http://www.cleveland.com/metro/plaindealer/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/cuyahoga/1004088611509826.xml Cleveland Com, The Plain Dealer - 26 October 2001 - Michael Sangiacomo Metro News Conference on cults adds terrorism focus :

The Leo J. Ryan Educational Foundation's national conference, which normally focuses on the dangers of religious cults, has added discussions on terrorism to a weekend convention because of the events of Sept. 11.

The conference, "Cults and Terrorism: Abuse of the Vulnerable," will still focus on the threat of cults upon children during workshops and panel discussions today through Sunday at the Hilton Cleveland South Hotel in Independence.

The foundation is named after the U.S. congressman who was murdered while investigating Jim Jones' People's Temple in Guyana in 1978.

For years the Ryan foundation and its forerunner organization, the Cult Awareness Network, has predicted a confrontation between the United States and religious cults. Last year the conference's keynote speaker delivered a presentation on Aum Shinri Kyo, the Japanese cult that released poison gas in a Tokyo subway in 1995, killing 11 people.

"The conference is open to everyone and will expose the mechanisms that people like Osama bin Laden use to threaten the world," said Ron Taggert of Stow, vice president of the Cult Information Services of Northeast Ohio, a co-sponsor of the conference. "We can offer an understanding of how cults operate so people can better protect their families."

The conference will include more than a dozen speakers, with workshops on such topics as like "Children in Christian Science," "Coping With Cults, What Can A Family Do?" and "Incest, Rape and Abuse in Polygamist Families." Former members of religious cults will describe their years in the groups.

Kevin Garvey of New York, a recognized cult expert, will speak on the similarities between cults and terrorist cells. He said the world is in the first stages of a clash of civilizations: the new world of technology and democracy versus the old world of theocracy.

"Bin Laden is . . . part of a 200-year-old reformist movement that wants a pristine form of Islam to be imposed on everyone," he said. "They attack anything or anyone that breaches their ethical structure. They are a movement of hate."

David Clark, a court-certified cult expert, will speak on "Understanding the Making of a Terrorist," an attempt to explain what goes through the mind of terrorists and suicide bombers. Clark will also be part of a panel discussion Friday dealing with the question of how and when religious belief turns violent.

The Ryan foundation was known as the Cult Awareness Network until that organization was sued by the Church of Scientology, which owns all of its assets, including the name.

For further information about the conference, including admission prices, contact the Leo J. Ryan Foundation, 1-203-366-5500, or log onto www.cultinfo.org.

Contact Michael Sangiacomo at: 216-999-4890 --

>Conference on cults adds terrorism focus
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