Family Group Forms to Counter Cults

Hundreds of distraught Moscovites, who have lost family members to extreme religious movements, have joined forces to form a public committee to press for restrictions on such cults' activities -- or at least to get their relatives back.The Moscow Duma is launching an investigation into the issue this month. The results will be used to push for major legislative changes, a duma official said."Today the law is very vague and leaves extremist religious groups at large," said Alexei Dunts, deputy chairman of the nonprofit charity Committee for Saving the Young. The committee, which he says has brought together 200 families affected by cults, works closely with the city duma on the problem of cult devotees, many of whom are believed to suffer pyschological and physical damage.While at least 420 religious groups are registered in Moscow, three of them -- the Mother of God Center, the Aum Sinrike group and the White Brotherhood -- appear to be the most dangerous, Dunts said."The problem is definitely there, and it is more serious than it seems," said Yury Yemelyanov, who coordinates the city duma's youth policy and monitors religious groups in the city. He added that an independent commission will be formed from lawyers, religious specialists and medical doctors by early July to study the working and effects of such sects.Once targeted by religious activists, potential cult followers are urged to leave behind their families, employment and social life and devote their entire lives solely to the activities of their cult, said Dunts, whose ex-wife and a 12-year-old daughter joined the White Brotherhood a year ago."I managed to get my daughter back," Dunts said, "but there is little hope for my ex-wife." He added that his daughter, who still lives with her mother, has resumed attending school but "I still have to take her food secretly and had to slip her medicine when she was ill," because of her mother's opposition.The Committee for Saving the Young was formed by 200 families with problems similar to Dunts' in the hope that they could accomplish more together."Our major goal is to make sure the law is changed so that such religious activities are closely monitored," Dunts said."Under the current law, such control is under the authority of Supreme Soviet which ceased to exist last year," he said.Dunts said that the city prosecutor's office has started two investigations into the activities of the White Brotherhood and the Mother of God Center. A source close to the investigation confirmed this on Monday but said no charges against the cults have been brought yet.According to Dunts, most former sect converts can be brought back to normal behavior, but at least five people recovered from the White Brotherhood by their families show no hope of recovery: they do not communicate or even recognize their relatives. Last November, Ukrainian police detained 800 members of the White Brotherhood as they gathered in the center of Kiev to witness the end of the world predicted by their leader, the Living God Mariya Devy Khristos. When the world failed to end the authorities were left with several hundred nameless children on their hands, who refused to take food or drink and called Mariya Devy their only family.In an open letter this month signed by 26 of the city duma's 35 deputies, media organizations were urged to be more cautious with giving air time and page space to religious organizations.