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California State University, Los Angeles 6 Monday, July 29,1991 First In a two part series: Cults. or new rellalons? Campus spiritual groups accused of cult activity As time passed he realized that she had been pressured by other church members to stay away from him and to avoid talking to him, he said. "They were telling her that she shouldn't be talk-ing to me," Greene said. "At one point she told me I shouldn'ttalk tolier. I should only talk to the leader.' The U. T. tried but was unable to contact Greene's former girl friend. Michael Chow, a junior majoring in electric engineering and the vice president of Campus Outreach for Christ, a campus group com-posed ofmembers ofthe L.A. Church ofChrist~ said she did not wish to comment. Peter Torres, a senior majoring in English, is the president ofCampus Outreach for Christ. Torres denied that the L.A. Church of Christ discourages members from seeking advice from nonmembers. He recalled that when be became a member he was probably encouraged to discuss the decision with others. He said'I talked it over with my pastor, I talkedit UNIVERSITY TIMES By Daniel Dermitizel, Staff writer Many of us refer to them as cults, religious sects or high-pressure groups. Some ofus condemn them and acc,,se them of brainwashing and mind control. Oth-erS ridicule or simply ignore them. For some students, however, so-called new reli-giou s movements appear to be a source of strength and deep gratification. With them they seem to rind affiection and love while at the same time experienc-ing a sense ofpurpose and profound truth which they missed previously in their lives. Cal State L.A_, similar to other college campuses, is host to at least two new religious movements. Their combined campus membership is small, numbering about 28, not counting nonmember sympathizers and associates. Their activities include Bible studies, social activities ofvarious kinds and large off-campus sermons. They Fire called the Los Angeles Church ofChrist (also referredto as the Discipling Movement) andthe t'nification Church. Both have been the subject of public controversy because of what some think are unethical practices among their members. Here on campus the L.A- Church of Christ is represented by the student organization Campus Outreach for Christ. The Unification Church is active through its student organization CARP, the Colle-ginte Association for the Research of the Principle. Reginald Greene, a senior majoring in business administration, said he had contact with the L.A. Church of Christ when a little more than a year ago his former girlfriend became involved with the group. In the time that followed, Greene said, his girlfriend's personality changed radically and he be-gnn to see what he thinks were signs of pressure eXeTted upon her by other members of the church. "She was always very open and honeatto me," said Greene. But as she became involved with the group he had the impression that she was 'holding things back" and lying to him, he said. Other personality changes included a shift toward ~hot Gr"ne cillp(l n "phony" happiness, a state of mind which struck him as unreal and much like"too much make-up." Gr, ene said that at first he did not think his girlfriend's behavior was related to the new contacts with the L.A. Church ofChrist. 'I thought it wasjust something she was going through," be said. Cultsoncampus?: The controversy over alleged high pressure religious :groups on campus is, discussed in this two part report. Clarification: In the July 29 issue the U. T printed the first of a series on "'Campus sp'ritual groups accused of cult acfivity. group CARES was menfioned in ft story. CARES is the acronym for Cult A w-reness Reso&m University Times Cal state University, L. A. Martin Luther King Memorial Hall Room C3098 5151 State University Drive Los Angeles, CA 90032 (213) 343-4215 said that anyone would be Provided with an swers as quickly as possible. Vice president of Campus Outreach for Christ Michael Chow said that students are not deceived about the campus group's link with the L.A. Church ofChrist. He said that after attending a Bible talk students would know about the church. Chow and Torres said that members of the L.& Church ofChrist live their lives strictly according to the Bible and not according to the wishes of evange. lists or other church leaders. "Ifanyone ofthe evangelists tells me todo anything that ... does not go according to the Bible, I will not do it,"saidTorres, refuting allegations that church mem-bers' lives are controlled by the church. Moreover, Torres said that members, those believ-ere who have been baptized by the L.A. Church of Christ, are free to leave the group ifthey want to. He said that other members would try to discuss the decision with thatperson butultimately not interfere over with my par- with the move."I have ents, I talked it over never coerced anyone with my friends." ...changes included a shift toward into staying with the But Chow said church nor have I that he would not what Greene called a ')7hony known anyone who is encourage any happiness... much like 'Voo much a member of the member to maintain make-up. church to coerce any- contact with indi- one to stay in the viduals whose goal church," he said. istornakethemem- Much of the criti- her leave the church. But Greene said be also had first-hand experience with the L.A- Church ofChrist. Over a one-month period he attended church meet- ings and activities until he grew increasingly frus- trated with what he said was the group's refusal to answer his questions. "There was a consistent pattern of not being up front with me and actually lying to me," Greene claimed. Eventually Greene did not join the group. Cur- rently he is the president of CARES, a student organization devoted to informing the campus com- munity about yvhat it believes Wba.deatructive cult. activitv. Greene said he has little doubt about the nature of the L.A. Church of Christ. "The more experience I have with the group," he said, "the more I am con- vinced that, yes, they are a cult. 'I see them as being conditioned not to think for themselves. Their lives are being controlled by the leader oftbe church.' Torres denied charges of deception and pressure and ofan attemptbyhis church to control the livesof its members. But Greene is not alone with his view. In August of 1990 the LDsAngele8 Times wrote that 'critics [of the L.AL Church of Christ) claim that members are forced to be totally depen- dent on the group's ap- proval." According to the Times , the L.K Church ofChrist began officially in 1989and is identical with the larger Boston Church of Christ or Discipling Movement which was started in 1979 by evangelist Kip McKean in Boston. The article reported that the group had been banned or restricted on a number of college cam- puses including Boston University, Northeastern and Vanderbilt. However, it was said that in Los Angeles there had apparently been no controversy during the first 12 months ofthe church's presence here. At CSLA, Campus Outreach for Christ has been active for approximately six months according to president Torres. Torres said that he and fellow members of his student organization invite students around them to Bible talks which are held halfa dozen times through- out the week. Among the charges voiced againstthe L.A- Church ofChrist is that members are pressured into recruit- ing followers and that their faith is measured by the number of recruits they bring into the group. Accord- ing to Torres this is not true. Torres said the goal ofthe Bible talks is to create an interest in the Bible. He denied that the church refuses to answer to newly interested students and ... 7brres said that members ... are free to leave the group if they want to. cism against the L.A- Church ofChrist has focused on the unique mentor-disciple relationships among its members. A counselor for the L.A- Cult Clinic ap-peaTedin a KCBS news segmentfrom November 1990 saying that members must tell their mentor "every thought, feeling, doubt, concern, question." Reporter Lopez added that members also -must clear all activities with [their mentorsl and even imitate them in every aspect." But church member Torres said such charges are false and that tohim the mentor-disciple relationship is similar to having a big brother. "It's people who get together." be.said, "who have contact with one an-other. They talk about any problems thev might have." Torres said that he was never told that he is supposed to tell his mentor everything nor that he has to do what the mentor says. However, he said, he does have a very close relationshp with his discipling partner. "I tell him, my best friend in the church, everything I do, whether it be right or wrong," Torres said. Ile added that while he does not tell his discipling part-nereverythingin detailhe doestry tobeasopen as he possibly can. Yet another charge against the L.A. Church of Christ is that it leads students to neglect school as they become more and more com-mitted to the group. This is true according to Rev. Giles Asbury, Episcopal chaplain at UCLA who was quoted in the L.A. TYmes article. Torres disagreed. If anything, he said, grades of church members go up. Chow said"You become more disciplined. You study harder ... and you are more concentrated, too." Better known than the Los Angeles Church of Christ is the Unification Church. It was founded in 1946by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon in Korea and, as Frederick Sontag writes in his book "Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church", later moved to Japan, America and Europe and on to more than 100 mission countries. Sontag, who spent 10 months investigating the church worldwide, has summarized the criticisms of the church. Among the charges are deception ofrecruits by the church through front organizations, conversion tech-niques which amount to brainwashing, and fundrais-ingto provide the church leaderswith an ostentatious lifestyle. Next issue, TYmothy Henning, CSLA campus min- ider for the Unification Church responds to accusa- fions that the church uses deception to draft members Monday, Lug. 5,1991 Second in a two pan serim. CSLA spiritual group responds to accusations By Daniel Dermitml. Staff writer In last week's issue, the UT interviewed people who claimedthat some spiritualgroups used deception to recruit members. The series continues with a response fi-om Timothy Henning, CSLA campus minister for the Unification Church. Charges of deception of recruits by the church have been supported by accounts given by ex-Unification members. In his book, "The Cults Are Coming", L. D. Streiker describes the experience of one Unification member who found himself locked inside a teaching camp and to whom leaving the church amounted to an escape. Rev. Timothy Henning, CSIA campus minister for the Unification Church, denied that the church uses deception and confine-ment to attract or hold members. Speaking to the U.T. in a nearby off-campus Collegiate Association for the Re-search of the Principle (CARP) center, Henning pointed out that first-time visitors to the center can immediately identify the student organization's ideological ties with the Unification Church. "The picture of Rev. Moon is everywhere in our center," he said,."on our literature the name Unification Church or CARP ... is used. It clearly identifies ourselves wherever we 90. The Reverend also said that there can be no talk of isolating people from the outside. "Mostlynowadays I teach right in thishouse right in the middle of the city," he said ' "I send people home every night because I can't put them up here." Henning further denied charges of psy- See Spiritual, page 2 UNWERSITYTHWES Spiritual (Continued from page 1) chological pressure used to convert people to Unificationism, adding that most students are too sophisticated for such methods anyway. "To say that college students don't have with them enough critical thought to discern what is truth and what is not ... is really insulting the intelligence of college students," Henning said. "Pressure defeats our purpose," he said, "We cannot have that kind of member who's just saying yes because he's forced to. Thatkind of member is of no value to us." But if that is the case where do alle-gations, such as those described by Streiker, come from? Henning said that hearsay evidence is among the factors giving rise to such charges. He also said that allegations against the Unification Church often simply reflect the belief of many that conversion is nothing other than a psy-chosis. He also sees allegations against the church as deliberate attemps to scare people away from the Unification Church. Accordingto Henning so-called exit counselors, individuals who help members of alleged cults to break their ties with the organization, try to make money by instilling fear in society thereby increasing their clientele, mostly parents who demand the ser-vice for their children. CARP, on the other hand, receives only voluntary donations from its mem-bers. Luke Diamond, the organization's president and a senior majoringin com-puter science said, "We are not tryingto make a profit." Diamond said that specific charges are made only to cover the group's ex-penses such as special activities. What remains are two very different pictures of both the L.A. Church of Christ and the Unification Church. Members ofboth organizations repeat-edly stressed the sincerity of their reli-gious beliefs and denied unethical con-duct on the part of their churches. Oth-ers, however, insist that through pres-sure and deception the groups violate the personal freedom of their members.

UNIV RSITYrim S L.A. Church of Christ former member responds to U. T. article Dear Editor: of immediate concern. I can attest that the group was manipulative and mind controlling in their use and practice of scripture, and should be revealed to t-he college age adult. I myself got involved not too long after graduat I'm writing in response to the ing from college while overseas recent issue of your publication. I teaching English in Japan. College especially believe that the work students are a prime target of dedone by Daniel Dermitzel was re- structive groups, due to their moldvealing and helpful for college stu- ability and idealism as young inteldents. The article i's concerning the ligent adults, who often believe in Los Angeles Church of Christ, changing the world for the better, linked to the Boston Church of and "making a difference." Christ. Articles like this are good because Being a former member of 13 months duration in the Los Angeles Church of Christ, I consider what Mr. Reginald Greene says (he was interviewed in the article), as a trustworthy report on this organi- zation which has been banned from campuses and spotted by the Cult Awareness Network and the Jew- ish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles as a destructive group I they warn students not to let people take advantage of the good that they have in them, and want to do. I hope you continue to publish articles on cults and cult issues, as these type of groups are actually growing in the free world. Thank you. Howard W. Elmer Los Angeles Resident

(Title) By Figginald (Raggoel D. Greene At this time I am a part time student at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and the current president of CARES, _Quit Awareness ELEaources, at CSULA. On 8-13-91 at about 5:40 p.m., I saw Ed Franklin Heinlein, Los Angeles Church of Christ member walking toward the telephones in King Hall (at CSULA) on the first floor. I went to the campus phone to call University Police. (University Police wanted to talk to Ed Franklin Heinlein, since he had harassed me in the past.) Ed Heinlein hung the phone up at least five times, while I attempted to call University Police. He told me he was going to keep hanging up the phone that I was using. There were plenty of people walking by who observed this. Before he left King Hall, he started tearing down flyers that had been posted by CARES, Q_ult Awareness Bfdources. He left King Hall and went to the Music building, while in the Music building he continued to tear down flyers. He told me that I had a penis problem. He left the music building and headed down to parking lot F. He came back up and went back down. In the process of this, Ed Franklin Heinlein, Los Angeles Church of Christ member, called me a "BOY!" (four different times.) He said, "You, crazy animal you." At one point he charged at me down a flight of stairs. (The stairs that lead up from Circle Drive, up to King Hall at California State University, Los Angeles.) I said, *Donl touch me." Then again, he charged at me. Again, I said, "Don't touch me." But, he missed each time. He said, "You crazy whatever you are!' He said, 'You are queer or something." At this point, he headed back toward parking lot F. I located a parking patrol person who called University Police. On this day, the University Police was unable to locate Ed Franklin Heinlein. At least three people witnessed part of the details in the above paragraph. The quotes above were recorded on audio cassette. Before this time, I talked to University Police and the Center for Student Life at California State University, Los Angeles about numerous flyers that I posted disappearing much faster than any other flyers that had been posted by other organizations. Both offices needed proof of who was taking the flyers before they could take action. (Sub Title) I saw Ed Franklin Heinlein, Los Angeles Church of Christ member, in the Eagle's Landing, (at California State University, Los Angeles) Wednesday, 10-23-91, 4:05 p.m. with a tray of food. He saw me and started to head in my direction. He set his food down and continued to head in my direction. He came over to me and got right in my face and said, (in a harsh tone) *Do you want a good picture of me? (A picture was taken of Ed Franklin Heinlein to positively identify him to the University Police.) Well, do you want me to have to sit right down here and talk to you.* I was having a bite to eat with a nice lady before I was rudely confronted by Ed Heinlein. I said, "Do you want to wait for the police to come and settle this?" Ed Heinlein continued to taunt me. I walked toward the phone; Ed followed me. Ed said, *You better not call (the University Police) If you know what is good for youl" I proceeded to call the University Police and Ed walked out of my sight. Once the University Police arrived, I did not know where Ed Heinlein went. An eyewitness to this event came forward and reported that they saw him right outside of the side door of the Eagle's Landing patio in the corner. Two different eyewitnesses added that he was looking up each time someone exited out the door and that he was eating in a hurry. The University Police said I could leave now and that they would talk to Ed Heinlein. I proceeded to leave while feeling very thankful that the eyewitness came forward with that essential information. When the University Police first came and before we knew the location of Ed Heinlein, one of the Policemen told mis that I could have a restraining order placed on him, since I had documented previous harassment done by him, Since the UMversity Police at CSULA spoke to Ed, I have not been harassed. I have spoken to CSULA students who have said that they have been harassed by LACC members since the harassment that I received took place. Flyers that have been posted by CARES continue to disappear, but at a slower rate now. This is after the Center for Student Life at CSULA wrote LACC members two different letters to stop taking down the flyers. The first letter was dated June 21, 1991 and the second one dated August 12, 1991. 1 do not mind people taking flyers with a genuine desire to read them; they are welcomed to keep them. I do appreciate those persons who have taken flyers to re-post them later, thanks to them. Many people have read the flyers posted by CARES before they were removed. Many who have read the CARES flyers have expressed their gratitude to the CARES organization for providing ft much needed and accurate information on the subject of cults. JUNE 1, 1992 Copyright C 1992 Reginald D. Greene -- Carson, California

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April 17, 1999 WARNING! A link to an International Churches of Christ affilated Web site. HOPE for Kids Day - 1999 Los Angeles (Web master note. I can not think of a single time when the media has covered a HOPE for Kids Day event, same day of or day after and has made the connection between the International Church of Christ, HOPE for Kids Day, and the controversy about whether or not the International Church of Christ is a cult.)

The connection between the International Churches of Christ and HOPE for Kids Day.

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