Une page du site
"Sectes, un autre regard"
CICNS FAQ
Une page du site
"Sectes, un autre regard"
CICNS FAQ
Another way to look at cults ?
Another
way to evaluate spiritual minorities which must be open, honest and tolerant.
You
seem to say that cults do not exist ?
There
exists in France, as in other countries, spiritual minorities, groups
with a spiritual vocation which are not part of dominant and recognized
religions. Some tragic events that received large media coverage have been used
in order to stigmatize these minorities (to put them « all in one bag »)
and to use them as scapegoats. The word « cult » symbolizes this
stigmatization. One of the objectives of CICNS is to put an end to the
odious mixing up between criminality and spiritual minorities. Criminality does
exist, but it is not the doing of spiritual minorities.
But
danger exists ?
There
are no more dangerous individuals within spiritual minorities than anywhere else.
In reality, the aspiration of people who undertake a spiritual search generally
leads them to more fraternity and inner peace. The eventual (and statistically
rare) drift of a spiritual minority's member should no longer be used to condemn
new forms of spirituality, no more than the group to which he belonged, as is
the case now in France.
If
you do not deny the existence of drifts, how do you then propose to treat them ?
A drift is a criminal act : criminal acts are the doing of confused human beings, whatever their eventual membership in a group, whether political, religious or other. The Law has the means to handle these situations, as it must do in principle, for each citizen, regardless of his affiliations or membership.
Do
you deny a link of cause and effect between membership in a spiritual
minority and a criminal act ?
Spiritual
minorities do not incite their members to commit crime or anti-social behavior (If
it was the cas, those would simply not be spiritual minorities, that is why we
denounce this mixing up of ideas). The « terrorist and anti-social cult »
myth has been nurtured by medias and some authorities to a point where it is
now anchored in the mental frame of the general public. A violent or desperate
attitude can arise within every individual. When an individual belonging to a
political party or any professional category, allows himself to commit a
criminal act, we do not mention his acquaintances. This happens only when the individual
in question belongs or has been part of a spiritual minority. It has come to
nobody’s mind to state that firemen were a cult when one of them set a forest
fire, some time ago. The association between belonging to a certain group and reprehensive acts is in itself criminal.
Yet,
the
medias also tell us there are tendencies towards suicide within cults ?
Police
and National Education are often presented, in
Don’t
you exaggerate a little ?
Take
a look at the Incredible Story of L’essentiel. We believe that a real
witch-hunt is carried out in
What
do you make of the great collective suicides that hit the headlines?
We
invite you to read the pages dedicated to them
on our site. If you have
heard only one side of the story, you will certainly be surprised by what we
bring to your awareness.
But
closer to us, aren’t there undisputable cases of abuse?
We,
at CICNS, have taken
the sane habit of disputing them anyhow. Most of our certitudes are shaken when
we really spend time over these questions superficially touched upon by the
medias and orientated in a tendentious manner by some official declarations
of our governments. Abuses you are speaking of do exist, but they are present in
every strata of our society and treated very unequally through our Justice system.
The case of spiritual minorities, called « cults » by medias and the
general public, is the most visible example today of a collective manipulation
that has borne fruits. One outcome of this conditioning is that you
believe everything you are told about spiritual minorities. Ask yourself the
question, honestly : what do you really know ? And consult our archives to take
part in a more open reflection over the case in debate. Most of us are aware
that medias rarely inform but we still tend to accept everything they spread as
an expression of « truth ». This paradoxical phenomenon leads to an
erroneous vision of reality, in particular at the expense of spiritual
minorities.
But
we see eccentric gurus surrounded by their numerous wives, hooked on their
powers and their pockets full of money?
Well
done ! You just presented us with the caricature tirelessly drawn
in the people's mind for twenty five years. Just ponder again on the coarseness of these features.
We apply to the scapegoat all human weaknesses in an exaggerated manner and
this allows witnesses to position themselves on « the good side »,
that of « normal people ». The caricature is gross, fallacious and
intentionally destructive of essential values that spiritual minorities in fact
advocate and live. But anyhow, we insist on reminding that to be « eccentric »,
« rich » or even « surrounded by women » is in no way an
offense in a democracy and does not justify the stigmatization of spiritual
minorities. The largest part of them is actually much more discrete.
Without
speaking of caricature, then, isn’t « spirituality » often a label
to hide disreputable intentions ?
Everything
can be used as a screen for less respectable intentions. Laicity can serve as a
mask for an anti-religious attitude, politics may lead to an immoderate taste for power
and "freedom" or "democracy" are often brought forward to justify the
hunt of
spiritual minorities in
What
do you say about mental manipulation?
Mental
manipulation is one of those blurred and demagogic concepts used in the anti-cult
battle that betray a will to condemn rather than to ponder over questions of
society raised by spiritual minorities. If there exists a mental manipulation,
spiritual minorities are thus not exclusively concerned by this phenomenon.
Advertising and political campaigns use very efficient persuasion tools and
relations in our daily life are pervaded by attitudes that could be denounced as
mental manipulation. Most of the TV broadcasts about cults do use means that are
also akin to mental manipulation. On this point, as on others, the tendency of
human beings to overexploit his lesser or greater powers should not be
associated with spiritual minorities which are today among rare places where
great human questions are dealt with sincerity and intelligence. Humanism has long
disappeared from the official structures of our society and it is one of the
reasons that have inspired the CICNS to make the voice of spiritual minorities
heard and known the value of their endeavor.
What
are your objectives?
The
CICNS proposes a new approach on spiritual minorities, freed from platitudes and
the most revolting shortcuts that have affected the life of thousands of people
in
We
work to provide the public at large with information so far voluntarily ignored in
debates on the question of spiritual minorities.
We
expect from minorities themselves that they come out of the straightjacket of
fear distilled by the threats of the
anti-cult campaign ; that they stop to believe that « the other is a
cult, not me » ; and that they actively participate in the effort of
the CICNS by openly demonstrating that they are not a bane for society but
rather one of its chances, and by showing their exemplary and spontaneous
respect for the principles that have founded the great Constitutions.
We
expect from authorities that they create a balanced observatory of spiritual
minorities that would include university researchers and spiritual leaders so far
unjustly but voluntarily kept out of debates.
Who
is hiding behind CICNS ?
No
one is hiding.
The founding members of CICNS have diverse spiritual orientations or none at
all. We are not linked to any of the large groups that have hit the headlines
nor to any of those listed in the parliamentary report on cults. Some people we
work with have no spiritual path as such and are concerned simply to defend
fundamental rights of human beings in a democracy.
We
see today that these rights are never secured and that we must work daily to
avoid that despotism and ostracism regain a place in our country.
You
are quite virulent towards anti-cult movements, aren’t they inspired in the
same way as you are ?
The
words and actions of ADFI and CCMM have convinced us that their motivation is
not to preserve the values of democracy and particularly that their members are
not inspired by tolerance and freedom of consciousness. Their official decision
to refuse dialogue, to systematically label as evil all spiritual tendencies
with no exception, the incitement to hatred explicitly contained in some of
their public speeches and their total incompetence to observe the spiritual
phenomenon in France in a sociological or even humane perspective make of
these people gross anti-religious activists who, though funded by the States, do
not deserve the attention given to them today in this debate. The credit given
to them by our Government has lead us to seriously doubt the willingness of
authorities to calm down passions.
You
do not seem to be defenders of laicity?
Laicity,
as it is defended today in our society, is a laicity of exclusion even when everybody
says otherwise in public speeches.
Spiritual
minorities have no plans nor any means to destabilize the
If,
originally,
laicity was a wise experimentation in the context where it was born,
it is today unfortunately used by rationalists and anti-religious activists to
impose their point of view on the world. Such a laicity is undemocratic and
infringes upon its fundamental principles. The religious or spiritual minorities
point of view on the world has a place in our society and must be respected.
What
kind of actions do you undertake ?
The
CICNS offers a rare and often disturbing information on the question of new
spiritualities. Our team of volunteers is in daily contact with the medias,
authorities and spiritual minorities in order to bring a balance in the debate
actually truncated on the topic of « cults ». We also gather
testimonies of discrimination as well as stories of excesses and drifts of a
repression that has all the delirious appearances of a witch-hunt. We punctually
organize tours in
Point
of view of a spiritual minority : don’t you think it is better not to get
involved in actions such as yours which force us to play the game of polemics
and of values that have nothing « spiritual » in them, that it could
be a way to bring troubles instead of avoiding them ?
From
the CICNS point of view, troubles are already here. They cannot be avoided anymore, by
anyone, and it is better not to wait for a more direct attack to become aware of
the progressive slide of our democratic society towards a form of
totalitarianism that will leave no place to religious diversity. The spiritual
approach can naturally include an outlook on society in defending its values
while avoiding to get caught in a war. The CICNS is determined not to enter in
too militant a battle and to preserve the peaceful values that we defend but
without avoiding the necessary debates and actions that our commitment demands.
If spiritual minorities showed more solidarity today around the defense of their
rights, they could get themselves heard.
In
France, the percentage of the population concerned by a new spiritual
orientation or a less traditional choice of life is so important that we could
right now make ourselves known, beyond our differences, as a living force,
worthy of respect and peaceful, an integral part of our society.
Only
a new relation between society and its minorities can lead to a decrease in
potential drifts. To marginalize a group, whichever it may be, leads to
unproductive confrontations.
Read also INFORM on the subject of "cults" and judgments about spiritual beliefs