The Lies Behind Bigotry
CHAPTER TWO:

   THE INTENTIONAL LIE
See Only Evil, Hear Only Evil, Speak Only Evil

   Generations ago, the huckster taking his broken-down buggy across America tried hard to convince one and all that his alcohol-laced elixir could cure any ill.

   So it was with the old CAN. Pulling its wagon into town, setting up in the square, hawking its wares:

   "Come one, come all. Heed my words. Be on the lookout. Danger lurks. Estimates warn of from hundreds to upwards of five thousand destructive cults."²

    Hearing the message, the innocent local looks around in curious wonder. "Where are all these evil churches? Five thousand in the nation means an average of one hundred in every single state. That means a few in every city; at least one right here in this town³. This is alarming. Who discovered this? What studies were done? What surveys? How could this be?"

   A more jaded onlooker questions the man from the old CAN, "But a searching analysis of the 389 bankers boxes and over 450,000 papers in your own files has found no such listing - no document naming these thousands of dangerous churches. In fact, the Encyclopedia of American Religions lists only 2154 separate religious groups in America.⁴ Does that mean you are labeling every religion in America a cult? Is that why your files show hundreds of benign organizations, ranging from communal⁵ to health conscious⁶, which you deemed dangerous, even creating "information packs" about them? But why do those information packs contain only negative media⁷? Why was the positive news you had in your own files ignored and omitted from your packets about these groups⁸? Why was information by objective scholars who had studied and written about the groups disregarded?⁹

   Not answering those questions, CAN's person continues:

   "Destructive cultists pretend to be like anybody else. A member might be an attractive co-worker who invites you to a writing seminar. They might offer financial success, or self-fulfillment. They might be overly friendly."¹⁰

    Becoming even more worried, the native ponders the secret cultists and being recruited without knowing it. Until now he felt safe in his community. Possibly he should think again. Could that stranger, a little too friendly, too quiet or too different, in truth be a part of a deviant organization? When the new neighbor suggests a game of bingo, is it actually a lure into a group of gambling addicts? Maybe he should live in greater fear of others.

    The second onlooker speaks out again,

"But beyond the fact that mind control and brainwashing without physical harm have been repeatedly debunked by respected experts¹¹, isn't it true that in 1998 a psychologist and two psychiatrists in Texas were charged with brainwashing?¹² How do you respond to the charge that the practice of coercive psychiatry fulfills anti-religionist's criteria for a destructive cult?¹³ How do you respond about the old CAN's stable of advisors and researchers being psychiatrists or psychologists, experts in subjects affiliated with secular humanism,¹⁴ a philosophy that denies the existence of the soul? Wouldn't anyone who thinks that way consider almost any religious group to be a "cult"?¹⁵ Is that why CAN had files on over 1500 different groups whose beliefs were as diverse as Hindu to Pentacostal?¹⁶

   Unresponsive to this outcry, the CAN agent adds a different angle;

    "The truly worrisome groups go after idealist people who want to improve the world; people searching for meaning and purpose in their lives; people who want to find a way to change the world."¹⁷

    Further perplexed, the guileless first listener thinks,

"Oh, those poor Catholic nuns - this is very concerning. What about Methodist missionaries - are they being psychologically abused?"

    The outspoken voice of the second listener challenges again, "Are you saying the Pony Express¹⁸ is a dangerous cult? Do you mean that women demanding the right to vote are being exploited?¹⁹

    Ignoring the questions, the old CAN peddler gets to his point:

    "We have the information you need on these organizations. Send us a payment. We will arm you against the perils."²⁰

   "Ah, yes," the innocent hearer thinks, "they will tell me how to spot a truly dangerous group. As a non-profit group involved in educating the public, they will teach me on how to communicate with people in hundreds of new organizations, how to understand why they think the way they do, how to get along with them. This is a young and growing nation. Many groups from many different backgrounds will blossom here."²¹

    Post-haste, he orders a packet of documents special delivery, excited to receive it only six weeks later.

    Reading with interest his package from the old CAN, he notices a similarity in CAN's response on any group about which they were asked - a use of newspaper reporters for information sources;²² no objective experts quoted, a failure to contact the groups directly.²³

    He notes their long list of affiliated psychologists and psychiatrists. Wouldn't those people have a vested interest in perpetuating the myth of destructive cults to obtain funding and support the theories they were trying to prove?²⁴ It seems to him that they couldn't be very objective about the subject if they make a living labeling groups without ever contacting them or studying them.²⁵

   Meanwhile, the more worldly listener has points of comparison to CAN's activities. The Salem Witch hunts,²⁶ the Know-Nothing Party,²⁷ Mormon's being massacred.²⁸ He sees something sinister and dangerous in their activities and decides to do something about it.

    He goes to CAN's conferences himself and encourages direct dialogue, surprised to find how adamant CAN's people are in refusing to communicate.²⁹ He notes that CAN seems to do exactly what they accuse "cults" of doing. He thinks CAN should reform.

    It does not.³⁰

    Instead continuing on its chosen path, not seeing that the world is growing smarter and smaller and CAN's outdated messages of hate and fear more and more unpopular.³¹

    CAN's snake-oil salesmen? They got out of that business long ago. Nowadays you are more likely to find them selling almost new cars driven only a short distance by the gentlest of little old ladies.

1. Artist renditions of an elixir salesman and definition of "elixir"
   
2. A. Quote from Ronald Enroth's 1989 article regarding hundreds to thousands of cults
   B. Letter to Mellon Foundation from Cynthia Kisser of March 14, 1990 stating there are 2,500 "destructive cults" in America
   C. Article in the Washington Post of November 30, 1985 stating an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 groups in the United States
   D. Excerpt from Marcia Rudin's 1992 paper which gives an "estimate" of 3,000 to 5,000 cults
3. United States map with 100 dots in every state, representing 5,000 "destructive cults".
4. First and last entries of the Encyclopedia's listings - which are numbered 1-2154
   
5. Margaret Singer quoted in the Star Reporter, Sept 81- Feb 82 edition, defines cults to include "... communal living groups."
   
6. Documents on the Brothers of St. Francis of Assisi herbal treatments from CAN's files
   
7. Sample pages from the old CAN's "Information Packet" about Vineyard Christian Ministries
   
8. An article about the Vineyard which explained its activities, excluded frm the CAN packet about the Vineyard, and another positive article, not included in the packet but in their files
   
9. Entry on Vineyard Churches from the American Encyclopedia of Religions
10. A. Quotes from the Chicago Tribune of April 19, 1997 by Marcia Rudin of the International Cult Education Project
    B. Excerpt from an AFF paper of 1992 about how to recognize cult recruitment
    
11. Link to www.cesnur.org articles on "Brainwashing, The Rise and Fall of a Theory"
    
12. Link to the Houston Chronicle regarding this case.
    
13. Info Cult's definition of "destructive cult" and a link to stories and photos on The Antipsychiatry Coalition website.
    
14. Definition of "humanism" from an encyclopedia
    
15. 1917 & 1920 quotes from Stanley Hall, modern father of US psychology, about religion
    
16. Link back to the full list of documents from the CAN files
17. A. Excerpts from "Resisting Cults" by Marica Rudin
    
18. Artist rendition of Pony Express rider
    
19. Information about women's suffrage from an encyclopedia
    
20. List of information packets the former CAN had for sale
26. Encyclopedia entry on Salem Witch Hunts
    
27. Encyclopedia entry on the Know-Nothing party
    
28. Encyclopedia entry on massacres of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
    
29. Article "In The Belly of the Beast" where Murray Steinman tried to engage CAN followers in dialogue but they refused to speak to him
    
30. Judge's decision about CAN's failure to recognize the harm they had done
    
31. LA Times article of Wednesday, January 5, 2000