Mahesh Yogi's Maharishi Group launches India's first spiritual channel

Spiritual channel

Mahesh Yogi's Maharishi Group launches India's first spiritual channel

Namrata Joshi  June 22, 1998 | UPDATED 13:27 IST

It promises to be "a new light of heaven on earth" that will bring back Vedic civilisation. Actually, it's yet another new channel to hit Indian skies. The country's first spiritual channel, Maharishi Channel, comes from Mahesh Yogi's Maharishi Group.

Riding on PanAMSat4, the free-to-air channel covers entire Asia and Europe and parts of Australia and Africa. Though initially it'll be a three-hour evening telecast, it aims to go round-the-clock.

The programmes will be produced in and uplinked from Holland. And the channel's aim? "To suggest solutions to all the current problems through Vedic knowledge," says a spokesperson. The channel will also offer courses in Vedic knowledge conducted by the Bhopal-based Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic Vishwavidyalaya.

The channel hopes that a lot of believers will tune in. Question is whether the advertisers will follow suit.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mahesh-yogis-maharishi-group-launches-indias-first-spiritual-channel/1/262988.html

BBC Documentary: “An Unholy Row” (1998)

BBC Documentary: “An Unholy Row” (1998)
About the New Kadampa Tradition and the Dorje Shugden Controversy.

Interviews with the XIVth Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), Stephen Batchelor, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Ondy Willson, Avyorth Rolinson, and Kelsang Khyenrab (Steve Booth).

BBC TWO 1998 | Production: Gurdip Bhangoo & Mike Finlason

Synposis: British-Asian current affairs series. An interview with the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, about his decision to stop the worship of a spirit known as Dorje Shugden.


¹ This documentary includes one factual fault. The prayer “Guru, Founder, Blessed One …” is not sung by NKT students to Geshe Kelsang Gyatso but to the Buddha. However, in Tibetan Buddhism’s Vajrayana approach—which is strictly emphasised within the NKT—one should see the Buddha and the teacher as “inseparable”.

https://info-buddhism.com/BBC-An_Unholy_Row.html

"Secret Lives: L. Ron Hubbard" preview

Independent on Sunday Magazine Supplement (previews following week's TV), November 19, 1997

Television - Overview

The "Church" of Scientology hasn't half been kicking up a fuss about tonight's Secret Lives (9-10pm C4). Maybe that's because its founder, science-fiction novelist L Ron Hubbard, is portrayed here as, not a great spiritual leader now passed on to "research the next level", but a once-talented writer who completely lost the plot, conned thousands of people into buying his pseudo-religious soul-cleansing packages, and finally degenerated into mental cruelty, child abuse and madness. No offence, Mr Travolta........

http://cosmedia.freewinds.be/media/articles/ios191197.html

Why We Love Gurus

They seduce us by telling us what we want to hear: we're wonderful and we'll live forever. What's wrong with that? Plenty.

Newsweek Magazine

October 20, 1997
By Wendy Kaminer

Trance channeler Kevin Ryerson is describing the hierarchy of spiritual guides. I have signed up for a lecture and a workshop with that the Saints are a step below Ascending Masters, who are below angels and Archangels. People listen intently, in the belief, I guess, that they're receiving information. "Where do gurus fit in?" someone asks. Gurus are teachers, Ryerson responds; then he; quotes Oprah Winfrey, who reportedly said that gurus are here "not tot teach us about their divinity but to teach us about our own."

I still haven't sensed any divinity within myself or anyone else, but the pop-guru business is certainly flourishing. And I think Oprah (if she said that) understands the guru's appeal. He, or she, does sometimes demand a show of humility from the acolyte and a stab at purifying confession: the Promise Keepers will reclaim their power after they admit their sins. But gurus—and they hate to be called that—always confirm our essential godliness. They lead by flattery. "Most women I know are priestesses and healers ... We are all of us sisters of a mysterious order," Marianne Williamson writes, inviting readers to identify with her. The most powerful charismatics are those who simultaneously invite identification and idolatry. Then, if they are divine, so are we.

Indeed, the measure of our psychic or spiritual superiority is usually our openness to the guru's teachings. Consumers of the New Age are assured that they represent the spiritual avant-garde who will lead us into the next millennium. By studying "The Celestine Prophecy," you become "part of the evolutionary process," best-selling author James Redfield confirms.

The guru offers us the opportunity to become leaders of our culture by becoming followers of his teachings. They frequently renounce any special authority or desire to lead, but that is merely a matter of form. The American personal-development tradition demands a nod toward egalitarianism. Gurus may welcome us initially as fellow travelers on a path to enlightenment, but we walk several paces behind. They are paid to talk while we pay to listen. In fact, gurus presume a great deal of authoritative, personal knowledge: they unabashedly explain the mysteries of the universe. I've heard "Creation theologist" Matthew Fox expound on the science of angels. They move at the speed of light, like photons, he said. No one questioned his assertions. Most of these teachers are hostile to challenges. I have rarely seen an expert leave much time for questions after a talk. When audience participation is allowed, I've never heard anyone ask a probing critical question. When I've respectfully argued with the experts or, Goddess forbid, corrected them, they have reacted with angry surprise.

The skeptic's resistance to the guru's truth is usually attributed to fear, defensiveness and a reliance on intellect over emotion; we should trust our hearts and not our heads. We're encouraged to trust our dreams and longings for transcendence as well. If you imagine a past life, you've probably lived one. Psychiatrist John Mack suggests that we take stories of UFO abductions seriously if they are "felt to be real" by the self-described abductees.

Gurus often tell us exactly what we want to hear. "There is no death." That is the primary message of spirituality gurus. Better yet, this relief from fear of death is easily obtained. The spiritual peace and enlightenment offered by pop gurus doesn't require a lifetime of discipline. It requires only that you suspend your critical judgment, attend their lectures and workshops and buy their books or tapes.

What's wrong with a phenomenon that brings comfort to so many people? That's a bit like asking what's wrong with a lobotomy, a steady diet of happy pills. The rise of charismatic authority figures is always disconcerting, especially when they malign rationalism and exhort us to abandon critical thinking in order to realize spiritual growth. Pop gurus prey on existential anxieties and thrive when our fear of being alone and mortal in an indifferent universe is stronger than our judgment. No one who seeks worship, however covertly, deserves respect. Argue with them, please.

KAMINER is the author of "I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional," among other books, and is a commentator on National Public Radio.

Church labeled "cult" raises local concerns

Fundamentalist group planning B-CS congregation says it is following God's word

John Kirsch

The Eagle

August 7, 1997

Lured by the prospect of gaining converts at Texas A&M University, a church group that's been branded a cult by critics and banned from college campuses around the nation is planning to set up a church in the Bryan-College Station area.

"We want to get down there as soon as we can," said Randy Moon, an evangelist with the Dallas-Fort Worth Church of Christ Jesus, an affiliate of the International Church of Christ.

Organizers plan to meet in College Station on August 17.

Launched in 1979 in Boston as an offshoot of the conventional Churches of Christ, the International Church of Christ has grown into a group that claims 50,000 believers in its fundamentalist views.

High-pressure proselytizing by the church's local affiliates, particularly of sometimes lonely and vulnerable young people, has sparked opposition from former members who complain the church tried to control their lives.

Nothing that the church has been branded a cult by experts who say it uses mind-control techniques to keep members within the fold, the Rev Michael Sis, director of St Mary's Catholic Center in College Station, said a local affiliate of such a group raises serious concerns that transcend denominational differences.

"This group has been mentioned consistently...as a problematical mind-control group," Sis said. "We can as a community identify them as a high-pressure group and a mind-control group. We can be aware that they are internationally problematic. We can warn young people about the characteristics of such groups and we can help people avoid being lured into them."

Moon declined to extensively discuss the question of whether the church is a cult, saying, "Who defines that word and what does it really mean?"

Moon made no apologies for the church's Bible-based fundamentalist views, saying that the International Church of Christ continues to demand obedience to God's word at a time when other churches are ordaining gay clergy and taking other steps he considers questionable.

"The difference between a lot of churches out there and the International Church of Christ is whatever Jesus taught is non-negotiable," he said. "So not only do we teach it because that's what the Bible says, like Jesus we expect each other to live it out."

Moon said no decision has been made on whether the Bryan-College Station church will seek to get an affiliated student Bible club recognized as an officially sanctioned campus group at A&M or Blinn College.

University officials declined to comment.

Church of Christ Bible clubs have been banned at Boston University, Marquette University in Milwaukee, the University of Southern California, Northeastern University in Boston and Vanderbilt University in Nashvillem according to a report in the Miami Herald.

Critics of the church say that young people living in large cities or on big college campuses are often vulnerable to the church's promise of instant friends and acceptance, a tactic known as "love bombing".

That approach proved alluring to 23-year-old Kimberly Davis, who left her home in Washington state recently to become a nanny in the Dallas area.

Looking for a sense of connection and friendship, she joined the Dallas-Fort Worth Church of Christ Jesus but felt trapped when church officials tried to control who she could date and to interfere in her decision to buy a house.

"You're not supposed to live with anybody that's not with the church," she said. "You're not supposed to date anybody that's not with the church. It bothers me that somebody else is making decisions for your life or trying to coerce you."

As the Bryan-College Station church gets organized, Davis advised Texas A&M and Blinn College students to be wary of International Church of Christ recruiters. "Keep your eyes wide open and be very aware because they play on your emotions," she said.

Moon said the church is interested in the entire Bryan-College Station area, not just A&M. "You've got a city of 125,000 there... Those are people who are just as important as the students," he said.

Local churches such as the one in Dallas-Fort Worth don't include International Church of Christ in their names. Moon said the explanation is simple and is unrelated to negative publicity about the international church. "Wherever our churches are, they try to identify locally," he said. "We've got people in our churches who go to school there and they want a sister church there. That's a big part of it."

Ramtha Is Solely Knight's, Court Says

June 12, 1997
AP

VIENNA, Austria - The Austrian Supreme Court has ruled that spiritualist J.Z. Knight is the only person allowed to channel Ramtha, the 35,000-year-old warrior she says communicates through her.

The ruling means an end to the five-year career of Ramtha's German-speaking channeler, Julie Ravel.

The ruling, which followed a years-long international legal battle, was made April 22, court spokesman Heinz Klinger said today.

Attorneys received official word only recently.

Knight said she was overjoyed. "I didn't want the German-speaking people of Europe to be misled by someone who, under the name of Ramtha, was distorting his teachings and in some cases teaching things that were directly opposite of his teachings," she said in a news release from Ramtha's School of Enlightenment in Yelm, Thurston County.

"It is up to me to keep the teachings pure and uncorrupted and I take my job quite seriously, as you can see."

According to Knight, this enlightened leader from the lost continent of Atlantis first appeared to her 20 years ago in her kitchen, "bringing the message that God is within," her news release said. Then a housewife in Tacoma, Knight has parlayed her vision into the school - a mansion on a 40-acre ranch - with a following of 3,000 people in 23 countries.

Ravel contends the transcendental gentleman showed up five years ago in her crystal shop in Berlin, Germany, and selected her as his new mouthpiece. She says Knight had gotten "hung up" during channeling and become "unusable" as a medium for Ramtha.

The dispute reached the Austrian courts when Ravel settled in a castle in the village of Rannariedl in Upper Austria with her followers, who call themselves Light Oasis.

Spokesman Klinger said the court issued a cease-and-desist order. The ruling "is valid only inside Austria; it does not apply beyond," he said.

Ravel was also ordered to pay 10,000 Austrian schilling - about $800 - to Knight. Knight's Austrian lawyer, Johannes Hintermayr, was quoted as saying he reserved the right to sue Ravel for damages "in the millions."

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970612&slug=2544252

Patrick L. Ryan: Achievement Award (1997)

May 30 and May 31, 1997 – Philadelphia

The American Family Foundation (publisher of The Cult Observer) recently recognized, with its 1997 Achievement Award, AFF volunteer Patrick Ryan, who has devoted hundreds of hours designing and updating AFF's prize-winning Internet Web site.

This attractive and user-friendly Web site has enabled tens of thousands of people, including important representatives of the media, to become aware of AFF's extensive resources. The site positions AFF to take advantage of the major role the Internet will play in the accumulation and distribution of information in the years to come.

Mr. Ryan's creative ideas about how to use modern technology to better manage information have been and will continue to be of immense value to AFF and the people it serves. AFF deeply appreciates the special skills, creativity, energy, and dedication that Mr. Ryan - who is the first graduate of the Maharishi International University to receive the AFF achievement award - has brought to this and other vital AFF projects.

Village unites to gazump Scientologists

MARTIN WAINWRIGHT

The Guardian

March 1, 1997

'Not in my back yard'. Martin Wainwright on how a community mobilised to resist a drug rehabilitation centre being opened near a school

THAT formidable fighting force, the English village, flexed its muscles yesterday to gazump a Scientology plan to open a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre next to the local primary school.

Residents in Burton Leonard, near Ripon in North Yorkshire, raised over £175,000 in three days to outbid the proposed centre at the former Crown Inn, a stagecoaching pub converted to a nursing home. Traditional figures of the modern British countryside, including a former Bank of England official and a retired chief constable, sidelined the ancient rural fund-raising arts of jumble-selling and whist drives. Instead, plans for second holidays and four-wheel-drive vehicles were put on hold as straightforward offers of cash poured in. "There's a tremendous spirit here - I'm so proud of living in this village," said Gerlinde Godber of Burton Leonard's solitary shop. "We're not talking about 'nimbyism' - the Not In My Back Yard approach. We're all sympathetic to people with drug problems. But this scheme, right in the middle of our village and across the road from the school, isn't the place."

Audrey Wilson, whose 74-year-old husband, Maurice, is the oldest resident to be born in the village said: "We are a small village and we are very vulnerable to these things - it's something we just don't want here for the safety of our children.

"We pay a lot of money for the peace and tranquillity, and for the privilege of living here, and I don't think anyone could convince us that there would be no difference to this village with recovering alcoholics and drug addicts walking round."

The 473 residents were particularly alarmed by the proposed centre's ties with Scientology. Two disillusioned ex-members of the controversial American movement, now living in Harrogate, told friends in Burton Leonard about the links and possible consequences of a village base for the organisation.

The Church of Scientology's British headquarters in East Grinstead, Sussex, said last night: "The training service is one of our sections - it uses a tried and tested treatment for getting people away from drugs."

The service's organiser, Kenneth Eckersley said: "As a charity, we are not in the business of frightening old ladies or young mothers. There is absolutely nothing to fear."

But villagers were unconvinced, including mother-of-two Jo Gloag, who joined with her chartered surveyor husband to borrow money for the rapidly formed, communal Burton Leonard management consortium. The limited company was set up between last Sunday and Thesday, advised by residents like Denis Muldoon, who left the Bank of England to become a consultant on trade with China.

"The speed with which the cash was raised reflects the anxiety of all the people living here", he said, "plus the tremendous community spirit."

His neighbour, David Mellor, former head of South Wales Police agreed. "We were going to replace our Isuzu Trooper four-wheel drive and renovate the garden, but this is more important."

The charity may now ask villagers for costs after the communal bid was accepted yesterday afternoon by the building's owner, Rosemary Swann, amid celebrations at Burton Leonard's two remaining pubs, the Hare and Hounds and the Royal Oak. The Burton Leonard management consortium will offer the Crown to carefully vetted applicants - which may further test the denials of nimbyism.

http://cosmedia.freewinds.be/media/articles/grn010397.html

Village unites to gazump Scientologists

MARTIN WAINWRIGHT
The Guardian

March 1, 1997

'Not in my back yard'. Martin Wainwright on how a community mobilised to resist a drug rehabilitation centre being opened near a school

THAT formidable fighting force, the English village, flexed its muscles yesterday to gazump a Scientology plan to open a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre next to the local primary school.

Residents in Burton Leonard, near Ripon in North Yorkshire, raised over £175,000 in three days to outbid the proposed centre at the former Crown Inn, a stagecoaching pub converted to a nursing home. Traditional figures of the modern British countryside, including a former Bank of England official and a retired chief constable, sidelined the ancient rural fund-raising arts of jumble-selling and whist drives. Instead, plans for second holidays and four-wheel-drive vehicles were put on hold as straightforward offers of cash poured in. "There's a tremendous spirit here - I'm so proud of living in this village," said Gerlinde Godber of Burton Leonard's solitary shop. "We're not talking about 'nimbyism' - the Not In My Back Yard approach. We're all sympathetic to people with drug problems. But this scheme, right in the middle of our village and across the road from the school, isn't the place."

Audrey Wilson, whose 74-year-old husband, Maurice, is the oldest resident to be born in the village said: "We are a small village and we are very vulnerable to these things - it's something we just don't want here for the safety of our children.

"We pay a lot of money for the peace and tranquillity, and for the privilege of living here, and I don't think anyone could convince us that there would be no difference to this village with recovering alcoholics and drug addicts walking round."

The 473 residents were particularly alarmed by the proposed centre's ties with Scientology. Two disillusioned ex-members of the controversial American movement, now living in Harrogate, told friends in Burton Leonard about the links and possible consequences of a village base for the organisation.

The Church of Scientology's British headquarters in East Grinstead, Sussex, said last night: "The training service is one of our sections - it uses a tried and tested treatment for getting people away from drugs."

The service's organiser, Kenneth Eckersley said: "As a charity, we are not in the business of frightening old ladies or young mothers. There is absolutely nothing to fear."

But villagers were unconvinced, including mother-of-two Jo Gloag, who joined with her chartered surveyor husband to borrow money for the rapidly formed, communal Burton Leonard management consortium. The limited company was set up between last Sunday and Thesday, advised by residents like Denis Muldoon, who left the Bank of England to become a consultant on trade with China.

"The speed with which the cash was raised reflects the anxiety of all the people living here", he said, "plus the tremendous community spirit."

His neighbour, David Mellor, former head of South Wales Police agreed. "We were going to replace our Isuzu Trooper four-wheel drive and renovate the garden, but this is more important."

The charity may now ask villagers for costs after the communal bid was accepted yesterday afternoon by the building's owner, Rosemary Swann, amid celebrations at Burton Leonard's two remaining pubs, the Hare and Hounds and the Royal Oak. The Burton Leonard management consortium will offer the Crown to carefully vetted applicants - which may further test the denials of nimbyism.

This archive is presented in the public interest for research purposes

http://cosmedia.freewinds.be/media/articles/grn010397.html

Book Review: Daughters of the Goddess

Book Review: Daughters of the Goddess: The Women Saints of India. Linda Johnsen. Yes International, St. Paul, MN, 1994, 128 pages.

The myths of India are rife with female goddesses both terrifying and placid. From the blood-filled mouth of Durga to the generous beneficence of Lakshmi, the varieties of religious experience are conveyed through graphic images. In Linda Johnsen's naïve treatise on women "saints" in India, we get a true believer's take on a few individuals who have become well known in today's spiritual marketplace. Goddess worship is embraced by many "New Age" Westerners as the cutting edge of millennial spirituality; yet, it often ignores the ancient traditions of the East. Those Westerners, both male and female, who idealize their teacher's status as divine risk getting caught up in a culture they neither understand nor have fully explored. It is often the exotic or eccentric that gets mistaken for the Divine.

Much of what is laid out in the early part of the book are anecdotes and stories handed down by teachers to convey the difficulties that women have had to confront in a culture where roles were, and to a great extent still are, defined by men. Where those individuals triumphed over the disapproval of the society around them, it is a testament to their courage and determination to realize their spiritual goals at all cost. Unfortunately, Johnsen gives credence to some individuals who represent a "tradition" with a controversial history. A case in point is the group led by Gurumayi Chidvilasanada, Sidha Yoga, founded by Swami Muktananda, who reportedly took advantage of young female disciples while acting as guru and spiritual teacher. Muktananda is revered to this day by Gurumayi and her many followers.

In contrast, it was refreshing to read of Anandi Ma's exhortation to test the teacher "a thousand times"; yet, "Once you have accepted no questions to be asked. Then you follow." In the environment around the teacher, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to express one's concern without being ostracized. This leads many to "jump into" a group they hope has all the answers without looking critically at the history and qualifications of the teacher.

Among others whom Johnsen has confidently proclaimed saints is Ammachi, a simple woman who speaks no English, yet has thousands of Western devotees. Her elementary charm and emotional singing at first glimpse seem innocent enough. Yet, controversy has swirled around her in India, where questions about the management of an orphanage she founded raise concern about the integrity of her mission. Also described is Maya Amma, an avadhut, or unconventional sage, whose age is estimated at 80 years, and who "does not bother about any of the material concerns of the rest of us, including clothing." She roams Southern India with a pack of half-wild dogs. To the faithful, this is a sign of her commitment to a life of nonattachment. Unfortunately, such behavior on the part of gurus along with the devotional and unquestioning attitudes of some followers leaves me concerned for those individuals impressed by the "exciting atmosphere" created around these individuals.

Johnsen is a good storyteller who engages the reader in her fascination with the people and culture of India. What I found lacking is a healthy dose of skepticism and balance. Giving oneself over to any "saint"--male or female--carries with it certain risks, and each group should be thoroughly researched. Johnsen's work can be only a part of that research.

Joseph Kelly

Thought Reform Consultant

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

       

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1997

Cult Horror Maims Prominent French Family

CRAIG R. WHITNEY
NY Times
December 27, 1995

PARIS, Dec. 26— A 27-year-old man identified by the French authorities today as one of 16 people found dead last weekend after an apparent cult rite had said he feared for his life after a similar massacre a year ago.

The man, Patrick Vuarnet, one of three sons of the former French Olympic ski champion and ski entrepreneur Jean Vuarnet, said after the murder-suicide of 53 members of the Order of the Solar Temple in Switzerland and Canada in October 1994 that he and his mother had both been members of the apocalyptic cult.

I fear for my life," he told the magazine L'Express then. "My mother and I are both still wondering why we didn't receive the call."

Mr. Vuarnet disappeared from Geneva, where he lived, 10 days ago. On Saturday, his charred body and those of his mother, Edith, his companion, Ute Verona, and Ms. Verona's 6-year-old daughter, Tania, were found among the 16 bodies laid out radially around the remains of a campfire in the Vercors region of southeastern France.

All the bodies had at least one bullet wound and had been doused with incendiary fluid. The police in Switzerland, where most of the dead cult members lived, are investigating the possibility of multiple suicide, or multiple murder followed by a suicide or suicides, and have not ruled out mass murder committed by others still at large.

The remains of the two known leaders of the group -- Luc Jouret, a Belgian doctor, and Joseph di Mambro -- were found among those immolated in October 1994.

Of the latest victims, the Vuarnet family is well known in France. The head of the family, Jean Vuarnet, nearly 63, helped found the ski resort of Moriaz in the French Alps and was also closely associated with the nearby resort of Morzine. He heads a business that licenses the family name to manufacturers of stylish sunglasses and ski equipment.

Mr. Vuarnet said on French television this weekend that he was aware that his wife and the youngest of his three sons had kept contact with members of the cult even after its two leaders and 51 of their followers were found burned to death last year.

"They were lovely people," he said of those he met, but he said they had deceived him. "To be a convincing liar you have to seem nice," he said.

Jean Vuarnet was in seclusion today, according to his lawyer, Didier Borge. "As far as I know, all the people he knew who had belonged to the Order of the Solar Temple are dead now," Mr. Borge said.

The French authorities said they would release a list of all of those found dead in the Vercors after the completion of autopsies that began only today, but it is expected to be identical to a list of 16 people associated with the cult whose relatives reported them missing this month.

The service revolvers of two French policemen on that list were found among the bodies last weekend. One of the men, Jean-Pierre Lardanchet, was missing with his wife and two children, aged 2 and 4. In all, the bodies of three children were found last weekend.

French cult experts said the Order of the Solar Temple mixed elements of Christianity, astrology and medieval legend about the Order of Knights Templar, dissolved in 1312, and speculated that the 13 adults died or were killed as part of a winter solstice ritual; the solstice, which marks the shortest day of the year, occurred last Friday.

In an interview published in L'Express after the massacres last year, Patrick Vuarnet said he had been introduced to the cult by an astrologer in Geneva, and had decided to join after discussions with his mother, described by friends as an emotionally unstable woman who felt neglected by her husband.

"The theme of the passage from life to death came up again and again," he said then. "Jouret explained that there was nothing to fear -- quite the contrary." He added, "I began to feel close to sacrifice.

"What I thought was true is false, and I failed to recognize that. I have burned all my capes and got rid of all my papers."

But his attitude may have changed again by the weekend of Dec. 17. The authorities believe that he then drove his mother, his companion and her child the 150 miles from Geneva to the forest above the French village of St.-Pierre-de-Cherennes for the final passage.

Jacques Guyard, head of a French parliamentary commission on sects that was set up in 1994, said there were 1,300 of them active in France, with 150,000 members. He said the commission would propose closer supervision and new laws to make it harder for sects to claim immunity from prosecution for crimes.

Proposing a “Bill of Inalienable Rights” for Intentional Communities

Benjamin Zablocki, Ph.D. 
Rutgers University

Abstract

Criticism directed at intentional communities often refers to violations of the human rights of community members.  This article proposes a "bill of inalienable rights" for intentional communities in the hope that the proposal will stimulate dialogue and action concerning the responsibilities of communities toward their members.

For years, two questions have been troubling me concerning the responsibilities of intentional communities toward their members and toward their members’ children.  Both have to do with “inalienable rights” – those which can never be given away, sold, abrogated, or delegated by a person, even voluntarily.  Do any such inalienable rights exist for adults who voluntarily join intentional communities?  Do any such rights exist for children growing up in intentional communities?  If the answer to either question is yes, then does the intentional community movement as a whole have any ethical responsibility to try to see to it that these rights are protected?

I myself have not lived in intentional community since the sixties; however, since that time I have been involved in research on communes and have visited many hundreds of them.  Based upon my (possibly outdated) personal experience and my extensive research experience, I would answer "yes" to the above questions.  I believe that both adult and child residents in intentional communities have certain rights that are inalienable.  I believe the movement as a whole has good reasons—ethical as well as self-interested—to attempt to protect these rights.

I realize that these are not simple questions.  Even if the existence of individual inalienable rights is acknowledged, these rights may conflict with more important collective inalienable rights.  One example of such a collective right is that of people to peacefully assemble, even in pursuit of ideals that most other people think are crazy or dangerous.  Another is the right to absolute freedom of religious expression.  Such collective rights help to form the foundation of a free society.  They are fragile and precious and very well worth defending.  I’m sure some people would argue sincerely that the rights of individuals must be ignored because there is no practical way to protect them without compromising these much more  important collective rights.  However, I disagree.  I am convinced that collective liberty cannot be safeguarded unless it rests upon a foundation of individual liberty.

In addition, it is far from clear that there is really such a thing as an intentional communities movement, with implications of shared ethical responsibility.  If there is no such movement, then it could be argued that the individual rights of community residents are the responsibility only of that specific community.  Again, I disagree.  I am convinced that all people who advocate intentional community bear at least some responsibility for what goes on in even the worst of them.

But whether or not the intentional community movement as a whole wants to get into the business of protecting individual rights, it certainly ought to be discussing and debating the issue.  The very freedom to establish intentional communities is beginning to come under attack in this country.  Therefore, those people who cherish this freedom have an urgent and compelling mandate to debate among themselves whether any measures can be taken to protect that freedom.  The kind of measure that makes most sense to me is a voluntary ethical compact—a bill of rights—that would allow the public to be able to distinguish the great majority of intentional communities from any abusive ones which might wreck the reputations of all the rest.  Historically, people with ideas considered “strange” or avant garde by the rest of society have had the cherished right to form intentional communities.  But, in recent years, the actions of a few spiritual or religious communities have led to understandable suspicion that the commune down the road may be stockpiling weapons or contemplating violence.  It seems wise to discuss whether or not there may be a means by which intentional communities, both religious and secular, can distinguish themselves in the public mind from extremist groups.

After long thought and discussion, I have come up with a model bill of rights for communities.  It is difficult for me to imagine anyone wanting to live in a community, whether religious or secular, that would hesitate to agree to all 10 rights below.  However, I would be eager to learn what people currently living in intentional communities think of it, since most of my discussions have been with people like myself who have not lived in community since the 1960s.  Perhaps some of the ideas relevant back then are no longer relevant in today’s society.  And, most of all, I would be interested in hearing from children and teenagers currently living in intentional community.  It is primarily with them in mind that I have drafted this bill of rights.

The proposal that follows is meant to open a discussion on the issues I have raised.  I have chosen to jump right in with these very specific suggestions, not out of a belief that I have all the answers, but simply because I think that debates which start out with specific suggestions are more fruitful than those which start out discussing abstract principles.  The bill of rights itself is meant to be a purely voluntary agreement with no status as a legal contract.  It is modeled after the voluntary agreements that have sprung up among business firms within a common industry specifying minimum ethical standards prevailing within that industry.  If enough communities can reach consensus as to the content of such a bill, perhaps public opinion can then be mobilized to exert pressure, particularly on religious communities, to sign it.  The public availability of a list of groups that have signed and a list of groups that have not signed would be of great interest and value to the general public and communitarians alike.

A Proposed Bill of Rights for Intentional Communities

Preamble

In order to preserve two important rights that are often found to be in contradiction, this voluntary contract is proposed.  These two rights are: (1) the absolute right to religious (or secular lifestyle) practice according to the dictates of one’s own conscience without interference by civil authorities; while at the same time maintaining (2) the right of individuals and their families to some form of recourse when subtle methods of coercive persuasion are used that result in loss of personal autonomy.

Intentional communities would be asked to volunteer to follow the guidelines within this document.  By signing, they would certainly not in any way be acknowledging that any of the abuses addressed in this bill of rights ever has occurred or would occur within their communities.  They would be acknowledging that, because of the actions of a few abusive groups or leaders, a document of this sort has become necessary to protect the inalienable rights of spiritual, religious, and other seekers in community.

It is understood that this agreement is not intended to serve, and would not serve as a legally binding contract, nor would it be introduced in court as evidence.  [I would hope that some widely respected organization (Communities magazine? Fellowship for Intentional Community?) would serve as repository for these signed documents.]

I propose that three lists would be published and widely distributed to the press and public: (1) a list of those intentional communities that have agreed to all of the provisions of the bill of rights; (2) a list of those that have agreed to some but not all of the provisions; and (3) a list of those that have been offered the opportunity to sign but that have chosen not to sign.  Any community choosing not to sign but providing, in writing, its reasons for not signing would have the right to have these reasons circulated as an appendix to these lists.

It is important to emphasize that this bill of rights is not intended to be an all-or-nothing, take-it-or-leave-it document.  It is expected that some sizable number of communities may choose to sign on to some of the articles but exempt themselves from others.  This would still be quite useful, particularly if they were up-front about which articles they don’t agree with, and if they are willing to state their reasons for exempting themselves from certain of the articles.

Ten Inalienable Rights

The following rights are acknowledged to be inalienable.  They can never be waived, delegated, or modified, even at the purely voluntary request of the individual.

1. Right to Leave.  Any adult person may leave the community at any time without the need to give a reason and without the need for a waiting period.  Where the community is geographically isolated, transportation to the nearest town of 20,000+ population must be provided at the community’s expense.  Where the community is in a foreign country, transportation to the nearest American consulate or embassy or trade office must be provided instead, if that is the wish of the person leaving.  No exception is made to this rule for people in novitiate, retreat, intensive meditation, or any other special status within the community.

2. Right to Maintain Contact with Outside World.  

2.a. At least once a year a designated family member from the outside world may meet with any relative living in the community in a neutral location near the community for at least two hours without witnesses to the meeting or electronic surveillance.  The designated family member shall be chosen by the family, not the community.  If there is conflict within the family, two designated family members may be chosen.  Each would then meet with the community member for at least one hour.

2.b.  Incoming and outgoing first-class mail shall not be censored.  A community member may never waive the right to have mail received unopened and promptly as it is delivered from the post office.  If a community member wishes not to receive first-class mail from a certain source, that member shall mark envelope “return to sender” and initial in his or her own hand.  This task may never be delegated to another person in the community even by voluntary wish of the community member.

3. Right of Invalids and the Elderly to Continued Support.  Invalids and elderly people who have participated in the productive life of the community for many years are entitled to some degree of economic support when infirmity and/or old age makes continued work life impossible.  This document is not an appropriate place to define the level of such support.  Instead, the community acknowledges, in general, its responsibility to plan ahead for such support.  It further acknowledges the right of its members’ close kin (who might otherwise be legally responsible for such support) to be told what plans the community has made for the care of its invalids and elderly.  The right to continued support for invalids and the elderly by the community shall be applied even-handedly both to those remaining members in good standing and those who have chosen to leave after a productive lifetime within the community.

4. Right of Children to a Future with Some Degree of Free Choice.  Children being raised within the community because one or both of their parents are members of the community are entitled to special consideration.  It must be remembered that, unlike their parents, they have not freely chosen this way of life.  Therefore, every effort will be made to assure that these children learn something of the outside world and of how to survive in the outside world so that they are not deprived, upon reaching adulthood, of the ability to choose freely whether to continue in this way of life.  It is also acknowledged by the community that it has a special obligation to provide avenues of continuing communication between the child living in the community and concerned family members living outside the community.

5. Right to an Education.  Every child growing up in the community is entitled to an education.  This education shall not be limited in such a way as to deny the child any effective choice upon reaching adulthood as to whether to stay in the community or to leave.  The child’s close relatives not living in the community have a right to see the child’s educational records at least once a year and to see the results of any standardized tests that the child takes.

6. Right to Clearly Defined Health Maintenance Procedures and Open Access to Health Records.  The community shall define its health maintenance procedures in writing with particular attention to ways in which the community’s health philosophy differs from that of the secular society.  This document shall be freely available.  Interested third parties, especially relatives not living in the community, have a right to expect community cooperation in their efforts to examine the non-confidential health records of community members or children.

7. Right to Freedom from Sexual or Marital Compulsion.  Community members have the right to refuse to participate in any sexual behavior at any time without giving reasons and without regard to any previous history of participation in such activities.  Community members have a right to refuse to get married to any person suggested by the community or its leaders without having to give reasons and without regard to any previous consent or promise.  The threat of expulsion from the community, in particular, shall never be used in order to overcome sexual reluctance or reluctance to get married.

8. Right to Moderation and Common Sense in the Administration of Discipline.  Torture (as defined by Amnesty International) will never be used on any person at any time for any reason.

Corporal punishment (beyond one or two slaps with the hand), if used at all by the community, shall be subject to the following limitations:  (a) never used on a child under the age of three; (b) after the age of three, if not administered by the child’s own parents:

• At least one of the child’s own parents shall be present for the entire punishment.
• If one of the child’s own parents cannot be present, at least two adult witnesses other than the person administering the punishment must be present.
• If one of the parents cannot be present, the date and time of the punishment shall be entered into a log book.
• The person administering the punishment and all of the witnesses shall sign the log book next to the date and time of the event.
• The log book can be freely examined at any time by any of the following: (i) child’s close relatives not living in the community; (ii) police and/or representatives of the courts; or (iii) child welfare officer (upon suspicion or cause).

9. Right to Expect Honesty in Proselytizing.  New members or prospective members of the community have a right to expect that they will be told honestly from the very first meeting the aims and procedures of the community.  By the same token, members of the community who are asked to do witnessing and/or proselytizing for the community have both the right and the responsibility to present the aims and procedures honestly to all those to whom they are witnessing.

10. Right to Impartial Investigation of Complaints in order to Verify Compliance.  If there is a pattern of complaints that this signed agreement is being violated, the community agrees to cooperate with reasonable efforts of a neutral fact-finding committee to determine whether violations are taking place.

I hope that Communities readers currently living in intentional community (spiritual or secular) will consider discussing this bill of rights in their communities.  I would like to get as much feedback as possible on this idea.  Specifically, I would like to know: Is the idea of the voluntary subscription to such a bill of rights a good idea in general, regardless of the specific contents of the articles?  Should any of the specific articles be deleted or modified?  Are there any other inalienable rights that such a bill should protect?  And finally:  Would public circulation of a list of signatories to such a bill constitute undue pressure on some communities that might have good reasons not to wish to sign the bill?

Benjamin Zablock, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Social Science Research Center at Rutgers University.  He is the author of The Joyful Community (University of Chicago Press, 1971), an ethnographic study of the Bruderhof communities, and Alienation and Charisma (The Free Press, 1980), a comparative study of American communes in the 1970s.  He is currently researching the life careers of urban commune members over a 20-year period.  To respond to his proposal, write Benjamin Zablocki, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ  08903.

This article first appeared in Communities issue #88 (fall 1995), pp. 8,10-11, and is reprinted here with permission from the publisher, the Fellowship for Intentional Community.  Sample copies of Communities can be purchased for $6 and a four-issue subscription is $18 from Communities, 138-AFF Twin Oaks Rd, Louisa, VA  23093, 540-894-5798, www.ic.org

This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in Cultic Studies Journal, 1999, Volume 16, Number 2, pages 185-194. Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in papers that you may write.

Natural Law Party - Yogi Flyer 1995

 

Natural Law Party - Yogi Flyer 1995

The NATURGEGETZ party, awakening to a new consciousness (Short name: NATURAL LAW) was a small party in Germany, which was founded in 1992 and existed until 2004.

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