The Academy for Psychic Studies - Whatever you call it, it's still a cult.

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Rev. William Duby would always diffuse the claim his cult was actually a cult. Bill would make plays on the word "occult" (spelling the word "oc-cult") or using the Webster's Dictionary or an arcane historical definition of what a cult happens to be.

Bill would frequently say (even in print!) he didn't care if anyone called his cult a "cult" because everyone is already in a cult. He would define families, schools, places of employment - all the things we participate in every day as a "cult". Even his attorney would parrot the claim that everything else is a cult as well. Of course, neither Bill nor his attorney would ever directly answer whether or not the Spiritual Rights Foundation and it's subsidiary the Academy for Psychic Studies was a "cult" or not.

Bill took extraordinary steps to deflect and re-direct any inquiry into whether he was a cult leader or not, never answering yes but never saying no either.

I know there are many idiots who rely on that same technique to dispute claims that one group or another is a cult or not. They are either too deluded to see that Webster's only defines words in the context of general language usage or they have a purpose to deflect attention from the modern, accepted definition of "cult".

People like William Duby and others like him have a stake saying a cult is no big deal. He would frequently say he never set up a cult - he set up an anti-cult because it has radically different practices than the cults of our families, schools, workplaces, places of worship, supermarket or dance hall. He would tell us his cult was a better cult because it's not like any other cult - but it's not really a cult.

In fact, many "cults" say the same, then turn around and sue for defamation when anyone calls them a cult. Certainly, the Spiritual Rights Foundation filed a lawsuit claiming they were offended that I call them a "cult" and that it's not true anyway. However, their attorney was quoted in print saying "To a person, anything can be called a cult." essentially throwing a bucked of dishwater on their complaint. Bill Duby's incoherent ramblings saying he's got a cult because every other group is a cult anyway and it's kind of not but really is a cult just nailed that coffin shut.

So, I decided we should take a look at what makes a cult and how modern social science defines a cult.

That definition is, of course, very different from what you'd find in Webster's. So all you social science wannabe's who are going to cry out I don't know what the hell I'm talking about when you read the below, keep in mind that I have an education in Sociology. That's the study of groups. A cult is a group. Therefore, it's OK for Sociology to define a cult. You can ask the professional Sociologists (especially those who study cults) about it if you want. Clue: Sociologists are found in Universities. Those are schools. You know, those places you don't like anymore because they make you think and it makes your brain hurt - you fucking SRF troll.

Unfortunately, those culties who really need to read that above paragraph will ever understand what we all do: that there IS a definition of a CULT and that definition is well accepted and is under continually under review.

And those of us with experience with groups of this kind can tell we have seen and have been affected by the characteristics for a long, long time.

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Marcia Rudin's 14 Common Characteristics of a Cult

1. Members swear total allegiance to an all-powerful leader who they believe to be the Messiah.
2. Rational thought is discouraged or forbidden.
3. The cult's recruitment techniques are often deceptive.
4. The cult weakens the follower psychologically by making him or her depend upon the group to solve his or her problems.
5. The cult manipulates guilt to their advantage.
6. The cult leader makes all the career and life decision of the members.
7. Cults exist only for their own material survival and make false promises to work to improve society.
8. Cult members often work full time for the group for little or no pay.
9. Cult members are isolated from the outside world and any reality testing it could provide.
10. Cults are anti-woman, anti-child, and anti-family.
11. Cults are apocalyptic and believe themselves to be the remnant who will survive the soon-approaching end of the world.
12. Many cults follow an "ends justify the means" philosophy.
13. Cults, particularly in regard to their finances, are shrouded in secrecy.
14. There is frequently an aura of or potential for violence around cults.

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How do those criteria map onto your experience at the Spiritual Rights Foundation?

• Didn't we have to acknowledge Bill Duby and Angela Silva as spiritually perfect beings?
  Didn't we have to sign bogus documents swearing we wouldn't disclose what happened to us?
  Wasn't Bill Duby's supporters fond of reciting his Duby-ous achievements?
  
• Weren't we told we had to turn off the "critical factor of our conscious mind"?
  Weren't we told to "get out of your head" and accept the teaching?
  
• How many of us were led to believe we would find something completely different from what we were given?
  
• Weren't we all dependent on their "healings", their recognition? Weren't many of us dependant on their rat-bag housing? Didn't we hear that we were part of an elite spiritual community? Weren't we dependant on that "support" system for our daily life?
  Weren't we tricked into accepting that the holy leaders of this dysfunctional and worthless organization knew how to run our lives better than we did?
  
• How many of us were taunted with "don't you want to give to your church"?
  How often was "the envelope" passed around whenever a group of people were assembled?
  How did you feel if you didn't give "your share"? What was that song they sang every church service? Wasn't there a line about how you should not "renege a bit on what you ought to pay"? How did that feel? Were you feeling as guilty as the rest of us?
  
• How many men were messengers or construction laborers? How many women were housecleaners?
  How often did Bill say the men "went into 'business' for themselves and the women cleaned houses"? How many of us had our careers go down the tubes?
  
• Didn't the leaders live in comfort and drive luxury cars while we had crappy cars and sweated out the end of the month, hoping we could eat?
  
• Did anyone get paid for working on "the farm" or creating materials for "Health and Wealth"?
  
• Wasn't news from the world interpreted for us?
  Didn't Bill give us the "enlightened" view of the world?
   Weren't the faithful few cloistered behind wrought iron fences?
  
• How many of us lost our spouses, children and had our family ties destroyed?
  How many women were cursed at, insulted, demeaned, abused? How many of the children? How many of the men? Who's family came first? Certainly not yours.
  
• Didn't Bill Duby tell us we are working on ourselves for the "next world" not this one?
  
• How many of Bill and Angela's insane tactics were truly for the benefit of their followers and the world?
  
• Did anyone know how much money came in? How much went out?
  What happened to the rest of it? Where is the money we lost there? How much money is in the leader's real estate holdings and how much money went into providing a comfortable lifestyle for the leader's family? No one but the leaders know.
  
• When one of the SRF members says on the radio that he was more than tempted to come down to my home to "deliver a healing", how much potential for violence would there be?
  How about "Santa"?
  Given Santa's behavior, given how aggressive he was with his child and other members, given that firearms are present among the cult members, what conclusion would you have?

I don't know. Maybe this is a helpful, beneficial and benign spiritual organization. So maybe it's not a cult.

If you believe that, you may be a current cult member. If you are not, I have a bridge to sell you.

But if you do believe that the Spiritual Rights Foundation is a cult, just take a look at their "American Spirit Newspaper" of the inspired writing of Rev. Bill Duby. It's on the web right there on their site.

You'll find plenty of data there and plenty of support that even the Spiritual Rights Foundation has to believe it is a cult as well.