Scientology Lies

by Julia Turner

An anti-cult campaign has been launched by the Students Administrative Council at the University of Toronto in an effort to stem what it calls growing recruitment by cultists on campus.

The student council has put its stamp on a $300 pamphlet, which is highly critical of cults, and is distributing it to U of T students. It was written by the Council on Mind Abuse, an anti-cult organization.

The pamphlet begins: "A serious mental health problem has been created in Canada by the emergence of cults using psychologically coercive methods to ensnare members. Association with these predatory groups can be disastrous for members, their families and friends." Student council president Peter Galway, who calls the leaflet preventive medicine, said in an interview yesterday, "Canada and especially Toronto are becoming greater hotbeds for recruitment. The U of T is a natural place for cultists to work." He said representatives of some cults have complained to him that the leaflet is biased and one- sided.

Kathleen Kerr, a medical doctor who graduated from the U of T in 1971 and who is a member of the Church of Scientology, referred to the student council as "obviously a CIA-sponsored group," in a letter to Mr. Galway.

Mr. Galway called her letter "very aggressive and verging on insulting." But Dr. Kerr said yesterday that the criticisms raised in the pamphlet "could apply to any religion and also to organizations such as the Salvation Army and Alcoholics Anonymous. "At the university, religious freedom and freedom of information are very important. The university is not a good place to promote such a controversial leaflet," she said.

The pamphlet warns students who are feeling totally overwhelmed by a decision, who feel the world is falling apart around them or who are alone and lonely that they are particularly vulnerable to cult influences.

Under a section, Beware of the Recruiter, the pamplet includes this advice: Beware of people with magical answers or solutions to world problems. Beware of people who are excessively or inappropriately friendly. Beware of invitations to isolated weekend workshops having nebulous goals. Beware of people who recruit you through guilt.

Under a section, Cult Techniques of Psychological Coercion, the following are described: Isolation - loss of reality induced by physical separation from society and rational references. Peer group pressure - suppression of doubt and resistance to new ideas, achieved by exploiting the natural need to belong. Love bombing - sense of family and belonging contrived through hugging, kissing, touching and flattery. Sleep deprivation and fatigue.

Financial commitment - increased dependence on the group, achieved through the donation of all assets.

Ian Haworth, a member of COMA and the pamphlet's author, said in an interview that many cult organizations are active on the U of T campus. He said they include followers of self-proclaimed Korean prophet Sun Myung Moon, under the guise of the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles, and the Canadian Unity and Freedom Federation, Transcendental Meditation, Emissaries of Divine Light and Erhard Seminars Training.

Alan Wilding, vice-president of the Unification Church of Canada - a so-called Moonie organization, said the leaflet is an indication of "paranoia running through the student body at the moment."