Crazy For God: Edwards tells of life in cult
—Usually characterized by a
leader who claims divinity or a
special relationship with God.
—The leader or founders
(usually living) demand ab
solute and unquestioning obe
dience and are the sole judges
of the member’s faith.
—Members are preoccupied
with fundraising, recruiting,
and worship exercises.
-Meaningful communication
with family is sharply curtailed
and the cult becomes - the
member’s new Family.
-Members put goals of the cult
ahead of individual concerns,
interests, educational goals, or
career plans.
—Cults utilize sophisticated
techniques designed to effect
ego-destruction.^ thought
reform, and dependence on
tire cult.
—Members may be guarded,
vague, or secretive about
beliefs, goals, demands and ac
tivities until one is hooked.
—The cult may maintain
members in a state of heighten
ed suggestability through
changes in sleep and diet, in
tense spiritual exercise, cons
tant indoctrination, and con
trolled group experiences.
■ Things to look out for as
signs of a recuiter include:
-People who are excessively
or inappropriately friendly.
—People with simplistic
answers or solutions to com
plex world problems.
—People with invitations to free
meals and lectures.
(This is the second of a
two-part series on a lecture
given by former Moonie and
author Chris Edwards. Part II
begins with Edwards’ fourth
week as a member of the
Unification Church. It describes
the remainder of Edwards’ nine
month stay in the cult, and
eventual deprogramming.
Plus: The signs of a cult, and a
cult recruiter. The series was
written
by .
Rick
Obritschkewitsch, editor of The
Print J
I
It was not until Edwards
had been with the Family for
four weeks before any mention
of Rev. Moon was made. As
Edwards viewed a portrait of
Moon for the first time, he
remembers seeing “a fat little
Korean businessman.” As Ed
wards bowed in front of the
portrait with the rest of the
members he asked himself, “Is
this the Messiah?
“Moon was to lead us in
the final battle in the war
against Satan,” Edwards said.
Members were told that World
War III was taking place and
Moon was leading the force of
God and democracy against
Satan and communism,”
“Korea was said to be the
new Israel. The final war would
be fought between North and
South Korea. I was also told
that Rev. Moon had dedicated
Unification Army troops to fight
the North Koreans,” Edwards
said.
“Rev. Moon was identified
as being one with God. In fact,
in one of his speeches, he said
he was greater than God. Peo
ple in the movement were
prophets-we were equals with
Jesus,” Edwards said.
“There were tales of the
great powers that Moon had,
Edwards continued. There
were things such as being able
to fly throughout the universe,
and enter dreams at will. In one
interview Moon said he talked
with Jesus, saying ‘Jesus
spoke to me in Korean, but he
spoke with a Hebrew accent’.”
Members of the move
ment would work 19 to 20
hours a day recruiting members
and_selling dead flowers.
Buying? Selling? For whatever
your needs, a classified ad in The Print
is just what you want. Call 657-8400,
ext. 309, or come by Trailer B. Adver
tising pays!
“Many people in the move
ment made $300 to $400 a
day selling flowers on the
street,” Edwards said.
In order to sell the flowers
the use of an informal doctrine
called “Heavenly Deception”
was used. The principle of
Heavenly Deception was “in
order to do good, it is
necessary to do evil. God’s
people were tricked by Satan
back, in the Garden of Eden.
Now it was time God’s people
turned the tables on Satan, and
lie for Satan’s lie. If the lie
worked, it was a ticket to
heaven,” Edwards said.
A speech has been smug
gled out of the movement in
which Moon shows the “love”
he has for his people. The
speech is as follows:
Moon: In order for us to
be able to do this (fulfill God’s
promise), would you prefer to
sleep seven hours rather than
six hours?
Members: No.
Moon: Would you prefer
to sleep six hours or five hours?
Members: Five
Moon: Would you prefer
to sleep four hours or five
hours?
Members: Four.
Moon: Would you prefer
to go to work without sleeping
or sleeping?
Members: Without sleep
ing.
Moon: I do not want you
to die, therefore I am going to
“When I realized I had
been kidnapped, I struggled
and tried to push my way out
of the car. I remember lifting
my fist, and I was about to hit
my father in the face. As I was
looking at my father, suddenly
something snapped in my
mind. I let down my fist and
slumped in the seat, and I said
to my father, ‘Thank you for
saving my life.’ Then I asked
myself, ‘Was I conning him, or
did I mean it?”
Edwards went through
what he called a “horrible ex
perience” in being deprogram
med by Patrick. “It was not the
ideal way but it was probably
the best way erf deprogramm
ing at the time,” Edwards said.
Edwards was yelled at and
made fun of during his
deprogramming. He now feels
the best way to deprogram a
person would be to “counsel
and discuss the crisis, and give
support.” ♦
It took Edwards approx
imately a year and a half to get
back to normal life.
The lecture was sponsored
by Citizens. Freedom Founda
tion and the College’s ASG.
CFF distributed pamphlets that
listed signs of a cult, and the
signs of a recruiter. Signs of a
Cult include:
let you sleep barely enough to
sustain life. What I am thinking,
although you get thin like
ghosts with big eyeballs, skinny
all over, and stooped down,
walking and studdering. But if
in your being like that we are
successful in fulfilling God’s
promise, I would prefer to have
you do that.
“I knew people in the
movement who tried to commit
suicide, simply because they
did not feel worthy of Moon’s
love,” Edwards said.
Edwards’ freedom from
the cult came as a result of con
trolled phonecalls and letters to
his parents, in which they felt
he was telling less and less
about what he was doing. Then
his mother saw an article in a
newspaper that told one of the
fronts for the Unification
Church was Creative Com
munity Projects. So Edwards’
parents got together with other
parents of members and former
members to see what could be
done.
As a result, Edwards’
parents hired déprogrammer
Ted Patrick, who was known
among cult members as “Satan
himself.” “People in the cult
dreamed about killing him, and
even prayed for his death,” Ed
wards said.
Edwards’ parents were
able to get inside and kidnap
their son after coaching from
former member parents about
how to act inside.
Scholarship Information
The information below is a list of several scholarships
available, the amounts they are worth, and the deadline for ap
plication. The information was provided by El Donna Pruitt,
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-People who pressure you
because “everyone else is do
ing it.”
—People who recruit you
through guilt.
-^Invitations to - isolated
weekend workshops having
nebulous goals.
Thomas Jefferson once
said, “There can be no
freedom of religion unless there
is freedom of the mind.”
As a sidenote: According
to a report in. the Oregon Jour
nal., Ted Patrick has decided to
quit deprogramming; currently
he has been charged with
assaulting a lesbian who he was
deprogramming.
American Association of Clackamas County Home
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page 4
Clackamas Community College
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