Cultists Anonymous (CA) was a British anti-cult organization made up of ex-cultists from Family, Action, Information, and Rescue (FAIR), Britain's largest anti-cult organization. CA formed in 1985 but rejoined FAIR in 1991. George D. Chryssides, "Britain's anti-cult movement," in ''New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response'', edited by Jamie Cresswell and Bryan Wilson, 257–73 (London and New York:

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 1999), 266. CA's leaders generally remained anonymous to avoid intimidation from new religious movements (NRMs). However, George D. Chryssides, a British

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

scholar, believes that Lord John Francis Rodney, 9th Baron Rodney (Lord Rodney) was the leader of the group.George D. Chryssides, ''Exploring New Religions'', Issues in Contemporary Religion (London and New York: Continuum, 2000), 350.

Split from FAIR

CA split from FAIR at the latest in August 1985.Walter Schwarz, "Young minds are the battlegrounds / Focus on religious cults," ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' (London), 21 October 1985. Since at least 1984, some members of FAIR believed that it was becoming "moderate" and it needed a stronger stance against "cults." George D. Chryssides, "Britain's anti-cult movement," in ''New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response'', edited by Jamie Cresswell and Bryan Wilson, 257–73 (London and New York:

, 1999), 266.M.T.M. Casey McCann, "The British Anti Cult Movement... A View From Within," '' Journal of Contemporary Religion'' 3, no. 2 (1986): 7. In FAIR's 1985

annual general meeting An annual general meeting (AGM, also known as the annual meeting) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization. These organizations include membership associations and companies with shareholders. These meetings may be required ...

, co-chair Casey McCann reaffirmed FAIR's stance against

deprogramming Deprogramming is a controversial tactic that seeks to dissuade someone from "strongly held convictions" such as religious beliefs. Deprogramming purports to assist a person who holds a particular belief system—of a kind considered harmful by thos ...

, believing that it was damaging and telescopic on

brainwashing Brainwashing is the controversial idea that the human mind can be altered or controlled against a person's will by manipulative psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently ...

. As such, some FAIR members formed CA to satisfy some FAIR members who wanted more deprogramming and "hardliner" stances against NRMs. McCann wrote in the '' Journal of Contemporary Religion'' (then ''Religion Today'') that many of CA's founding members were parents of followers of the

Rajneesh movement The Rajneesh movement is a new religious movement inspired by the Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931–1990), also known as Osho. They used to be known as ''Rajneeshees'' or "Orange People" because of the orange they used from 1970 unti ...

Anti-cult activities

CA's primary anti-cult activity was hosting a 24-hour hotline telephone service for NRM members, their family members, and ex-NRM members. It was launched in August 1985. They were staffed by an anonymous team of women calling themselves "Mandy" or "Janet." There were at least six members of the staff team at any one time, and they usually connected callers to other resources and "experts." Sometimes these referrals included

deprogrammers Deprogramming is a controversial tactic that seeks to dissuade someone from "strongly held convictions" such as religious beliefs. Deprogramming purports to assist a person who holds a particular belief system—of a kind considered harmful by thos ...

and organizations that support deprogramming like the Council on Mind Abuse (COMA). Occasionally, CA hosted protests of NRM meetings and

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

activities that included NRMs. For example, in December 1985, Scientologists and Unificationists joined a multi-denominational committee to protect the

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

in Britain in response to the growth of anti-cultism. CA members were barred entry from the venue.

Collapse and rejoining FAIR

In 1991, CA's hotline ran out of funding and could no longer operate.Arweck, 191n10.

FAIR A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

agreed to take over the hotline.

Eileen Barker Eileen Vartan Barker (born 21 April 1938, in Edinburgh, UK) is a professor in sociology, an emeritus member of the London School of Economics (LSE), and a consultant to that institution's Centre for the Study of Human Rights. She is the chairp ...

, "New Religious Movements in Britain," in ''New Religious Movements in Europe'', edited by Helle Meldgaard and Johannes Aagaard, 99–123. RENNER Studies on New Religions. Aarhus, Denmark:

Aarhus University Press Aarhus University Press () is a commercial foundation, founded in 1985 by Aarhus University, Denmark. The main purpose of the press is to publish the scholarly works of researchers at the university, but many authors come from other Danish insti ...

, 1997. P. 116. FAIR invited CA members back to rejoin their group. Scholar Elisabeth Arweck believes that few CA members rejoined FAIR; however, Chryssides argues that since Lord Rodney became chairman of FAIR in 1988 showed how much overlap between the two groups' members there was. McCann believed that the membership of overlap was nearly exact.McCann, 6. In his book ''Exploring New Religions'', Chryssides adds that Cyril Vosper, at the time FAIR's treasurer, received a prison sentence in 1987 for his role in his daughter's

, implying that there were strong deprogramming sentiments in FAIR as well as CA. The exact number of CA members to rejoin FAIR is unknown.

Split from FAIR

Anti-cult activities

Collapse and rejoining FAIR

References

See also