Message #7472 - CULT_WATCH Date : 21-Nov-90 03:04 From : Janardana Dasa To : Rowan Moonstone Subject : Can, Scp References... Replies : #7471 <--> #7473 > You bet I want to know more. Spill the beans. I'm listening. BB > Rowan I was beginning to think no one wanted to know! First of all, a little background information is in order: In 1986, after 8 or so years as a fringe (sometimes serious) member of the Hare Krishna movement, I left "for good." I felt bitter about in-fighting, politics, etc., and thought the entire religion was at fault rather than the offending parties, which is probably the case in many horrid "cult stories." After a year or so mucking about in Chicago trying to make a living, I came into contact with members of the Cult Awareness Network, both the Executive Director (interim), Mary Krone of Crystal Lake, and the past Executive Director, Reginald Alev of Skokie. In no time my disgust with the Hare Krishna's turned to hate, fear, paranoia and more after their "counselling" and "assurances". There are very few "ex" Hare Krishna's available to CAN, therefore I became a hot item, a propaganda tool to be pulled out where and when they wanted. I did their TV talk show circuit, radio shows, newspapers, and spoke at scores of local CAN meetings, and even stood on various CAN committee projects, like the Jonestown Memorial project in San Francisco. In time, as all good "ex-members" do, I had my first taste of blood (so-to- speak), when CAN orchestrated the kidnapping and deprogramming of William Crocket, a ten year member of an off-shoot of the Krishna movement. I took part in the crime believing the whole time that what I was doing was for his own good - because we, CAN, knew better. We were the judges of what is good and what is bad religion, and no crime great or small was beyond our limits to prove just that. During the deprogramming of Billy, we subjected him to countless humiliations and degradations "to drive our point home." He was forced to view over and over again various Hitler videos, scenes from the Jonestown massacre movie, Stalin parades, Hitler again, Jonestown again, on and on, all the while we were telling him he was in a similar situation "jonestown... JONEStown.. JONESTOWN!," like some sick chant. At any rate, the attempt was a triumph for Billy, who rode through the deprograming fighting all the way and winning in the end. CAN supplied 3 of the nations top deprogrammers, and myself, inexperienced but fired-up, plus 5 or six security men, and the event took over eight days and we couldn't crack Billy. After the ordeal, my guilt weighed so heavily that I began to question higher-up's in CAN about the ethics involved. What right did we have to abuse another human being's freedom, violate his body, hold him in a bedroom prison, abuse his mind, and otherwise strip him of his human rights and dignities? My questions were responded to across the board with "Shut up." "You'll never do another deprogramming as long as you live," "Leave the issue alone." etc. I spent the next year still within the outskirts of CAN investigating for myself just what went on. In October of last year, I got together with Billy Crocket (my victim), and we held a big press conference in NYC wherein I publicly apologized to him, and denounced CAN. Since then, I have been the victim of threats, harrassment, propaganda and lies, and denials from CAN that they ever knew me, despite the documentation, news articles, etc., that prove otherwise. The investigations, with the aid of Baltimore-based Friends of Freedom, inc., netted stacks of files on CAN and their henchmen deprogrammers that includes countless felony arrests for kidnapping, cocaine posession, assault with the intent to commit murder, soliciting lewdness (CAN's president), and now a current investigation into CAN for spreading racial and/or religious Hate propaganda and committing Hate Crimes (under the gov't's new Hate Crimes Act). Again, all this is clearly documented in our files and is available to anyone interested, some on disk, most on paper. A few examples: 1989 - San Diego, CA. Ginger Brown, a member of a small Christian Church called Great Among Nations, is kidnapped and held against her will for three days. She manages to escape after sustaining more than 250 bruises and lacerations at the hands of deprogrammer Cliff Daniels. Daniels is charged with Kidnapping and assault, but is acquitted when Ginger could not press the issue against her parents, who contacted CAN for the deprogrammers...) 1988 - Pittsburg, PA. Gwynn Fintell (Gopi-priya Devi), a Hare Krishna member, is abducted from a highway rest area, forced into the back of a van and held for two weeks against her will until she "recanted" her faith (she faked it though and immediately returned to her husband and family). 1990 - Louisville, KY. A Unification Church member is abducted and held in a vacant house on the outskirts of town while deprogrammers worked on her. Police, however, were tipped off by suspicious neighbors and the girls pleading husband, and upon arriving at the scene found the girl bound and released her. I may be taking up too much space here, but the list of cases is endless. What is CAN's authority? First and foremost it's an anti- religious agenda that dates back to it's beginnings. Next it's racial. Almost ALL the churches they attack are either founded by or currently led by NON-WHITE AMERICANS. CAN doesn't care, for example, that an Indian boy might join the Hare Krishna temple, since that's his culture, that's normal. But God forbid any white Amerikan boy joining - then it's a cult! Ah well, if you're interested in more, I can be reached on the Krishna Yoga Foundation BBS Echo's (FNET and KRISHA), or by mail: Rel. Freedom Proj. 1744 W. Devon, Box 86, Chgo, IL 60660. Hare Krishna. --- RBBSMail 17.3A # Origin: Krishna Yoga Foundation HST Chicago 312/743-6116 (RBBS * Origin: Network Echogate (1:129/34) Message #8780 - CULT_WATCH Date : 26-Nov-90 06:00 From : Intruder One To : Janarda Dasa Subject : Can, Etc Mr Dasa, or should I say Mr. Nordquist? I have been reading with interest about your comments on CAN and such. Let's begin with your "connection' with CAN. In fact you were not in on any "deprogrammings" but was taken in by an elderly lady in CA that thought you wan't out of your group. Then you repaid her by taking all sorts of files with you when you left. You are not a part of CAN and probably never were. As for you being at CAN national, let's talk about that for awhile. I did see you in Chicago at the conference having a 'birthday' party in the lobby. Running thru the halls with baloons was a nice touch. Basically, I will respond to your comments and give a different view as to what you are doing. By the way, I am NOT a member of CAN national, but someone interested in what they do. I have found this whole subject very interesting. I also enjoy you folly of making all this anti-religion on the part of CAN. In fact many different religions were represented at the CAN national, including a few pagans. Also your reference to attacking non-whites, many of the participants were of minority groups that were victims of white-supremacy groups. So, if you were there, you show me you had a hidden agenda as to what you were doing there.