European Parliament Applauded for Anti-Cult Initiatives
The European Parliament is urging European Union states "to clamp down on religious cults which might harm young and vulnerable people to ensure that information is made available about the dangers of cult membership," according to the Independent [July 11, 1998], of London. A report produced by the European Parliament's Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs committee encourages the Parliament to address the problematic aspects of dangerous cults, such as mental and physical abuse, and dangers to public safety.
Such cult-related preventative activity is rare for a government organization, despite the highly publicized cult violence over the last four years, the somber statistics of the little-understood problem, and the upcoming millennium which is predicted to spark more catastrophes.
Recent Cult Tragedies in the News
1994, more than 60 members of Europe's Solar Temple cult were induced to mass suicide in France and Switzerland.
1995, Japan's Aum Shin Rikyo cult released sarin nerve gas in Tokyo subway killing ten and injuring thousands. Only last month (June, 1998) testimonies from recent trials of Aum Shin Rikyo members revealed that for years prior to the 1995 attack, the group released lethal germ warfare in Japan, targeting the Japanese Legislature, the Imperial Palace, and even the US military base at Yokosuka. The poisons were not detected at the times of their releases, and apparently caused no deaths. The attacks were intended to spark the apocalypse Aum Shin Rikyo postulates is coming. Meanwhile, about 200 current members met for a fundraising conference in late April, 1998, paying up to $1,500 each to attend.
1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult ingested a combination of vodka and drugs, committing suicide. Members were convinced that the only way to survive Earth's being "recycled" in the year 2000 was to be picked up by a UFO flying in the wake of the Hale-Bopp comet.
1998, Scientology has faced allegations of member suicides, deaths, and psychotic breaks; when Germany refused to recognize Scientology as a bona fide religious organization, contending the cult is a threat to democracy, the United States accused Germany of "intolerance" and caused international diplomatic tensions.
Somber Statistics
While recent cult tradegies have received a great deal of media coverage, many facts regarding cults are rarely divulged to the general public.
Of the 912 People's Temple members who died in Jonestown, Guyana in 1978, 276 were children, and of more than 80 who died at Waco, Texas in 1993, 25 were children.
An estimated 5,000 economic, political, and religious groups have used tactics of coercive mind control to deceptively influence 20 million victims in the United States alone in the last ten years, including 2.5 million at any given time. Worldwide figures are even greater. [Cult expert Dr. Margaret Singer , Cults in Our Midst].
The cult problem is so prevalent, the chances of a family member joining a cult are greater than a family member catching chicken pox, four times greater than contracting AIDS, 90 times greater than contracting measles, and 45,000 times greater than contracting polio. [Dr. Paul Martin, cult expert and director of Wellspring Retreat & Resource Center, Ohio, USA].
25% of the millions of cult members worldwide "will suffer enduring, irreversible harm that will affect their ability to function adequately in emotional, social, family, and occupational domains," according to Dr. Martin. For every person who becomes a cult member, many more are impacted; parents, children, other family, and friends suffer personal and often economic loss.
Entire societies, numbed by coercive psychological influence, are more likely to allow large-scale tragedies. Perhaps the most devastating example is the Holocaust. Cult mind control is totalitarian, and as such is anathema to democracy. Democracy is founded on the principle that humanity is rational; for democracy to work, people must be capable of using their critical faculties. Mind control works by bypassing rationality and eliminating free will. Without free will, all other basic human freedoms, such as freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, become utterly meaningless. Eventually if left unchecked, it would destroy all basic human freedoms and ruin democracy.
Despite the human and societal damage caused by cults, few organizations exist to help prevent or lessen the damage. Until very recently, governments worldwide have not created systematic programs to respond to the problem. The work has been done by non-profit organizations and by people working on individual bases, studying the cult phenomenon, counseling cult members and ex-members, prosecuting those guilty of cult-related crimes and abuses, and educating others on the dangers of cults. According to Dr. Martin, "Compared to other social or medical problems, the havoc created by destructive cultism is the most understudied, neglected, and ignored mental health and social problem in the world... If the symptoms exhibited in former cult members were attributed to a virus, it would be considered a worldwide epidemic" The cult problem is growing quickly and is expected to accelerate as the millennium approaches.
Fortunately, for all its destructiveness, mind control can be diffused rather easily. Education is vital in helping cult members leave the destructive organizations they feel tied to. According to Dr. Singer, 90% of cult members, given the opportunity to take a few days away from the group to be given full information, consequently leave the destructive organization.
The European Parliament's proposed solutions focus on education and prevention. The United Press International [July 14, 1998] reports the Parliament is giving priority to "protecting people through information and advice, `allowing individuals to make a well-informed and independent choice and providing help if they wish to leave a cult.'" The report urges the European Parliament, in addition to providing education, to monitor the activities of potentially dangerous cults, produce a survey of such activities, and establish an "international educational network about cults," according to UPI. In addition, BBC World TV [July 13, 1998] reported that "The European Parliament's resolution calls for bringing so-called psychological services by cults, like counseling, under Consumer Protection Law; and possibly extending the powers of Europol, the fledgling FBI for Europe."
In recent months, other government organizations have also begun plans to address the cult problem. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights brought a Special Rapporteur to the United States in January to discuss dangers posed by cults, with FACTNet director Robert Minton among many others. In April, the Belgian Parliament approved the establishment of a public Information and Advice Center on Harmful Cults. The center's purpose is to study cults, provide information and advice to the public, and set up a study center accessible by the general population. Once every two years, the center is required to report to the Parliament and Belgium's Council of Ministers [From Belgium newspaper, Het Belang van Limburg, April 29, 1998].
- FACTNet, as a nonprofit provider of solutions to cult and mind control problems, is extremely pleased that governments are taking initiative to actively address the cult problem.
- For information on mind control and cults, see www.factnet.org.
- For more information on UN meeting with FACTNet director, see "FACTNet director meets with UN [February 4, 1998]."
- A short summary of the Belgian government's plans.
This editorial opinion provided by FACTNet, Inc. FACTNet is a nonprofit Internet library dedicated to protecting freedom of mind by reducing harms caused by destructive cults and mind control. FACTNet's web page, which has received over 1,600,000 hits since January 1997, is located at www.factnet.org. If you would like to subscribe to our free FACTNews newsletter please go to http://lists.factnet.org/mailman/listinfo/factnet-news ~ Appropriate re-distribution and re-posting of this document is appreciated.
A