The Heresy of Mind Control: Recognizing Con Artists in Leadership by Stephen Martin

From the introduction:

Suppose you move to a different area, and are keeping your eyes open for a good group to belong to (a social club, a church, a synagogue, or service organization). You visit one such group where the people are very friendly, loving, and give you individual attention. The group has a variety of programs: a rehabilitation program for drug addicts, services and nursing homes for the elderly, help for the poor, and free clinics. The leader inspires the disillusioned, the disenchanted, and those who have been rejected elsewhere. He is well-known and respected in the area, and the mayor gave him a position as Director of the City Housing Authority. Would you join this group?

Suppose you spend four years in college and nearly two years in graduate school to prepare for a career in Christian music. Then the ministers of your home church tell you that you are not needed in their music program. Shortly afterward, you find a new group that welcomes you with open arms. They really care for people. The leader of this group has fascinating Bible studies. You and everyone else are able to sit and listen to him for several hours at a time. Would you stay in this group?

If you answered "yes" to the first situation, you joined the church led by Jim Jones who led over 900 of his followers into a mass suicide murder. If you liked the second group, you became a follower of David Koresh who led over 80 of his followers to die in a blaze of fire.

A wolf in sheep's clothing is a short and simple description of a cult leader--as these men were.

Are there any warning signs that a group and its leader are dangerous? That’s largely what this book is about. Read more...

by Van Robison

Human societies generally dictate that all children within a nation must be educated, and basically in public schools. When I read the The Communist Manifesto years ago, I learned that the "ten planks" of that manifesto have long been in existence within the United States and other "free" countries. Anyone who has never read about the "ten planks" and who keys into the Internet and reads those ten points, will be appalled (and we have been led to believe that we live in a society of "freedom"). The tenth plank of that manifesto is free public school education (and no doubt with ulterior motives). Human governments look upon children as a public resource, and they want your children indoctrinated and programmed to be conformists. Read more...

by Van Robison

A new "Christian" television station has gone on the air in our area, and on the television screen it says, "Thank You Partners", meaning of course, "we want your money" (and as usual they list a toll free number, and have their telephone operators taking calls). Oddly, I have never read in any of the teachings of Jesus Christ in the four Gospels, where Jesus said, "Thank You Partners for Your Financial Support." Instead, what I have read is that Jesus said to His disciples (you know the guys He sent out to heal the sick, cast out the demons and to convey Christ to others?), "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). A "funny" thing has happened on the way into the Kingdom of God, and that is that the preachers have become money obsessed, and they think the Gospel can't be preached to the world, unless they pocket a trainload of your money. I wonder how the Gospel spread into all the world for all those years before television (you know, for the last two thousand years)? Read more...

(CBS) Tithing, the giving of one tenth of one’s income to a religious group, has its roots in the Old Testament. But some Christians are questioning it, and the answers might surprise you. In an era when contributions to religious groups are growing more slowly than other charitable giving, and as Congress takes a closer look at the finances of some televangelists, Martha Teichner examines the controversy over tithing, and meets some inspiring people who strongly believe in the power of generosity. Read more...