Oct 13, 2019

CultNEWS101 Articles: 10/5-6/2019




Recovery Workshop, SGA's, Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, Podcast on Cults, China Baiyang Sigui Lingbao Holy Path 

When: Friday 1st November (4-7), Saturday 2nd November (9.30-5) and Sunday 3rd November 2019 (9-4)
Where: Grindleford, Hope Valley, Derbyshire
Cost: £350 including Assessment, Workshop & Workbook [accommodation and meals not included]

Purpose & RationaleTo help you raise awareness and understanding of the dynamics and processes involved in your membership, and to support your emotional healing and growth process. That is, to promote 'understanding' and 'healing'.

Attend the Recovery Workshop and experience some time away to concentrate on yourself and your recovery in the beautiful Hope Valley in the Peak District National Park.

World Magazine: An easy 'A'
"Does approval from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability offer Christians useful information about an organization's financial discipline?

Picture yourself as a board member of the National Religious Broadcasters, an association of 1,100 member organizations that attempts to "communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world," according to its website.

Important work. Potentially life-changing work. With headquarters located blocks from the U.S. Capitol, NRB has marketed itself as being to the First Amendment what the National Rifle Association is to the Second. U.S. presidents have spoken at NRB's annual convention.

Last Dec. 7 you receive the NRB's latest audited financial report. Your reaction might be like NRB Treasurer Frank Wright's, revealed in an email legally obtained by radio host and independent journalist Julie Roys, who sent it to WORLD's editor in chief last month. Wright wrote, "The fact that [the report] arrived 11 months after the close of the fiscal year was an immediate red flag for me, and the substance of the Audit Report and the Management Letter more than verified my concerns."

In March Wright tells you that after receiving the audit report, he reviewed reports going back to 2014: "The results of this analysis are deeply troubling." NRB had suffered operating losses of $873,000 since 2014 and had been "financially insolvent for each of the last three fiscal years." As of Dec. 31, 2018, NRB's deficit in unrestricted net assets was $613,000. Its cash reserves were virtually depleted. The independent auditor, Wright says, "had flagged NRB as being at-risk as a 'going concern'—the worst language you can ever see in an audit."

On April 10 you receive another email from Wright: 'NRB needs $750,000 to pay all its convention obligations AND carry it through the summer slump until September 1. To date, we have received $164,500 in pledges. … Let me be candid here. Without your full financial support in raising this $750,000, NRB will have no option but bankruptcy reorganization.'"

"What exactly is the definition of a cult? How and why do people join them? And why are Americans so fascinated by them?

These are surprisingly difficult questions to answer despite the media saturation of cults in the United States. Cults are often thought of as inextricably tied to religion. However, the meaning of the word "cult" has shifted over time. Today, the term means a group with socially deviant behaviors.

This nebulous designation means that it can be a lot easier to join a cult than most think. Some businesses might be considered cults. Some exercise classes are described as cult-like. More than a few political movements are classified as cults.

However, it should come as no surprise that leaving can be extremely difficult. Trying to leave can challenge a person's entire belief system or even lead to physical or mental abuse from other cult members.

We sit down with a former cult member, a professor and a psychoanalyst to learn more about this phenomenon and what you can do if you or a loved one ends up in a cult."

"Nineteen people were rescued from a Chinese cult, while its leader and four other followers were arrested in late August, central Taiwan, after a young Taiwanese was allegedly tortured to death by cult members in China.

The religious cult, China Baiyang Sigui Lingbao Holy Path (中華白陽四貴靈寶聖道會), was founded in China by a 61-year-old woman claiming to be a living Buddha. Surnamed Lin (林), she was busted in a remote mountainous area of Nantou by Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) officers, Taichung and Nantou police.

The raid was the culmination of several months of investigation begun by the CIB earlier this year. This followed the suspicious death of a young female member of the cult, after visiting the group's compound in China.

In March, the 20-year-old Taiwanese woman told her family she would be traveling to Nanning, Guangxi Province, to study religious teachings. She died in mysterious circumstances and her parents suspected she had been tortured to death by cult members.

Her parents reported the case to the Taichung District Prosecutor's Office, which in turn notified the CIB and joined up with Taichung and Nantou police to carry out an investigation. Police determined the Holy Path cult was founded by Lin, who claimed to be a living Buddha and had been recruiting followers since 2009."




News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.
CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.
CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.
Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.

Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.

No comments: