Misconceptions About Cults

Cults are easy to spot, they wear strange clothes and live in communes.

Well some do. But most are everyday people like you and me. They live in houses. They wear the same clothes. They eat the same food. Cult leaders don’t want you to know that you are being recruited into a cult so they order their recruiters to dress, talk and act in a way that will put you at ease. One cult has even invented a phrase to describe this, they call it “being relatable”.

Cults are full of the weak, weird and emotionally unstable.

Not true. Many cult members are very intelligent, attractive and skilled. The reality is that all sorts of people are involved in cults. One of the few common denominators is that they were often recruited at a low point in their life.

Cults are just a bunch of religious nut cases.

This is a common mistake people make thinking that cults are purely religious groups. The modern definition of a mind control cult refers to all groups that use mind control and devious recruiting techniques. The belief system of a religion is often warped to become a container for these techniques, but it is the techniques themselves that make it a cult. In a free society people can believe what they want, but most people would agree that it is wrong for any one to try to trick and control people.



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Ocean County NJ Alfonso L. Santoro Sentenced

The former head of the Ocean County democratic party Alfonso L. Santoro was sentenced in federal court today to one year of home confinement for accepting bribes from an FBI informant.
Alfonso L. Santoro from Beachwood NJ, was also ordered to serve three years probation and pay a $10,000 fine.

He pleaded guilty in December to taking $6,500 from the informant, who posed as a developer trying to bribe public officials in exchange for building permits. In return for the money, Santoro said he introduced the informant to then-Assemblyman Daniel M. Van Pelt, a Republican from Waretown.

Van Pelt, who served 11 years as mayor of Ocean Township, was charged in July with accepting $10,000 from the informant in exchange for helping obtain environmental permits. His trial is scheduled to begin in May.

Alfonso L. Santoro, an ex-commissioner for the Ocean County Board of Elections, was not initially charged in the case, which revolved around Solomon Dwek, a failed Monmouth County developer who became a government informant after being charged in 2006 with bank fraud. He spent more than two years secretly working for federal prosecutors, targeting rabbis who supposedly laundered money and public officials who allegedly took bribes.

U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano also ordered Santoro to forfeit the $6,500 he took from Dwek.


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Seaside NJ Mayor Thomas E. Connors And Family Arrested By Seaside Heights Police

Another political blemish bursts in Ocean County NJ. The mayor for Seaside NJ Thomas E. Connors was arrested around 7:15 p.m. Saturday, along with Anthony Connors, 23, and Lindsay Connors, 22, outside of Hemingway’s Cafe, according to Seaside Heights police.

Authorities said Anthony Connors was being taken from the bar by staff members when he tried to hit his escorts. Officers stopped the younger Connors and placed him under arrest, police said.

They also said Lindsay Connors began to interfere during her brother’s arrest, striking a police officer on the arm and chest area. She then was arrested, police said.

As the bar’s staff escorted their father outdoors, the mayor, who had a minor injury on his face, saw his children being taken into custody. Police said he then began to intervene on their behalf and also was arrested.

Connors was charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with an arrest. Anthony Connors was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Lindsay Connors was charged with resisting arrest, interfering with an arrest and simple assault.

You know things are going bad for you when your neighboring town’s police force arrest you and your family…AND YOU’RE THE MAYOR!

It’s becoming pretty obvious that people including law enforcement are sick and tired of these political morons who have embarrassed Ocean County NJ in the past year.

The list of these political idiots keep on growing which began with Ocean County assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, the executive director of the democratic party Alfonso Santoro, Lakewood NJ housing inspector Jeffrey Williamson, NJMVA Drake A. Williams from Egg Harbor Township, now 31 children have died while under care from NJ DYFS including the latest that was under care from Ocean County DYFS, former assistant Ocean County prosecutor and Fellowship Chapel Point Pleasant NJ church fraud owner Edward Murachanian.

And let’s not forget politically connected plastic surgeon Dr. John Vaccaro who likes to operate on children with out consent forms.

And ALL of this political corruption going on in Ocean County NJ right under the nose of the present Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford.



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FBI Goes Undercover On Social Networking Sites

The Federal Bureau of Investigations may use fake identities on social networks to investigate criminal activities, according to a redacted FBI document acquired by digital rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Specifically, the 33-page confidential presentation says undercover operations are helpful for communicating with suspects and targets of crime, gaining access to private information, and mapping social networks. However, the presentation expresses concern that undercover use may be complicated by the court’s decision in the trial of Lori Drew, who was acquitted of cyber-bullying a girl who later committed suicide, and that violations of terms of service by not using their own name can render access unauthorized.

The presentation instructs agents to investigate all witnesses on social networking sites, advising its own witnesses not to discuss cases and be careful about what they post online.

In general, the document, a presentation from the FBI’s computer crime and intellectual property section, details how federal agents should gather and use evidence found on social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

The bottom line is…If you are an honest law abiding citizen you have nothing to worry about…If you’re a criminal, crook, con artist you have a lot to worry about!

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Money Laundering By Way Of Shell Companies

Cornell University Law School

Money laundering refers to a financial transaction scheme that aims to conceal the identity, source, and destination of illicitly-obtained money. The money laundering process can be broken down into three stages. First, the illegal activity that garners the money places it in the launderer’s hands. Second, the launderer passes the money through a complex scheme of transactions to obscure who initially received the money from the criminal enterprise. Third, the scheme returns the money to the launderer in an obscure and indirect way.

Tax evasion and false accounting practices constitute common types of money laundering. Often, criminals achieve these objectives through the use of shell companies, holding companies, and offshore accounts. A shell company is an incorporated company that possesses no significant assets and does not perform any significant operations. To launder money, the shell company purports to perform some service that would reasonably require its customers to often pay with cash. Cash transactions increase the anonymity of customers and therefore decreases the government’s ability to trace the initial recipient of the dirty money. Money launderers commonly select beauty salons and plumbing services as shell companies. The launderer then deposits the money with the shell company, which deposits it into its accounts. The company then creates fake invoices and receipts to account for the cash. Such transactions create the appearance of propriety and clean money. The shell company can then make withdrawals and either return the money to the initial criminal or pass the money on to further shell companies before returning it to further cloud who first deposited the money.

Criminals often use offshore accounts to hide money because they offer greater privacy, less regulation, and reduced taxation. Because the U.S. government has no authority to require foreign banks to report the interest earned by U.S. citizens with foreign bank accounts, the criminal can keep the account abroad, fail to report the account’s existence, and receive the interest without paying personal income taxes on it in the U.S.


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The Cult Churches Fabricated Tithing Doctrine

By Cult Expert Mark Vrankovich

This is the big daddy. This is their sacred cow. This is the beating heart of their evil empire. The crown jewel. The Death Star. The one ring to bill them all. The pot of gold. Their matrix (into which they want to plug you). Their Wizard of Oz. Their magic spell. Their special power. Their secret recipe with the eleven herbs and spices. Their Golden Goose. The very air upon which they breathe!

Question this doctrine and watch these money hungry pastors bare their fangs. This is a teaching that they will bear no compromise on. Tithing, or at least their own version of tithing, is their one true love.

Here are some bullet points about tithing that these money hungry pastors don’t want you to know:

* The New Testament Church did not tithe.
* The New Testament does not teach tithing for Christians.
* Their favorite Malachi verses cannot be used for Christians since Christians are not under the law of Moses.
* Abraham’s one off tithe of his war booty did not set up a precedent for Christians to regularly tithe their income.
* The version of tithing they teach cannot be found in Scripture (see below).
* The “Storehouse” in Malachi cannot be equated to your local church organization.
* There are plenty of rich (money wise) Christians who do not tithe. This would be impossible if their version of tithing was true.
* The New Testament teaching is that you decide how much to give, and there are no rules about where it goes. You cannot be compelled to give.
* It may come as a surprise to learn that their tithing doctrine is a combination of twisted scriptures and wishful thinking, as opposed to solid Biblical exegesis reflecting a central thrust of New Testament teaching.

Here is their tithing doctrine stated in a nutshell:

“Christians must give ten percent of their gross income only to their church organization. If they do, then God will bless them for any offerings they make to the church organization beyond this ten percent. But if they do not give ten percent gross, then they are stealing from God and God will curse them.”

There are variations of this teaching, and sometimes it is called a “principle”, but the above definition contains the core essence of this doctrine.

It is vital to grasp that tithing is not for Christians. Tithing was part of the old law (of Moses) which was fulfilled (completed) by Jesus. You know that Christians are not under the law of Moses don’t you?

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:6

know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. Galatians 2:16

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Galatians 3:10

New wine should not be put into old wine skins, nor should new unshrunk cloth be used to patch an old garment; if you think you need to obey the law of tithing then you need to obey the whole law (or you will be cursed, Galatians 3:10).

What is more, this tithing doctrine they teach isn’t found in either the New or Old Testament. Tithing in the old testament does not match what these pastors preach – this unique tithe teaching is of their own invention.

Pastor Cliff Whitehead of Fellowship Chapel Point Pleasant NJ had a cassette series that was distributed to some and sold to other church members instructing them to give 10% of their income to Fellowship Chapel of Jersey Shore regardless of their financial situation.

　

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What Makes A Religious Group A Cult

　

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The Cult Leader As Psychopath

Cultic groups and relationships are formed primarily to meet specific emotional needs of the leader, many of whom suffer from one or another emotional or character disorder. Few, if any, cult leaders subject themselves to the psychological tests or prolonged clinical interviews that allow for an accurate diagnosis. However, researchers and clinicians who have observed these individuals describe them variously as neurotic, psychotic, on a spectrum exhibiting neurotic, sociopathic, and psychotic characteristics, or suffering from a diagnosed personality disorder.

It is not our intent here to make an overarching diagnosis, nor do we intend to imply that all cult leaders or the leaders of any of the groups mentioned here are psychopaths. In reviewing the data, however, we can surmise that there is significant psychological dysfunctioning in some cult leaders and that their behavior demonstrates features rather consistent with the disorder known as psychopathy.

Dr. Robert Hare, one of the world’s foremost experts in the field, estimates that there are at least two million psychopaths in North America. He writes, “Psychopaths are social predators who charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations, and empty wallets. Completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret.”

Personality disorders, as a diagnosis, relate to certain inflexible and maladaptive behaviors and traits that cause a person to have significantly impaired social or occupational functioning. Signs of this are often first manifested in childhood and adolescence, and are expressed through distorted patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself. In simple terms this means that something is amiss, awry, not quite right in the person, and this creates problems in how he or she relates to the rest of the world.

The psychopathic personality is sometimes confused with the “antisocial personality,” another disorder; however, the psychopath exhibits more extreme behavior than the antisocial personality. The antisocial personality is identified by a mix of antisocial and criminal behaviors–he is the common criminal. The psychopath, on the other hand, is characterized by a mix of criminal and socially deviant behavior.

Neuropsychiatrist Richard M. Restak stated, “At the heart of the diagnosis of psychopathy was the recognition that a person could appear normal and yet close observation would reveal the personality to be irrational or even violent“. Indeed, initially most psychopaths appear quite normal. They present themselves to us as charming, interesting, even humble. The majority “don’t suffer from delusions, hallucinations, or memory impairment, their contract with reality appears solid.” Some, on the other hand, may demonstrate marked paranoia and megalomania. In one clinical study of psychopathic inpatients, the authors wrote “We found that our psychopaths were similar to normal’s (in the reference group) with regard to their capacity to experience external events as real and with regard to their sense of bodily reality. They generally had good memory, concentration, attention, and language function. They had a high barrier against external, aversive stimulation….In some ways they clearly resemble normal people and can thus ‘pass’ as reasonably normal or sane. Yet we found them to be extremely primitive in other ways, even more primitive than frankly schizophrenic patients. In some ways their thinking was sane and reasonable, but in others it was psychotically inefficient and/or convoluted.”


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Now 31 Children Have Died In The Last 5 Years Under New Jersey DYFS Care

BRICK — A 17-month-old boy in the care of the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services suffocated overnight in his foster home, and his parents were told of the death when they went to court to try to regain custody of him.

Calel Mayland Wheeler died early Tuesday after apparently becoming trapped between the mattress of the toddler bed in which he was sleeping and the bedroom wall.

His parents, Carmen E. Cotting, 24, and Timothy J. Wheeler, 34, both of Claremont, N.H., are blaming the child welfare agency for their son’s death.

“This is negligence,” Wheeler said. “DYFS was negligent.”

Cotting and Wheeler were scheduled to appear before state Superior Court Judge Robert A. Coogan on Tuesday morning.

“Our intention was to bring our kids home,” Cotting said.

Instead, they were ushered into a room off of the courtroom and told the boy had died just hours before.

“Why weren’t we called when this first happened?” Wheeler asked. “Why did they wait to tell us in court?”

Cotting says Calel and a 5-year-old son of the couple were placed in DYFS custody on Nov. 2, after she had come to New Jersey from New Hampshire but then was left homeless.

She had become embroiled in legal issues involving Carl Ray Smith, 53, of Laconia, N.H., whom Middletown police have accused of trying to pass a bad $54,000 check.

Police say the check was from a closed account of Cotting’s, and she had disposed of it in a Dumpster. Both are facing charges in the case. Smith is in the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township on $20,000 bail, and Cotting was released on a summons.

Wheeler said he was unable to take custody of the boys in November because he was in a New Hampshire jail on a simple assault charge. He was released at the end of January.

Meanwhile, the boys were placed in a foster home in Brick. Wheeler said he learned a DYFS worker recently told the foster parents to remove the boy from a crib because it was on a recall list, but a new crib was not brought into the house.

Wheeler says his 17-month-old son apparently was put to sleep with a blanket in a toddler bed Monday night. Around 6 a.m. Tuesday, the boy was found dead in that bed.

Brick Detective William Ruocco and Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Thomas Tiernan handled the investigation into the child’s death.

An autopsy determined the death was accidental, caused by positional asphyxia, said Prosecutor’s Office Deputy Chief Michael Mohel.

He said no foul play is suspected.

Federal and state laws require DYFS to release certain information about child deaths or near-fatalities that result from child abuse or neglect, according to a news release issued by DYFS in July.

A DYFS spokeswoman declined to comment.

“Under state and federal law, only under specific circumstances can we acknowledge or discuss any involvement with a child in the child welfare system,” Lauren Kidd said. “At this point, there is no comment or information we can offer.”

Wheeler says he was given the same information on the boy’s death by DYFS. But the parents want more answers.

“Why did they have a 17-month-old baby in a toddler’s bed? And why was a 17-month-old baby alone in a room without a baby monitor? He should have been in a crib,” Wheeler said, demanding answers about his son’s death.

Instead, Wheeler says DYFS officials tried to get a gag order to keep him from speaking to the media.

He vowed, “Somebody is going to pay for this.”

Cotting’s father, who lives in in New Hampshire, was awarded temporary custody of the couple’s 5-year-old son Wednesday afternoon, and the pair returned to their home state Wednesday evening to begin making arrangements for Calel’s funeral. They are waiting for their youngest son to be picked up by a New Hampshire funeral home.

The couple say they are troubled by the way DYFS handled the situation.

“I knew before they told us because of the way they were acting,” Cotting said in explaining the chain of events leading up to DYFS officials giving her the news.

She said a DYFS lawyer told her, before breaking the news, “In 22 years we have never had this happen.”

This DYFS lawyer lied! Click Here For The True Facts!

Ocean County DYFS has a long history of fraud and child neglect in conjunction with the Ocean County Family Court System. These criminals are Ocean County Family Court Judge James Blaney, Ocean County DYFS Manager David Rudnitsky (retired?) DYFS James Hennig, DYFS Anna Luibil, DYFS therapist – social worker Rosalyn Blau.

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Lawyer Brick NJ Edward Murachanian Owns Fellowship Chapel Point Pleasant NJ

Brick Township lawyer and former assistant Ocean County Prosecutor from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Edward Murachanian owns Fellowship Chapel Point Pleasant NJ with his long time friends John Boyle, Richard Bergstrom, John Emmanuel and William Doolittle.

This group of con artists have been preying on the elderly (Edward Murachanian has an office conveniently located outside of a retirement community) and church members, including young children for years.

Edward Murachanian and his followers understand that when you pretend to be a Christian, you can scam hundreds of unsuspecting Christian followers. Christians are forgiving, giving people and when placed in a situation where they can help a fellow Christian they will. That means they will help other’s in any way they can which includes giving money.

Many elderly church members who do not have any family left will in most cases leave their inheritance to the church. Brick Township lawyer Edward Murachanian and church vice president Richard Bergstrom (and Samantha Drive Toms River NJ neighbor) know this, so their followers set out to con the elderly into thinking that they are loved and needed, when in fact they are being set up to be scammed out of their life savings.

Understand how these criminal minds work by studying covert aggressive personalities.

Click here to see the New Jersey corporate filing of Fellowship Chapel of Jersey Shore.


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Uncovering Churches That Abuse People

The following questions come from the book: Recovering from Churches That Abuse, by Ronald Enroth, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervon, 1994.


1. Does a member’s personality generally become stronger, happier, more confident as a result of contact with the group?

In an abusive church, the use of guilt, fear, and intimidation to control members is likely to produce members who have a low self-image, who feel beaten down by legalism, who have been taught that asserting oneself is not spiritual.

One of the first disturbing characteristics to be reported by relatives and friends of members of these churches is a noticeable change in personality, usually in a negative direction.

2. Do members of the group seek to strengthen their family commitments?

Nearly all unhealthy churches attempt to minimize the commitments of their members to their family, especially parents.

Young people may be told that they now have a new “spiritual” family, complete with leaders who will “re-parent” them.

Church loyalty is seen as paramount, and family commitments are discouraged or viewed as impediments to spiritual advancement.

3. Does the group encourage independent thinking and the development of discernment skills?

Control-oriented leaders attempt to dictate what members think, although the process is so spiritualized that members usually do not realize what is going on.

A pastor or leader is viewed as God’s mouth piece, and in varying degrees a member’s decision making and ability to think for oneself are swallowed up by the group.

Pressure to conform and low tolerance for questioning make it difficult to be truly discerning.

4. Does the group allow for individual differences of belief and behavior, particularly on issues of secondary importance?

A legalistic emphasis on keeping rules and a focus on the need to stay within prescribed boundaries is always present in unhealthy spiritual environments.

Lifestyle rigidity in such groups increase a member’s guilt feelings and contributes to spiritual bondage. This rigidity is often coupled with an emphasis on beliefs that would not receive great attention in mainstream evangelicalism.

5. Does the group encourage high moral standards both among members and between members and non members?

In intense, legalistic churches and religious organizations, the official, public proclamations usually place special value on high moral standards.

In some instances, there is a double standard between those in leadership and those in the rank and file membership.

Abusive churches tend to have incidents of sexual misconduct more often than most conventional churches; leaders sometimes exhibit an obsessive interest in matters relating to sex.

6. Does the group’s leadership invite dialogue, advice and evaluation from outside its immediate circle?

Authoritarian pastors are usually threatened by any outside expression of diverse opinions, whether from inside or outside the group. When outside speakers are given access to the pulpit, they are carefully selected to minimize any threat to the leadership’s agenda.

Coercive pastors are fiercely independent and do not function well in a structure of accountability.

For the sake of public relations, they may boast that they are accountable to a board of some sort, when in actuality the board is composed of “yes-men” who do not question the leader’s authority.

7. Does the group allow for development in theological beliefs?

Another hallmark of an authoritarian church is its intolerance of any belief system different from its own.

They tend to measure and evaluate all forms of Christian spirituality according to their own carefully prescribed system, adopting an “us-versus-them” mentality.

8. Are group members encouraged to ask hard questions of any kind?

A cardinal rule of abusive systems is “Don’t ask questions, don’t make waves.”

A healthy pastor welcomes even tough questions. In an unhealthy church disagreement with the pastor is considered to be disloyalty and is tantamount to disobeying God.

People who repeatedly question the system are labeled “rebellious”, “un-teachable”, or “disharmonious to the body of Christ”.

Persistent questioners may face sanctions of some kind such as being publicly ridiculed, shunned, shamed, humiliated, or dis-fellowshiped.

9. Do members appreciate truth wherever it is found even if it is outside their group?

Whether they admit it or not, abusive churches tend to view themselves as spiritually superior to other Christian groups.

This religious elitism allows little room for outside influences. There can be no compromise with external sources, who, the leadership will say, really don’t understand what is going on in the ministry anyway.

10. Is the group honest in dealing with nonmembers, especially as it tries to win them to the group?

Sometimes abusive groups illustrate a “split-level religion”. There is one level for public presentation and another for the inner circle of membership.

The former is a carefully crafted public relations effort, the latter a reality level experienced only by the “true believers”.

Recruitment tactics are usually intense, even if they are not actually deceptive or fraudulent, they can be manipulative or exploitive.

Sometimes high pressure religious groups are evasive about there true identity: “We really don’t have a name, we’re just Christians.”

A healthy Christian group should have no qualms about revealing who it is and what its intentions are.

11. Does the group foster relationships and connections with the larger society that are more than self-serving?

First impressions are not always correct. Sustained contact with an unhealthy church, however, will usually reveal a pattern that is consistent with the characteristics we have identified.

Members will be requested to serve, to become involved, to sign up for a variety of activities that, upon closer inspection, appear to maintain the system and serve the needs of the leadership.

Abusive churches thrive on tactics that promote dependency.

Emphasizing obedience and submission to leaders, these churches often require a level of service that is overwhelming to members, resulting in emotional turmoil and spiritual breakdowns.


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What Makes A Religious Group A Cult

By Cindy V. Culp

When it comes to cults, there’s an old joke among religious scholars: A cult is a cult is a cult — unless it’s my religious group.

That jest highlights the tendency many people have to treat the identification of cults almost like the pinpointing of pornography. They don’t have a good definition of what makes a cult, but they’re sure they’ll know one when they see it.

Experts’ approach to the subject is far more complex, whether discussing the Amish, the Branch Davidians, the Mormons or Homestead Heritage. Only a few scholars use the word “cult.” Most say it has become too loaded of a word and prefer terms such as “new religious group” or “alternative religious movement.”

Experts also have differing opinions about what puts a group into the question mark category. A few give the label to any religious group that doesn’t hold a specific set of doctrinal beliefs. Others say the only reliable dividing line is whether a group obeys the law. A lot linger somewhere in the middle.

Rick Ross, who heads up a religious research institute in New Jersey, is one expert who sees no problem in using the word cult. To him, there’s no reason not to use the term except for political correctness.

“Whether they call them cults, new religious movements or whatever, you see the same structure in behavior, the same structure in dynamics,” Ross said. “Groups that fit this pattern are very often unstable.”

Ross differs from some cult-watching organizations in that he doesn’t label a group a cult simply because of its theological beliefs. Rather, groups should be judged by their behavior, he said.

One classic sign of a cult is that it is personality-driven, Ross said. That means it has a charismatic leader or group of leaders who hold a tremendous amount of sway over members.

Another common characteristic is isolation, Ross said. Sometimes that isolation is physical, with members’ comings and goings being restricted.

But most often, isolation takes the form of members becoming completely absorbed in the group and its activities, Ross said. If members work, go to school and socialize only with each other, isolation is a real possibility. An especially troubling sign, he said, is when members are asked to cut off contact with family members.

“I call it discordant noise,” he said. “Anyone or anything that would raise troubling questions about the group is marginalized to the extreme, cut off.”

Also common is a persecution complex, he said. Members often have an “us- versus-them” attitude, perceiving simple disagreements as attacks.

“They say criticizing them is to go against God,” Ross said. Another giveaway, he said, is when groups teach that anyone who leaves is flawed. Healthy groups generally believe people can have good reasons for leaving. Not so with cults, he said.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is Tim Miller, a professor of religious studies at the University of Kansas. Not only does he not use the word “cult,” but he takes issue with the characteristics that have been attached to the word.

The problem with them, Miller said, is that they don’t distinguish between good and bad expressions of those characteristics. For example, some of the most successful mainstream religious organizations have charismatic leaders.

The anti-cult movement often acts as if there are easy answers to the question of whether a group is dangerous, Miller said. But things are rarely black and white. Most involve judgment calls and points of view. What may seem sinister to one person may be perfectly normal to another, he said.

“I don’t know where you draw the line, frankly, except at the law,” Miller said.
William Dinges, a professor of religious studies at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., said one question he asks when evaluating religious groups is what kind of fruit they produce. That’s helpful because while the customs of some groups could be called cultic under the criteria of anti-cult organizations, they don’t truly fit that mold. The Amish are one example, he said.

One term that can be used to describe such groups are “radicalized expressions of religious commitment,” Dinges said. Characteristics include having a distinct boundary between it and others; being demanding of members; being galvanized around a charismatic personality; and having an intensified sense of mission.

Like Miller, Dinges says determining whether such groups are dangerous is subjective. Among the factors to weigh is whether they make it emotionally impossible to leave, whether they maintain members’ dignity, the amount of freedom they give members and whether there is a structure for airing and addressing conflict.

People also must consider how accepted certain behaviors are within that particular religious tradition, Dinges said. For example, becoming a monk may seem strange to many people, but it’s a very accepted part of the Catholic tradition.

Such factors also must be weighed in evaluating the stories of people who have come out of a group, Dinges said. In some cases, people’s horror stories stem from truly bad things that happened to them, he said,

In other instances, though, stories are tainted by a change in ex-members’ viewpoints, Dinges said. People can have mistaken or highly romanticized notions about what life in a particular group will be like, then become bitter when reality doesn’t match expectations.

Sometimes that happens because a group engages in false recruitment activities, he said. Other times it’s because people jump into situations without thoroughly understanding them.

“You have to educate yourself and, in a sense, know yourself. Trust your intuition.” Ron Enroth, a professor of sociology at Westmont College in California, says all the spiritually abusive groups he has studied share common characteristics. They’re so similar that when he talks to ex-members and starts hearing details of their stories, “I almost feel like saying, ‘Stop, let me tell you the rest of the story.’ ”

One feature of such groups, Enroth said, is control-oriented leadership. Communication with outsiders is limited and questioning isn’t allowed inside the group. Sometimes the control extends into intimate areas of followers’ lives, he said. In such cases, members are expected to ask permission to take vacations or switch jobs. Lifestyle rigidity is also common, with some groups having an almost unfathomable list of rules. One he studied outlawed striped running shoes because they supposedly were connected to homosexuality, he said. Another forbid members to use the word “pregnant.” Instead they were commanded to say a woman was “with child.”

Such groups are also spiritual elitists, Enroth said. They use arrogant or high-minded terms to describe themselves and often have disparaging descriptions for other churches, he said.

“They present themselves as the model Christian church or the model Christian organization...and say they provide unparalleled fellowship and superior spirituality,” Enroth said.

In addition, such groups are usually paranoid and perceive any criticism as persecution, Enroth said. They paint people who leave as defectors and say attacks against them are ultimately the work of Satan.

“By describing criticism as slander, they can almost be shielded from criticism,” Enroth said.

Enroth believes the number of spiritually abusive groups is growing due to a spike in the number of independent churches in evangelical and fundamentalist circles. People like them because they are less formal and less hierarchical than traditional churches, he said.

But with that independence also comes the potential for trouble, he said.

“They are, in a sense, spiritual Lone Rangers,” Enroth said. “That’s where the potential for sliding off the cliff comes into play.”



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New Jersey Pastor Pleads Guilty To Medicaid Fraud

The pastor of a Westfield, N.J., church could face five years in prison for admitting to knowingly omitting information on the Medicaid application of a parishioner regarding a property sale where the clergyman benefited financially.

Kevin Clark, 53, the pastor at Bethel Baptist Church, pleaded guilty Jan. 25 to third-degree counts of Medicaid fraud and tampering with public records, according to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Clark was indicted by a Union County, N.J., grand jury on the counts in November 2009.

In his guilty plea, Clark admitted that on Nov. 17, 2004, he falsely completed, signed and submitted a Medicaid application for an elderly parishioner. That form, official said, required Clark to list the sale of all real property by the parishioner and any cash given away by the applicant within the past three years.

Clark admitted that he failed to provide information that the parishioner had sold a piece of real estate for $138,038 and that he received the cash from the sale.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 9 in Union County Superior Court.


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Fellowship Chapel Point Pleasant NJ Money Meeting

For many of you who have attended Fellowship Chapel Point Pleasant NJ you would have noticed that after every Sunday service the pastors and elders would have an elder meeting. They would get together for what appeared to be a meeting to discuss issues regarding the church.

They couldn’t wait to get together as they would quickly congregate to a secluded area led by Fellowship Chapel vice president Richard Bergstrom and Brick Township lawyer from the Ocean County Prosecutor‘s Office Edward Murachanian.

They resembled little kids being let out for recess. For church members it made them proud that their church leaders were so passionate about serving God.

What the church members did not realize was what they believed to be a passion for serving God was actually a passion for serving their own greed, the con artist‘s love for money. At this pretend elder meeting Richard Bergstrom would divy up the cash that was collected from the Sunday offering and distribute it to Pastor Cliff Whitehead, Associated pastor Jim McCombs, President John Emmanuel, Secretary Bill Doolittle and Treasurer John Boyle.

The one thing in common with these men are that they are all long time friends of the secret owner of Fellowship Chapel of Jersey Shore lawyer Brick Township Edward Murachanian.

Click here to view the actual New Jersey state corporation filing for Fellowship Chapel Point Pleasant NJ.


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US Attorney Paul Fishman Message To Public Service Employees

The Jersey Journal:

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman sees a message in today's verdict against suspended Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini.

"Public service," he said, "is about something else than enriching yourself and your friends."
He declined to speculate on the jury's thinking in finding Beldini guilty on two counts and not guilty on four but called the verdict a "victory."

Asked about the credibility of key witness Solomon Dwek, and whether it was because of Dwek's criminal past that the jury returned a split verdict, Fishman was undeterred.

"I don't think that you can say they rejected him," he said. "Each of the crimes she was charged with had different elements."

When it comes time for Dwek -- who admitted bilking his family, friends, Jewish community and banks out of millions of dollars -- to be sentenced, it will be up to a judge to decide the appropriate punishment, Fishman said.

Fishman declined to discuss why former Jersey City housing official/school board member Edward Cheatam, who has pleaded guilty in the case, wasn't called to testify as was widely expected.

"At the heart of the case, Ms. Belidini was charged with accepting bribes in exchange for official action," he said. "The jury saw it that way."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calcagni, who tried the case along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Moser, agreed.

"I think the jury fairly and carefully considered the evidence and we are gratified with the verdict," he said at the news conference with Fishman.

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Michael Vander Horn Barnegat New Jersey Elder Fraud

Michael Vander Horn a home improvement contractor in Barnegat New Jersey decided it was in the best interest of his customer, an 80 year old senior citizen who lived at 409 Dock Road West Creek NJ, to install a header in her home and not secure it to the house. He installed this header on two wolmanized posts with absolutely no screws or nails to fasten it together.

He then proceeded to sheetrock and paint over his work before anybody had a chance to inspect it.

When this information was given to associate pastor Jim McCombs of Fellowship Chapel Point Pleasant NJ he responded by saying, “It doesn’t look that bad to me, you and your mother should move back in. I’ll get some people from the church to take you both back.”

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30 Children Died While Under Care From New Jersey DYFS

In the last five years more than 30 children under care from New Jersey DYFS have died from abuse or neglect. The state had issued annual reports detailing what happened in each child-death case, but under the new rules put into place by the Corzine Administration such reports will no longer be released. Senator Diane Allen, R-Burlington, was angered saying “I do not understand why the Corzine Administration would refuse to release information vital to holding our child welfare system accountable to taxpayers,” Allen stated. “When it comes to protecting our children, we need more accountability, not less.”

“These reports have constantly reminded us that New Jersey is failing our children. They have, over the years, forced those in power to face and at lease partially deal with the issues. As a Legislator who has pleaded with the majority party for years to increase support and funding for DYFS, I fear that hiding this information will make it even harder to get the Governor to do the right thing.” Allen said. I am being critical of the Corzine Administration’s lack of transparency about one of the most vital functions our government undertakes – protecting our children from the horrors of abuse.”

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