaneously. Happy to see them, I said that we were Christians too. What happened next, however, took me by surprise and left me scrambling for words. Stating that they were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they said they wanted to talk about a prophet and a book given to the prophet by God. Though a little shaken, I refused to hear their ideologies — they left only to return another day... Christian Messenger (India's Evangelical Newspaper) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2340149/posts#comment Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:21:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2282840/posts In a groundbreaking case, a Paris court will decide for the first time whether to dissolve the Church of Scientology in France, which is facing charges of organized fraud. The demand was made by French prosecutors on Monday (June 15) as they wrapped up their case against the church's Paris headquarters and bookshop. If found guilty, the institutions may also face a nearly $6 million fine. Six members of the church are also on trial, and may also face heavy fines along with prison sentences if convicted. The plaintiffs, two former Scientologists, claim the church conned them into spending tens... Christianity Today http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2282840/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:05:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2268388/posts In the interest of fairness, cultural diversity, and moral ambiguity, The Last Crusade takes pleasure in publishing a rebuttal to our article “Meet America’s First Muslim”. From; Supreme Minister Chief Minister Dr. Ra Saadi El The Moorish Science Temple Islam & Greetings, Would like the opportunity to defend the integrity of our religious organization and to give light as to what is The Moorish Science Temple of America and what we actually stand for. Presently, Islam is seen as being the most rapidly growing religion within the United States and more so within the Federal and State prisons. In addition... The Last Crusade http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2268388/posts#comment Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:30:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2248940/posts Why does the politcally correct left act the way they do? What makes them incapable of listening to reason and what is the driving motivation in their behavior? Political correctness is a religious cult. These are people who have replaced God in their lives with a God substitute that seeks to create a utopian world. So many politically correct leftists are athiests, others are neo-pagans and liberal Christians. The liberal Christians are the hardest to understand because they are the most confusing. They may go to the church where they grew up but their beliefs are not quite the same... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2248940/posts#comment Tue, 12 May 2009 01:20:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2229529/posts An American cult is what happens when radical individualism meets religion and philosophy. A cult becomes cut off from the mainstream of traditional religion and the global community of faith. It begins to converse only with self. This dangerous isolation is an important topic, as American religious communities such as the Episcopal Church drift in this direction. Mainstream global Christians do not delight in this drift as they recognize the temptations of the cult all too well from their own temptations to isolation. Extreme stories litter the paper every day that show the consequences of isolation. Cults begin to delight... ExileStreet http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2229529/posts#comment Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:12:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2207379/posts Marxists claim that Marxism is a science. It is not. It is a sort of pagan religious cult. It is a theology. It is a form of superstition. Marxists claim that Karl Marx understood capitalism and economics. He did not. They also claim that the entire validity of Marx's set of theories on all subjects rests ultimately on how valid Marxist economic thought is. Marxist economic thought was completely wrong. Marx claimed that all products contain value that is directly proportional to the amount of labor embodied within them. He was wrong. All the rest of Marxism is based entirely... American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2207379/posts#comment Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:47:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2207349/posts Euro chiefs ban 'Miss' and 'Mrs' The European Parliament has banned the terms 'Miss' and 'Mrs' in case they offend female MEPs. By Simon Johnson 15 Mar 2009 The politically correct rules also mean a ban on Continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita. Guidance issued in a new 'Gender-Neutral Language' pamphlet instead orders politicians to address female members by their full name only. Officials have also ordered that 'sportsmen' be called 'athletes', 'statesmen' be referred to as 'political leaders' and even that 'synthetic' or 'artificial' be used instead of 'man-made'. The guidance... Telegraph (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2207349/posts#comment Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:40:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2207313/posts Scientology Spokesman Tommy Davis Confirms Xenu Story Los Angeles, CA - After years of dismissing the story as false, Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis has confirmed that the story of mankind's origins involving an alien overlord named Xenu is indeed authentic Scientology teaching. In the exclusive interview with KESQ News Channel 3 reporter[1], Nathan Baca, Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis was asked about the story of Xenu, known to senior Scientologists as part of "Operating Thetan Level III", or "OT III" for short. Davis denied the story at first (as he has done in the past), stating that these were claims "forwarded... Scoop Independent News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2207313/posts#comment Mon, 16 Mar 2009 02:37:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2195961/posts ... Dawkins loves ‘science’, Darwinism in particular, and delights in singing its praises. Christians delight in science as well—as the handiwork of God. But Dawkins loves science as god, and consciously tries to build a world and life view around science, wearing many hats in the process... Journal of Creation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2195961/posts#comment Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:58:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2164424/posts Scientology, Seizures, and Science by Edward Hudgins January 13, 2009 -- Jett Travolta, the sixteen-year-old son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston, died recently of what the autopsy found to be a seizure. The boy had a history of seizures and unconfirmed reports suggest that his parents acted responsibly to ensure he was on medication to mitigate his condition. We don’t know yet what caused the seizure—a change in medication or dosage, or a worsening of the underlying condition that caused the seizures. I’ve held in my arms a dear loved-one during her seizures, someone who fortunately now survives... The Atlas Society - The Center for Objectivism http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2164424/posts#comment Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:53:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2149442/posts Some interesting new audio and video of Jim Jones and the citizens of Jonestown doing, among other things, declaring that their "Revolutionary Suicide" is to further the cause of Marxist-Leninism. They took a vote three weeks before Ryan arrived and unanimously voted for it. It includes some video of members specifically discussing dying for Maxist-Leninism. Also, unseen VIDEO (not just audio) of the various members singing the Soviet National Anthem (note: I actually have them doing this 2 times all the way through and the third time for just the last part of the song). Also includes more previously heard... Audio & Video Tapes from Jonestown http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2149442/posts#comment Tue, 16 Dec 2008 06:33:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2133465/posts The radio call came before the suicides began. On Nov. 18, 1978, Jim Jones Jr. was 18 years old and living in a Peoples Temple compound in Georgetown, Guyana, 150 miles from the Jonestown settlement. The previous night, he and his teammates on the Peoples Temple basketball team had played in a tournament, narrowly losing to the Guyanese national team. That afternoon, via shortwave, the Rev. Jim Jones, the boy's adoptive father, contacted him with a chilling order: All 60 Temple members living in Georgetown should immediately "get knives, wire and scissors and take our own lives." The son tried... sf gate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2133465/posts#comment Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:00:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2133346/posts Congresswoman remembers day of horror Rep. Jackie Speier November 16, 2008 "I'm 28 years old, and I am about to die." I was curled up behind the wheel of an airplane on a jungle airstrip in Guyana, South America. This isn't what I expected when I signed on to work for a United States congressman. Our fact-finding trip to investigate the Peoples Temple in Jonestown had gone horribly wrong. I lay as still as I could, pretending to be dead, as an unknown gunman pumped five bullets into me at close range. Pop-pop. Pop. Pop-pop. When the shooting stopped, I... SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2133346/posts#comment Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:01:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2117606/posts Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock each year to the Virginia estates of George Washington, at Mount Vernon, and Thomas Jefferson, at Monticello. Now, a Dutch businessman in Jakarta is hoping a Nov. 4 victory for Sen. Barack Obama will turn a house where he once lived into a presidential landmark—though on a much smaller scale.Bartele Santema, who runs a string of bars in the Indonesian capital, already has a name for the cafe-museum he wants to open where Sen. Obama lived between the ages of 8 and 10 with his mother and Indonesian stepfather: Sweet Home Obama.Mr. Santema... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2117606/posts#comment Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:59:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2117251/posts Barack Obama sought to close the deal with American voters yesterday as he heralded the dawn of a new politics that will heal divisions, appeal to “our better angels” and restore a sense of “higher purpose”. His speech in Canton, Ohio, was designed to frame the final days of an often bitterly fought presidential contest around the uplifting themes he had emphasised at the outset of his campaign. While he was at pains to tell supporters that they cannot afford to “let up for one day, one minute or one second”, Mr Obama told an exultant crowd: “In one... The Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2117251/posts#comment Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:45:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103010/posts In recent times, America has been experiencing an explosion of neo-pagan movements in concert with a relentless assault on truth, reality, first principles, universal moral law, and the created order of being---the two sexes (male and female) for example. These movements interface with mystical, quasi-Buddhist, occult Gnostic, and other ‘blood and soil’ notions: New Age cults, transcendental meditation, Wicca, goddess worship, ‘gay’ shamanism, reincarnation, Luciferian Theosophy, the Great Apes Project and all other animal rights agendas, Gaia worship, deep ecology, channeling and other such notions. All are types of pantheism, which stress in one way or another that mankind is... US Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2103010/posts#comment Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:59:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2068850/posts I am neither against Scientology or am i a Scientologist. I am trying to educate myself and I want to know what other FReepers think about it. Please give me your honest impressions good or bad. Let it rip xenutv http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2068850/posts#comment Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:25:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2022276/posts Can Mormon women wear pants when visiting a temple? Can men wear cummerbunds during a marriage ceremony? Are vasectomies an appropriate birth control option? The answers to these (no, no, and not really) and similar questions about Mormon practice and leadership might not seem to be especially secret, but the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't pleased about secret church documents hitting the Internet. In this case, the cause of the displeasure is the confidential Church Handbook of Instructions, published by Wikileaks on April 16. The church is currently trying to get the information pulled down using copyright... arstechnica.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2022276/posts#comment Wed, 28 May 2008 03:26:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2012337/posts He wrote to me in all innocence, a reader from a Catholic country where Mormon missionaries had only recently begun to gather congregations of believers. "I asked my priest," he said, "and he told me that Mormons are a cult." Setting aside the obvious riposte ("What did you think your priest would tell you, that Mormonism was true Christianity as restored by God to living prophets?"), I think it's worth considering just what we mean by "cult" and seeing whether it applies to the Mormon Church. Cult as Bad Word Anti-Mormons use "cult" the way gay activists use "homophobe"--as an... Belief.net http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2012337/posts#comment Wed, 7 May 2008 05:06:47 GMT