Rabbi Davis: Battling the Cults Palestinian Problem Must Be Solved
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************************5-DI GIT 02906 2239 11 / 30/ 88 ** 31 R. I. JEWISH HISTORICAL ASSOCIAT ION Local News, pages 2-3 130 SESSIONS ST, PROVIDENCE, RI 02906 Opinion, page 4 Inside: Around Town, page 8 Cranston Shopper pages 1O & 11 THE 01'iLY ENGLISH--JEW!SH WEEKLY IN R.I. AND SOLTHEAST MASS. VOLUME LXXV, NUMBER 25 THU RSDAY, MAY 19, 1988 35¢ PER COPY Rabbi Davis: What Is A Cult? Battling The Cults According to Rabbi Davis, there are 5 main characteristics of cults: I. Tot~litarian Leader. One person has absolute control over all cult by Da vid DeBlois Her name was Janet. She was a ground, who is sens it ive ... and members, as personified by Rev. Moon or Jim Jones. Rabbi Maurice Davis tells the healthy, happy, well-adjusted hungers for simple or simplistic an story of a drive in New York one young woman- and then she swers." College freshman, for ex 2. Submissive Following. Cult members turn all their rights as individuals day, listening to the traffic report: joined the Moonies. Withdrawing ample, often fit this bill perfectly over to the cult leader, who makes decisions for them. "T he announcer said, 'The road to from her family, she was convinced and so are a main target group of Utopia is blocked.' And I thought that the devil would take her soul if cult recruiters. They are normal, 3. Teaching of '" The end justifies the means" Doctrine. In the course of to myself: It always is." she stepped foot in her parents' average kids. accomplishing the goals of t he cult, any methods available to members is Rabbi Davis, however, has been home again. T hey could be your kids. acceptable. T he Moonies, for example, allow fo r the practice of " heavenly doing his best to clear some of the Despite the tireless efforts of T o obtain recruits, cult members deception" - lying in order to raise funds or recruit members. Hare Krish debris from that road- the debris Davis, Janet's parents, and a num wi ll casually make friends with a nas may dress up as Santa Claus at Christmastime to solicit donations of cults who lead young Jews away ber of psychiatrists, the girl re target, making conversation about under false pretenses. Every young woman in the Children of God cult from their families, temples, and turned to the Moonies. A few years virtuallly anything. The target is prostitutes herself to raise money, labelling themselves "Hookers fo r homes. Since I 972, Davis has res ago, at Moon's "mass wedding" then invited to a party or gat her Christ." cued 185 persons from cults, most held at Madison Square Garden. ing, where he/she is virtually wor· of them from Rev. Sun Myung Janet was married to man she did shipped by a group of cult mem· 4. Unlimited or Virtually Unlimited Funds. Cults are capable of raising Moon's Unification Church- the not know. T oday, she remains a bers. This technique, known as vast amounts of money, all of it tax-free. The Moonies have an annual so-called " Moonies." All of this has follower of Rev. Moon. " love-bombing," is designed to income and property valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. not gone unnoticed by Moon. who "And I can't stop,"' says Davis, make the target feel a sense of love called Rabbi Davis "the Number "'until 1 get her out.·• or belonging amongst these new 5. Teaching Fear and Suspicion of Anyone Outside the Movement. Cults One Satan in America." In re· Davis immersed himself in litera· acquaintances. Once ga ining t he often use fear tactics in order to limit contact with persons outside the sponse, Davis sent Moon a thank ture on the Moonies and cults in trust of their target, the group in· group who might interfere with their domination of t he individual. Rabbi you note. general, then spoke to his congre vites him/ her to a free "weekend" Davis' Janet, fu r instance, was convinced that Satan would take her soul And just how did Davis become a gation, telling them Moon was a or ··workshop." It is here that the unless she severed ties wi th her family. "cultbuster"?. Davis explains that crook and a fraud. When national serious brainwashing begins. New in 1972 he received back-to-back magazines reported his charges, members are not a llowed to frater phone calls from members of his Davis started receiving pleas fo r ni ze with each other, but are con· of mind. Virtually no cults bother ity or Judaism. His findings made congregation who were greatly dis help from desperate parents all slantly surrounded by veteran cult with the use of drugs, as brain this possibility virtually absurd. turbed by the fact that a child of across the country. He responded members. They are never left to washing is much more effective(· Rev. Moon's religious philosophy theirs had joined Moon's church. by fo rming CERF (Citizens En themselves. In addition. sleep and and much more difficult to prove in is quite simple: He asserts that God By his own admission, Davis was gaged in Rescuing Families), ar. or calorie intake are methodically re a court of law). has twice before attempted to ere· naive about the Moonies, but told ganization which quickly grew to a duced. and the target is forced to Why Kids Join ate a perfect world- first with the upset parents that he would membership of over 500 couples put in long, tiring days. Rabbi Davis has spent many Adam and Eve, then with Christ. speak to each of the two young who had lost children to cults. When the weekend is over, the hours trying to decipher the attrac T he latter's mission, Moon says, was to seek out a perfect mate on people, a male and a female. The And so the fi ght began. target is then invited to join a tion of cults for young people. He Recruiting Cult Members longer "workshop." These work began by exploring the possibility Earth, but the Jews killed him be male was quickly dissuaded from fore he could accomplish it. Now, remaining in Moon's church. Uavis "Typically," Rabbi Davis says, shops (really brainwashing ses that people li ke Moon w~re offer was not so lucky with the young ··the cult target is young, 18-26, of sions) continue until the target has ing a superior theology to more es Moon says, God has sent a 3rd Wllman. middle or upper-middle class back- been placed in the "correct" frame tablished religions like Christian· (cont inued on page 9) Palestinian Problem Must Be Lakhmans Granted White Solved By Arabs, Cuomo Tells Card By Russian G·overnment by Sa ndra S ilva which time they will no longer be Jewish Leaders In the April 7, 1988 issue of the citizens of the Soviet Union. Herald t here was an article on the Neither Arcady, Marina or by Andrew Silow Carroll ·· Jsrael remains the only reliable her own suicide, that she acquiesce front page about Temple Habonim Alexander are working, once they NEW YORK (.JTA) - The friend and ally oft he United States in t he establishment of a state in Barrington and t heir struggle to received their white cards t hey had United States should not t ry to and t he democratic nations of t he wit hin the occupied territ ories free three Soviet refusenik fami to stop work altogether. They are ··dictate terms to Israel's people or West, in a region of vital, under a leadership not only host ile lies. T he fa milies were the unable to leave immediately be 10 her Knesset," nor "demand t hat inescapable concern to us, a region to Israel hut officially dedicated t.o Lakhmans, the Mendeleevs and cause Marina must enter the hos Is rael hecome a co~conspirator in where medieval monarchies or her annihilat ion." the Luries. pital tomorrow due to complica her own suicide," New York Gov. religio-polit ical dictatorships are The governor also addressed On Tuesday, May 17, Maxine tions from a previous operation. Mario Cuomo said in a major the rule." racial and ethnic tensions in New Richman and Mila Schrayer Also, Marina's mother has been de· speech on the occasion of Israel's Cuomo clearly placed the York Cit y, recently inflamed placed another telephone call to nied her white card and they must 40th anniversary. responsibility for resolving the during the Democratic primary the Lakhmans in Russia. Unlike wait in the hope that it will be Cuomo did not specifically refer Palestinian question with the Arab election over the candidacy of the the last phone call, it was not nec granted soon. to the Reagan administration in states, linking the current unrest Rev . .J esse .Jackson. Cuomo urged essary to reserve the line twenty At this time, Arcady had no news his address to 300 of New York's to previous aggression on the part ,J ews and blacks not to allow four hours in advance. Thanks to about the other two families. He .Jewish leaders, but offered veiled of the Arabs. differences "to rob us of t.he Glasnost, it is now possible to dial stated that his fa mily had not re· crit icism of its Mideast peace "What Israel's enemies have memory of what we are at our direct. Thanks to Glasnost and ceived any of the letters that have init iative by declaring that " Israel never been · able to accomplish best.'· Temple Habonim, t he Lakhmans been sent by the Temple members.