I actually don't feel Eric the red meant anything personal by it just that it was a handy way to dimiss my own and Amos' experiences. Just thought I'd say that. Perhaps he also thought ther term means something other than what it does. EtR is OK.

The page I linked to shows a little of what I was discussing regarding the vehemence of the Anti-Cult movement. if you look down the page to the bibliographic references, you will see a classic Anti-Cult work entitled KINGDOM OF THE CULTS - a book that if you read it today ould appall you in its small-mindedness of 1960s spirtual movements.

Another interesting thing is how the world 'cult' is viewed in different countries. It simply means 'sect'and is still used that way in French common usage. It wasn't until some very angry British parents of young adults who joined The Processs sued in court to have them declared as incompetants (circa 1965) that the word came to its present association with mind control.

The Processeans were a fascinating grouo, one that still exists here in the United States as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. They have attemtped to go mainstream Christian and leave their Tri-une appraoch of Jehovah/Lucifer/Satan behind them. Their founders were dissident Scientology students. Their legal cases in the United States and in England are important ones in terms of freedom of religion and rights to worship. One could argue that as misguided as they seemed to be, they advanced the rights of everyone who wants to not have to worry about the parents labelling them insane for leaving Christianity for paganism or other more experimental-seeming faiths. (The Processeans had a decidely pagan bent in their first 10 years which faded after the ouster of the original leader, Robert De Grimston.)

Well, that's more than anyone needed to read I'm sure. I'll stop now. This isn't class after all.