ICEP Prepares Special Brochure for International Students
Last year officials of the National Association for Foreign Student Affairs: Association of International Educators (NAFSA:AIE) asked ICEP Director Marcia Rudin to write a special brochure for international students to warn them about high-pressure groups that may approach them when they come to the U.S. to study at colleges and universities here.
The brochure Ms. Rudin prepared has been published in the Autumn 1995 issue of the NAFSA:AIE Newsletter in a form that can be reproduced by international student professionals at their own colleges and universities. That issue of the Newsletter also lets NAFSA:AIE staff know about other educational resources ICEP offers.
In the introduction to the brochure on the front cover, Ms. Rudin explains to the students, "This brochure is provided to help you become aware of certain groups on or around your campus which may try to exert pressure on you to participate in their programs. It is not designed to create fears and/or reluctance on your part to participate in all 'voluntary' groups. Many groups will provide very helpful and desirable contacts, relationships, and opportunities. The information provided here is to help you make wise and informed choices."
After quoting from a brief personal story told by an international student who resisted the pressure put on her to join a group, Ms. Rudin defines and lists warning signs of high-pressure groups, suggests ways to respond to the recruiters, explains where groups recruit, and lists resources for additional information and assistance.
Since 1988 ICEP has had a continuing networking relationship with NAFSA:AIE, an important higher education organization of college and university staff who work with international students and scholars at institutions in the U.S. and with Americans studying abroad. Officials at NAFSA:AIE have been concerned for several years about cults specifically targeting international students for recruitment on American campuses, as well as about all forms of unethical proselytizing of international students, so Ms. Rudin has been invited to present sessions about cults at three national NAFSA:AIE conferences and at four regional conferences.
[Editor's Note: ICEP has also prepared in conjunction with the Cult Awareness Network a brochure for distribution on college and universities for all students. ICEP has also prepared a brief handout for students for educational programs, as well as the videotape for college students and staff, "Cults: Saying No Under Pressure." Contact ICEP at 239.514.3081, for information about these resources.]
[ top ]ICEP Videotapes Used by Japanese TV Network
A large Japanese television network has used selections from the ICEP videotape Cults: Saying No Under Pressure and the AFF videotape After the Cult: Recovering Together in an important television documentary about cults aired in Japan in September.
Since the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan led by guru Shoko Asahara allegedly placed poison gas in the Tokyo subway system last Spring, there has been intense interest in cults in that country, especially concerning the issues ex-cult members face in their recovery process. Consequently, ICEP has been deluged with requests for background information and educational resources by representatives of many other important Japanese television programs and newspapers.
Partly in response to the intense interested generated about cults in Japan due to the poison gas incident and in conjunction with the translation into Japanese of the AFF book Cults: What Parents Should Know, AFF Executive Director Dr. Michael D. Langone, the book's editor, embarked on a media tour of Japan in June. Langone toured the Aum Shinrikyo headquarters with a television crew and was interviewed by TV Asahi, TV Tokyo, and Nipon TV. He also met with lawyers, academicians, and mental health professionals in Japan concerned about cults and with people who operate or are trying to organize cult-education organizations there.
[ top ]AFF Sponsors Unique Conference with Denver Seminary
AFF, ICEP's parent organization, and the Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary, also known as Denver Seminary, are co-sponsoring a conference, "Recovery from Cults: A Pastoral/Psychological Dialogue." It will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 7 and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 8 at the Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado.
The conference will bring together leading figures from secular and religious perspectives to discuss such issues as the nature and role of free will in cult conversion and departure and the consequent responsibility of cult members and ex-cult members; the ethical boundaries of evangelization to cult members and exiting cult members; the role of belief and the role of thought reform in cult conversion; the role of pre-cult psychological problems in cult conversion and in the recovery process; the proper role of families in cult exit and recovery; the value of psychotherapy and rehabilitation for former cult members; the value of pastoral counseling and theological instruction for former cult members.
Key speakers include Dr. Ronald Enroth, Dr. Michael Langone, Dr. Paul Martin, and Gretchen Passantino. Dr. James Beck, David Clark, Dr. Douglas Groothuis, Patrick Knapp, Carson Miles, Nancy Miquelon, and Herbert Rosedale will serve as Discussants and Panelists.
[ top ]ICEP Contributes to MTV Program on Cults Seen by Millions
One of ICEP's recent major educational accomplishments was its help with the planning of an excellent program about cults for youngsters, shown on MTV Networks last summer. The fast-paced yet highly informative program, "New Religions: The Cult Question", was viewed by millions of youngsters and others.
ICEP Director Marcia Rudin, among others, was thanked publicly at the end of the program for her assistance to the producers in planning and executing the important segment.
[ top ]Academic Community Seeks Out ICEP Cult Experts
Several colleges and universities have recently asked speakers from ICEP and AFF to address the cult issue.
The State University of New York Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome, New York invited AFF president Herbert Rosedale to deliver the major commencement address to approximately 500 graduates last May 13th.
Rosedale's speech focused on the dangers of cults to freedom of thought and individual autonomy and the importance of exercising critical thinking and free choice even when facing an uncertain future. "Self-reliance and self-respect are two very important things," Rosedale pointed out to the new graduates. "We see a lot of groups that try to sell an incredible message -- join this group and you'll have a wonderful life."
"My invitation to speak at this college commencement ceremony and the press and television interest it engendered in Utica indicate how successful we have been in getting our message about cults out to the general public," Rosedale comments. "We no longer have to convince people they need to know about cults; they sense it already, and are now coming to us on their own for our expertise."
Rosedale, a senior partner in the New York City lawfirm of Parker Chapin Flattau & Klimpl, has helped many cult-impacted individuals and families deal with cult-related legal issues. He is a member of ICEP's Steering Committee.
In May, Mr. Rosedale and ICEP Director Marcia Rudin were also asked to address a class at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University about the special issues they may face when covering cult stories in their future journalistic careers.
[ top ]ICEP in Action
Since ICEP was launched in 1987, it has provided speakers for 149 educational programs. Articles mentioning ICEP or its educational materials or articles written by or quoting ICEP Director Marcia Rudin have appeared in 128 publications. ICEP has been consulted or interviewed by 549 representatives of the print and broadcast media.
Since the March 1995 issue of Young People and Cults, ICEP's major accomplishments include providing speakers for or programs at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism; Amherst College; Stuyvesant High School (Manhattan) -- three classes; Temple Beth Jacob Religious School, Newburgh, New York; and mention in articles in Newsweek; Japanese edition of Newsweek; San Diego Union Tribune; Goteborgs-Posten (Swedish newspaper); . Observer-Dispatch (Utica, NY); The New York Times; The Religious Observer; FAIR News; The Boston Phoenix; The Washington Post; The New Woman.
[ top ]New Videotapes Now Available
Dr. Margaret Singer, one of the world's leading cult experts, has prepared two new videotapes which are useful for educational programs.
In What is a Cult? And How Does It Work? Dr. Singer provides a general overview of the cult phenomenon. She estimates how many people are involved in cults in the U.S. and emphasizes that cultic activity is growing rather than fading away. Singer describes how cult leaders thrive on the money and power they gain through their organizations while their members frequently sacrifice everything for the group. She points out that while cults may be very different in appearance because of their different themes -- which may revolve around anything from religion to philosophy to karate to raising horses -- all cults operate in the same basic way: to the advantage of the leader and the disadvantage of the members.
Dr. Singer explains that once inside the group, recruits are subjected to both physiological and psychological thought-reform techniques. She recommends that society deal with cults by educating people of all ages about them and about thought-reform techniques. She also suggests that society should hold cults accountable for their illegal acts.
In the other new videotape, Leaving a Cult: Information about Exiting and Recovery, Dr. Singer offers advice to current and former members as well as those wishing to help them. (This videotape supplements the AFF recovery videotape, After the Cult: Recovering Together.)
She discusses five major clusters of post-cult recovery issues:
- practical issues, including dealing with medical problems, education, and legal issues regarding family left behind in the cult;
- psychological (emotional) issues, such as depression, fear of the outside world, and relaxation-induced anxiety problems resulting from meditation and hypnosis within the cult;
- cognitive (mental) issues such as dissociation ("spacing out"), losing track of time, and difficulty in decision-making;
- social (personal issues such as the need to be cautious in making friends outside the cult; and
- philosophical (attitudinal) issues including coming to grips with critical attitudes and prejudices learned while in the cult.
Dr. Singer is a clinical psychologist and emeritus adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeley. She has counseled and interviewed more than 3,000 current and former cult members and their friends and families.
Both videotapes are 58 minutes long. They can be ordered from ICEP or AFF for $28, including postage ($31 for Canada and overseas). They are available only in VHS, and may be purchased only, not rented.
[ top ]Oklahoma City Bombing and Waco Hearings
The bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City on the second anniversary of the Branch-Davidian conflagration in Waco, Texas, the Congressional Hearings looking into the Waco incident held in Washington, D.C. over the summer, and the possible relationship of David Koresh's Branch-Davidian group to the Oklahoma City bombers and militia groups in the U.S. have stimulated a great deal of public interest in the cult issue.
Many mass media representatives contacted ICEP. Programs or print media for which ICEP provided guests or background information include NewsTalk TV [two programs] (Multimedia Talk Channel, Inc.); Drive Time Dialogue (WWRL radio in New York City); CJAD radio (Montreal); Good Morning, New York; TBN (Brazilian TV Network); USA Today; CNBC-TV; America's Talking; St. Petersburg Times; Radio France, International; Die Wocke (German news magazine); Goteborgs-Posten (Swedish newspaper); On Target radio show (Montreal); and the Japanese edition of Newsweek. In addition, AFF president Herbert Rosedale's Letter to the Editor about the Waco hearings was published in July in The Washington Post.
Rosedale also co-authored a joint statement which was entered into the permanent records of the Joint Congressional Oversight Hearings looking into the government's actions during the Waco incident. In this statement, Rosedale explained what AFF and does, described criminal activity of some cults and law-enforcement problems relating to these groups, described how cults have harmed many Americans, explained that AFF had no role in the Waco events, offered a definition of cults, called for more research about cults, called for training programs about cults for police and other law-enforcement officials, and made specific recommendations to the law-enforcement community. [Editor's Note: Contact ICEP (941) 514-3081 if you wish to receive a copy of this joint statement.]
[ top ]Notes From ICEP
According to an article in The New York Times last April, several school systems in the New York metropolitan area dropped plans to use "Free Teens," an AIDS-prevention educational slide program developed by the World Medical Health Foundation (WMHF), after they were told that WMHF has ties to the Unification Church.
Professor Ronald Enroth, a member of ICEP's Advisory Committee, received a Westmont College Faculty Research Award last April. Enroth, author of several important books about cults including The Lure of Cults and Churches That Abuse, is a professor in the sociology department at Westmont College in Santa Barbara.
The ICEP office received word recently that a school system on the west coast is employing many teachers who are adherents of a New Age belief system. One caller told ICEP that "an eight-year old boy at one of these schools came home and told his mother, 'Mommy, my school is a cult.'" If someone so young knows this much about cults, ICEP must be doing something right!
[ top ]AFF/ICEP
The American Family Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt research and educational organization. AFF collects information on cults and manipulative techniques of persuasion and control, analyzes the information in order to advance understanding of the problem and possible solutions to it, and shares this understanding with professionals, the general public, and those needing help with cult involvements.
The International Cult Education Program educates staff and youth in colleges, universities, high schools, churches, synagogues, and other educational forums about cults and psychological manipulation. ICEP is a program of the American Family Foundation. The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and the Association of College Unions - International (ACU-I) are ICEP Participating Organizations.
[ top ]International Cult Education Program (ICEP) Steering Committee
Sandy Andron, Ed.D., Youth Services Director, Central Agency for Jewish Education, Miami, Florida; Kent Burtner, Program Director, Cult Resource Center/Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Portland, Oregon; Michael D. Langone, Ph.D., Executive Director and Director of Research, AFF, Bonita Springs, Florida; Arnold Markowitz, M.S.W., Director, Cult Hot Line and Clinic, Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, New York, New York; Herbert L. Rosedale, Esq., Senior Partner, Parker Chapin Flattau & Klimpl, President, AFF, New York, New York; Marcia R. Rudin, M.A., Director, International Cult Education Program, New York, New York
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