The Threat To You

"Deprogrammers" are a ruthless bunch. William Willoughby, religion editor of the Washington Star, revealed the mercenary side of "deprogramming" when he wrote, "The fees they're charging run $3,000.00 or more for the kidnappings and brainwashing (pardon me deprogramming)… Frighteningly, "deprogramming". groups have gotten police, judges, and district attorneys to bend the law in assisting "deprogrammings." And, because of their mercenary motives "deprogrammers" have abducted not only Hare Krsna members but also Catholics and Protestants, among others. In Human Behavior magazine Wayne Sage reports, "The deprogrammers say, privately, that they would like to use their techniques against Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses." If "deprogrammers" and their academic accomplices succeed in getting legal cover for their crimes, any American who lives a life contrary to their standards will face abduction and torture. Judge Logan Moore said to Ted Patrick on the day of his sentencing, "This country never functioned well under vigilantes. Your efforts are such, and if we ruled in your favor, it wouldn't stop with anyone. We would have condemned religious freedom."

The National Council of Churches and other organizations have looked into the issue. The Council found no evidence of brainwashing among the religions, but plenty of evidence to condemn the deprogrammers. The Council's Governing Board said, "…kidnapping to compel religious de-conversion is criminal." The world's lending expert on brainwashing, Dr. William Sargant, said in Britain's Guardian (October 4, 1976) that "deprogramming" "is the sort of thing Charles Manson used, on people and very much the sort of thing that was done to Patty Hearst." Dr. Sargant concluded by saying that he would be "dreadfully horrified" if "deprogramming" came into use in Britain.

In another recent editorial, Church & State magazine said, "For the state through the police and courts to allow and thereby encourage religious kidnapping is for the state itself to blast gaping holes through the constitutional shields of our most basic rights which the police and courts exist to defend… Law enforcement officials must protect the rights of all persons to believe as they please and must restrain the deprogrammers… Let us bury it [deprogramming], before it buries our liberties."

What disturbs us most is the mistrust that "deprogrammers" are planting in the public's mind about meditation, yoga, and chanting Hare Krsna. Science is proving the effectiveness of these techniques in advancing the cause of personal and social health. And, in December, 1976, Governor Edmund Brown, Jr. urged the sending of "priests, nuns, ministers, and Hare Krsna followers" into California's mental hospitals to help improve patient conditions. Hare Krsna mantra meditation is helping thousands of Americans to raise their consciousness to higher and happier levels. It seems tragic that this good work is being maligned.