The Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-12-05, Page 25Montgomery
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Laclmow Sentinel, 'Wednesday, December a, 1979—Page 25
Cults destroy the mind, rob the will
They are sneaky, relent-
lessand underhanded. They
come as friends and take
away the only part of a
human being that makes him
free, his mind. They use
techniques that appear
harmless, but are in reality
more dangerous than a hand
grenade, for they destroy the
mind. They act purely and
innocently while they rob
thousands of their wills, and
fortunes. These are the cult-
ists of the 70s.
A cult, a defined by COMA
(Council on Mind Abuse), is
"an elitist, totalitarian soci-
ety of obsessively devoted
individuals, subjected to psy-
chologically coercive recruit-
ment and - indoctrination
techniques, practising rejec-
tion and/or hatred for the
rest of society (particularly
former family and friends). It
is parasitic,' receiving fund-
ing through deception for the
personal gain and/or power
of its leader, but performing
no service to society.':' So
what does all that mean? In
short, it indicated that cults
are a sect devoted to gaining
power, and, in the process,
destroying the individuality
of people.
Perhapsyou feel that this
hasnothing to do with the
inhabitants of a rural area.
After all, if something can be
, kept hidden, that means it's
not really there, right?
Wrong! Just like the way
alcoholics'' often . refuse to
accept that they need help,
we may refuse to .accept that
cults should be an issue for
us because they have not yet
touched us personally. But.
now, as cults continue to
function allover Canada,we
must begin to question what
they are really about.
With 30 recognized cults
and at least 20 more. "unof-
ficial" cults in Toronto alone,'
every person is threatened
by their very presence. Using
unobtrusive methods such as
surveys in' supermarkets,
cultists lure you to "Com-
, munity meetings" where
they bombard you with
brain.washing techniques of
which you are unaware.
Within hours, you may be
signed up for an innocent
(appearing) "vacation".
During this. -vacation" they
may use isolation, hypnosis,
peer group pressure, sleep
deprivation, fear, guilt and
various other mind -bending:
tactics to sway you into their
cult. Before you can stop
Farmers
must be
involved
•from page 15
problems will be solved. This
Convention will make deci-
sions that will shape our
industry all through the
1980s. I am confident that we
will face this heavy respon-
sibility head on and do every-
thing in our power to make
the food industry in Ontario
the most important segment
of our economy.
yourself, or are even aware
of the danger, you are
hooked, and within weeks, a
mindless* zombie. Even per-
sons trained in recognizing
and fighting brain -washing
methods, find themselves
almost powerless against cul -
fist's.
Again, you ask, "But what
does that have to do with
me?" Well, first of all,
everyone is vulnerable. Con-
trary to popular opinion, it is
not just "long-haired, junk-
ies" that are victimized by
.the cults. Rather, *cult mem-
bersare of all ages from all
walks of life.
At the time that Ian Haw-
worth' became a cult mem-
ber, he considered' himself
an average rnan in his twen-
ties, with a good job, healthy
life and no real problems in
his social life. yet, when
approached by a female teen-
ager who was • taking a
"personality survey", he
was talked into attending a
"community .meeting".
Within days, he had quit his
job, alienated his friends,
given $1,500 to the .cult • and
become just one more victim.
He spent but 2% weeks in
the cult before a newspaper
article exposing the cult,
touched the small bit of logic
that his brain still held. Yet,
for Tan Haworth, the horror
was 'not over,forhe exper-
ienced six months of .intense
withdrawal in sleepless
nights, indecisiveness, and.
impaired intellectual ability.
Ian Haworth is a former
cult member who, as one of
thea luckier victims, managed
to escape. He is now Com-
munications Consultant for
the Council of Mind Abuse
(COMA) and was . guest
speaker at a community.
meeting on "Cults on Uni-
versity Campus" which was
held November 22 in Wingh-
ham.
A cult is so powerful that
many parents who are seek-
ingto release their children
from the grip of cult must
hire kidnappers to whisk
their children away. Even
once home, former cult mem-
bers are often neurotic, and
psychotic and are troubled by
murderous (towards family)
and suicidal tendencies.
As well as being a threat to
the individual', cults are a
financial burden to society.
Every year, cults acquire
millions of dollars from soci-
ety through the sale of
flowers, peanuts and decora-
tive buttons alone. This
amount doesn't include the
money received through do-
nations for children's homes
(that never materialize) and
income from the many com-
panies that serve as 'fronts'
for each cult.
But . what can we do?
Unfortunately, not much.
Legislation is currently being
proposed in provincial gov-
ernment for stricter control
of the ways that cults solicit
victims and acquire money,
yet there is no guarantee that
even if this, legislation goes
through that it will have any
noticeable effect on the: cults.
We can avoid giving dona-
tions to organizations before
thoroughly checking them
out (Cultists claim• they col-
lect for "children's homes";
"drug rehabilitation pro-
grams ''senior citizens"
and "youth ministries"; yet
these centres never benefit).
We can stop buying candy,
flowers, records, jewellery
etc. that are sold in the street
and shopping malls' even
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though legitimate societies
may lose out because of this.
We can become more aware
of cults and their activities by
reading books and keeping in
touch with what is said and...
written by the media. We can
make ' family and friends
come to . realize the threat
that cults pose to. society.
Finally, we can run if we
should even sense the pres-
ence of a cult. Never 'experi-
ment'_ with cults. They al-
ways see you coming long
before you see thein.
If a friend or family should
become a cult -member we
can. fight the cult with the
only weapon we have; love.
Never try to persuade' the
victim that the cult is evil.
This will only serve to height-
en his hatred of you and
society. Instead agree with
him, keep up open communi-
cations, and bit by bit plant;
small seeds of doubt in his
mind in the hopes that you
will find one small part of
logic remaining.
Cults are a sad thing.
Undoubtedly they started out
with a leader full of the
power of love, seeking to
help his fellow man. Gradu-
ally that power of love
became the love of power,
having victims helpless
against, him.
Now, before it is too late,
•
0
we must realize the threat of
cults, or as formereult-mem-
bers have often noted, "Such
loss of life and mind will.
result that Jonestown will
look tame by comparison."
KATHY UNDRRWQQD,
12K.
WELDER
{LINK
Fast Wawanosh
Township Shed
on
Thursday, December. 13
7:30 p.m.
Held in conjunction with the
Lucknow and Belgrave Co-ops
Free coffee and donuts
THE 'WHEELTHING!
L GOOD CARS
REAL: GO :P1ICES
Montgomery Motors have a good selection of used cars.....
Don't be left out in the cold this winter.
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1975
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