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Niuardi ® NmiKier aAaaociATco COLLEOlArC ^itesa Fayetteville, NC Vol. XXXVIII, No, 7 February 26, 2001 Cults On The Rise On College Campuses By Carrie Adcox Editor-in-Chief “There can be no freedom of religion unless there is freedom of the mind.” These words spoken by Tho mas Jefferson are weighted now with the same intensity in which they were first spoken. College campuses across the nation have been targeted. Students are at risk of losing their families and friends, losing their thought control, and even losing their self-esteem and self-worth. Campuses have become deemed a “spiritual supermarket” by many organizations mainly because students are looking for acceptance, friends, and answers. Students are targeted for their vulnerability and their need for acceptance. Cults come with answers and acceptance. At the mention of the word cult, many individuals retrace the tragic event of Jonestown and panic. Not all cults are fashioned in the same manner - notoriety through mass sui cide. Cults can best be understood as a group generally with extreme be liefs, which are characterized through excessive devotion to either a leader or a cause. Not all cults are religious: Therapy cults are centered on a single individual who has reached a state of being which some consider perfection. Members attempt to at tain a social' cure, becoming free of hang-ups. Political cults are based on the conception of a perfect political doc trine conceived by a perfect leader. This insight will become the way of enlightenment through a tumultuous world. Economic cults promise future fortunes to their members. Finally, religious cults usually boast a leader with a direct relation ship with God. Religious cults have also been known to claim an elitist attitude towards salvation. Most cults locate members through recruitment. Recruiters ap proach persons with a technique known as “love bombing.” By us ing emotion as an incentive, recruit ers use acts of love, such as instant friendship and acceptance, to lower the defenses of their recruits. Many cults have also been known to exploit the personal lives of members by us ing broken relationships, loneliness, family deaths, and stress to encour age participation. “Love bombing” may also lead a person to feel obli gated to the members of the group. Tactics used to create confusion have also been used by cults to se cure recruits. When doubt is instilled into the recruits, the cult provides simple answers, securing new mem bers. Studies have proven that cults use many tactics of mind control. Cults reject former lifestyles as sin ful, pushing for breaks with their fam ily and friends. Sorrie have even been proven to have books of the mem bers’ former ‘sins' used as a means of punishment. These ‘sins’ were mentioned to keep members vulner able. Other tactics include sleep dep- ravation, peer group pressure, alien ation, guilt, and even nutrition. Students should arm them selves with facts. Cults have very similar characteristics: * Emphasize the ends justifies the means * Isolation of members, with members and society as opposites * Secret objectives, doctrine, and practices * Usually demand full-time/ lifetime commitments * Seem too perfect * Overly friendly until ques tions are asked about doctrine, etc. * Ask you to recruit members" soon after joining * Speak derogatorily about past religious affiliation * Claim to have “all the an swers” * Claim parents and friends as unable to understand or help with your religious matters Sixth Tally Conference By Amanda Garcia College News Co-editor There is little debate on the importance of leadership skills. Many employers seek to hire workers who are capable of not only completing the work, but also those who are capable of leading others. With a position of leadership comes many responsibilities. Leaders are often held at a higher standard than those that they lead. When all is said and done, leaders will have to answer to the accountability and re sponsibility questions that are raised. The Sixth Annual Tally Lead ership Forum sought to examine some of the issues raised by being in a lead ership position. The theme for the fo rum was, "Leadership, Technology, and Ethics: What is the right thing to do?" Among the topics discussed were ethical implications of the new technologies that are available to the world. Concerns such as genetic re production, human cloning, the digi tal divide, cultural imperialism, glo balization, the social costs and eco nomic benefits, and threats to indi vidual privacy were raised. Two central speakers took part in the forum. Dr. Jane Smith Patterson, the senior advisor to the governor for science and technology, and Reverend Bruce E. Stanley, di rector of field education at the Duke University's Divinity School. Dr. Patterson has a strong edu cational background. She attended the colleges of University of North Caro lina at Chapel Hill, Harvard Univer sity, and North Carolina State Uni versity. She played an instrumental part in developing and putting into operation the North Carolina Infor mation Highway. Rev. Stanley. PfuHo by Jami Sheppard Recipients of the 100% Awards. Her expertise lies in the infor mation technology infrastructure and how it impacts the many operations of our government, to include indus try and education. She has contrib uted chapters to books and articles to newspapers and magazines on infor mation infrastructure policy and ap plications of it in the United States, as well as in Japan and England. The Rev. Stanley is not a new face to Methodist College. He partici pated in last year's leadership forum on "America's Role in the World." Originally from West Virginia, Rev erend Stanley studied at West Vir ginia University and received his de gree in history. He later then received a Master of Divinity from Harvard University and in 1982 was ordained by the United Presbyterian Church of the USA. The Rev. Stanley has a great deal of experience with overseas hu- manitanan relief efforts in third coun tries. He is currently on the Bishop's Cabinet as director of missions and evangelism. These two speakers addressed the Methodist Colleges students, fac ulty, and other members of the pub lic on the first day of the conference in Reeves Auditorium. The second day of the forum was dedicated to several roundtable discussions. Both morning and after noon sessions were held and lasted about an hour and a half Eight to twelve students discussed a specific question in the Alumni Dining Room in the Bems Student Center. PhiUo by Robin Warringlon Before joining any group or other religious affiliation ask the group about commitments of time or money. Inquire about recruiting prac tices and financial quotas. Directly ask about the rela tionship of the members of the group to their leader. Does this person require ab solute devotion and obedience? Find out who sponsors the group. Simple questions such as these will help to determine the real objectives of the group. It happens at campuses across the nation. No one is immune to the need to belong. Beth Edwards, a junior trans fer student from Emory University, brought the issue of cults on campus to the forefront of the administration of Methodist College. A fellow stu dent who was questioning his salva tion confronted Edwards. After ask ing him where he had heard such statements, the student replied pro ducing a Bible study. Edwards in stantly recognized it. Years before, she had been a distribution of the study. After confirming the source of the study, Edwards went to the Rev. Carl King, the campus minister, A meeting later, the Rev. King called upon Dean of Students George Blanc. Together, they researched the subject of cults, speaking with other cam puses. After extensive research, they called a meeting with the Resident Advisers. Armed with information, hand outs, and videos, the Rev. King and Dean Blanc made the others aware of the many dangers surrounding cults and cult-like activities. “We are not in a crisis. We have a subject, not a situation. That is an important distinction,” Blanc stressed. Although information is the “When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to the most loving group of people you’ve ever encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring person you’ve ever met, and then you learn that the cause of the group is something you never dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true - it probably is too good to be true. Don’t give up your education, your hopes and ambitions... ” Jeanne Mills, Jonestown Survivor key to success, speaking with Edwards confirms the reality of these cults. “All of a sudden, your ‘new’ friends want to take you places and you start spending time with them. You begin to read your Bible with them. As you spend more and more time with them, you begin a series of 10 studies. By the third study, you are convinced that you are not a Christian unless you join the group," Edwards’ recollections of her earlier days as a recruit are not un common. She recalls losing her fam ily and friends. In an attempt to raise awareness to the students of Method ist College, Edwards speaks openly about her previous affiliations. Edwards stresses several no tions. From her experiences, the group stressed salvation through works. The group also stressed the separation of family and friends. “You are told who to date, how to dress, where to live,” she recalled. After breaking free from the cult, Edwards has begun a new life. “To not fear God is the biggest change of my life. Everything I do is about my love for God,” said Edwards. If you are seeking spiritual guidance and knowledge, Methodist College offers a variety of sanc tioned religious or ganizations. Gos pel Choir meets every Monday night at 8 p.m. in Hensdale Chapel. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) meets every Tuesday night at 9 p.m. in the Cave - Weaver Hall Base ment. Deeper Life Ministries meets every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. in the Hensdale Chapel. Christian LYFE Fellowship meets every Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. in Dining Room C. D.O.G.s (Daughters of God, Girls Bible Study) meet Thursday nights at 9 p.m. in the Chapel. Men’s Bible Study occurs at the same time in the lobby of West. If you are feeling pressured by such a group, please contact the Rev. King at 7157. College should be an experience to remember, not regret. member of the cult in charge of the said Edwards. Notes From The Dean Photo bv Jami Sheppard The roundtable topics centered around four general questions: (1) "Should prospective parents be al lowed to use genetic technology to design their children?" (2) "What ethical principles should be used to judge the moral character of the new technologies?" (3) "How far should the process of globalization extend before its effects become undesir able? (4) "How should we address the inequitable distribution of costs and benefits of the new technologies?" Dr. Andrew Ziegler, assistant professor of political science and leadership, was one of the key play ers that coordinated this leadership conference to life. Dr. Susan Cheek is the director of the Lura S. Tally Center for Lead ership Development that sponsored the event on campus. By Dean Blanc Vice President for Student Life Greetings to All. 1 want everyone to know that I am both honored and humbled to have been given the opportunity to serve Methodist College and its stu dent community as your Dean of Stu dents. My strongest emotions are ex citement and anticipation. 1 am ex cited about the opportunity to get to know and work with a community that represents the best and brightest students that this country and the world have to offer. I am already be ginning to anticipate what we will be able to accomplish as a “team” to make Methodist College an even bet ter place in which to live, leam, and develop. Although I have been at the job a little over a month, I have noticed that effective time management in one of my biggest challenges. There is always more to do than time to do it in. While this is not a surprising development, what is surprising is the minimal time that I have had to meet and get to know our students. If I am not careful, I could become the “Dean of Meetings” instead of the “Dean of Students.” I will not let this happen. The fact of the matter is that without your help and participation, I won’t be able to do my job as it should be done. I need your input. I need to know what isn’t working as well as what is working, what’s bro ken and what’s not. Bottom Line: I need to know from each of you what we need to do to make Methodist College a better place for everyone. To ensure that I don’t lose contact with MC’s greatest resource, our students, and to ensure that you have a unobstructed path to address your needs and concerns directly to me, I have decided to establish the following two programs: Dean Hot Line In the near future, you will no tice a new fixture on the wall outside of the Student Life office. The new item will be a wall mounted sugges tion box, but this won’t be a typical suggestion box. The comments that you place in the slot will go to a locked box that only I can access. This, in effect, will give you “direct hot- line access” to me. Your message will not be fil tered in any way. If you wish, you can include your name and phone number so that I can get directly back to you (within 24 hours), or you can remain anonymous. It’s up to you, but in either case, I promise you that I will act to the best of my ability to address your issue. Dean Time As I stated earlier in this article, time management is one of my big gest challenges. During my first few weeks at the job, there has been little time to meet directly with students. To over come this. I’ve decided to establish Dean Time. Dean Time is a simple solution to a complex problem. Effective im mediately, I have asked my staff not to schedule any meetings or commit ments between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. MC Students will have priority dur ing this time period. This means that (with rare exceptions) you should be able to schedule an appointment with me during this time frame and know that I will be there for you. I strongly encourage you to take full advantage of these two pro grams. Please remember that I am the “new guy” on campus and that I cannot be as effective as I should be without your support and involve ment. I am asking you to choose to be part of the solution rather than a spectator to the problem. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to serve you as your Dean of Students. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you better. Df f-fg^dricks Phmo by Jami Sheppard In This Issue College Ncvns 1-4 Opinion Poll 7 Sports Opinion 5-6 Entertainment 9-10 M-12 i
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Feb. 26, 2001, edition 1
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