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| FACTNet (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network) is a non-profit organization that defends the most universal and basic freedom --- freedom of mind! Factnet defends freedom of mind from all forms of mind control and unethical influence. Factnet is to psychological coercion, unethical influence and mind control what Amnesty International is to physical coercion and torture. |
If you ever wondered What FACTNet looked like in the very beginning...
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| FACTNet Names South Park TV Show Staff FACTNet Person(s) of the Year for 2005 for their Recent Scientology Episode |
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The recent South Park TV episode - "Trapped in the Closet" - in which the South Park staff educates the global community through humor on the human rights abuses and other dangers of the destructive mind control cult Scientology has done a great service to societies and families everywhere their show airs around the world. This show is also a great educational tool for dangers of destructive cults in general. Because of this courage and its educational value to society on the dangers of Scientology and cults in general we at FACTNet name the entire South Park TV Show Staff our FACTNet Person(s) of the Year for 2005. Alternatively, you can go to these sites to view the above episode: Lermanet (RM) or here Xenutv.com Low Band (WMV) or here Xenutv.com High Band (WMV) Scientomogy Please be patient with the above downloads. You might have try again if these sites exceed their bandwidth for the day. Scientology Rape Case Settles out of Court near 7 figures: A former Scientology staffer is breaking her silence about being sexually assaulted 100 times at ages 16 and 17 by the church supervisor she was "ordered" to live with, and then receiving threats and intimidating phone calls when she reported the abuse. Five years ago, Gabriel Williams, then a 27-year-old chief supervisor at the Church of Scientology in Mountain View, Calif., forced then-16-year-old Jennifer Stewart to have intercourse with him on the first evening she moved in, according to her statements in court records. After Williams was charged with rape and sodomy with a minor — and later convicted of sexual battery and sodomy — Stewart's family endured death threats, stalkers and other harassment. "We want the world to know that when Tom Cruise calls psychiatry a 'pseudoscience,' it's all part of Scientology's plan to brainwash people," said Stewart's husband, Tom Gorman, referring to the actor's "Today" show interview in June. >Click Here to Continue Reading... Debunking a movement: Exposing some of the unsavory claims that Tom Cruise, John Travolta and other celebrities would rather you didn't know about Scientology... ...All the publicity appear to have backfired, provoking widespread media coverage of Scientology that is reopening a 50-year history of claims alleging overarching greed, fraud, judicial chicanery, near-terroristic threatening of the church's critics, and the fact that the heart of the church's beliefs center around the claim that every human's stresses are in reality the souls of aliens attaching themselves to their bodies. Throw in claims of mysterious deaths, an affidavit claiming that the church attempts to coerce abortions from its staff members, and a host of Web sites exposing some of Scientology's dirtier little secrets and suddenly the perfect church doesn't seem, as Cruise and others like him might lead you to believe, all that perfect...>Read all about it. The Dangers of Fundamentalist Religious Cults Operating within Governments Robert Jay Lifton is one of the world’s most recognized experts on cults and the destruction they can cause when left unchecked. He speaks out on the dangers we cannot ignore once they appear in government. to learn more about his lectures and essays on Apocalyptic Violence, religious fundamentalism the dangers of cultic behavior when it seeps into governments. Robert Jay Lifton taught for many years at the John Jay College of the CUNY. He is currently a lecturer in psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. His book "Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima" won the National Book Award. He is also the author of "The Nazi Doctors." His latest book is "Superpower Syndrome." >Read all about it. Scientology link to public schools A popular anti-drug program provided free to schools in San Francisco and elsewhere teaches concepts straight out of the Church of Scientology, including medical theories that some addiction experts described as "irresponsible" and "pseudoscience." As a result, students are being introduced to some beliefs and methods of Scientology without their knowledge. "It's pseudoscience" said Dr. Peter Banys, director of substance abuse programs at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco. Dr. Igor Grant, professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego, agreed: "I'm not aware of any data that show that going into a sauna detoxifies you from toxins of any kind. " and is therefore not eligible to appear on the federal government's lists of "effective," "model" or "promising" programs. asked Dr. Timmen Cermak of the Henry Ohlhoff treatment program in San Francisco . "It's irresponsible." "Any time you have a religion which preaches something that shows up in nearly parallel form in public schools, it sounds to me like you have a church- state problem that is real and should be examined by school officials.'' >Read all about it. 
American Apocalypse By Robert Jay Lifton "The apocalyptic imagination has spawned a new kind of violence at the beginning of the twenty-first century. We can, in fact, speak of a worldwide epidemic of violence aimed at massive destruction in the service of various visions of purification and renewal. In particular, we are experiencing what could be called an apocalyptic face-off between Islamist forces, overtly visionary in their willingness to kill and die for their religion, and American forces claiming to be restrained and reasonable but no less visionary in their projection of a cleansing warmaking and military power. Both sides are energized by versions of intense idealism; both see themselves as embarked on a mission of combating evil in order to redeem and renew the world; and both are ready to release untold levels of violence to achieve that purpose." >Read More Dublin woman sues Scientology church for brainwashing - Case now settled! - "Mary Johnson claims she was brainwashed by a cult has begun a High Court legal action for damages...She is suing the organisation because of the experiences and pressures she claims she suffered while a member and the threats and intimidation when she tried to leave....It is claimed she suffered psychiatric and psychological injuries and post traumatic stress disorder. [Her lawyer] described the language of the organisation as psycho-religious-mythical expressions that have no meaning other than that defined by scientology. " >Read about this case
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Other Breaking News…
Teen abducted children for demonic ritual - An 18-year-old Chicago man was arrested after allegedly kidnapping two young children to perform a demonic ritual intended to get back his former girlfriend, authorities said. Prosecutors said he and a 15-year-old companion snatched the children Friday outside a South Side library and planned to carve a pentagram in the girl's chest. Click Here The Public Security Intelligence Agency on Friday requested three more years of surveillance on Aum Shinrikyo, saying the cultists have returned to a mind-set that justifies mass murder and other attacks against society. Click Here Jury holds the church liable for emotional distress because a bishop did not report the sexual abuse of two girls. A Washington state jury has ordered The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to pay at least $2.5 million to two sisters who alleged their bishop failed to protect them from a stepfather who sexually abused them for years. Click Here A cult that preaches pedophilia, incest and rape flourishes on the Gold Coast despite international efforts to shut it down. The FBI is investigating an international cult with strong links to the Gold Coast after a barrage of affidavits from second-generation members who say their lives were ruined by sexual abuse and mind control. The Family, formerly known as The Children of God, claims it has changed, no longer promotes sex between children and adults and has apologised to past victims, but former members warn it is still recruiting in Queensland. Click Here. Newsweek puts focus on LDS church founder - The cover story of Newsweek magazines that hit newsstands Monday focuses on the 200th birthday of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith, who the magazine refers to as "prophet and polygamist, mesmerizer and rabble-rouser, saint and sinner." - Click Here Click Here for More Breaking News How I healed the psychological injuries from my abuse in a cult By Lawrence Wollersheim 8.7 million dollar lawsuit against Scientology --- that Scientology was forced to pay! damage the cult of Scientology did to me through their use of mind control. worst and longest lasting of all cults. And, I did not just heal back up to where I was before I was abused by Scientology, the simple process below actually transformed my pain and loss into amazing strengths and character qualities that I could have never attained had I not done all 5 steps below. >Click here to Continue Reading... Was Lisa McPherson Killed by Scientology?
IRS documents show ties between charity & sex cult - "Internal Revenue Service documents filed by the Family Care Foundation, a not-for-profit charity in Southern California, show deep, ongoing ties between the organization and the Family, the evangelical sex cult rocked by a recent murder-suicide. The religious sect, formerly known as the Children of God, was started in the late 1960s by Oakland native David "Moses" Berg, who attracted tens of thousands of devotees in the 1970s with his strange brew of evangelical Christianity and sexual license. According to federal tax documents and annual reports, from 1997 to 2003, the foundation raised more than $9.9 million in donations including cash and other types of gifts for projects around the world. James Penn, who spent more than a decade in the inner circle of the globe-trotting cult, said the Family Care Foundation is a "public front" that enables the Family to attract tax-deductible donations and fund missionaries around the world who endorse the cult's "bizarre beliefs and practices." "People wouldn't give to a charitable foundation if they knew that its leaders endorsed the sexual abuse of minors and religious prostitution," said Penn, who helped start the foundation before leaving the Family in 1998.">See Article > Read More > Discuss FACTNet Activists - " FACTNet has always been of the opinion that each subscriber to the FACTNet Newsletter, or donor, is an activist. Each subscriber has his or her own specific talents... FACTNet belongs to a community of organizations that are concerned with systemic abuse in religious organizations, sects and cults. We assist them. They assist us. The FACTNet Newsletter subscribers are FACTNet's eyes and ears. The FACTNet Newsletter subscribers number in the thousands and are the "neighborhood watch" that monitors the news and their local communities.">See Newsletter. Moonies use Washington Times as Front Group to Gain Power and Legitimacy - "On Tuesday, May 21st 2002 self-proclaimed Messiah Sun Myung Moon, is to sponsoring a banquet celebrating the newspaper's 20th anniversary. Mr. Moon has used the newspaper along with U.P.I. to develop his power base for his ambitionsto establish and "automatic theocracy" in which he runs the world...Moon has repeatedly said that America (and democracy) is Satanic...Tens of thousands of families have suffered because of the deceptive, mind control practices of the Moon organization. Members are told their parents are Satanic and are kept, sometimes for years, from visiting their families...."Moon has not changed his desire to convert the world," warns Hassan" >Read all about it. See Also: FACTNet Guide to Moonies Mother Charged With Child Abuse After Choosing Prayer Over Medical Care - " An East Tennessee woman is charged with child abuse for allegedly choosing prayer over medical care to treat her daughter's cancer. The mother could soon be facing a homicide charge as well. 15-year-old Jessica Crank died of cancer last Sunday. Her mother now faces the possibility of years in prison because of a decision she made about her daughter's health. "They tried to cure her through prayer, relying on their faith as practicing Christians," said Gregory Isaacs, the mother's attorney. " See Article Facing suit, Hare Krishna temples eye bankruptcy - "More than a dozen Hare Krishna temples plan to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month in an unusual attempt to protect their assets from a $400 million lawsuit that accuses the group of abusing hundreds of children in the 1970s and '80s, according to a spokesman...plaintiff Krisna Avatara, 34, a math teacher who alleges he was physically and emotional abused at a Hare Krishna boarding school in India, calls it an attempt to avoid responsibility and slash payments to victims...Hare Krishna leaders were heralded for candor when they acknowledged in October 1998 that numerous children had been sexually molested, beaten, publicly humiliated and isolated in roach-infested closets in its boarding schools in the United States and India in the 1970s and '80s. " >Read all about it. See Also: FACTNet Child Abuse Page Has the IRS made Scientologists its "chosen people."? - Taxpayers deserve to know whether they're being treated fairly by the IRS. The secret agreement between the agency and Scientologists should be open to scrutiny. in exchange for the church dropping thousands of lawsuits against the agency and a $12.5-million payment, the church was given a host of benefits, including having the IRS drop tax audits of 13 Scientology organizations, wipe away significant payroll taxes and penalties, and establish a tax deduction for Scientologists who participate in "training and auditing." This tax deduction was awarded even after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that no special tax treatment for the church's training and auditing practices was warranted. "If the IRS does, in fact, give preferential treatment to members of the Church of Scientology - allowing them a special right to claim deductions that are contrary to law and rightly disallowed to everybody else - then the proper course of action is a lawsuit to stop that policy," Silverman wrote. Taxpayers need to know if they are being treated fairly and whether the IRS, as Judge Silverman queried, has made Scientologists its "chosen people." >Read all about it.
Scientology Child Sues Parents - "Vivien Krogmann Lutz, a 23 year old German girl, sued her parents for, amongst other things, sending her to Saint Hill and ruining her health. The parents, accompanied by Scientology lawyers, agreed to pay Vivien 35,000 Euros. This decision to settle came after the judge ruled against Scientology's request for gag orders on both Vivien and Ursula Caberta, whom Vivien escaped to when finally fleeing her parents. This is perhaps the first time that a child raised in a cult successfully sued their parents for damages caused by that cult." >Read all about it. Her Story on Video
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Conferences
&
Workshops The annual conference
International Cultic Studies Association
Denver, Colorado
June 23-24, 2006.
There will also be preconference workshops for families and ex-members on Thursday June 22, 2006 . Surviving and Moving On After a High Demand Group Experience
A Workshop for Second-Generation Former Members
April 21
April 23
Trinity Conference Center,
79 Lower River Road,
West Cornwall, CT
Latest Newsletter
NEW BOOKS
| Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult by Brenda Lee  Click to Purchase or see further Reviews "...is a heart-wrenching yet inspirational tale about a pre-teen’s battle to free herself from dysfunction. Take the journey with her as she survives stifling oppression, physical and emotional abuse and the ultimate - shunning by her family. See how, like a butterfly, she changes the world within her as her external world becomes increasingly unyielding. Discover more about your own past through her introspective, yet frequently humorous flight from insanity. " |
| Malignant Pied Pipers of Our Time:
A Psychological Study of Destructive Cult Leaders from Rev. Jim Jones to Osama Bin Laden
by Peter A. Olsson M. D.  Click to Purchase or see further Reviews "In this book, I examine the phenomenon of destructive and apocalyptic cults. I present a psychological perspective about the psychological roots of both cult leaders and the cult members. I call the cult leaders - Rev. Jim Jones, David Koresh, Osama bin Laden, Shoko Asahara, Charlie Manson, Marshal Applewhite, Luc Jouret & Joseph DiMombro- Malignant Pied Pipers, for the way they lure followers to their deaths. I use concepts of psychology to analyze the lives of the cult leaders and the source of their powerful attraction to vulnerable converts. " Peter A. Olsson M. D. |
| Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults
by Janja Lalich  Click to Purchase or see further Reviews "An impressive and even revolutionary look at cultic groups. Lalich challenges fundamental assumptions on all sides of the debate about cults. She spent years as a member of the Democratic Workers Party and provides her readers with a revealing insider's view. To this, the author adds a much-needed comparative focus with her treatment of the Heaven's Gate suicides. The result is a theoretical break through in the study of high commitment groups. Lalich's theory of 'bounded choice' is likely to reshape scholarly thinking for years to come about the dynamics of cult involvement and how and why people may act against their own self-interest in pursuit of higher causes." |
Media Control : The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda
by Noam Chomsky 
Click to Purchase or see further Reviews
""Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state"--in other words, the means by which leaders keep the masses in line. Chomsky looks at American propaganda efforts and reveals how falsification of history, suppression of information, and the promotion of vapid, empty concepts have become standard operating procedure for the leaders of the United States--both Democrats and Republicans--in their efforts to prevent citizens from raising awkward questions about U.S. policy. " |
All Recommended Books
Understanding what created the extremism in the individuals who bombed the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 9/15/01
Readings that would be helpful at this time to help understand the type of environment the WTC bombers were indoctrinated in, are contained in the following links:
To learn how it was done begin by reading this article by Steve Hassan . Next, go to the following links that will give you an insight into the specific mind control tactics that were among those used to implant the ideas and values that ultimately caused the bombings.
How to determine if a group is a destructive cultCoercive Mind Control tactics, a short overviewWhat is mind control?
How does mind control work?
Q & A on mind control
This article in TIME Magazine about Scientology called "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" is one of the most famous and is a vivid introduction to the subject of Scientology and the potential pitfalls of becoming a Scientologist.
Martyrdom, the prize for taking one’s life - 'Martha Crenshaw, a leading scholar on terrorism at the Wesleyan University, argues that the mindset of a suicide bomber is no different from those of Tibetan self-immolators or Irish political prisoners ready to die in a hunger strike...Sabil Francis, a research scholar at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, argues that the motivation for suicide attacks seems to be a kind of en masse cult hysteria that the LTTE consciously cultivates through rituals like Martyr’s Week, promoting a cult of martyrdom, building special cemeteries...‘‘Our enemy possesses the most sophisticated weapons in the world. We have nothing except the weapon of martyrdom. It is easy and costs us only our lives. Human bombs cannot be defeated, not even by nuclear bombs’’'>Read all about it.
I was forced to kill my baby - "While most of the 70,000 sangomas in South Africa provide herbal remedies for minor ailments, some crave more potent ingredients to practice muti, the Zulu word for medicine. He began to tell me stories. His ancestors said that he must kill me and the child so that he can be rich," Helen told Nobody's Child, a BBC documentary on the investigation into the London boy's death. "He showed me the path and forced me to go along that path. He was pushing me and demanding me to go whether I like it or not. He said he was going to kill the baby first while I see the baby, then secondly he will kill me." Although Helen tried to escape, Mabuda caught her and forced her to hold Fulufhuwani's legs while he cut the child's throat. "When the child was dead, he started to cut all those pieces, the hands, the legs and even the sex organs," Helen says. Limbs from children, primarily the sexual organs, are said to be the most potent. These are sometimes taken from live victims because their screams are thought to enhance the power of the medicines..."
>Read all about it. See Also: FACTNet Guide to Muti Killings
Where suicide is a cult - "The cult of death began in Gaza. In its streets Hamas militants shroud themselves in the white robes of the paradise-to-come, and strap dummy explosives to their waists to symbolise their willingness to sacrifice their lives. The city's wall are shrines to suicide bombers and the death toll they have inflicted on the Israeli occupiers. Many of the city's mosques are plastered with the 'martyrdom' posters extolling the deeds of suicide bombers. No details are hidden. Even the Sbarro attack, where most of the victims were young children, is celebrated with news photos of the aftermath. Almost every day, even under the so-called crackdown by the Palestinian Authority, the streets are filled with another frenzied funeral, a dark pageant of martyrdom. Every martyr, or what remains of him, receives a hero's funeral. Each funeral is another blood ritual, a rallying call for more sacrifice and death. ">Read all about it.
The Scientology Organization's
Fight for Recognition as a Non-Profit Organization
in the USA
and its Effects in Germany
Words - An Editorial by Lermanet.com - "I went to Warrenton Virginia with a good fellow to an old style country diner.. I had the veal cutlet, he had a cheeseburger... We talked about the scientology war, the mess on the gulf coast, some aspects of electronics,and what ideas might be useful to introduce and propagate if you really wanted to make a better world, and ended off discussing an essay about the different kinds of words.... ">Read More
FACTNet Directors Blog Click Here to read Notes from Cult Collection Trial
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