Harm reduction, Abstinence, and Moderation Support (HAMS)
http://hamsnetwork.org
HAMS is peer-led and free of charge. HAMS offers information and support
via a chat room, an email group, and live meetings — as well is
the articles on this web site.
LifeRing Secular Recovery (LSR)
http://www.unhooked.com/index.htm — LifeRing
LSR is a non-religious self-help
recovery organization for individuals who choose abstinence from
alcohol and other addictive drugs, or who are in relationships where
chemical dependency is a problem. The basic philosophy of LifeRing
Secular Recovery is summarized in the Three "S" — Sobriety,
Secularity, Self-Help.
SMART: Self Management And Recovery Training.
http://www.smartrecovery.org/
Rational, sane, common-sense recovery techniques.
Based on Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, the brainchild
of Dr. Albert Ellis. Highly recommended. The web site lists
meetings, times, and places. Also see
SOS: Secular Organizations for Sobriety, a.k.a. "Save Our Selves".
http://www.sossobriety.org/
SOS is an alternative recovery method for those alcoholics or drug
addicts who are uncomfortable with the spiritual or superstitious
content of widely available 12-Step programs.
SOS takes a reasonable, secular approach
to recovery and maintains that sobriety is a separate issue from
religion or spirituality. SOS credits the individual for achieving and
maintaining his or her own sobriety, without reliance on any "Higher
Power." SOS respects recovery in any form regardless of the path by
which it is achieved. It is not opposed to or in competition with any
other recovery programs.
Also see:
WFS: Women For Sobriety,
http://www.womenforsobriety.org/ —
WFS is the oldest — founded in 1975 — of the modern (non-12-Step) programs,
and is dedicated to helping women overcome alcoholism and other addictions.
WFS accepts the disease model and is an abstinence program. The "New
Life" program helps women achieve sobriety and sustain ongoing
recovery.
http://www.morerevealed.com/aadep/
== what used to be "http://www.aadeprogramming.com/"
— This is the historical archive and mirror of AA Deprogramming,
one of the first and best anti-AA web sites.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/12-step-free —
Self-described as: 'This is a large yahoo group of ex-AA and ex-"XA" (meaning any
"anonymous" program based on the 12 steps originally created by AA)
people. It is very open to debate and free thinking, but it's main
point is for those needing to be free of the 12 steps.'
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/EFTCoaa
Self-described as:
'This group is called Escaping From The Cult of AA.
Despite only one membership "drive", it has
continuously grown over a year's time.'
http://www.baldwinresearch.com/index.cfm
== Baldwin Research Institute — sane, scientific, non-12-step recovery options
WARNING: I have been told that Baldwin Research is a Scientology front, and that they have even shared
a phone line with another Scientology organization.
I cannot say for sure without much more investigation (which I haven't gotten A Round Tuit yet).
What I do know is that they occasionally have
very accurate criticisms of Alcoholics Anonymous.
http://www.wglasser.com/ — The William Glasser Institute —
Founded in 1967 by Dr. William Glasser, the Institute is a tax-exempt
foundation for training in the behavioral and educational sciences.
http://www.wglasser.com/whatisct.htm — What Is Choice Theory?
Choice Theory® is the basis for all programs taught by the Institute.
It states that all we do is behave, that almost all behavior is chosen,
and that we are driven by our genes to satisfy five basic needs:
survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun.
http://users.erols.com/ksciacca/
== Dual Diagnosis Website, Kathleen Sciacca
Kathleen Sciacca is the author of works like
"MIDAA service manual for mental illness, drug addiction and alcoholism"
and
"Integrated treatment for mental illness, drug addiction, and alcoholism (MIDAA) across Alaska".
Ms. Sciacca is former director of a New York Statewide MICAA training site for program and staff development.
http://www.boozefreebuddies.com
"I run a group called Booze Free Buddies. I couldn't stomach AA and
it's brainwashing and was shocked at the lack of support for people in
need of help with alcohol addiction who didn't want to go to AA."
http://www.boozefreebuddies.com
Self-described as: I run a group called Booze Free Buddies. I couldn't stomach AA and
it's brainwashing and was shocked at the lack of support for people in
need of help with alcohol addiction who didn't want to go to AA.
"Given the prevalence of addiction in society and the extensive evidence
regarding how to identify, intervene and treat it, continued failure to do
so signals widespread system failure in health care service delivery,
financing, professional education and quality assurance. It also raises the
question of whether the low levels of care that addiction patients usually
do receive constitutes a form of medical malpractice."
Kent State University maintains a mailing list forum about addictions: "Addict-L":
To subscribe put- subscribe Addict-L -in the body of a message to: listserv@listserv.kent.edu
To unsubscribe put- unsubscribe Addict-L -in the body of a message to: listserv@listserv.kent.edu
List archives and subscription options are at: http://listserv.kent.edu/archives/Addict-L.html
Send requests for help to Addict-L-request@listserv.kent.edu
http://www.behaviortherapy.com/ResearchDiv/whatworks.aspx
== Statistics on the success rates of various treatment programs.
Rated by Prof. William Miller and Prof. Reid K. Hester of the University of New Mexico
Center for Alcohol, Substance Abuse and Addictions.
Notice how "Twelve-step facilitation" is so far down the list
that you have to look for it. It's number 37 out of 48.
Also notice how 12-Step treatment has a negative success rating
— the "Cumulative Evidence Score" is a minus 82, while
the best treatments are rated positive 390 and 189.
http://www.doctordeluca.com/
— Dr. DeLuca's web site. Lots of stuff about addiction, pain, alternative recovery methods,
harm reduction, moderation,
the ineffectiveness of A.A., the so-called "war on drugs", and much more...
http://www.123greetings.com/birthday/sobriety_birthday/ — Sobriety birthday cards.
Kind of schmalzy, but what the hell. Congratulating and encouraging a loved one who
has been off of drugs and alcohol for a year or two never hurt.
http://www.enterthefreudianslip.com — Music Therapy and Using Music in Psychology
Self-Description: "Examines the power of using popular music, something
people already listen to, as a way for people to express their
feelings. Includes examples of therapeutic messages in popular music
as well as original music by Freudian Slip, therapeutic rock band."
== Just wacky enough that it might help.
Addictive Behaviors Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle
http://depts.washington.edu/abrc/
— included information from G. Alan Marlatt, PhD
http://www.newstarget.com/z008845.html
— Newstarget — More of What the American
Medical Association hopes you never learn about its true history, including
the story of Morris Fishbein, the con artist leader of the AMA from
1924 to 1949.
BioMedSearch contains PubMed/MedLine publications (including some data that NIH
chooses not to display), plus journals and a collection of theses and dissertations
that are not available elsewhere for free, making it the most comprehensive
biomedical search on the web:
http://www.BioMedSearch.com
Department of Justice: The Office for Civil Rights is available to provide guidance
on how the Equal Treatment Regulations relate to twelve-step recovery programs.
For technical assistance, please call
the Office for Civil Rights' main line at (202)307-0690.
Also see this document from the DOJ about how recipients of government money must
not use it to promote the 12-Step religion:
TwelveStepRecoveryPrograms_FAQs.pdf
DrugWatch.com http://DrugWatch.com
—
features a comprehensive list of drugs and medications that are
currently on the market, or were previously available worldwide.
Guidestar
http://www.guidestar.org/ —
database of non-profit organizations. Good for checking out fraudulent non-profits,
and seeing how much they pay their executives.
Health Expertises
www.healthexpertises.com
— Medical
and health information provided by experts;
dedicated to health including advices, news,
topics, dictionary and forum.
Mesothelioma Symptoms
http://www.mesotheliomasymptoms.com
—
The Mesothelioma Symptoms site covers a
range of topics from the different forms of mesothelioma, the hard to detect
symptoms, and the various methods of treatment.
Mesothelioma, in most cases, is caused by exposure to asbestos.
NIAAA ==
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a subsidiary of the
National Institutes of Health. http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/Resources/RelatedWebsites
— the web page where this taxpayer-supported government agency is supposed to
be giving you valid, honest information about the various aids to recovery that are available.
They list 12-Step cult-oriented web sites, but do not list any of the non-cult
alternatives like SMART or Rational Recovery.
Practical Recovery
reports that they have repeated asked the NIAAA to change this page, but they
refuse to do so.
Why is that? Are the authorities at the NIAAA taking bribes, or are they members of the cult?
http://www.PleuralMesothelioma.com
== Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of mesothelioma, a rare cancer that
develops in the lungs. It is almost solely caused by exposure to asbestos, which was
used in everything in children's toys, house-hold insulation, and naval carriers.
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10884600305373
"13th Stepping: Why Alcoholics Anonymous is not always a safe place for
women." Cathy Bogart, Carol Pearce. Journal of Addictions Nursing,
2003,Vol. 14, No. 1 , Pages 43-47.
The extract shows that over half of the female AA members in the report had experienced
harassment or abuse (13th Stepping) and 3.6% had been raped by male AA members.
http://stop13stepinaa.wordpress.com/
Stop13stepinaa's Blog: "Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are filled with Sex Offenders and Violent Criminals and 13 stepping Old timers"
Mitchell K.'s articles about the A.A. headquarters representatives
committing perjury in Germany and Mexico to illegally collect royalties,
by suing A.A. members and getting one sentenced to prison for
"carrying to message" to poor people by printing and giving-away
cheap literature.
http://www.stellarfire.org
— Cora Finch's research into Rowland Hazard and Carl Jung,
and the possible influence that Carl Jung may have had on early
Alcoholics Anonymous
http://www.morerevealed.com/aadep/
== what used to be "http://www.aadeprogramming.com/"
— This is the historical archive and mirror of AA Deprogramming,
one of the first and best anti-AA web sites.
http://www.morerevealed.com/courts/index.html
== Important court decisions that declared that A.A. is a religion, or engages in
religious activities, and it is illegal and unConstitutional to force somebody to
go to A.A. meetings, or "work the Program".
http://alcoholicsanonymous.9f.com/spirituality.htm
— A.A. "spirituality" — A.A. legal and corporate actions over the years
— how A.A. is suing anybody, even A.A. members, to get more money
out of their old books that are out of copyright
http://gsowatch.aamo.info/mex/sentenced.htm
— a Mexican A.A. member is sentenced to prison for a year
for translating and reprinting old out-of-copyright materials after
the A.A. leadership commits
perjury and tells the Mexican court that the Big Book was written
by a "Wayne Parks" rather recently, so it is still under copyright.
That was of course a blatant lie. It was written in 1938 and 1939 by Bill Wilson and
between 40 and 50 other people, but not by any "Wayne Parks".
http://12stepprograms.weebly.com/
— Reveals crimes committed in A.A., usually by long-term members, including murder and rape.
Who is that person sitting next to you at the A.A. meeting, really?
Court cases that declared Alcoholics Anonymous to be engaging in religious activites,
or to be a religious program:
Alcoholic Vervet Monkeys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSm7BcQHWXk
This is a very entertaining story about alcoholic monkeys, sneaky little guys who live at a
tropical resort and steal drinks from the tourists.
What is particularly revealing is the fact that the monkey
population has
the same percentages of alcoholics and tea-totalers as humans do.
That points to a genetic factor, as there is no way to argue that
those monkeys and humans have the same environments, society, or childhood
upbringing. And it would appear that whatever the genetic factor is,
it has not changed in the six million years since monkey and humans diverged
on the evolutionary tree.
On their own
There is a high rate of recovery among alcoholics and addicts,
treated and untreated. According to one estimate, heroin addicts
break the habit in an average of 11 years.
Another estimate is that at least 50% of alcoholics eventually free
themselves although only 10% are ever treated.
One recent study found that 80% of all alcoholics who recover
for a year or more do so on their own, some after being unsuccessfully
treated. When a group of these self-treated alcoholics was
interviewed, 57% said they simply decided that alcohol was bad
for them. Twenty-nine percent said health problems,
frightening experiences,
accidents, or blackouts persuaded them to quit.
Others used such phrases as "Things were building up"
or "I was sick and tired of it." Support from a husband
or wife was important in sustaining the resolution. Treatment of Drug Abuse and Addiction — Part III,
The Harvard Mental Health Letter, Volume 12, Number 4,
October 1995, page 3.
(See Aug. (Part I), Sept. (Part II), Oct. 1995 (Part III).)
So much for the sayings that
"Everybody needs a support group"
and
"Nobody can do it alone".
Most successful people do.
http://12schrittefrei.de/ — Detlef Sax's 12-Step Free, in German, English, and Swedish.
(There are many good items in English that you can read even if you don't speak German.
Click the language selection in the upper left-hand corner of the home page to switch
the web site to English.)
http://www.heise.nu/AALawsuit/
— More on the A.A. headquarters suing foreign A.A. members for making their own translations
of the Big Book and selling them ultra-cheap or giving them away for free,
thus threatening the profits of the A.A. corporation in New York.
http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~gator/aa/index.html —
Peter Daum: Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit den Alcoholics Anonymous
(A Critical Analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous).
Peter Daum is not an ex-member. It's a scientific work, so it's from another point of view.
http://sheilakennedy.net/content/view/599/29/
— Sheila Suess Kennedy, J.D., Assistant Professor, Law & Public Policy, writes about
"Snake Oil, Ethics and the First Amendment: What's a Profession to do?"
"...unvalidated treatments (UTs) are therapies for physical or mental
health problems that are employed in the absence of empirical or
theoretical support for their effectiveness, despite substantial evidence
that they are worthless or harmful."
http://www.roizen.com/ron/mann.htm —
Exploding the myth that Marty Mann learned that "alcoholism is a disease" from
Bill Wilson, the Big Book, or A.A..
http://www.roizen.com/ron/postrepeal.htm
— Why did the Yale alcohol science group fund "Mrs." Marty Mann's and
her organization's proselytizing and A.A. promotion activities from 1944 to 1949?
http://www.roizen.com/ron/rr11.htm
— E. M. Jellinek, the modern proponent of the disease theory of alcoholism,
was a fraud who faked his academic credentials
(Also see:
See these items about the Midtown A.A. Groups of Washington DC:
Washington DC has a large A.A. group for young people that specializes in the sexual exploitation
of under-age girls by old sponsors.
Check out this list of links.
Midtown Group banned from another church in Washington DC.
See the story here.
A girl ended up in the hospital after she was told to have sex with the male cult
members and stop taking her doctor-prescribed psychiatric medications.
See story here.
A policeman's wife says that she was
encouraged to cheat on her husband and to divorce him.
See the story here.
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/
== Apologetics Research Resources on religious movements, cults, sects, world religions and related issues
— Religious cults and sects, doctrines and practices —
http://apologeticsindex.org/a28.html
== Alcoholics Anonymous...
'... "At an AA meeting, you can talk about anything else, but not Jesus Christ,"
Baker says. "I'd be mocked when I talked about my higher power."'
http://www.peele.net/debate/talbott.html
— the G. Douglas Talbott horror story. Dr. Talbott ran a 12-Step-oriented
"addiction treatment clinic"
for doctors and other medical professionals that drove them to suicide.
http://www.morerevealed.com/
— Ken Ragge's web site. Very critical of A.A..
You can also get Ken Ragge's books, The Real AA, and
More Revealed, for free there, as well as
Alcoholics Anonymous:
Cult or Cure? by Charles Bufe, and
Rebecca Fransway's AA Horror Stories.
Good reading. Recommended. Grab and read the stuff.
http://www.morerevealed.com/courts/index.html — Archive of documents, including the legal
decisions that declared that A.A. was engaging in religious ceremonies,
and that sentencing someone to go to A.A. meetings was unconstitutional.
More Revealed : A Critical Analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps
aka The Real AA: Behind the Myth of Twelve Step Recovery,
by Ken Ragge
Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure?, by Charles Bufe
Resisting 12-Twelve Step Coercion: How to Fight Forced Participitation in AA, NA,
or 12-Step Treatment, by Stanton Peele and Charles Bufe with Archie Brodsky
Saints Run Mad, by Marjorie Harrison
Soul Surgery; Some Thoughts on Incisive Personal Work,
by Howard Arnold Walter, M.A.
http://www.citypaper.net/articles/110499/news.cb.chestnut.shtml
— Anti-AA: Jeffrey Schaler's college dumped him from the faculty
because of his views on addiction and AA...
that Alcoholics Anonymous bears more than a passing resemblance to a cult.
The A.A. true believers could not tolerate him after he published his
book
Addiction is a Choice.
http://www.szasz.com/ — Thomas Szasz, M.D., web site,
"Cybercenter for Liberty and Responsibility". Another believer in rationality
and sanity in our drug and alcohol policies.
The National Treatment Center Studies
For many years now, I have been quoting the National Treatment Center in Atlanta, Georgia,
which found in 1996 that 93% of the treatment centers in the country used the 12-Step model.
Well, it turns out that they did another study in 2005, and found that only 75%
of the treatment centers are now using the 12-Step model. That is a big drop.
http://truetalesfromalcoholicsanonymous.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/escape-from-aa/
— a blog, Escape from Alcoholics Anonymous. Best lines:
The advice "look for the similarities" is really a veiled admonition
that newcomers should discard their critical faculties, and not ask
awkward but pertinent questions regarding the true agenda of the
meeting.
AA's message simply does
not stand up to rational examination, hence the intellect is treated
with scorn and contempt to try to preempt such examination.
Vincent Van Noir, Yahoo Voices Contributor on AA
There are a few other AA critical postings on Yahoo Voices. An early patriot who was willing to step up and tell the truth about AA was Vincent Van Noir, Yahoo Contributor:
"The 13th Step, the Film" A documentary about sexual, violent and financial crimes in 12 Step AA that you don't see, because AA members cover it up, hide it and claim it doesn't happen in their group.
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-13th-step
These two papers are very good mathematical analyses of the A.A. growth/attrition and success/failure rates. Also,
the references at the ends of the papers list many good downloadable documents which will give you much
more information on the subject.
http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/09/cognitive_dissonance_and_polit.php
— "Cognitive Dissonance and Politics", by Jonah Lehrer. This article is about
how people with Conservative political opinions resist evidence that contradicts
their beliefs — and how they even harden their beliefs in the face of contrary
evidence —
but this information is also applicable to people who hold cultish beliefs and opinions and
refuse to see any evidence to the contrary.
http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/
— Critiques of the 12-Step Programs, coming from a fundamentalist Christian viewpoint.
Their major premise is that A.A. is not Christian at all — it is heretical and unBiblical:
"This is not a bridge to Christ but a bridge to Babylon..."
http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml — the web site of Dick B.
Very pro-A.A. and pro-Oxford Group, he interprets history from a religious viewpoint,
and he thinks that the Oxford Group was a gift from God,
but still, he is a good source of historical information.
Unlike Bill Wilson, Dick B. writes mostly accurate history.
Also see more history at:
Also see:
http://casa-12steps.blogspot.com/
— Dick B. wrote a long article about how the current A.A. leadership is
censoring information about Clarence Snyder and his Cleveland, Ohio A.A. group.
http://www.amyleecoy.com/blog/
— Amy Lee Coy was forced into A.A. at the age of 14 and spent
more than 20 years in it. She writes about what a total failure A.A.
is, and how harmful it is, and she works to get the truth out.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e14-bloody-mary
== South Park, "Bloody Mary", Season 9, Episode 14
I love this South Park episode, and I watch it again every so often for giggles
and grins. It's the funniest spoof of A.A. that I've ever seen. — "Nobody
is in charge. We are all powerless here." — "You have a disease."
— "I would have quit long ago but for this damned disease. Bring me another beer." — "Make way, make way! Alcoholic coming through!"
Penn & Teller, Bullshit, episode on Alcoholics Anonymous.
== It is also great.
The URL keeps changing as people post it on Youtbue, and then it gets taken down due to
copyright infringements.
http://www.staticfiends.com/suburbia/viewtopic.php?p=15247#15247
== Bad drug tests threaten us all. Don Bolles, drummer for the legendary punk band the Germs,
got busted because a bottle of Dr. Bronner's Soap tested positive for the date-rape drug GHB,
which the soap does not contain.
http://12schrittefrei.de/ — Detlef Sax's 12-Step Free, in German, English, and Swedish.
(There are many good items in English that you can read even if you don't speak German.
Click the language selection in the upper left-hand corner of the home page to switch
the web site to English.)
http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~gator/aa/index.html —
Peter Daum: Eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit den Alcoholics Anonymous
(A Critical Analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous).
Peter Daum is not an ex-member. It's a scientific work, so it's from another point of view.
http://www.alcoholicsanonymous.com/ —
This is merely an alias for the official Alcoholics Anonymous web site — you get redirected to
the one above.
(It is now a Dead Link; the Domain Name is owned by A.A. but not used.)
http://gso.org/ — this domain name used to be a web site that was critical of the GSO,
the General Service Organization branch of Alcoholics Anonymous, but A.A. lawyers strong-armed
the domain name away from its critics, and now it's another alias for A.A.
http://www.anonpress.org/ —
Online AA books, book ordering, intergroup phone numbers etc. Home of
e-AA: an electronic reference to Alcoholics Anonymous.
http://www.daily-reflections.com/
== Daily Reflections — Pseudo-spiritual ravings of William Griffith Wilson,
one corn-pone homilie for every day of the year
http://www.ncadd-middlesex.com/donors.htm
== Corporate Donors to the NCADD of Middlesex County,
like Johnson and Johnson, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
(It's a goofy web page — you have to click on "Corporate Donors" to see anything.)
You might want to write to those corporate donors and ask
them why they support quack medicine like 12-Step treatment.
Especially ask them whether they test the efficacy of their own medicines the same way as they
tested the A.A. 12-Step treatment. I mean, they did test the A.A. 12-Step treatment and see how well it actually works
before they financed its promotion, didn't they?
UPDATE: 19 October 2006: Hmmm... The Bristol-Myers Squibb credit has disappeared. Now the
NCADD is supported by Frank's Pizza.
ASAM == American Society of Addiction Medicine — the A.A. front group that exists to
promote 12-Step treatment of alcoholism and addictions to doctors.
http://www.asam.org
NAADAC — National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors
— an A.A. front group for "counselors" that campaigns for the government and
health insurance companies to pay for more 12-Step indoctrination of
alcoholics and addicts
http://www.naadac.org/
http://www.eap-association.org/index.html
— this is allegedly The International Employee Assistance Program Association.
(That terminology, "Employee Assistance",
is code-speak for "shove all drinking and drugging employees into
a 12-Step quack medicine program.")
Their web site is so messed up that it looks like they are all stoned out of their gourds
on something or other.
http://rehabcentreinfo.com/
— Public Relations fluff intended to fool people into believing that
"treatment works".
DATOS —
http://www.datos.org/ — a source for faked success rates for drug
and alcohol treatment programs. The web site features a bunch of fluff
and bar graphs showing that "treatment reduces usage".
The problem is, they do not reveal when or how the measurements and
surveying were done. Nor do they reveal
how they cherry-picked
their patients or "graduates".
So the reported results are actually meaningless — just some eye-wash
intended to fool funding agencies into giving them some more money.
http://www.nationalinterventionreferral.org/
— National Intervention Referral.
This web site will find some strong-arm thugs for you,
to kidnap or force a loved one
into a so-called "treatment center", where people
get 28-day long Alcoholics Anonymous indoctrination sessions at a cost
of only $10,000 to $30,000.
Frank Buchman, A Life, by Garth Lean
This book is now a free read on the Internet: http://www.frankbuchman.info/
This is a totally white-washed and sanitized version of Frank Buchman's life, a piece of
fawning propaganda written by a life-long follower of Frank Buchman's cult. See a book review here: Review of Garth Lean's book, On The Tail of a Comet.
(It's the same book. The book had two titles. In Great Britain, it was "Frank Buchman, A Life",
and in the USA it was "On The Tail of a Comet".)
http://www.mensworkshop.org/
== Atlanta Men's Workshop — another totally A.A. organization that is "not affiliated with nor endorsed by
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services".
http://thetruthaboutmidtown.com/index.php?option=com_content&task;=view&id;=4&Itemid;=2
== The Truth About Midtown. This is a pro-AA web site that condemns the Midtown Group of Washington DC,
which is a corrupt group that specializes in seducing and raping underage girls, and telling mental
patients to stop taking their psychiatric medications.
The creators of this web site want to imply that the rest of A.A. is great, and only this group is bad.
http://www.ca.org/ —
Self-described as "Cocaine Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their
experience, strength and hope with each other so that they may solve
their common problem and help others to recover from their addiction."
http://open-mind.org/Alcohol.htm
— Self-described as "Extensive resources for those in or seeking recovery from and/or
information regarding alcoholism or alcohol abuse, as well as for family & friends."
http://www.aabibliography.com/henrybwright.htm
— Information about Henry B. Wright, the theologian at Yale University
who taught the "Four Absolutes" to Frank Buchman, who in turn
taught them to the Oxford Group and early A.A. members.
http://www.legacyaa.com/articles/dangers_Success.htm
== "Alcoholics Anonymous, the Dangers of Success"
— The Nation, March 2, 1964:
"I concluded that AAs headquarters had been captured by an
ultraconservative clique that was doing the society appreciable harm."
http://www.csj.org/ —
American Family Foundation. AFF studies cults and psychological
manipulation.
Cult 101 is a good place to begin research on the subject of cults.
CAIC ==
The Cult Awareness & Information Centre in Australia; Good stuff.
http://www.caic.org.au/
http://www.paulmorantz.com
— Paul Morantz is the lawyer who sued Synanon, the crazy "recovery" organization turned
cult and church. Synanon responded by putting a rattlesnake in his mailbox.
They even removed the rattle from the snake so that there would be no warning buzz before the
snake stuck. The snake bit Morantz, and he nearly died. It took 14 vials of anti-venom to save him, and his
arm was permanently damaged. Nevertheless, Morantz prevailed against Synanon.
Also see letters from Paul Morantz
here
and
here
and
here.
http://www.FreedomOfMind.com/ — Steven Hassan's anti-cult web site.
He was a Moonie for about seven years, so he speaks about cults from experience.
He has a couple of good books on cults, and one is specifically about
how to free loved ones from cults. See: Combatting Cult Mind Control.
http://www.icsahome.com/
== the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is a network of
people concerned about cultic, manipulative, and abusive groups.
As the leading professional organization in the field, ICSA strives to
increase understanding and awareness of such groups and to help people
that they harm.
http://freethoughtpolice.com/
—
Especially see: Interview with Dr. Marlene Winell, Author of Leaving the Fold: A Guide
for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving their Religion.
http://www.reveal.org/
— REVEAL — Former Members of the International Churches of Christ — ICC, ICOC,
"Boston Movement", "Boston Church of Christ",
"Crossroads Movement"
http://www.aacultwatch.co.uk
— A.A. Cult Watch in the U.K.
This is a very odd beast — devoted A.A. members and true believers
declaring that they aren't a cult, but the other half of A.A. is.
http://clever.net/ozark/awareness/
— The Awareness Page — Large Group Awareness Trainings —
General articles on the topic of "LGATs" and specific info on
Werner Erhard's
estscam —
Landmark Education, The Forum, Lifespring, Momentus Training, Insight Seminars,
New Warriors Training, and other "Transformational Encounter Groups"
"The callousness of these techniques — targeting the vulnerable,
building false friendships with the lonely or troubled, promising to
relieve people of the most fundamental dreads of human existence from
the fear of mortality to the numbing pain of grief — gave to the process
an awful cruelty and dishonesty."
http://www.perefound.org/ —
The Peregrine Foundation is a charitable, educational and research public
foundation created in 1992 to assist families and individuals living in
or exiting from experimental social groups.
http://www.wellspringretreat.org/
— Wellspring is a non-profit treatment center to help people recover
from abusive cults. Based on the work of
Dr. Robert J. Lifton,
and emphasizes understanding brainwashing and how it was done to the patient.
http://www.ultranet.com/~comments —
Comments from the Friends... A resource for Jehovahs Witnesses, ex-JWs,
and persons concerned about JW relatives or neighbors — providing
up-to-date information through a quarterly publication, referrals to
local support groups,...
http://www.pnc.com.au/~fichrist —
Free In Christ Ministries - Information for Jehovah's Witnesses and Ex-JWs —
Support for those trapped in the Watchtower Society
http://www.support4xjws.org/ —
Support Group for Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses... A place for former JWs to connect, fellowship, etc.
Meet people who KNOW what you are going through. Friends & family of JWs are welcome!...
http://www.exmormon.org/ —
Recovery from Mormonism — a site for those who are questioning their
faith in the organization and for those who need support as they transition
their lives to a normal life.
http://skepdic.com —
The Skeptical Dictionary —
"From Abracadabra to Zombies" — includes A Course
in Miracles, Dianetics/Scientology, Ear Candling, Firewalking, Glossolalia, God, I Ching,
Kabalah, Levitation, Miracles, Multi-Level Marketing, New Age Therapies,
Occultism, Prana, Reiki, Sai Baba, Tensegrity, UFOs, von Däniken,
and Wishful thinking.
The Purpose Driven Life Takers,
By Jonathan Hutson == a violent video game where your children kill those Manhattan residents
who will not convert to fundamentalist Christianity is being marketed by a Right-wing
"Christian" publishing house.
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/2/11/13559/0530
== "Shadow War" : mainstream Protestant denominations under seige
By Bruce Wilson —
Attack on The United Churches of Christ
— an over two decade long campaign, by the far-right-wing-financed
"Institute For Religion and Democracy",
and so called "renewal"
groups advocating literal interpretations of the Bible and far-right
social and political views, to destroy mainstream Protestant Christianity in America.
http://www.rickross.com/ — Rick Ross — a self-appointed "cult expert" —
more recovery cult and children's gulags information. Questionable methods and ethics.
Has a history of working as a coercive deprogrammer, and worse. The Wikipedia reports that he
went to Waco, Texas, and recommended to the FBI that they use confrontational tactics on David Koresh,
which directly or indirectly led to the crisis that resulted in the deaths of the cult members, including
many children.
Ross censored me and deleted my posts from his "forum"
when I argued that A.A. was a cult and questioned his knowledge of A.A. and his credentials.
See the deleted postings
here.
http://www.exscientologykids.com
— the web site of Jenna Miscavige Hill, the niece of the current Scientology leader
David Miscavige.
It features stories of current and former Scientologists and supports those who
choose to leave the organization.
http://www.isaccorp.com/
— International Survivors Action Committee — dedicated to exposing abusive behavior
modification centers, drug treatment programs, and mental health facilities
http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/1095/10f_deth.html
— Jon Krakauer, Outside Magazine, "Loving Them To Death".
This excellent article about abusive "wilderness trek rehabilitation programs"
is Must reading. Five stars, two thumbs up, and all of that.
http://www.63days.com/
— 63 Days, another horror story of imprisonment and torture in another one of those "wilderness trek" child-abuse rackets.
http://www.nospank.net/boot.htm
— BOOT CAMP: Cruelty, sadism, injury and death in locked residential
facilities for troubled youth. Includes a good list of links to other articles about
child abuse in the name of rehabilitation.
http://www.nospank.net/n-o84r.htm — Six camp counselors charged with murder, 2005.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page for a long list of the names of children murdered
in those "boot camps".
In Florida, the camp "drill sergeants" and a "nurse" murder another child:
http://www.nospank.net/anderson.htm
== the story of Martin Lee Anderson.
http://www.nospank.net/lawrenc3.htm for information on Michael Pearl's child-abuse instructional books.
Michael Pearl is an evangelical minister from Tennessee
who writes books about child discipline where he advocates spanking
children with PVC plastic pipe — even
spanking babies as young as 4 months. And he passes that criminal behavior off as "Christianity".
http://intothesunrise.blogspot.com/ == a blog that gives information about
child abuse and deaths due to Michael Pearl, the evangelical minister from Tennessee
who advocates spanking children with plastic pipe.
http://www.dfaf.org/ —
DFAF — the Drug Free America Foundation, the former Straight, Inc. child-abusing organization
— Definitely the Heart of the Beast. Run by the Sembler Cartel, the
"Ambassador DeSade" family.
http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore.html
— William Howard Kunstler, the author of "The Long Emergency:
Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century"
When researching a subject,
also do research on the Internet through your public library's
EBSCO database,
or the
Electric Library.
You may need a library card to access these databases (like your local
city library's cards). It's worth getting one.