Cult Watching Perspective and Freedom of Religion Balance of twenty years' experience Raffaella Di Marzio ( ) Psychologist of Religion Board of SIPR (Italian Society of Psychology of Religion) Secretary of FOB (European Federation for Freedom of Belief)

INTRODUCTORY NOTE: MY EXPERIENCE  Requests for information and help only from families, former members of religious groups, journalists etc.  Contacts and requests for information and help from people affiliated with religious and spiritual movements

THE WORD “CULT”  Used as a label against minority religions. These groups are often called cults because they are perceived as dangerous organizations that abuse their members in some way  I prefer the term NRM (New Religious Movement), nonconventional or alternative religions, or spiritual, or esoteric movements; they also are new movements within established religions or high-demand groups with cultic characteristics.

Controversial Aspects of Help Method  Reliability of Data Concerning the Extent of the Cult Phenomenon  Brainwashing the “brainwashed”?  Oversimplification

Reliability of Data Concerning the Extent of the Cult Phenomenon TYPE OF CALL % TOTAL HELP INFORMATION MISCELLAN TOTAL

Brainwashing the “brainwashed”?  Changes in the manner of thinking and behaviour are always construed as the outcome of “mental manipulation” and never as that of a free choice; they must therefore be “corrected”.  The remedy appears quite simple: bring him or her back the way he or she was before.  A common reaction in such milieux is to call on the government to make laws forbidding brainwashing.

ENCOUNTER ADVOCATE (CHARISMA) FOLLOWER Charisma is an interactional phenomenon

OVERSIMPLIFICATION  Applying to cultic conflicts:  The problem of individual and family is not situated in the context of the personality and family dynamics  No attempt is made to understand what failed to work in the groups of reference of the individual before affiliation  A problem of relationship is attributed to a single cause, and every “fault” is assigned to the new group of reference, that is the “cult”

PREVENTION AND MEDIATION  PREVENTION: is the only winning weapon to prevent people from becoming the victim of deceit by unscrupulous leaders  SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: increasing researchers and developing serious dialogue with academic scholars and researcher

RESPECT FOR HUMAN BEING  One of the most interesting phenomena I am studying is the way of satisfied members feel the persecution and discrimination in everyday life. I am seeing a lot of suffering as much as I see in cult’s victims.  Many kinds of discrimination and violation of human rights depend on the tendency to judge people on the basis of their group identities, rather than as individuals.

As a stakeholder NGO, FOB is registered on the Official Register of Lobbies held at the EU Parliament and Commission in Bruxelles and Strasbourg, representing six nations

ORGANIZATIONS MEMBERS OF FOB

FOB (FREEDOM OF BELIEF)  FOB is a secular platform, independent from any party, aimed at the defence of the rights of people of faith, unconcerned, and atheists as well  FOB openly stands against every form of religious discrimination, including any arbitrary distinction between "religions" and "cults”

THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS  Article 1 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights  Article 18 Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.