Volume I
Issue IV

From the Editor:

The demand continues for the services of the new Cult Awareness Network with over 6,800 calls handled since the hotline re-opened under responsible management.
The range of callers never ceases to amaze - from a graduate student provided with top expert referrals for a scholarly paper, to frantic parents helped to find their missing adult daughter, to a reporter given knowledgeable quotes about the year 2,000.
Read on for examples of results from the hotline through providing reliable data and smoothing out conflicts - plus much more.
OPERATOR SENDS CALLER TO CAN
An example of the quality of people who use CAN includes a telephone operator from southern California who called in to CAN to find out what happened after she had referred a person to our hotline.
CAN had heard from the person the operator had referred, and had helped them sort out their situation.
The operator was delighted to know that she had sent the caller to a group that really helps..

OTHER GROUPS USE CAN:

Constantly networking with other help lines and referral services, CAN has recently received calls referred by groups as diverse as the National Information Clearing House, the Indianapolis Resource Center for Individual Living, Windows of Opportunity Inc., and the St. Petersburg Florida Crisis Line - not to mention the United Way. All callers were helped with factual information and qualified experts.

OLD CAN OUTA THERE!

The 1995 "Jason Scott" case is the one where the old CAN was fined $1,000,0000 for their involvement in the kidnapping of a Pentecostal Christian.
The old CAN appealed that judgment to the 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. They lost that appeal on April 8, 1998 and then "appealed the appeal," asking for all 21 judges of the 9th Circuit to review the decision.
On the 27th of August the full 9th Circuit upheld the decision keeping the old CAN "outa there" for good.
Kendrick Moxon, the lawyer who won the original suit hailed the decision stating, "The Court is holding the line against the illegal and unconstitutional activities of a former group of thugs."

Book Editor Gets Help

An editor for an upcoming textbook on cults wrote to CAN asking for input. She was told that CAN now has a religious tolerance outlook. Her response?
"I was aware that your organization had changed as of October 1996, which is precisely why I was so eager to correspond with CAN. I want to present a balanced view ... I think it will be especially interesting for students to read personal narratives from people who have had positive experiences as part of nontraditional or new religious movements."
CAN is providing her a wide array of such people to interview and will alert you when the book is published!

RIGHT TO BELIEVE

While visiting the United States in 1997, Mitsiko Ishikawa, an idealistic young Japanese woman, met and married Chris Antal, an American member of her religion.
Returning to Japan as part of her church work, Mitsiko ran into disagreements from her parents regarding her religious choice.
Mitsiko's parents connected up to anti-religionists in Japan and in May of 1998 they arranged her abduction, holding her under "house arrest" in an attempt to convince her to change her faith.
After 62 days of captivity Mitsiko escaped by jumping off a second-story balcony and running for safety. With help from members of her church, her husband successfully extracted her from Japan and she is now living safely with him in the United States.
They have filed suit against her abductors and will be returning to Japan in November for their first court appearance.
With CAN's help they have been networked with religious freedom advocates in the US and Mitsiko testified about her ordeal in front of the US State Department's Religious Freedom Abroad Committee in September.
Her story is up on CAN's website at www.cultawarenessnetwork.org under the "Latest News" section.

YOU CAN HELP

Media Comes to CAN for Experts!

In just two recent weeks, CAN received calls from Dateline, The Liza Show, Hard Copy, and a National Hispanic TV Show. We also did a live radio show on National Public Radio in Nw Zealand! Nice to know the media is turning to the right source for information on religious groups.

CUL T CONFERENCE

The September 1998 Conference on Cults and Discernment held in Southern California where Christian leaders concerned about certain groups spoke to over 150 attendees, was attended by CAN. CAN was able to meet with key speakers and get across the new CAN message of religious tolerance. Follow up dialogue is now ongoing with the speakers toward creating greater mutual respect for other religious views.

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AROUND the world!

Highlights on some positive religious freedom activity around the planet:

ITALY:

The Italian Center for the Study of New Religions (CESNUR) held it's annual conference in Torino, Italy with more than one hundred papers presented on religious freedom issues around Europe.
CAN was well represented including meeting with a member of the European Parliament who is on the Commission on New Religious Movements and very interested in CAN's activities.

SWITZERLAND:

The Federal government of Switzerland recently publicly declared that they are not going to be taking any actions against new religions. In fact the Federal Council declared "... it is of major concern to respect the cultural and religious diversity of Switzerland".

SWEDEN:

The Swedish Parliament has just released a 400-page report on new religious movements titled "In Good Faith - Society and the New Religious Movements". It is a positive and constructive approach to dealing with new religions promoting dialogue amongst groups and greater exchange of ideas. These two excerpts give the idea: "In a democratic social system in which freedom of religion ... is guaranteed and secured, it is not society's task to query and evaluate various forms of belief."

"The great