Feb 29, 2016

RICO Lawsuit Filed Against Former Leaders of Mars Hill Church

Warren Throckmorton
Patheos 
February 29, 2016

Mars Hill Church

The long anticipated suit from a group of former members against former leaders of Mars Hill Church was filed today in the U.S District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. Attorney Brian Fahling filed suit on behalf of plaintiffs Brian and Connie Jacobsen and Ryan and Arica Kildea.

The plaintiffs accuse defendants Mark Driscoll and Sutton Turner of engaging in

a continuing pattern of racketeering activity by soliciting, through the internet and the mail, contributions for designated purposes, and then fraudulently used significant portions of those designated contributions for other, unauthorized purposes. It was a pattern of racketeering activity that extended through a myriad of MHC projects, including the Global Fund, the Campus Fund, the Jesus Festival, and the promotion of Driscoll’s book Real MaYosef, the son of the late Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, was indicted in the Tel Aviv District Court in December on two counts of breach of trust.

The Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avoda lobbying group filed a petition to the High Court of Justice on Monday requesting an injunction to force the Religious Services Ministry to suspend Rabbi Avraham Yosef, the municipal chief rabbi of Holon, until the criminal proceedings against him on breach of trust charges is over.rriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together (“Real Marriage”).

In a statement, the attorney filing the suit, Brian Fahling said:

A church is not simply a building and programs. Mars Hill Church was a community of individuals—non-member attendees who considered MHC to be their church home, members, elders and pastors—who worked together in pursuit of a common mission—to make disciples and plant churches in the name of Jesus. Needless to say, the four groups are interdependent and the church cannot function without each of them. However, Driscoll and Turner engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity so deeply embedded, pervasive and continuous, that it was effectively institutionalized as a business practice, thereby corrupting the very mission Plaintiffs and other donors believed they were supporting.

On the Global Fund, just today I posted two formerly undisclosed memos on Mars Hill Church’s Board of Advisors and Accountability’s decision to keep secret how the church spent funds on missions (Global Fund) and salaries.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2016/02/29/rico-lawsuit-filed-against-former-leaders-of-mars-hill-church/

Feb 28, 2016

CultNEWS101: 239 articles added in February 2016

Articles List

MIND CONTROL: How people become trapped in Cults

Jan 22, 2009


How normal people like you and I can easily become gradually duped over a period of time into becoming deceived by a destructive cult!

This video also reveals another frightening scenario: how a handful of corrupt people in positions of authority in the military could issue unjust unconstitutional orders to their subordinates to carry out acts of violence against their fellow countrymen, citizens who are guilty of nothing more than exercising their God-given Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms and protect their lands and their homes and the lives of themselves and their families!











https://youtu.be/8aw_5cmCwoc

This Utah Lawyer Is Working Pro Bono to Help People GTFO of the Mormon Church

Jon Levine
News.Mic
November 18, 2015


Mark Naugle
Mark Naugle
With the Mormon church's announcement earlier this month that children of same-sex couples would not be allowed to join the church until they are 18, and that married same-sex Mormon couples could face excommunication, a growing number of church members have begun having second thoughts about the country's most famous home-grown religion. More than 1,000 have gone so far as torenounce their faith in the process.

For most of the individuals looking to cut ties, that process is far more complicated than simply skipping church services.

"You'd contact your local leadership, you will call a bishop and tell them, 'We don't want to be on the records anymore,'" Mark Naugle, a 30-year-old immigration attorney and ex-Mormon, told Mic. "They most likely won't take that well, they'll accuse of sinning, put you on a 60-day waiting period, call you for meetings, send people over from the ward to try and talk you back into it."

Those heavy-handed tactics are exactly why Naugle, who is based near the church's headquarters in Salt Lake City, has spent the last six years helping Mormons leave the institution. Once an individual transfers to him the power of attorney, Naugle can insist church officials to deal exclusively with him, and forbid them from contacting his clients. When confronted with the dispassion of the law, church leadership typically takes a far more conciliatory tone, often confirming the renunciation in a matter of days. "They don't try and contact the family anymore, they go through me and it's over," Naugle said.

Naugle, who requested his practice not be named, said it was his own life story that inspired him to help lapsed Mormons. "I was born into the Mormon church. Both my parents were [Latter Day Saints]," he said. But when he was 15, his family left the church and the experience that followed has stuck with him. "People would come to the door. Sometimes we'd just hide inside because it was too much to deal with."
Naugle said interest in his practice had exploded since the church's new stance regarding LGBT members, but he has continued to work unabated — and all free of charge. Naugle, who typically charges $200 for his services, says he has dedicated 50 to 60 hours of his time to the project since the church announced its hard-line position on Nov. 5. (That's $10,000 to $12,000 worth of free work.) 

What the church is doing is "harmful," Naugle said. "It's hurting families, hurting communities and creating black sheep that sometimes never recover," he said.

In a statement to Mic, LDS spokesman Eric Hawkins responded to the spate of defections and expressed regret that anyone would consider leaving the church.

"We don't want to see anyone leave the church, especially people who have been struggling with any aspect of their life. The church exists to build people and help them heal, and there isn't one of us who doesn't need help at some point in our lives. We hope that recent guidance from church leaders and the additional commentary will help provide understanding and context to some who may be considering resigning their membership. It's extremely important that our members read what leaders have said, and do not rely on other sources or interpretations or what people think they have said."

As of this writing, Naugle has successfully assisted more than 2,500 church members in their efforts to break away from the church. He urges any Mormons looking for a way out to email him at NaugleLaw@gmail.com.

http://m.mic.com/articles/128765/this-utah-lawyer-is-working-pro-bono-to-help-people-gtfo-of-the-mormon-church

Study: Switching from antidepressants to mindfulness meditation increases relapse

Posted February 28, 2016 by James Coyne PhD in antidepressants, Clinical trials, depression, hype, mindfulness,primary care, psychotherapy

Study: Switching from antidepressants to mindfulness meditation increases relapse


Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupts in violence; 3 are stabbed and 13 arrested

James Queally
LA Times
February 27, 2016


Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupts in violence
Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupts in violence
Three people were stabbed and 13 others were arrested when a Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupted in violence Saturday, police said.


A small group of people representing the Klan had announced that it would hold a rally at Pearson Park at 1:30 p.m., police said. By 11 a.m., several dozen protesters had shown up to confront the Klan.

About an hour later, several men in black garb with Confederate flag patches arrived in an SUV near the edge of the park.

Fighting broke out moments after Klan members exited the vehicle. Some of the protesters could be seen kicking a man whose shirt read “Grand Dragon.” At some point, a protester collapsed on the ground bleeding, crying that he had been stabbed.

The bloody incident took place in Anaheim and police said there was fighting for a city block. Thirteen people -- six KKK members and seven protesters -- were arrested.
A Klansman in handcuffs could be heard telling a police officer that he “stabbed him in self-defense.” Several other people were also handcuffed.

Witnesses said the Klansmen used the point of a flagpole as a weapon while fighting with protesters.

Two other protesters were stabbed during the melee — one with a knife and the other with an unidentified weapon, said Sgt. Daron Wyatt of the Anaheim Police Department.

Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said he was standing near the KKK members when several protesters attacked them with two-by-fours and other weapons.

Several of the Klan members jumped in the SUV and sped off, leaving three others to “fend for themselves,” Levin said.

Levin had been trying to interview the KKK ringleader, whom he identified as William Quigg, an Anaheim resident.

Quigg is the leader of the Loyal White Knights in California and other Western states, a sect of the hate group that aims to raise awareness about illegal immigration, terrorism and street crime, Levin said. They see themselves as a “Klan without robes” and model themselves after David Duke, the Louisiana-based former grand wizard of the Klan, Levin said.

Levin said he was standing next to Quigg when a crowd of protesters swarmed the Klan members. Levin said he pushed the Klan leader away as the violence continued and a protester was stabbed.

Levin said he asked Quigg, “How do you feel that a Jewish guy just saved your life?”

“Thank you,” the Klan leader replied, according to Levin.

A few minutes later, a crowd of about 100 people cheered when police handcuffed Quigg and one of his followers.

Many people at the park demanded to know why Anaheim police did not have a larger presence before the violence broke out.

Levin was also critical of the lack of a police presence. “There were no police officers here when this started happening,” he said.

“It was the longest few minutes between when the SUV was attacked and when the police responded in droves,” Levin said.

“I think the police response saved their lives,” he added, referring to Klan members. “They would have been torn limb from limb.”

The Klan rally — to decry, as one of them put it, “illegal immigration and Muslims” — was initially planned for 1:30 p.m., police said.

“I was expecting violence — but it's disgusting,” said Nick Keeton, 18, of Anaheim. “I feel like this is 1953 and we're in Kentucky.”

Martin Buenorostro said a friend, whom he would identify only by his nickname, “FuzzBuzz,” was wounded when one of the Klan members began using a flagpole as a weapon to fend off the crowd surrounding their vehicle.

“They started pulling out weapons,” Buenorostro said of the Klansmen. “One of them had the flag, the American flag, with the pointed top and I think that's what got my friend. It's a serious wound. It wasn't like the blood was dripping out. It gushed out of him.”

Six Klan members (five men and one woman) and seven protesters (six men and one woman) were arrested, Wyatt said.

The Klan members were arrested in connection with the stabbings, he said. The protesters were arrested on charges related to physical assaults on Klan members. The stab victims were in stable condition, Wyatt said.

All could face charges of assault with a deadly weapon, though Wyatt said “some people could have a self-defense claim.” He did not say if he was referring to the Klan members or the protesters.

The Klan has a long and troubling history with the city. Klansmen were once the dominant political force in Anaheim, holding four of five City Council seats before a recall effort led to their ouster in 1924.

At the height of the group's power in Orange County, nearly 300 Klansmen lived in Anaheim, patrolling city streets in robes and masks. A large KKK rally once attracted 20,000 people to the city.

KKK activity nationwide has decreased dramatically in recent decades, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which estimated the group has between 5,000 and 8,000 members across the country.

The group's activities have been sporadic in Southern California in recent years. Last summer, at least 100 residents of Whittier and Fullerton awoke to find packets containing KKK fliers, rife with racist rhetoric, and candy in their driveways. A Santa Ana neighborhood was also blanketed with KKK fliers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day last year, police said.

An eight-foot cross was burned outside the home of a black man in Anaheim Hills in 2003, and the FBI investigated the case as a hate crime, but police did not specifically link that case to the KKK.

Anaheim, home to Disneyland and Orange County's largest city, is now more than 52% Latino and about 28% white, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-klan-rally-in-anaheim-erupts-in-violence-one-man-stabbed-20160227-story.html

State sues over nonreport of child abuse

The News Journal

Harry Themal

February 26, 2016

 

Elders of Jehovah’s Witnesses do not have the same privileged communications exemption as religious advisers in a sacramental confession if the confession does not involve a penitent.

The potential landmark “first impression” ruling, reported by Delaware Law Weekly, was made recently by Superior Court Judge Mary Miller Johnston in refusing to throw out a case filed by the state against the Laurel Congregation of the Witnesses.

The state said the elders should have reported a case child abuse between a juvenile and an adult member of the congregation.

The elders met with the juvenile, her mother and an adult member who confirmed the relationship after the boy reported the matter to his mother. They then excommunicated the juvenile and the adult involved. The state sought civil penalties but the Jehovah’s Witnesses said they were exempt from reporting under the Delaware law of “clergy/penitent privilege.”

That law is similar to the attorney/client privilege but the judge ruled that the conversations were not a “sacramental confession.” The defendants said the congregation members were “seeking spiritual advice and counsel from us as elders in a private setting.”

Judge Johnston also held that the privilege exemption itself is, if narrowly interpreted, unconstitutional because the terms “priest, penitent” [and] sacramental confession” give preference to one religion. She also said it could be read to apply to all religions.

The case will now go through further legal hearings but the General Assembly should consider clarifying the language of the existing law.

Residential balance

Chancery Court is perhaps the most watched court in the world for its long-established record of hearing and deciding corporate disputes.  The Delaware Supreme Court shares that reputation for its decisions in appeals.

That’s why in recent weeks the Wall Street Journal and other financial newspapers and magazines have written about Gillette’s suit against Dollar Shave Club, about financial disputes in the Forbes family, and a host of other cases being heard in the corporate capital of Delaware.

The court is about to get its fifth member appointed by Gov. Markell, who has named more new or reappointed judges than any governor in history.

Joseph R. Slights III, due to be voted on later this month, is a rare appointment that has some controversy attached. Slights now lives and practices in New Castle County, although the Chancery spot he is filling is now held by John W. Noble, who is from Kent County, and retiring after 15 years on thee bench.

Delaware constitution mandates that each of the courts – Supreme, Chancery, Superior – should not have more than a bare majority of the members of the same major political party. Slights fits that proportion.

No law, however, now requires a county split, and some legislators say Slights’ present practice and residence breaks that balance. They may ask the General Assembly to approve that geographical balance that now exists in all the courts. Slights, who is a Dover native and attended Wesley College, has indicated he may move back to Kent County to retain that balance.

Personal pride

On Thursday at Buena Vista I received the greatest honor of my 66-year Delaware journalism career, and I would like to boast about it.

Gov. Markell presented me with the Delaware Heritage Award along with a wonderful porcelain pitcher made by Peter Saenger of Newark.  Also receiving the award were Dick Carter, veteran state Senate mainstay and chair of the Delaware Heritage Commission, and robin brown, a former long-time News Journal reporter now on the staff of New Castle County executive Tom Gordon.

The awards were for a “distinguished contribution to the recognition, preservation and celebration of Delaware’s heritage.” I still find it hard to believe that I’ve joined a pantheon of Delawareans who have received the honor since it was launched in 2003: John Munroe, Skipper Purnell, Bill WIliams, Reba Hollingsworth, Jim Soles, Russ McCabe, Carole Hoffecker and Bill Quillen.

Harry Themal has written a News Journal editorial page column since 1989.   

 

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/opinion/columnists/harry-themal/2016/02/26/state-sues-over-nonreport-child-abuse/80981834/

 

On the run with Warren Jeffs: Turncoat bodyguard describes his life in the FLDS and how he fled because 'they are raping little girls'

Chris Pleasance and Alexandra Genova
Dailymail.com
February 27, 2016

 
  • Willie Jessop used to be right-hand man to FLDS 'prophet' Warren Jeffs
  • Helped Jeffs run his cult-like religious sect, protecting him at all costs
  • But he went turncoat after being played a tape of Jeffs abusing a girl, 12
  • He has now lifted the lid on life inside the sect, including how property was pooled by members before being given out according to a caste system
  • This included wives and children, separated from husbands and families
  • Comes after series of FBI raids on Jeffs' compound in South Dakota revealed yet more strange details about how the FLDS operated

He used to be The Prophet's right-hand man, protecting him from adversaries, taking down his enemies and, on at least one occasion, helping him flee from the police on a motorbike.

Willie Jessop, a former follower of Warren Jeffs and his cult-like Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, dedicated his life to protecting Jeffs any way he could.

But all that changed in 2011 when Texas authorities slipped him a tape that recorded Jeffs sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl who he claimed was his niece and 'spirit wife', CNNreports.

Now, Jessop is unearthing secrets of life inside the cult in court as the key witness in a civil trial, and helping to dismantle Jeffs' former empire while he serves a life sentence in jail for sexual assault.

Willie Jessop, the former right-hand man to Warren Jeffs, the leader of cult-like religious sect Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has spoken out about life inside the organization

 
Jessop said after new recruits were assessed with questions designed to test their loyalty and obedience, all of their possessions were taken and reassigned according to a caste-based system that Jeffs controlled
Jessop said after new recruits were assessed with questions designed to test their loyalty and obedience, all of their possessions were taken and reassigned according to a caste-based system that Jeffs controlled


Describing life inside the FLDS, Jessop said that new followers were taken to a walled compound on arrival where they were given an interview to assess their suitability for life in the closed-off society.

Questions were designed to test their loyalty and obedience, Jessop says, a key part of the indoctrination process for new members.

He paints a picture of a socialist society, with resources pooled and then divided out among members based on a caste system. This included everything, from food, to jobs - even wives and children could be taken away from their husbands and parents at a whim and redistributed.

After being questioned, the most obedient new members - Jeffs called them the most pious - were brought into the United Order, the upper echelon of FLDS society.

They were given the best food, the best houses, allowed a running water supply and were prioritized for the best jobs.

Others were destined to live in trailers or shanty homes, and collected their rations from a different storehouse, with portions being comparatively meager.

All of their own possessions had to be handed over to the FLDS for 'consecration' before they were allowed in, with re-baptisms to follow.

Despite having misgivings about some of Jeffs' methods, Jessop says he he was fully dedicated to the man he considered God's messenger on Earth.

All cult resources were pooled and then divided out according to Jeffs. This included food, clothing, homes, water supplies, jobs - even wives and children could be removed from their families and reassigned at a whim

Jessop said he devoted everything to protecting Jeffs, until Texas police played him a tape of Jeffs abusing a 12-year-old girl. He is now a state turncoat and star witness in trials against Jeffs and his followers

Warren Jeffs pictured inside jail where he is serving a life sentence

Jeffs pictured during his 2010 trial for sexually assaulting two 12-year-old girls. He was found guilty

He said: 'All of our focus was on protecting Warren, protecting him legally, physically, financially -- any way we could find to protect him. And he was using that to be a terrible monster.'

At one point, after Jeffs was placed on the FBI rosta of most wanted men, alongside Whitey Bulger and Osama bin Laden, Jessop even recalls helping him avoid a raid on an FLDS meeting house.

Tipped that the authorities were due to arrive, Jessop said he sent the rest of the congregation out the main entrance on quadbikes, straight into waiting officers.

Meanwhile, he and Jeffs hopped on to motorbikes and rode in the opposite direction along a dry creek bed to the airport, carrying bags stuffed with cash and fake IDs.

Asked now why he turned against his former employer and savior, Jessop says bluntly: 'Those sons of bitches were raping little girls down in Texas.

'I knew it and they knew I knew it, and this battle rages on today.'

Granted $30million after suing FLDS for harassment and causing his excavation business to shut down after he left the church, Jessop is now using that money to buy up the church's properties.

Where men were formerly interrogated before joining the cult, he has now built a school where 300 children, both from the FDLS and outside, mingle and learn side by side.

A massive house, built for Jeffs by his followers after The Prophet had a vision that he would be freed from jail if they constructed it, has been turned into a hotel.

Jessop is also helping to dismantle Jeffs' empire, buying up property the church owned using money from a civil suit against them, he has turned a former recruiting center into a school (pictured, a FLDS town in Utah)

Following another set of federal raids, more disturbing details emerged about what goes on behind the secretive walls of the South Dakota compound (pictured) belonging to Warren Jeff's polygamous sect

Jessop spoke out at a civil trial against the cities of Hildale, Utah, Colorado City, Arizona, both of which are controlled by the FLDS.

Authorities are charged with running a corrupt and biased government, favoring FLDS members and helping drive 'apostates' - or non-believers - out of town.

The case comes as top leaders from FLDS, including Warren's brothers Lyle Jeffs and Seth Jeffs, were arrested Tuesday after a crackdown on an alleged food stamp fraud scheme.

And an FBI report on a 2014 interview with former compound resident Sam Steed revealed that the property - already surrounded by a 'privacy' fence and tall pine trees - was bolstered by a roving 24/7 security force and a steel-enforced octagonal watch tower that was manned 24/7.

Steed also revealed that cell phone batteries had to be removed while on the property.

Even the presiding bishop who carried a phone, had to leave to use it, Steed told the FBI.

And while there are various compounds across America, the South Dakota site appears to have had a special set of rules.

'There was a selection process for these girls chosen to go to R23 [what followers called the South Dakota site],' Steed said. 'Lyle (Jeffs) was instrumental in the selection process and told the girls that you had to 'qualify' to go.'

Only a dozen people were approved to work on Warren Jeffs' house on the South Dakota property.

Sam Steed revealed the that property - already surrounded by a 'privacy' fence and tall pine trees - was bolstered by a roving 24/7 security force and a steel-enforced octagonal watch tower that was manned 24/7

Steed also revealed that the South Dakota residence (pictured), whose construction started in 2008, was built with one-foot thick walls, sound barriers and double padded flooring

While there are various compounds across America, the South Dakota site (pictured) appears to have had a special set of rules

Steed revealed that the residence, whose construction started in 2008, was built with one-foot thick walls, sound barriers and double padded flooring.

FOOD STAMP RAIDS EXPLAINED


Federal prosecutors say church leaders orchestrated a yearslong scheme instructing members how to use food-stamp benefits illegally for the benefit of the faith and avoid getting caught.

Followers would scan their food stamp debit cards at church-run stores, leaving the money with the owners, prosecutors say. Group leaders then funneled money to front companies. Some of those funds were used to pay thousands for a tractor and a truck, the indictment shows.

The volume of food stamp purchases at two small convenience stores was so large that it rivaled retailers the size of Wal-Mart and Costco, prosecutors say, with the total amount diverted and laundered estimated at $12 million.

Another common practice was buying groceries with food stamps and giving the supplies to the church's communal storehouse for leaders to divvy up.

Source: AP

Warren Jeffs' son Roy - who left the sect in 2014 - was sent to live in the South Dakota compound for nearly a year in 2007-2008, where he spent long days building houses with log exteriors.

Other men helped raise livestock or stood guard in the tower, Roy Jeffs told The Associated Press.

Roy Jeffs said only a few dozen people were there at a time. He saw women, but didn't know what they were there for.

People weren't supposed to leave without approval from leaders.

Before 2010, the only people allowed to go to South Dakota were devout followers in good standing, he said.

In the faith's hierarchy, it was considered more sacred than the base on the Utah-Arizona border but below the Texas compound, which had a temple, Roy Jeffs said.

The sect in 2011 wanted to build a temple on the South Dakota property, but leaders told the Custer County planning commission that the structure was going to be a storage building.

The project was scrapped when leaders ran out of money, according to Steed.

'It has the same dimensions as the temple down in Texas, but it was kind of roughed out and never really started,' Wheeler said.

Warren Jeffs said sites such as South Dakota were necessary because he believed that the government intended to seize property on the Arizona-Utah border, according to Jerold Williams, a former church elder who supervised early construction of the South Dakota compound until 2006.

There were a series of federal raids at the sect's South Dakota site (pictured) on federal accusations of food stamp fraud and money laundering marking one of the biggest crackdowns on the group in year

'It was a prophesy kind of thing,' Williams said. 'He was going to do these 'lands of refuge,' he called them, for people to have somewhere to go to.'

Some of the detail in court documents matches Williams' account of South Dakota, which was meant to be 'top secret.' Members doing the work often didn't really know what Warren Jeffs had in mind, said Williams, who left the church in 2012.

Neighbors have regarded the Pringle outpost with mistrust and concern, including skepticism about Seth Jeffs' truthfulness during a hearing last year on a request to draw water more quickly at the compound.

Linda Van Dyke Kilcoin, a nearby landowner, said she hopes the current case prompts government agencies to intensify scrutiny of the group.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3467110/Cell-phone-ban-sound-proof-walls-24-7-guarded-surveillance-Food-stamp-raids-Warren-Jeff-s-sect-compound-reveal-disturbing-details-polygamous-group.html

Task Force Investigation 1978: Former Straight, Inc. ‘Client C’ was Interviewed

Kathy Moya
Project Straight Ink
February 24, 2016

 
Task Force Investigation
1978 investigation Florida District V task force, chaired by J.B. Holley, District Mental Health Specialist wrote a report of their findings on January 11, 1978 from their November 1977 – January 1978 investigation of Straight Inc. in response to community concerns about the Straight, Inc. program.

Interview with ‘Client C’:

White Male
Age: Unknown
Program Dates: Prior to January 11, 1978
Exited program: prior to completion.


‘Client C’ states that even though he was court ordered to the program, it was his idea to try the Straight, Inc. program. The report does not state whether or not the court order took place after a month of being in the program like many of the the others, so whether the court order came before or after he was in the program is unclear.

‘Client C’ stated that he signed a paper agreeing to follow the rules. He did not receive a copy of the foster home standards, but stated that the foster home he was in was good.

He stated that there were mandatory exercises.

He stated that he did not attend academic classes.

‘Client C’ Saw Kids Kicked, Dragged, Kneed in the Chest and Slapped in the Face

He said that he was both physically and verbally abused by both staff and kids. He saw kids kicked and dragged, kneed in the chest, and slapped in the face.

Meals were not withheld but drinks were if he was caught drinking from a faucet in the bathroom.

He was never isolated but knows of a girl who was tied up for most of one day, and another kid was rolled up in a sheet for several hours.

He felt that staff was fair to some people but not consistent.

He felt that half of the staff was concerned and that some were knowledgeable. But he felt that Jim Hartz was not qualified and that Helen Petermann was “two-faced.” Overall the staff was not very often available for discussing problems.

He basically felt that the program was OK, but that it was not being run right, that they should not expect so much of the kids, and should show more empathy. He no longer wants help from Straight and felt that he was held against his will by both staff and the other kids.


http://www.projectstraightink.com/task-force-investigation-1978-former-straight-inc-client-c-interviewed/

Grandma pleads with Jehovah's Witnesses Granddaughter Who Shuns her


Published on Feb 27, 2014






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFl3c...

Many Honest hearted People who try to help JWs do so out of christian love and bible trained conscience .

For all the latest info on the Witnesses they don't want you to know

http://www.jwfacts.com
http://www.jwfiles.com
http://www.jwsurvey.org
http://www.jwleaks.org
http://www.jwstruggle.com
http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com


Resources For Exposing Watchtower and Jehovah's Witnesses
https://www.facebook.com/groups/expos...


Ex-Jehovah's Witness Recovery Group 3!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/xjwrg3/


Jehovah's Witness Discussion Forum

The place to discuss anything relating to Jehovah's Witnesses and the WatchTower Bible and Tract Society... or just make new friends ----- 4.2 Million posts--- 50,000 members

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net

https://youtu.be/vMuYBMxsrIA

Nearly 6,500 People Have Resigned from the Mormon Church Thanks to One Lawyer and a Website

Hemant Mehta
Patheos
February 24, 2016

Earlier this month, I posted about a new websiteto help Mormons leave the Church for good.QuitMormon offers free legal representation for people ready to resign their membership.

In case you’re wondering why ex-Mormons might need a lawyer’s help and why they can’t just “leave” on their own, it’s because the Church won’t let them go. If you want out, they’ll send people to your home to talk you out of it. They’ll contact your family and neighbors about you. They’ll basically harass you until you come back. And then, just to make it tougher on you, they make you fill out paperwork in order to be officially taken off their lists.

A lawyer can serve as middleman, filling out the forms on your behalf and being the Church’s point of contact for you. If the Church doesn’t confirm that they received your paperwork, the lawyer can follow up so you don’t have to. Anyone who’s gone through the process can tell you how much of a relief that sort of help would have been.

Mark Naugle is an attorney who has been helping many Mormons through the process. It was only recently that a software engineer reached out to Mark and helped create a website to facilitate this whole process.

QuitMormon has only been in operation for a month now. But in a message posted to the Ex-Mormon subreddit yesterday, Mark provided an incredible update:

I genuinely appreciate all of your patience throughout the process. I was not at all prepared for the massive response.

Right now we are sitting at about 6,500 resignations processed through me.

So including Mark’s work both before the website’s launch and since then, he has processed a staggering 6,500 resignations from the Mormon Church. (And counting.)

For what it’s worth, back in November, when Mark was still processing everything by hand, the count was only at 2,500 resignations. The website has made things much easier.

Now we know what happens when leaving the Church is only a few clicks away.

(Portions of this article were published earlier)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/02/24/nearly-6500-people-have-resigned-from-the-mormon-church-thanks-to-one-lawyer-and-a-website/

Jehovah's Witnesses please read

Asiza Tait
News24
February 28, 2016

Dear all my Jehovah’s Witness friends and family

I am using the platform of News24 in the hope of reaching as many of you as I can. I will also be sending private messages, e-mails and so on in the attempt to not miss anyone.

The reason I am using News24 is because for the most of you, you will probably delete my message without them even being read. That is the reality of what happens when you leave the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It doesn’t matter for what reason you left, the simple fact that you turned your back on them means that they will shun you. This shunning entails them not speaking to you, contacting you or acknowledging your existence if they can at all help it.

This public message is to let them all know that I am still alive and well. My family is happy and doing better than ever. My son is three years old and is the joy of my life. I am currently living in England with my husband and thoroughly enjoying the new chapter of my life. I have not become an angry bitter hateful person as all those who leave are portrayed to become. I suppose you would call me an apostate, simply because I publicise the fact that the ‘Watchtower’ and the ‘Governing Body’ have lied and continue to lie.

Why did I leave? I was ashamed to be called a Jehovah’s Witness. After I found out the depth of the deception that I had been under for so many years I couldn’t bear to be known as one for another minute.

Yes, I could simply just carry on with my life and leave you be – but something compelled me today to reach out, something I haven’t done since I left. I didn’t tell all of you personally that I was leaving, I knew well enough the gossip would reach far and wide faster than I could call or contact everyone, so I just let the natural course of events play themselves out. Today I thought that I should at least try to let you all know that I am still here, and if you want to contact me you are completely free to. I will not shun you.

I have set up an email address that you can send to and I will reply to you from my personal e-mail. I will not fill your ears with ‘apostate reasoning’s’ if you don’t ask me outright I will not say anything to you about the lies that I discovered, nothing at all. Your journey is your own.

Since I do not recognise the authority of the Governing Body or elders for that matter, I will talk to you despite the fact you are under strict rules to not talk to me.

So here is the challenge:

Speak to me.

E-mail: speaktoasiza@gmail.com

I am waiting to hear from you.

Love

Asiza

http://m.news24.com/news24/MyNews24/jehovahs-witnesses-please-read-20160228

Feb 27, 2016

Holding Out HELP

 
Holding Out HELP
Holding Out HELP 
Our Mission

Holding Out HELP exists to assist those from a polygamous background with the resources necessary to meet their physical, emotional, and educational needs. Primarily we help those transitioning from a polygamist community into an independent and self-sufficient life by providing access to housing, food, clothing, counseling, mentoring, job training, education and referral services.

Ways to HELP

Holding Out HELP is 100% supported by private individuals and small business through one-time and monthly donations, as well as two annual fundraisers.  We currently serve over 250 people a year and due to the turmoil in the FLDS community, the need has never been greater.  For the first time we currently have a waiting list for services.

Help Hotline: 801.548.3492
Mountain Time M-F 9-4 PM
help@holdingouthelp.org

Ways to make a difference:
  • $30 a month can provide food for a mentor to meet weekly, set goals, learn life skills and have a listening ear.
  • $50 a month can keep a phone on for a month while a client searches for employment.
  • $100 a month can fund the cost for gas or a monthly transportation pass for a student.
  • $150 a month can provide much needed professional counseling services.
  • $200 a month can help keep the heat and water on for a single mom trying to get through college.
To donate financially please go to our donation page.
Physical Donations needed:
  • Vehicles
  • Dressers
  • Bunk Beds
  •  Paper Products / Hygiene Items (Not covered by food stamps)
    • Toilet Paper
    • Paper Towels
    • Feminine pads
    • Shampoo (bulk)
    • Conditioner (bulk)
    • Bars of soap
    • Laundry Detergent (bulk)
    • Dryer Sheets (bulk)
    • Dishwashing detergent (bulk)
    Services Needed:
    • Pro Bono Attorneys (Family Law)
    • Dentists
    • Optometrist
    • Auto Mechanics
    • Contractors
    • Handy Men
    If interested in providing physical donations and/or services, please contact us at help@holdingouthelp.org or call/text 801.548.3492.

    Volunteers helping those leaving FLDS say more and more getting out

    AMY NAY
    KUTV
    FEBRUARY 27,  2016

    Watch Video

    Salt Lake City — (KUTV) Volunteers who help those who leave the FLDS community say more and more are getting out.

    The recent arrests of FLDS leaders and restrictions volunteers say are just not realistic, they say, are creating a greater need for groups like Holding Out HELP.

    The non profit organization held an open house Friday night for its new facility -- one that will essentially act as a halfway house for former FLDS members who have left or were kicked out.

    "It's a whole different world!"

    Bobby Johnson was born and raised in the FLDS church in Colorado City.

    "If you associate with people who leave, then you are no longer worthy," Johnson told 2News. He reached out to a brother who had left and was kicked out at just 14.

    "When you're 14, you're just like, 'What the heck am I gonna' do?' So when somebody's there, it's nice."

    Tonia Tewell has run HOH the past eight years and says it has been rewarding.

    "There are so many people fleeing and fed up with so many of the restrictions put in place after Warren Jeffs went to prison."

    And she says she believes with recent indictments among the FLDS leaders, that trend will only continue.

    "It is real important we can get them in a structured environment, so they can believe in themselves and know that there is a better way," Tewell said.

    At her organization's new home base, she says they offer those in need food, shelter, counseling and they put them in touch with host families, like Bobby's.

    "It's been a great experience," Steve Halley said of taking Bobby into their home.

    "I was kind of nervous about doing that," Tragina Halley said. "I said I'll do anything but that ... and then, we changed our minds."

    The couple, with two biological children already, say they have no regrets and love having a front-row seat to Bobby's inspiring future.

    "He's in school for the first time - public school - and doing really well. He is on the honor roll, is student of the month. He is doing great and we are so proud of him."

    Holding Out HELP says they're always looking for volunteers and donations, already talking about expanding their new facility.

    For more information see: HoldingOutHelp.org.


    http://kutv.com/news/local/volunteers-helping-those-leaving-flds-say-more-and-more-getting-out

    DEALING WITH CULTS: QUESTION OF BALANCE - Mike Kropveld

    The recent attempt to pass a law in Israel dealing with cults and a forthcoming bill to curb sects in Russia reminds me of a response to an editorial in La Presse newspaper that I wrote in 2000. This text which I feel is pertinent can also be can be found on the following page of our website : http://infosect.freeshell.org/infocult/ICPubs.html


    Mike Kropveld
    Executive Director, Info-Cult
    www.infocult.org
    -----------------------------------------

    November 17, 2000

    DEALING WITH CULTS: QUESTION OF BALANCE

    Pierre Gravel's editorial, "Sectes: l'information avant les lois" which appeared on Sunday October 29, 2000, in La Presse raises a number of important points.

    M. Gravel mentions France`s initiative to give the government the right to disband groups and to consider mind manipulation (manipulation mentale) as an offence. He indicates that such an initiative would be difficult to accomplish in Canada because of the Charters of Rights and Freedoms. Instead of new laws, he states that public support should be given to organizations that provide information that will enable people to make informed choices.

    Info-Cult has been doing this throughout Quebec for the past 20 years.

    We agree with Mr. Gravel's idea of limiting the government's power to legislate in this area. Existing laws are sufficient in dealing with the multiple problems associated with cults and cultic groups. There are laws in place to deal with fraud, physical and sexual abuse etc. What is lacking, however, is a political willingness on the part of those responsible to pursue cases involving "cults" when they occur. This means that they must be informed about the cult issue so as to aid those who are in distress or who have complaints. Creating new laws is not the answer.

    To begin with, the "cult" phenomena begs to be examined more closely in all its nuanced complexities. In recent years, whenever the word "cult" is used to describe a group, images of death and destruction, like those associated with the Branch Davidians in Waco, Aum Shinri Kyo in Japan, and the Order of The Solar Temple in Quebec, most often come to mind. It is these gruesome and tragic acts that reinforce the public's perception of cults as being dangerous. This leads people to look to the government to resolve the problem.

    Pierre Gravel points out that Quebec has had its share of cult-related incidents, using as examples the Solar Temple, the disciples of Roch "Moise" Theriault and the Apostles of Infinite Love. But, it is important to realize that these events represent a very small percentage of the landscape of movements. The majority of new groups, even those that may be considered cults, are not potential tragedies waiting to happen; neither will every person involved in such a group be harmed. Every year there are new groups that form - religious, spiritual, educational, therapeutic, human potential, occult etc. A number of them may, at first glance, appear bizarre because their beliefs or lifestyles are different from the norm. This does not necessarily mean that the group is a "cult" and constitutes a threat to its members or others. The issue is not a group's belief, but rather its actions and conduct. Does the group harm individuals, physically or psychologically? Do they pose a threat to society? If the response to these questions is in the affirmative, the government can and should intervene.

    In responding, one of the important challenges facing democratic government bodies is that fine line between implementing Draconian measures which would infringe on individual freedoms, and doing nothing.

    Information, as M. Gravel states is one remedy open to a democracy. We strongly support the idea of making information about "cults" available to the public, as well as implementing educational programs about this issue.

    As early as 1980, a 780-page government report , entitled "The Study of Mind Development Groups, Sects and Cults in Ontario", highlighted the need for information and public education. These recommendations have been echoed by our own provincial government representatives, professional organizations and others, here in Quebec. Other countries have produced similar reports. With such a broad consensus regarding the need for information and education, what has been the stumbling block toward providing such a service to the public?

    Government agencies can play a more active role and consult with groups and individuals already providing this much needed public service. The government could also serve as a catalyst in:
    providing adequate professional mental health services to "cult" members, former members, and their families,
    providing funding for research to study the impact of "cults" in Quebec,
    encouraging public debates and discussions on the cult phenomena.

    By taking these important preventative measures, unnecessary tragedies and abuse in all its forms, might be prevented or significantly limited. The time has come to address the concerns raised by the actions of "cults" and to respond in a democratic fashion respecting the rights and needs of everyone.