Factnet Newsletter - Issue 45 (November 2007)

Factnet's Evolving Mission

News from Factnet Management

Please note: Effective November 15, 2007 Maria Bee stepped down as Executive Director and Tommy Gorman stepped into the Executive Director role.

Things are changing at Factnet; it's a new era! Maria Bee joined Factnet in July to begin training to take over as Executive Director, so that Lawrence could step back from the day-to-day operations and pursue other interests at this point in his life.

With this change in management comes an opportunity to reflect upon the mission of Factnet and expand it to encompass new realms of healing and support. The newly added section reads as follows:

In August 2007, with the addition of a new Executive Director, we honed our mission focus to put a greater emphasis on providing Peer to Peer healing and recovery support. Factnet is an oasis for all seeking recovering from harmful mind control. For some this journey may take longer or look very different than for others. Each person's recovery will be unique to his- or her- self. Each discussion board member is encouraged to bring his or her unique presence, experience, wisdom, and support. It is Factnet's heartfelt desire that everyone that visits here receives what they need at that moment in their journey.

Factnet is an information rich site and the discussion forums are full of many people eager to help others. However, sometimes all that is needed is for a person to have his or her story heard fully by another person. At Factnet we strive to nurture and support each individual's personal healing journey. Not every time is a time for action. We encourage everyone on the discussion boards to honor each others' journey, to listen when listening is needed, to offer advice and help when that is what is requested.

To read Factnet's complete mission statement, please visit: Factnet's Mission Statement

Best of Cult and Mind Control News

This just in  

David Beckham brings the Scientology David Beckham brings the Scientology Cult to your children's soccer field?   

Scientologists Descend on Minneapolis Collapse Site  
ABC News, USA
 "The public needs to understand that the Scientologists are using this tragedy to recruit new members," Michael M. Faenza, the president of the National Mental Health Association said in 2001. "They are not providing mental health assistance."
 
The "Straight Dope" on Scientology from the German Government!
Understanding the German View of Scientology
This is directly from the German Embassy's website in Washington DC.
Background Papers, Scientology and Germany

"Almost Assimilated . . . " (Twelve Tribes Cult)
 Letters submitted to "Ithacans Opposed to the Twelve Tribes Cult" ( www.IOTTC.blogspot.com), a well written site on the practices and dangers of the Twelve Tribe Cult currently running a café in Ithaca, N.Y. on the Commons. The site is also a call to the town residents to boycott this establishment.

Church courting State is not "Exclusive" to USA!
Smear campaign points to world-wide trend
NZPA, via Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand
 "We all see how mainstream Christianity wiggles its way into US politics but will we see the marriage of a Cult to a Government "down under"?

Mancos, CO Polygamist camp - Population: 0 Hal Mansfield (Rocky Mountain Resource Center) stops by one FLDS location in Colorado, and was greeted only by the sounds of nature. Includes Photos.

Steve Hassan interviewed on Anderson Cooper's 360 segment of the Jesus Miranda Growing in Grace Cult

Coming to terms with an abusive cult upbringing . . . "Children of God" aka "The Family"
Ex-member creates healing documentary with HBO films . . .
Filmmaker Noah Thomson was raised in the elusive Children of God cult, a Christianity-based communal living society also known as the Family.

From Your Cult Experiences Do You Have Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Long-term, recurring abuse can result in a syndrome known as Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD). Many people have heard of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in relation to war and other major events, such as being the victim of violent crime, car accidents, etc. C-PTSD is different from PTSD in that is about an accumulation of traumas over time that results in a more pervasive disorder that effects emotional and interpersonal functioning.

Wikipedia defines it this way, "Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) is a clinically recognized condition that results from prolonged exposure to prolonged social and/or interpersonal trauma, including instances of physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, torture, chronic early maltreatment in a caregiving relationship, and war. Van der Kolk and Courtois (2005) suggest that C-PTSD better describes the pervasive negative impact of chronic trauma than does Post traumatic stress disorder, as PTSD fails to capture some of the core characteristics of C-PTSD"

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_Post_Traumatic_Stress_Disorder ).

Living inside a harmful cult and then battling a cult once one leaves can result in this emotionally debilitating disorder. That is not to say that everyone that experiences these types of events will develop C-PTSD, but it is a possibility.

Do any of these symptoms sound familiar?

· "Psychological fragmentation"

· "Loss of sense of safety, trust, and self worth"

· "The tendency to be revictimized"

· "The loss of a coherent sense of self"

· "Difficulties regulating emotions, including symptoms such as persistent sadness, suicidal thoughts, explosive anger, or inhibited anger

· "Variations in consciousness, such as forgetting traumatic events, reliving traumatic events, or having episodes of dissociation (during which one feels detached from one's mental processes or body)

· "Changes in self-perception, such as a sense of helplessness, shame, guilt, stigma, and a sense of being completely different from other human beings

· "Varied changes in the perception of the perpetrator, such as attributing total power to the perpetrator or becoming preoccupied with the relationship to the perpetrator, including a preoccupation with revenge

· "Alterations in relations with others, including isolation, distrust, or a repeated search for a rescuer

· "Loss of, or changes in, one's system of meanings, which may include a loss of sustaining faith or a sense of hopelessness and despair"

(This list is also from the Wikipedia page referenced above.)

If any of these symptoms sound like anything you have been experiencing please seek professional support. Factnet is a great resource for information, education, and community support, but it is not a replacement for expert care.

"Six core components of complex trauma treatment have been identified by C-PTSD experts, Cook, Spinazzola, Ford and Lanktree (2005):

1. Safety
2. Self-regulation
3. Self-reflective information processing
4. Traumatic experiences integration
5. Relational engagement
6. Positive affect enhancement

"Treatment for those experiencing C-PTSD should address each dimension" (wikipedia.org).

For more information on this topic please read the article referenced here, continue researching the topic online, or contact a professional (a licensed therapist/counselor, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, etc.).

Factnet's Future

Factnet is growing at an amazing rate. Factnet is effective and we are the oldest and largest organization of our kind on the Internet.

People are downloading a gazillion web pages of healing cult information! By the time you get this, our discussion forums will be well beyond 420,000 posts and well over 14,000 registered users. We are so effective that more destructive cults are seeking to hack our website and hinder our organization from presenting information that is counter to what they state. This constant battle with aggressive, destructive cults, and our continuing rapid growth, cause our operating and security costs to keep rising as well.

But what does all this mean to you? Just that Factnet is here for you 24 hours a day everyday, freely helping anyone who has been abused by cults, including addressing the needs of their families and friends. Isn't that something you can support? In 2005 we went in the red to keep Factnet up. See for yourself by downloading Factnet's 2005 Income and expenses. But even with our best stewardship, we still need ongoing help from you to support our rapid expansion and new programs and services mentioned above in the Factnet Management briefing.

Please do something to help us financially. Do your part now and help stop destructive cults of all kinds from abusing others. You can be confident that every tax deductible dollar you donate is maximized by over a decade of proven, wise stewardship of your support. You can trust that we will always do our best to make each dollar you donate do the work of 10 dollars.

To donate now please use one of our online donation options or, if you are receiving this newsletter by snail mail, use the enclosed donation return envelope. Factnet is an IRS approved tax deductible, 501(3)(C) nonprofit charitable organization..

Factnet Website News

Factnet Forums are about to get a face lift!

As you probably already know Factnet has been in the process of raising funds to improve the community forums so that they are more user friendly, more secure, have greater capacity, and far more functionality.

We have selected a product and will begin setting up and testing it very soon. The product is called vBulletin and according to our resident expert it is the best for the job. Let me tell you a little about it.

It first came on the scene in 2000 and has been extremely popular. It is considered the best and most extensive "out of the box" experience. vBulletin is the market leader to which other boards are compared. Not only that, but their responsiveness to security issues is swift and issue turn-around time is less than 30 minutes.

In its current version, 3.6.8, it is unbeatable. No other web forum software "out of the box" offers the same features, options, and customizability.

Modifications are easy to install and maintain.

User functionality will include:
· New post indicator
· Email page to friend option
· Links to similar threads displayed at bottom
· Smilies and Avatars
· What You See Is What You Get editor or standard editor
· Quick Reply box
· Report Post feature (to report a post to the moderator team)
· Post rating
· User reputation
· User post count
· Private messaging
· RSS/ATOM news feed for posts
· Email notification for threads
· Editable user profile
· Profile picture

The administration control panel is simple yet comprehensive. Some of the administrative features available are:

· Ban user by name or IP
· Permission per user, user group or forums
· Moderation queue
· Edtiable FAQ section for your own forum
· Unlimited moderators and supermoderators
· Flood control
· Blacklists
· Warning levels (up and down with note for reason. This way moderators can easily see why someone has received a warning earlier on. Unless the user is sent a message, the warning and warning level is visible to moderators only)
· Threads can be moved, split, closed, shadowed, made Sticky or Important
· Moderators can be set global and/or per forum
· Unlimited forums and subforums
· Private forums

Also, vBulletin is the only web forum software to come with an "out of the box" paid (or free) subscription setup. Allowing for the creation of subscriptions to all or some of the forums.

In summary, making the move to vBulletin will make Factnet a more stable, secure site. The administration and moderation features of vBulletin will enable moderators to work more effectively, take more effective and granular counter-measures, and spot and prevent problems before they explode in the community. vBulletin will be the technological next step in the ongoing evolution of Factnet and its new focus on peer-to-peer healing and recovery.

Factnet Persons of the Quarter Honors

Each quarter Factnet honors individuals whose contributions to the study and exposure of mind control methods and destructive cults is exemplary and outstanding.

This quarter Factnet recognizes Arnie Lerma for his years of work helping victims of Scientology. Visit his website.

Featured Audio: Cult of Death with Steve Hassan

Sunday 30 September 2007   Radio interview with ABC Australia

Listen online  http://www.abc.net.au/rn/spiritofthings/

Cult of Death

What makes an educated person from a good family join extremist groups and volunteer to become a suicide bomber? Al-Qa'ida expert, Abdel Bari Atwan, explains it as desperation and indoctrination into a culture of death, while cult expert Steve Hassan, describes the mind-control techniques methods used to turn vulnerable people into new recruits.


Steve Hassan's website: www.freedomofmind.com

Good Books We Recommend

This quarter we're doing something a little a different. Next quarter we would like to publish two or three of your, our reader's, reviews of relevant books. Are there any particular books that really helped you on your journey of recovery and integration? Please share these stories with the Factnet community.

To see the books Factnet has recommended in the past and continues to recommend please visit our book pages  http://www.factnet.org/Recommended_Books.htm

Buying your cult and mind control research and recovery books via our recommended books website links is an easy and important method of helping to support our mission and non-profit organization. As an affiliate of Amazon.com we get a percentage of every book we sell from our website.

Upcoming Events

Mountain States Conference on Cults, Gangs, and Hate Groups
A full day conference with nationally recognized speakers presenting on three separate tracks:
1. Destructive Cults
2. Gangs
3. Hate Groups

Saturday, April 12, 2008. Registration at 8 a.m., program starts at 8:30 a.m. and goes until 5:30 p.m.

For more information contact the Rocky Mountain Resource Center at P.O. Box 2414, Loveland CO, 80538 or call: 970-490-2032

ISCA (International Cultic Studies Association)

ISCA has several upcoming events:

2008 Annual International Conference
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 26-29, 2008.

Workshop 2008 in Colorado: Ex-Member (July 25-27)
Workshop 2008 Connecticut: Second Generation Workshop (April 25-27)

Please visit the ISCA website for more information: http://www.icsahome.com/default.htm


Cult Hotline & Clinic

Monthly Family Support Group in NYC.
Visit their website for more information: http://www.cultclinic.org/


We encourage you to visit our cult expert pages and their websites:
Cult-Help Experts
Cult-Help Organization

Recognizing our Staff and Volunteers

We'd like to say a few words to thank our Factnet Volunteers who have been doing such a great job. Doing your part, each of you is helping a tremendous amount with Factnet. These individuals are Prism, discussion board administrator; Ruud Hein, our webmaster (Ruud Hein Web Development); A.H. our lead programmer; Tommy and Jennifer Gorman, administrative managers; T. L. Dunlap, news editor and researcher; David Pike, news and information reporter and several other key volunteers who chose to remain anonymous in their support of Factnet. Our goal at Factnet is to help educate victims of cults and to provide a safe, supportive environment for healing and recovery. Factnet is here to help, but without all of these staff and volunteers and your donation support it would be impossible. These staff and volunteers are helping to make it possible to reach Factnet's mission goals.

Volunteer: Help Co-create Factnet

More Volunteers Needed to Support our Expansion!

Factnet needs short term volunteers for a special project that will reach tens of thousands of magazines, radio shows and newspapers around the world with regular editorials to educate about destructive cults and mind control. If you want to make a real difference in stopping the abuse through widespread media education on your former cult, or cults in general, contact manage@factnet.org and put "Volunteer for media project" in the subject line. (Note: link opens your default email program or service).

If you want to also be a volunteer blog poster for some particular cult or issue for which you are well informed, please email us at manage@factnet.org and let us know who or what you want to blog report on. (Note: link opens your default email program or service).

Factnet needs volunteers to track news stories about celebrities in cults or promoting cults. Contact manage@factnet.org and put "Volunteer for celebrities in cults project" in the subject line. (Note: link opens your default email program or service).

Factnet Service Success Stories

Here are some of the letters we received over the last few months:

Your site has been a lifesaver for us who were involved with Community of Jesus and Grenville Christian College. Thanks so much. - M

Thank you for your ministry. - R

Note from the editor: Factnet is not a religion and we do not provide ministry as many people understand that term, but I understand you are thanking us for our work providing information to people regarding harmful cults and mind control groups. You are very welcome.

I have been a fan of Factnet for some years. The site performs a great service educating people. Thank you for your hard work and diligence. - G

Recent Technical Problems

Dear Factnet Community,

I want to sincerely apologize for the recent series of technical problems that have led to the site being down, sometimes for multiple days. We are working to remedy this situation, to make security as strong as possible, and to address any technical issues that may be contributing to these occurrences. As you may know, Factnet is often the target of hack attacks from those that do not like our work.

However, on Monday, October 29, 2007 the Factnet.org website was unavailable because the domain name was not renewed in a timely manner. This occurred because of a communication error, which has now been resolved. The website was back online by the morning of Wednesday, October 31, 2007. The domain name has been renewed for another five years. This will not happen again..

Sincerely,

Factnet Management

IMHO

Why Shop our Affiliates to Help Support Factnet

We are excited to offer our visitors and members a new and easy way to get great values and to help financially support our mission by doing what you're already doing - buying great products and services from reputable companies! When you purchase products or services from the name brand companies using the links from our website (on the left) or this ezine does not affect the discounted or normal prices these companies normally offer and, a small percentage of all of your purchases is sent to Factnet to support our mission.

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Click on the banner below to shop and learn more. Thank You for supporting our mission with your purchases.

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Share your Wisdom and Experiences in our Next Ezine

We would like to invite you to help co-create our next issue of this Ezine by sending us photos and/or descriptions of your:

· Personal recovery success stories
· Successes from use of the FACTNET web site and discussion boards
· Listings of supportive events for victims of cults and mind control for our Ezine events calendar
· Breaking news or important cult and mind control related stories
· Articles or editorials that you think we should include in the new Ezine or put on the web site
· Your opinions or issues about FACTNET and its service in our new "letters to the editor" section
· Any uplifting humor related to cults and mind control that would help others heal and laugh
· Any photos or illustrations you think should be in our Ezine from workshops seminars or events.

Please send your submissions to manage@Factnet.org.
Put "Newsletter Editors" in the subject line.

To send us news stories or articles you think should be published on our website or in our newsletter, or should be considered for our periodic editorial opinion press releases, please be sure to put " Newsletter Editors" in the subject line of your email, and include the materials as well as where it came from. It is ok to post them in the appropriate discussion groups as long as you do not violate copyright laws.

Letters to the Editor

We encourage your feedback on the content of this ezine. Please send us your Letters to the Editors (because we like them!) and any other suggestions you may have (because we can't think of everything!) for future themes to  factnet_management@yahoo.com Thank you to everyone who sent in their suggestions and content for this issue. If you sent something in and it was not published, be patient and look for it in future issues. We (or someone around here we know) reserve the right to choose the articles and other content according to timing and policy.

How to Spread the Word about Us!

Let your friends and family know about Factnet. And please feel free to forward this free ezine using appropriate netiquette. Ask people to go to other related discussion forums on the net and find best postings for Factnet. Invite the other discussion group members to visit Factnet too!

This editorial/opinion/news alert has been provided or distributed by FACTNet, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network.) Since 1993 we have been the largest online news and referral service as well as research archive for defending freedom of thought and mind from all forms of unethical influence tactics, mind control and mental coercion/torture used in destructive cults and fundamentalist groups. FACTNet is a tax deductible, IRS Approved 501(c)(3) non profit organization.

For breaking news, personal stories, recovery information, support groups, expert referrals, message boards, newsletters and books relating to destructive cults and fundamentalism, mind control, mental coercion and unethical psychological influence, please visit our web site at www.factnet.org.  If you would like to comment on this editorial/opinion/news or to share your personal experiences, go to one of our many various message boards at http://www.factnet.org/discus/

Re-distribution and re-posting of this document, using proper net etiquette when doing so, is appreciated!

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