Introduction to special issue, "A Dialogue with Dr. Johannes
Aagaard"
Volume 10 , Number
02, 1992
Paul K. Eckstein
Abstract
In April 1990 the American Family
Foundation (AFF), in conjunction with L'Association pour la Defense de
I'Individu et de la Famille, convened a meeting in Paris, France. Attending
were representatives of cult education organizations from more than a dozen
countries. Participants exchanged information about their activities and
discussed common problems, which included increasing international
cooperation.
One of the participants was Dr. Johannes
Aagaard, who represented the Dialog Center International, headquartered in
Denmark. A professor of missiology and ecumenical theology at the University
of Aarhus, Dr. Aagaard articulated a religious perspective on cults that
differed fundamentally from the secular perspectives of nearly all other
participants. Because the Paris meeting focused on practical issues, Dr.
Aagaard had little time in which to advance his perspective. However,
conversations at lunch and dinner convinced Herbert Rosedale, AFF's
president, and Dr. Michael Langone, AFF's executive director and editor of
the Cultic Studies Journal, that their perspectives on the cult issue, as
well as the perspectives of their American colleagues, could be enriched by
the challenges posed by Dr. Aagaard's views.
An opportunity for further dialogue arose
one year later in May 1991 when Dr. Aagaard's schedule permitted him to
attend the AFF's annual meeting in Philadelphia. In the two days prior to
the meeting, Mr. Rosedale arranged for Dr. Aagaard to speak to the New York
Interfaith Coalition of Concern about Cults (ICCC) and to participate in a
one-day symposium at Mr. Rosedale's law office.
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