Friday, May 23, 2008
A controversial development training course called “Landmark Forum” is cited in religious discrimination lawsuits in United States federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C. The seminars are run by a San Francisco, California-based for-profit training company called Landmark Education. The company evolved from Erhard Seminars Training “est”, and has faced criticism regarding its techniques and its use of unpaid labor. The sperm bank and surrogacy company Los Angeles-based Growing Generations is named as a defendant in the New York lawsuit, and the Democratic political action committee Twenty-First Century Democrats is a defendant in the Washington, D.C. case.
In separate lawsuits filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, New York, and in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., former employees are suing their employers for monetary damages and claiming religious discrimination after their employers allegedly mandated that they attend courses at Landmark Education.
In the US$3 million federal lawsuit filed in New York, Scott Glasgow is suing his former employer Growing Generations and its CEO Stuart Miller. Growing Generations maintains sperm banks and also arranges surrogacy for gay couples who wish to have children. The company has offices in New York and Los Angeles, and has done business with celebrities including actor B. D. Wong of Law & Order: SVU.
Glasgow was marketing director of Growing Generations, and claims he was fired in June 2007 after refusing to continue attending Landmark Education seminars. Glasgow is also suing for sexual harassment, and claims Miller came on to him in September 2006. He made approximately $100,000 per year as the company’s marketing director, and was the company’s only employee based out of New York City. The company’s main offices are in Los Angeles.
“I was shocked when I was fired. It took me months to right myself. I want them to stop imposing Landmark on the employees, and I want an apology,” said Glasgow in a statement in The Village Voice. Brent Pelton, one of Glasgow’s attorneys, stated that: “The Landmark philosophy is deeply ingrained in the culture of the company”. Glasgow said that the Landmark Education training courses were “opposite” to his Christian beliefs. According to Glasgow he was questioned by Miller in May 2007 after he walked out of a Landmark Education course, and was fired shortly thereafter. “We stand by the allegations contained in the complaint and we look forward to proving them at trial,” said Pelton in a statement to ABC News.
Ian Wallace, an attorney who represents Growing Generations, claimed that Glasgow wasn’t fired but walked away from his position. “Growing Generations and Mr. Miller are very confident that these claims will be dismissed ultimately, and there’s no factual basis for them whatsoever,” said Wallace in a statement to The Village Voice. Lawyers representing Growing Generations and Stuart Miller declined comment to The New York Post, and did not immediately return a message from ABC News.
In Glasgow’s complaint, entered into federal court record on April 18, he asserts that Landmark Education constitutes a “religion”, and “perceived their philosophy as a form of religion that contradicted his own personal beliefs”. He states that when he was promoted to Director of Marketing, he asked Miller if he could stop attending the Landmark sessions but was told that they were mandatory for all of the company’s executives and that Landmark is “very much the language of the company.” Glasgow said his performance at the company was assessed based on how he was “touching, moving and inspiring” others, a phrase from the Landmark philosophy, as opposed to his business accomplishments at the company. The complaint claims that the actions of Miller and Growing Generations violated Federal, New York State and New York City civil rights laws.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. deals with a separate plaintiff and company, but the plaintiff in the suit also claims that religious discrimination took place for allegedly being mandated to attend Landmark Education courses. Kenneth Goldman is suing the United States Democratic political action committee Twenty-First Century Democrats (also 21st Century Democrats) and its former executive director Kelly Young. Goldman was formerly the communications director of 21st Century Democrats.
According to Goldman’s complaint, three employees of 21st Century Democrats were fired after refusing to attend the Landmark Forum course. The complaint asserts that Landmark Education has “religious characteristics and theological implications” which influenced the mission of 21st Century Democrats and the way the organization conducted business. Goldman’s complaint states that in addition to himself, a training director and field director were also fired after they made it clear they would not attend the Landmark Forum.
Goldman says executive director Young infused Landmark Education jargon terms into staff meetings such as “create possibilities”, “create a new context”, and “enroll in possibilities”. He also claims that Young “urged” staff members to participate in Landmark Education events outside of the workplace, drove employees to and from Landmark functions, and used funds from 21st Century Democrats to pay for employees to attend those functions. Goldman’s complaint asserts that he was discriminated against in violation of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act.
In a statement in The Washington Times, the executive director of 21st Century Democrats, Mark Lotwis, called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said: “we’re going to defend our organization’s integrity”. Landmark Education spokeswoman Deborah Beroset said that the Landmark Forum “is in no way religious in nature and any claim to the contrary is simply absurd,” and stated: “While we are not a party to this lawsuit and have no firsthand knowledge of it, we can only assume that we are being used as a legal and political football to further the plaintiff”s own financial interests.”
The New York lawsuit was filed April 14, and is still in early filing stages. A conference with the federal court judge in the case has been scheduled for June 17. The Washington, D.C. suit began in November 2007, and entered mediation this past March. As of April 15 the parties in the case were due back to court on July 11 to update the court on the mediation process.
Landmark Education is descended from Erhard Seminars Training, also called “est”, which was founded by Werner Erhard. est began in 1971, and Erhard’s company Werner Erhard and Associates repackaged the course as “The Forum” in 1985. Associates of Erhard bought the license to his “technology” and incorporated Landmark Education in California in 1991.
This is not the first time employees have sued claiming mandatory attendance at “Forum” workshops violated their civil rights. In a lawsuit filed in December 1988 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, eight employees of DeKalb Farmers Market in Decatur, Georgia sued their employer claiming their religious freedom and civil rights were violated when they were allegedly coerced into attending “Forum” training sessions. “Many of these training programs, particularly at large corporations, claim to be purely psychological, aimed at improving productivity and morale and loyalty. But in fact they are religious,” said University of Denver religious studies professor Carl Raschke in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.
The DeKalb Farmers Market employees were represented by lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union. Consulting Technologies Inc., an affiliate of Transformational Technologies Inc., was named as a party in the lawsuit. Transformational Technologies was founded by Werner Erhard, and was not named as a party in the suit. The “Forum” course that the employees claimed they were mandated to attend was developed by Werner Erhard and Associates. Employees said that they were fired or pressured to quit after they objected to the Forum courses.
The workers claimed that the Forum course contradicted with their religious beliefs. The plaintiffs in the suit included adherents of varying religious backgrounds, including Christianity and Hinduism. “The sessions put people into a hibernating state. They ask for total loyalty. It’s like brainwashing,” said Dong Shik Kim, one of the plaintiffs in the case. The plaintiffs said they lost their jobs after objecting to a “new age quasi-religious cult” which they said was developed by Werner Erhard.
The DeKalb Farmers Market denied the allegations, and an attorney for the company Edward D. Buckley III told The Wall Street Journal that employees were encouraged, not coerced, to attend the training sessions. According to The Wall Street Journal, The Forum said it would not sanction workers being coerced to attend its training sessions.
The parties in the DeKalb Farmers Market religious discrimination case came to a settlement in May 1989, and the case was dismissed with prejudice in June. The terms of the out-of-court settlement were not made public, but the employees’ attorney Amy Totenberg told The Wall Street Journal that the case “has made employers come to grips with the legitimate boundaries of employee training”.
According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers must “reasonably accommodate” their employees’ religious beliefs unless this creates “undue hardship”. In September 1988, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a policy-guidance notice which stated that New Age courses should be handled under Title VII of the Act. According to the Commission, employers must provide “reasonable accommodation” if an employee challenges a training course, unless this causes “undue hardship” for the company.
In October 2006, Landmark Education took legal action against Google, YouTube, the Internet Archive and a website owner in Queensland, Australia in attempts to remove criticism of its products from the Internet. The company sought a subpoena under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in an attempt to discover the identity of an anonymous critic who uploaded a 2004 French documentary of the Landmark Forum to the Internet. “Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous” (Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus) was produced by Pièces à Conviction, a French investigative journalism news program. The Electronic Frontier Foundation represented the anonymous critic and the Internet Archive, and Landmark withdrew its subpoena in November 2006 in exchange for a promise from the anonymous critic not to repost the video.
Landmark Education itself has come under scrutiny for its controversial labor practices. The company has been investigated by the United States Department of Labor in separate investigations originating out of California, Colorado, and Texas. Investigations focused on the heavy reliance of unpaid labor in the company’s workforce, which Landmark Education calls “assistants” and deems volunteers.
An investigation by the U.S. Dept. Labor based out of Colorado found that activities performed by Landmark Education’s “assistants” include: “office, clerical, telephone solicitation and enrollment, as well as greeting customers, setting up chairs, handling microphones during the seminars and making coffee. Additionally, a number of volunteers actually teach the courses and provide testimonials during and after the courses.” The Colorado investigation’s 1996 report found that “No records are kept of any hours worked by any employees.” According to a 1998 article in Metro Silicon Valley: “In the end the Department of Labor dropped the issue, leaving Landmark trumpeting about its volunteers’ choice in the matter.” Metro Silicon Valley reported that Landmark Education at the time employed 451 paid staff, and also utilized the services of 7,500 volunteers.
After an investigation into Landmark Education’s labor practices by the U.S. Dept. Labor’s offices out of California, the company was deemed to have overtime violations. According to the Department of Labor’s 2004 report on the investigation, back wages of $187,569.01 were found due to 45 employees. An investigation by the U.S. Dept. Labor in Texas which concluded in 2005 stated: “Minimum wage violation found. Volunteers (Assistants) are not paid any wages for hours worked while performing the major duties of the firm. The assistants set up rooms, call registrants, collect fees, keep stats of classroom data/participants, file, they also are answering phones, training and leading seminars.”
The Texas investigation also discovered an overtime violation. Landmark Education agreed to pay back wages for the overtime violation, but did not comply with the overtime violation found by the U.S. Dept. Labor for the “assistants”. Landmark Education denied that the “assistants” are employees, though the Department of Labor report concluded: “Interviews reveal that the employees are taking payments, registering clients, billing, training, recruiting, setting up locations, cleaning, and other duties that would have to be performed by staff if the assistants did not perform them.”
According to the 2004 investigative report by Pièces à Conviction in the “Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous” program, Landmark Education was investigated by the French government in 1995. In the “Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous” program volunteers were filmed through a hidden camera and shown performing duties for Landmark Education in France including manning phones, recruitment and financial work for the company, and one volunteer was shown cleaning a toilet.
Le Nouvel Observateur reported that after “Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous” aired in France, labor inspectors investigated Landmark Education’s use of unpaid volunteers. According to Le Nouvel Observateur, one month after the labor investigation took place the French branch of the company had disbanded. A former “Introduction Leader” to the Landmark Forum, Lars Bergwik, has recently posted a series of videos to YouTube critical of the company and its practices. Bergwik appeared on a 2004 investigative journalism program on Sweden’s Channel 4, Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts). According to Bergwik, after the Kalla Fakta program on Landmark Education aired, “Landmark left Sweden”.
Related news
Sources
- “Lawsuit Claims Sex Harassment, Cultish Behavior“. ABC News, May 23, 2008
- “Sperm bank employee claims harassment“. United Press International, May 22, 2008
- Kati Cornell “Bondage Boss Is A Bad Seed: Suit“. New York Post, May 22, 2008
- Graham Rayman “Suit Against Sperm-Bank Firm Claims Sexual Harassment and Cult-Like Behavior“. Village Voice, May 20, 2008
- Lars Bergwik “Landmark Education Lars Bergwik part 1“. YouTube, May 6, 2008
- Jim McElhatton “Democratic PAC faces lawsuit for employee ‘religious events’“. The Washington Times, November 27, 2007
- David Wachtel (attorney for plaintiff) “Kenneth Goldman v. Twenty-First Century Democrats“. United States District Court for the District of Columbia, November 19, 2007
- Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Dept. Labor (Texas) “Compliance Action Report - Landmark Education“. United States Department of Labor, June 26, 2007
- Marie Lemonnier “With the gurus wearing neckties: 395 euros for three days“. Le Nouvel Observateur, May 19, 2005
- Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Dept. Labor (California) “Narrative Report (FLSA) - Landmark Education“. United States Department of Labor, December 8, 2004
- Traci Hukill “The est of Friends: Werner Erhard’s protégés and siblings carry the torch for a ’90s incarnation of the ’70s ‘training’ that some of us just didn’t get“. Metro Silicon Valley, July 9, 1998
- Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Dept. Labor (Colorado) “Compliance Action Report - Landmark Education“. United States Department of Labor, May 4, 1996
- Margaret Singer “Intruding into the Workplace“. Cults in Our Midst, 1995
- “‘New Age’ Training Suit Against Market Settled Out of Court“. The Wall Street Journal, May 31, 1989
- George White (Los Angeles Times) “Employees strike back against ‘human potential seminars’“. Times Union, March 25, 1989
- Martha Brannigan “Employers’ ‘New Age’ Training Programs Lead to Lawsuits Over Workers’ Rights“. The Wall Street Journal, January 9, 1989
- Martha Brannigan “Training Course Sparks U.S. Suit By Market Workers“. The Wall Street Journal, December 8, 1988
Lars Bergwik was an “Introduction Leader” to the Landmark Forum course at Landmark Education. He is now speaking out publicly against Landmark Education in video posts on YouTube.
I think his videos speak best for themselves so I will just say go watch them. If you don’t have much time, just watch the first one.
Here are his videos about Landmark (there are seven so far):
Landmark Education Lars Bergwik part 1
Landmark Education Lars Bergwik Video part 2
Landmark Education - Lars Bergwik on Randy McNamara - FL
Landmark Education - Lars talks part one
Landmark Education - Lars talks part two
Landmark education -Lars talks part three
Landmark Eduction - Lars talks part four
Some links:
Discussion thread about it at Cult Education Forum
Discussion thread about it at alt.fan.landmark
Blog post at The Macho Response: Go, Lars, Go!!!
Why did Landmark Education Leave France? - Cult News
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Australia’s Department of Defence spent thousands of dollars on controversial development seminars, Australian media reported Wednesday. The seminars are run by a San Francisco, California-based training company called Landmark Education. The company evolved from Erhard Seminars Training “est”, and has faced criticism regarding its techniques and its use of unpaid labor.
Australia’s Defence Minister Warren Snowdon said that the government is in the process of reviewing Defence Department expenditures on career development. “We’re in the process now of doing an audit, completely unrelated with anything to do with Landmark, which is being undertaken into learning and development to make sure that they meet our needs. … We have to be very sure that the courses that people do undertake are relevant, appropriate and indeed in line with what community expectations might be,” said Snowdon in an appearance on ABC Radio.
The Australian and Australia’s ABC News reported that Landmark Education had been listed in France as a “possible cult” in the mid 1990s. When asked about this on ABC Radio, a spokeswoman for the company in the United States, Deborah Beroset, responded: “What happened in France was that a commission established by the French parliament issued a report in which they listed almost 200 organisations as being possible cults … We were never contacted. We were inappropriately included in that list”.
In a program which aired Wednesday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program AM reported that Australia’s Defence Department spent at least AUD12,270 of taxpayer funds to send government employees to Landmark Education courses. According to AM, the Defence Department said it does not appear that further funds have been sent to Landmark Education since 2004.
In a statement released by the Defence Department, the government stated: “A search of Defence records does not indicate exactly how many individuals attended courses with this training provider, however it is believed it was a small number of individuals. … Defence has been unable to determine individual reasons for why groups within Defence choose this training provider.”
AM also reported that the use of unpaid labor by Landmark Education “has attracted the attention of the US and French governments,” and that some individuals in the mental health field have accused the company of brainwashing. When asked about the allegations by mental health experts that Landmark Education’s techniques amounted to brainwashing, Deborah Beroset responded: “Well, there is absolutely no credence to that whatsoever.”
In a March 9 article in the Herald Sun, Peter Rolfe reported that taxpayer money was used to send at least 37 police and government staff from Victoria, Australia to seminars run by Landmark Education. Police and Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron said that “Decisions on the appropriateness of staff attending courses by Landmark Education are made by individual managers who remain best-placed to assess the development needs of their staff,” but State Liberal MP Murray Thompson told the Herald Sun that the funds should have been put towards fighting crime. Apple Inc., Reebok and Mercedes-Benz have sent employees to Landmark Education seminars, according to a spokeswoman for Landmark.
In October 2006, Landmark Education took legal action against Google, YouTube, the Internet Archive and a website owner in Queensland, Australia in attempts to remove criticism of its products from the Internet. The company sought a subpoena under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in an attempt to discover the identity of an anonymous critic who uploaded a 2004 French documentary of the Landmark Forum to the Internet. “Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous” (Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus) was produced by Pièces à Conviction, a French investigative journalism news program. The Electronic Frontier Foundation represented the anonymous critic and the Internet Archive, and Landmark withdrew its subpoena in November 2006 in exchange for a promise from the anonymous critic not to repost the video.
Landmark Education is descended from Erhard Seminars Training, also called “est”, which was founded by Werner Erhard. est began in 1971, and Erhard’s company Werner Erhard and Associates repackaged the course as “The Forum” in 1985. Associates of Erhard bought the license to his “technology” and incorporated Landmark Education in California in 1991.
Sources
- “Defence sends staff on ‘cult’ courses: The Department of Defence has spent thousands of dollars on professional development courses run by an organisation listed in France as a possible cult“. The Australian, April 2, 2008
- Daniel Hoare “Defence Dept under fire over professional development spending“. AM (ABC Radio), April 2, 2008
- “Defence workers trained by ‘cult’: The Defence Department has admitted some of its personnel have undertaken professional development courses run by an organisation that had been listed as a possible cult“. ABC News (Australia), April 2, 2008
- “Defence Dept under fire over professional development courses (AM)“. AM (ABC Radio), April 2, 2008
- “Govt doing audit of Defence Dept professional development courses (AM)“. AM (ABC Radio), April 2, 2008
- Peter Rolfe “We pay for seminars: Taxpayers are picking up the bill to send police officers and bureaucrats on a controversial personal enlightenment course“. Herald Sun, March 9, 2008
- K.C. Jones “Landmark Drops Copyright Infringement Subpoenas On Google And Anonymous Critic: Landmark sought a subpoena to find out who posted hidden camera footage from an event held by the French branch of the organization“. InformationWeek, December 1, 2006
- “Landmark and the Internet Archive“. Electronic Frontier Foundation, November 29, 2006
- Traci Hukill “The est of Friends: Werner Erhard’s protégés and siblings carry the torch for a ’90s incarnation of the ’70s ‘training’ that some of us just didn’t get“. Metro Silicon Valley, July 9, 1998
Some Large Group Awareness Training related news, information and postings:
Related to our prior post, Mankind Project or Dancing Naked With Other Men While Beating Cooked Chickens, in a post “Article raises questions about New Warriors Adventure” - Professor of Psychology Dr. Warren Throckmorton cites strange practices by the group including: Blindfolded walking tours in the nude; People blowing sage smoke in his face while 50 or so naked men danced around candles; Men sitting naked in a circle discussing their sexual histories while passing a wooden dildo called “The Cock”; and of course, Naked men beating cooked chickens with a hammer.
“Landmark Forum and the Red Flags” is an amusing, humorous satirical parody play discussing what the writer refers to as the “Formicans”, and a character’s research through both direct experience and (wisely so) also through research on the internet about this fictional parody group.
The Cult News Network provides a link to an “Ongoing legal complaint re: Werner Erhard on Wikipedia ?” The issue is also discussed at the Cult Education Forum, under the topic: “Large Group Awareness Training, ‘Human Potential’ “
Echidne of the Snakes has an interesting piece called “A Guest Post on the Mankind Project.” The writer cites the Houston Press article, “Naked Men: The Mankind Project and Michael Scinto.” However, the most interesting quote from the Echidne of the Snakes post, would probably be a warning about secrecy related to Large Group Awareness Training organizations: “Secrecy can be a good thing, but insisting on secrecy on this level should make us worried.”
The Post of Athens, Ohio in an article called “Conquering coercion” has some very valuable information about coercive groups, and provides a list of “Warning Signs for College Students”. In its research for the piece, The Post consulted with psychologist Dr. Paul Martin, director of the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center. Dr. Martin was influenced by the work of Harvard-trained psychiatrist Dr. Robert Lifton, who wrote about the Eight Criteria for Thought Reform.
Dr. Doni Whitsett discussed deceptive mind control techniques and tactics often used by “destructive groups”, in an article in the Daily Trojan. Dr. Whitsett gave some advice to parents of potential victims of these deceptive practices: “Don’t be discouraged by resistance … Kids will remember your questions when they begin to doubt. Question, but don’t give advice.” This is very good advice, because through questioning and asking good points and probing into the background of some of these deceptive groups, the parents can begin to restimulate the rational skepticism of their child that may have been laying dormant as a result of harmful tactics they may have experienced.
On October 24, 2007, the Daily Orange, a student newspaper in Syracuse, New York, posted an article entitled: “Drinking the Kool Aid: Cults target college students in recruitment.” This article discussed the presence of cults on the Syracuse University campus, and also gave information from cult expert Carol Giambalvo, a member of the board of directors for the International Cultic Studies Association, and Syracuse University dean of Hendricks Chapel, Thomas Wolfe. Giambalvo stated that cults can masquerade as activist, self-improvement and religious groups.
If you go to the Web page where this article was located, you can no longer read the article on “Drinking the Kool Aid.” Instead a notice is displayed from the editor, stating that the Daily Orange removed the body of the article because it contained “libel,” and they apologized to “the parties involved.” Unfortunately, we do not know specifically what the allegation of libel was regarding, and what group made the allegation of libel, or even what groups were specifically analyzed in the article itself. It is certainly possible that one of the groups mentioned in the article contacted the paper and alleged a cry of “libel,” in order to get critical information quickly taken off of the internet. It is also possible that the Daily Orange editor, with no external provocation, chose to censor their own article without any actual threats or complaints from any outside group. At the moment, that key fact is not publicly known. But the censorship itself did occur.
The comments section below the notice from the editor is still active, and the readers have made eight interesting key comments about the censorship of the article. One commenter posted a quick and funny note one hour after the censorship: “Quick….to the lawyers. Truth be damned.” Others have hazarded guesses about which group may have complained resulting in the censorship of the Daily Orange. We will not make guesses ourselves about that, and instead allow you to read the comments at their site and discuss and rationalize for yourselves what may have provoked this censorship.
Interestingly enough and of direct relation to our site’s title, the eighth and last commenter below the censored article discussed Large Group Awareness Training, and also spoke positively of his experiences with the group Landmark Forum. Was Landmark Forum discussed in the censored Daily Orange article? Well, we do not know for sure, because the article is removed, but it is interesting that others are commenting about it, both positively and negatively, in the comments section below the article. However, Landmark Forum has been referred to by academics as a form of Large Group Awareness Training. One such recent reference would be:
Rubinstein, Gidi. “Characteristics of participants in the Forum, psychotherapy clients, and control participants: A comparative study”, Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, (2005) 78, 481-492. The British Psychological Society.
The article is a very interesting read. Whether or not Landmark Education was mentioned in the article aside, it is most intriguing to note that they have acted in the past to attempt to remove critical information on the internet, and have explained this by claiming that such critical information is “libel.” Attorneys Skolnik and Norwick of firm Lowenstein Sandler PC have written an excellent article summarizing some of this history, called: “Introduction to the Landmark Education litigation archive“. They explain that they created this Landmark Education litigation archive so that future attorneys defending clients critical of Landmark Forum and accused of libel do not have to go through and spend as much time researching Landmark Education’s history of litigation as Skolnik and Norwick did. More recently, Landmark Education attempted to get the video known as “Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus” removed from the internet. More about that at: “Landmark Education wants to make French news report a “forbidden video” on the Net.” The Web site Chilling Effects, which documents usage of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to remove material from the internet, as well as other forms of censorship on the net, has posted a copy of a letter sent by Landmark Education attorneys to a Web site, asking them to remove the “Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus” video and associated transcript from their site, called the Cult Awareness and Information Centre, which is based in Australia. Oddly enough, Chilling Effects decided to title the page where they host this letter from Landmark Education lawyers very similarly to the currently censored article from the Daily Orange. The page at Chilling Effects is titled: Who is bringing the Kool Aid?
As a caveat to the potential “lawyers” as the first commentator we spoke of above alluded to - we will make this statement here: Please note carefully - It is not our job on this site to characterize any group as a “cult” or to say that any group is not a “cult.” You can find information on “cults” at other Web sites, some of which we have discussed in the past as references, including the respected International Cultic Studies Association mentioned above, that publishes the peer reviewed journal, the Cultic Studies Review. Our interest in these posts is to educate the reader about Large Group Awareness Trainings, and their history, background, methodology and tactics. Therefore, we will not get into trying to parse which groups are widely considered “cults” and which are not, but rather will instead discuss and explain groups that are widely considered to be Large Group Awareness Trainings. We will leave the cult identification and discussion, to the experts.
Related links:
Discussion about the censored Daily Orange article is going on at the Cult Education Forum, under the topic Large Group Awareness Training, “Human Potential” .
The controversial group known as Mankind Project and also known as New Warrior Training Adventure has gotten some interesting online exposure lately.
A little background - Mark Roggeman, an exit-counselor for individuals trapped in cults, writes at the Haven Ministries site : “MKP [Mankind Project] history comes through a long line of Human Potential Movements that began in the 1960’s.” Roggeman cites Mind Dynamics, and the book The Pit: A Group Encounter Defiled for some background on the Human Potential Movement. He goes on to cite some controversial groups that influenced this movement as well as Mankind Project, such as Lifespring, Werner Erhard, Erhard Seminars Training (Roggeman puts it that this group has “transformed itself into the Landmark Forum.”), Justin Sterling and Sterling Institute of Relationship. More at Roggeman’s article, aptly titled The Mankind Project. Also check out Roggeman’s article, Oh Man, What Kind of Project Is This?
If you really want to learn a whole lot more about some of the more interesting and somewhat controversial practices of the group, check out this long discussion thread at the Cult Education Forum. As of last check, the message board thread is over 52 pages long !
Oh, and the satirical poke, humorous take for the title of this post? Yeah, that wasn’t just something the writer of this post made up - according to the Houston Press, men do really dance naked while beating cooked chickens at some of these Mankind Project events !
But the truth is not funny, and not satirical, unfortunately. For more on this, read the sad, sad story, of Michael Scinto.
Recent articles on Mankind Project :
Ronnie Earle, Travis Co. (TX) DA, Dances Naked With Other Men While Beating Cooked Chickens, Red State
Cover Story: The ManKind Project, Houston Press, October 4, 2007
Naked Men: The ManKind Project and Michael Scinto, Houston Press, October 4, 2007 - “The organization was supposed to make him a better man. Instead, his parents say, it made him a dead one.”
For more background and resources :
The Mankind Project, article at Haven Ministries site, written by Mark Roggeman - “Mark Roggeman has been involved in outreach to those affected by cults and other high demand groups for a period of thirty years.”
Mankind Project / New Warrior Training Adventure, information and archived articles, at the Rick A. Ross Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups and Movements
Oh Man, What Kind of Project Is This?“, by Mark Roggeman, Midwest Outreach 12 (1), Pages 8-10.
Discussion groups and message boards :
Discussion thread on Mankind Project, Cult Education Forum, begun with the emotional plea: “Anyone with any information regarding this group, please I beg you to post it here. It is horrifying what these men and women go through. Any feedback is appreciated.”
ex_mkp · ex_mkp-Freedom from ManKind Project cult, Yahoo! Group, mentioned in the Houston Press article, Naked Men: The ManKind Project and Michael Scinto - “This group is for help and support of men and their families who have had problems with the ManKind Project or NWTA New Warrior Training Adventure “
The controversial “training” group known as NXIVM, formerly known as Executive Success Programs (ESP), has been getting a lot of coverage in the press lately related to financial ties to various New York State politicians. Increasingly, headlines in the press and media have referred to the group as a ‘cult’, and cult expert Rick Ross, in a 2003 article, compared the NXIVM teachings to: “an amalgamated version of belief systems like Scientology, EST and Landmark Education.”
Here are some of the more recent media and press articles, from September and October 2007 :
Political connections take to the air, September 14, 2007
Albany Times Union reports on mysterious flights funded by NXIVM for New York State Republican party members.
HILLARY’S $30000 FANS ARE HER ‘CULT’ FOLLOWING, October 1, 2007
New York Post - “A purported pyramid-scheme operator who was run out of Arkansas when Bill Clinton was governor has reinvented himself as the head of an upstate group accused of being a “cult” - and his devotees have pumped thousands into Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential run.”
NXIVM’S VEXING EFFECT ON BELIEVERS, October 1, 2007
New York Post - “Keith Raniere, leader of an Albany-based organization called NXIVM (pronounced nex-e-um), has built a lucrative empire with his Executive Success Programs. NXIVM, run by Raniere, 47, and President Nancy Salzman, a 52-year-old registered nurse, claims to pull in at least $4 million a year. Big-name devotees like Seagram heiresses Clare and Sara Bronfman back Raniere - and “The Family,” as insiders call the group - despite his checkered past. “
BILL GOLF PAL’S ‘CULT’ COURSE, October 2, 2007
New York Post - “A longtime friend and golfing buddy of Bill Clinton’s is a student of the controversial cult-like upstate group whose members recently poured thousands into Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign coffers, The Post has learned. Richard Mays - an Arkansas lawyer who was one of Bill Clinton’s biggest presidential campaign fund-raisers - is listed on the class roster of NXIVM, the bizarre Albany-based group.”
Tax Hike to End the War?, October 2, 2007
FOX News - “Federal records indicate Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has received about $30,000 from devotees of a man who was run out of Arkansas when Bill Clinton was governor after being accused of operating a $30 million pyramid scheme.”
TOP GOPERS ‘CULT’ FAVORITES, October 3, 2007
New York Post - “Disgraced GOP operative Roger Stone acted as a middleman between a cult-like upstate group and powerful Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, The Post has learned. Stone was hired by Albany-based executive-training group NXIVM in early 2006, according to sources.”
Spitzer’s Loudmouth Rhetoric: Not Loudmouth-y Enough?, October 3, 2007
Daily Intelligencer, New York Magazine - “The governor, who called his detractors “fearmongers” and “demagogues” at Fordham, can now add “evil cultists” to the mix: Today’s Post coughs up a cryptic item about Roger Stone, the GOP operative accused of making threatening phone calls to Spitzer’s family. Stone was allegedly a liaison between Joe Bruno and NXIVM, a secretive, cultlike “executive training group.” Oooh!”
All About NXIVM, the Cultlike Organization With Ties to Albany, October 4, 2007
Daily Intelligencer, New York Magazine
The headline says it all in this one. Great article, this controversial group is really getting some good exposure from investigative journalists.
More NXIVM / Executive Success Programs updates at Cult News, and also at The Rick A. Ross Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups