The Dialog Center International (DCI) is a Christian counter-cult organization founded in 1973 by a Danish professor of

missiology Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology. It began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. Definition Broadly speaking, missiology is "an interdisciplinary field of inquiry into Ch ...

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 ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, Dr. Johannes Aagaard (1928–2007). Considered Christian apologetic and

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

minded, the Dialog Center, led by Aagaard, was for many years the main source of information in Denmark on

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religion, religious, politics, political, or philosophy, philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization. Originally, the term referred specifically to religious groups that had s ...

s, and

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part of a wider re ...

(NRMs). The Dialog Center is firmly against religious beliefs of cults but promotes dialogue between cult members and their families. It rejects deprograming, believing that it is counterproductive and ineffective, and can harm the relationship between a cult member and concerned family members. It is active in 20 countries. In Asia it also tries to spread Christianity with

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

. According to Mikael Rothstein, an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

of religious history at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

, the Dialog Center International has been greatly influential in promoting a negative public opinion of cults in Denmark and other countries in Europe. Rothstein, Mikael in ''Regulating New Religion in Denmark in ''Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe'', edited by James T. Richardson, Springer, 2004, , , pages 229–231 Aagaard regarded

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a Scientology as a business, business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially develo ...

as being especially dangerous, but later in his life stated that

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

was an even greater threat. Other concerns included

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

and

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

groups.

History

Aagaard retired from his position as leader of the organization in 2003 and was replaced by Svend Erik Erasmi Jacobsen (2003-2004), Jens Linderoth (2004-2008) and Tom Thygesen Daugaard (2009-).Egholm, CH. Dialogcentret under forandring. ''Kristeligt Dagblad'', 09.11.2005. Retrieved September 23, 2023.Kristeligt Dagblad editors. Dialogcentret holder årsmøde. ''Kristeligt Dagblad'', 14.04.2008. Retrieved September 23, 2023. The danish branch of the organization was discontinued in 2011.Rasmussen, M. Dialogcentret bliver til sjælesorgstjeneste. ''Kristeligt Dagblad'', 16.06.2011. Retrieved September 23, 2023. In 2012, the new president of DCI,

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

priest Thomas Gandow, was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

Impact of DCI in Denmark

According to Mikael Rothstein and Armin W. Geertz, Aagaard had a large influence over

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

's reaction to

in the late twentieth century. Rothstein and Geertz argue in an article in ''

Nova Religio ''Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering religious studies, focusing on the academic study of new religious movements. It was established in 1997 by Seven Bridges ...

'' that Aagaard's push for public education and pedagogical resources on NRMs was a large factor in how the press, schools, and Christian congregations discussed and reacted to

cults Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ha ...

in Denmark.Armin W. Geertz and Mikael Rothstein
"Religious Minorities and New Religious Movements in Denmark,"
''Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions'' 4, no. 2 (2001): 298–309. p. 305. For example, Jesper Aagaard Petersen argued that DCI had a strong influence over how satanism was perceived in schools and media in Denmark.

Impact of DCI outside of Denmark

The DCI has had a major influence on the anti-cult movements outside of

. Rothstein and Geertz note that particularly in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

the DCI was active before and after the

collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

. Russian anti-cultist Alexander L. Dvorkin, for example, was the co-Vice President of the DCI with now-current president Gandow. Solveiga Krumina-Konkova argues that the Dialog Center contributed significantly to the "rise of antisect hysteria" in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. DCI and its local branch in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

– Dialogue Ireland – replaced its largest anti-cult/ counter-cult organization – the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

-ran Cult Awareness Centre – in 1992.

References

External links

* {{Opposition to NRMs

History

Impact of DCI in Denmark

Impact of DCI outside of Denmark

References

External links

See also