STEVEN HASSAN

 

 Steve Hassan left the Unification Church in 1976, and became a vocal critic of groups which Mr. Hassan labels as "cults" or .destructive cults..

 

Mr. Hassan has no formal training in religious studies. In the 1980's he obtained a license as a mental health worker and earned a degree in counseling from Cambridge College. Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts is not Cambridge University in Cambridge, England. Cambridge College was founded in 1971 and offers degrees to "adult learners who want to complement their years of field‑based experience with a graduate degree, but do not have or need a bachelor.s degree."  (see Cambridge College.s website at www.cambridge.edu.)

 

Mr. Hassan included as part of his years of field experience in his application for his degree as a counselor (experience.html) the same years he otherwise admits to having committed "a number of forced deprogrammings/involuntary interventions."  (straight.html, approach.html)

 

One example of what Mr. Hassan downplays as an "involuntary intervention" is described here by the victim, Mr. Arthur Roselle:

 

"When I first tried to escape from my kidnappers, they seized my arms and threw me down to the floor ... I received a cut on my chin and right cheek bone. My hands and feet were then tied and I was carried into a small room and placed on a cot ... I was not allowed to sleep ... I was always escorted to the bathroom while my hands were still bound and tied.

 

Years later Steven Hassan attempted to persuade Mr. Rosselle to falsely swear that this original sworn statement was not true. Arthur Roselle refused to do so and his declaration stands. (declaration.html)

 

Mr. Hassan continues to assert that religious "brainwashing" and "mind control" (with no accompanying pain/drugs/hypnosis) exist, despite the American Psychiatric Association's, the American Sociological Association's and the American Psychology Association's rejections of such theories. (See www.cesnur.org extensive section on the brainwashing theory.)   

 

Mr. Hassan seems to have a problem coming to grips with acts he committed during his youth.

 

May we suggest he might overcome his guilt in a better way ‑ by atoning for his sins: publicly revealing how much money he accepted as a mercenary deprogrammer and paying all such money back to the victims of his spiritual brutality.