I entitled this essay with a deliberately provocative question, one that has no clear cut answer. Many of my non-religious friends have expressed doubts that a cult and a religion can be distinguished. I'll be honest, given the general diversity of religious movements across the world, there really is not a clear cut border, but rather many lines, each differentiating various shades of grey.
Based on the research I have done, I would argue that even experts have no universal definition that can be used to differentiate a cult from a new religion. However, several distinctive characteristics did come up, including cults isolating their members from society and demanding a high-level of control over their members, compared to mainstream religions.
Now let me back up and describe the circumstances that motivated me looking into The Twelve Tribes. I first heard about The Twelve Tribes many years ago, when I was involved with an anti-war group (Students' Alternative Voice or SAV). At the time, one of the members had heard about a forum that The Twelve Tribes was sponsoring on the topic of the role religion should pay in government - I forget the exact title of this forum was now. One thing on the poster that I do remember fairly clearly, was a disclaimer along the lines of "if you have to ask your priest or pastor if you can go, then one should perhaps not attend". This was my first clue that The Twelve Tribes was what experts would label a "high control" group.
A few years later, another member of SAV, who had attended meetings of The Twelve Tribes, informed me that his impression of them was that they were homophobic. He described to me how a lesbian friend he had brought with him to one of the meetings, had become very uncomfortable while they were in attendance.
Skip forward again, to a recent The Daily Star article describing the local (Oneonta, NY) Twelve Tribes group as being an "asset to our community". A similar article later appeared in the SUNY Oneonta college newspaper, The State Times, describing The Common Ground (a downtown restaurant owned and operated by The Twelve Tribes) as generally being a nice place to have lunch. Neither news source though, appears to have done their homework on the group. The Daily Star for instance, in their earlier coverage of the group, merely relied on a few quotes from a local pastor, mentioned that there were "rumors and stories" about The Twelve Tribes being a "dangerous cult", asked a few softball questions of the local groups leadership and that was it. For the record, that is generally what passes for "in depth journalism" from The Daily Star.
Ignoring the problems they have with proofreading or accurately quoting their sources, I would also point that in my experience The Daily Star puts more effort into covering up information than they do reporting it. Therefore, I would hardly trust anything The Daily Star says about The Twelve Tribes (or any other topic for that matter), even though I doubt anyone who works for The Daily Star happens to be a member.
So, after the previously mentioned editorials, I decided to do my own research and the first thing of note that came up was this lovely bit of denial by The Twelve Tribes, from The Twelve Tribes own website.
My interpretation of the above piece is as that any group that tries to deny it's bigotry while simultaneously confirming it, has to have at least a few screws lose. Homosexuality is condemned? Hooray! Blacks are the inferior race and interracial relationships are forbidden! Great! Womyn are supposed to submit absolutely to their husbands rule! Awsome! They clearly aren't haters, they just happen think any one who isn't white, straight, male, and part of *their* group, just so happen to be totally inferior!
Continuing my research, I found plenty of testimonials from former Twelve Tribes members about receiving death threats if they even considered leaving (or at least expressing fear of being killed for leaving), claims about members children not being allowed high school education, and serious charges made (repeatedly) against the group concerning child abuse.
These sources included, to name a few:
Ithacans Oppposed to the Twelve Tribes Cult
Twelve Tribes-Ex
The Twelve Tribes Wikipedia
While most of what I was finding was compelling, it was also from rather informal sources (many of them blogs and personal websites). This was not necessarily a problem but I wanted something more, something I could point to that had at least some journalistic integrity. I finally found something I could put a little more confidence in: The New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR), which conducted an extensive investigation into The Twelve Tribes and their practices. This research can be found here.
While NEIRR is hardly an unbiased source (they are an evangelical protestant group) I would describe it as being generally reliable. For some thoughtful criticism, read this article "Cult Fighting in Massachusetts" by Andrew Walsh.
Wrapping this up, as Andrew Walsh pointed out, opposition to cults, cult fighting, and cult deprogramming is a contentious and controversial issue. There really aren't any clear cut or easy answers. However I will try and reach a few conclusions regarding The Twelve Tribes.
-For all intents and purposes, based on the research I conducted, I would feel comfortable describing The Twelve Tribes as a high control group. Take this to mean what you will.
-If the charges against The Twelve Tribes of child abuse and bigotry are true - and there is no reason to believe they are not - people should give careful thought to supporting them, either by providing praise of their services or more directly, by patronizing their stores and restaurants.
-People should always try to draw their own conclusions about any group, but should do so carefully when charges of child abuse and bigotry are being made. Granted, any of these charges against The Twelve Tribes could be exaggerated or even entirely fabricated, but just because the group is capable of creating a friendly and inviting appearance doesn't mean that such charges are baseless.
These are my opinions and as always, I am of course very interested in hearing others opinions on the matter.
September 29, 2010
September 13, 2010
Queer Review: Capote
It has been said, that great writing is born out of great suffering. Irregardless of that being the case, Truman Capote certainly suffered in writing his most famous novel, In Cold Blood. The film Capote directed by Bennett Miller, chronicles Capote's experiences writing In Cold Blood as his growing obsession with his subjects nearly leads him to ruin.
After reading about the murder of an entire family, Truman Capote travels to Kansas to investigate the killing. He brings along with him his good friend Nell Harper Lee, who had just finished the manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird. Together, Lee and Capote investigate the killings and the subsequent impact on the community they took place in. At first Capote's fay mannerisms and big city style, leave him on the outside. Perseverance and a some help from Lee, eventually land him on the inside, including the good graces of the local chief of police (Chris Cooper). When the killers, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino), are caught, Capote interviews them, eventually developing a sympathetic relationship with them. Capote even ends up going so far as to pay for a lawyer to provide for their defense.
The main thrust of the movie shows Capote's growing obsession with the killers, particularly Perry Smith. The relationship that develops between these two is incredibly twisted, with each using the other for their own ends. Capote wishes to know the grisly details of the killings, while also having sympathies for Smith's plight. It's less clear what Smith wants (besides a high priced defense lawyer). A sympathetic posthumous portrayal in the novel Capote is writing? A friend and intimate? Something else?
In real life, rumors suggested that Capote and Smith engaged in a more intimate relationship then is what is depicted on film. Certainly the suggestion is there in the actors performances as to what *might* have happened, but the audience is never privy to those details.
Overall, this is a powerful movie. Great acting and direction come together to create a heady brew. Capote was an effemite and openly gay man, with a distinct and recognizable voice. Hoffman doesn't merely mimic him, he fully inhibits Capote and brings him to life in all of the late writers flamboyant glory. Of note, is also Catherine Keener, who plays Nell Harper Lee.
I've never read In Cold Blood, but I have read To Kill a Mockingbird. It therefore struck me as odd, at the beginning when Nell is running around acting as Capote's secretary and doing most of the dirty work. Granted, this is right before she became famous but it still seemed weird to me.
Overall, this is the type of film that will appeal to more mature viewers. Capote is smartly written, acted, and composed. Those that are willing to stick with a slow moving, yet very engaging movie, will find themselves rewarded.
After reading about the murder of an entire family, Truman Capote travels to Kansas to investigate the killing. He brings along with him his good friend Nell Harper Lee, who had just finished the manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird. Together, Lee and Capote investigate the killings and the subsequent impact on the community they took place in. At first Capote's fay mannerisms and big city style, leave him on the outside. Perseverance and a some help from Lee, eventually land him on the inside, including the good graces of the local chief of police (Chris Cooper). When the killers, Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino), are caught, Capote interviews them, eventually developing a sympathetic relationship with them. Capote even ends up going so far as to pay for a lawyer to provide for their defense.
The main thrust of the movie shows Capote's growing obsession with the killers, particularly Perry Smith. The relationship that develops between these two is incredibly twisted, with each using the other for their own ends. Capote wishes to know the grisly details of the killings, while also having sympathies for Smith's plight. It's less clear what Smith wants (besides a high priced defense lawyer). A sympathetic posthumous portrayal in the novel Capote is writing? A friend and intimate? Something else?
In real life, rumors suggested that Capote and Smith engaged in a more intimate relationship then is what is depicted on film. Certainly the suggestion is there in the actors performances as to what *might* have happened, but the audience is never privy to those details.
Overall, this is a powerful movie. Great acting and direction come together to create a heady brew. Capote was an effemite and openly gay man, with a distinct and recognizable voice. Hoffman doesn't merely mimic him, he fully inhibits Capote and brings him to life in all of the late writers flamboyant glory. Of note, is also Catherine Keener, who plays Nell Harper Lee.
I've never read In Cold Blood, but I have read To Kill a Mockingbird. It therefore struck me as odd, at the beginning when Nell is running around acting as Capote's secretary and doing most of the dirty work. Granted, this is right before she became famous but it still seemed weird to me.
Overall, this is the type of film that will appeal to more mature viewers. Capote is smartly written, acted, and composed. Those that are willing to stick with a slow moving, yet very engaging movie, will find themselves rewarded.
September 7, 2010
Setting the Record Queer - Harry Hay and The Mattachine Society
If my father could be wrong, then the teacher could be wrong. And if the teacher could be wrong, then the priest could be wrong. And if the priest could be wrong, then maybe even God could be wrong. -Harry Hay
Radical Fairies and the Revolt of the Homosexual! Oh My!
The Mattachine Socity was the second major homophile group in the U.S. - the first group being the Chicago based Society for Human Rights. Harry Hay and Henry A. Wallace formed the Mattachine Society in 1950 - after first conceiving the idea two years earlier - for the purpose of advancing homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle and culture. The name, chosen in 1951, refers to the Société Mattachine from Medieval France, which consisted of masked travelers, who revealed and mocked the injustices perpetuated by the French Monarchs. The name is in reference to gays and lesbians being an invisible minority in the 1950's, thereby being masked from the mainstream.
Many of the founding Members of the Mattachine Society, including Hay, were members of the Communist Party and based the structure of their new organization upon it.
The Society reached it's peak in 1952 during the trial of Dale Jennings, who had been arrested and charged with "lewd behavior". The publicity the Mattachine Society was able to generate (under the name "Citizens to Outlaw Police Entrapment") gave the group a huge boost, drawing both volunteers and attention to it's cause.
The fall of the group came about as a result of the 1950's McCarthyism driven Red Scare. Accusations of communist ties drove conservative voices within the group to challenge it's communist roots, before ultimately taking control following the ouster and resignation of the founding members.
Once in the hands of the conservatives the group fell apart. Their goals were of accommodation for gays and lesbians, rather then advocating for social change. This change in outlook proved devastating to the Society, which entered into a period of extended decline before fading away altogether following the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
Harry Hay though, continued to be an advocate for social change and was certainly not afraid of embracing controversy. One of his greatest desire was for the formation of an organized queer culture, which was also arguably his greatest contribution (through the Mattachine Society) to the LGBTQA rights movements.
Philosophically, Hay was adamantly opposed to the assimilation of queer culture into the mainstream. To put it in his own words: "We pulled ugly green frog skin of heterosexual conformity over us, and that's how we got through school with a full set of teeth. We know how to live through their eyes. We can always play their games, but are we denying ourselves by doing this? If you're going to carry the skin of conformity over you, you are going to suppress the beautiful prince or princess within you."
In the 1980s' he protested the exclusion of NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) from LGBTQA rights organizations, which at the time were making serious attempts to distance themselves from NAMBLA. In 1986, he attmepted to march in the Los Angelos gay pride parade, with a sign stating "NAMBLA Walks with me". He also opposed Act Up! (a direct action group for improving the lives of AIDS patients) believing the group was too aggressive and macho in it's tactics. His argument went that this discouraged divirsity by denying effiminate and soft men a place within Act Up!.
"The assimilation movement is driving us into the ground," Hay once remarked. Indeed. It can be noted that the change in the Mattachine Society where more emphasis was placed on assimilation, that caused it to die. While his support of NAMBLA and opposition to Act Up! certainly can be considered at the very least controversial, there is no denying his impact and influence on the queer rights movement.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattachine_Society
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/mattachine_society.html
Radical Fairies and the Revolt of the Homosexual! Oh My!
The Mattachine Socity was the second major homophile group in the U.S. - the first group being the Chicago based Society for Human Rights. Harry Hay and Henry A. Wallace formed the Mattachine Society in 1950 - after first conceiving the idea two years earlier - for the purpose of advancing homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle and culture. The name, chosen in 1951, refers to the Société Mattachine from Medieval France, which consisted of masked travelers, who revealed and mocked the injustices perpetuated by the French Monarchs. The name is in reference to gays and lesbians being an invisible minority in the 1950's, thereby being masked from the mainstream.
Many of the founding Members of the Mattachine Society, including Hay, were members of the Communist Party and based the structure of their new organization upon it.
The Society reached it's peak in 1952 during the trial of Dale Jennings, who had been arrested and charged with "lewd behavior". The publicity the Mattachine Society was able to generate (under the name "Citizens to Outlaw Police Entrapment") gave the group a huge boost, drawing both volunteers and attention to it's cause.
The fall of the group came about as a result of the 1950's McCarthyism driven Red Scare. Accusations of communist ties drove conservative voices within the group to challenge it's communist roots, before ultimately taking control following the ouster and resignation of the founding members.
Once in the hands of the conservatives the group fell apart. Their goals were of accommodation for gays and lesbians, rather then advocating for social change. This change in outlook proved devastating to the Society, which entered into a period of extended decline before fading away altogether following the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
Harry Hay though, continued to be an advocate for social change and was certainly not afraid of embracing controversy. One of his greatest desire was for the formation of an organized queer culture, which was also arguably his greatest contribution (through the Mattachine Society) to the LGBTQA rights movements.
Philosophically, Hay was adamantly opposed to the assimilation of queer culture into the mainstream. To put it in his own words: "We pulled ugly green frog skin of heterosexual conformity over us, and that's how we got through school with a full set of teeth. We know how to live through their eyes. We can always play their games, but are we denying ourselves by doing this? If you're going to carry the skin of conformity over you, you are going to suppress the beautiful prince or princess within you."
In the 1980s' he protested the exclusion of NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) from LGBTQA rights organizations, which at the time were making serious attempts to distance themselves from NAMBLA. In 1986, he attmepted to march in the Los Angelos gay pride parade, with a sign stating "NAMBLA Walks with me". He also opposed Act Up! (a direct action group for improving the lives of AIDS patients) believing the group was too aggressive and macho in it's tactics. His argument went that this discouraged divirsity by denying effiminate and soft men a place within Act Up!.
"The assimilation movement is driving us into the ground," Hay once remarked. Indeed. It can be noted that the change in the Mattachine Society where more emphasis was placed on assimilation, that caused it to die. While his support of NAMBLA and opposition to Act Up! certainly can be considered at the very least controversial, there is no denying his impact and influence on the queer rights movement.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattachine_Society
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/mattachine_society.html
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