Mike Garde is a South African born theologian and an expert on

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 ...

. He is the director of

Dialogue Ireland Dialogue Ireland is an independent trust, established in 1992, which works to promote awareness and understanding of religious issues and cultism in Ireland. It is an ecumenical body which counters the rise in a number of new religions and cults ...

. Garde is a

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

and is a member of Grosvenor Baptist Church in

Rathmines Rathmines (; ) is an inner suburb on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal of Ireland, Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranela ...

. In 1978, he was supported by the London Mennonist Mission, in establishing the Irish Mennonist Mission in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He was the first non-

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 ...

to study for the

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD, DB, or BDiv; ) is an academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies. ...

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

in 1975. He also gained an H.Dip in

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

. Prior to attending Maynooth he studied for a Diploma in Theology at the

Irish Baptist College The Irish Baptist College (IBC) is a Baptist theological college in Moira, Craigavon, Northern Ireland. It is affiliated with the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland. It is part of the Baptist Theological Centre which is located in the ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He received an M.A. in Theology in 2006 from the Milltown Institute in Dublin. Garde appears regularly on radio and TV discussing cults in Ireland on behalf of Dialogue Ireland, and speaks in secondary schools in Ireland on the dangers of cults.

Legal cases involving Garde

In July 2012, Mr Justice

Gerard Hogan Gerard William Augustine Hogan, (born 13 August 1958) is an Irish judge, lawyer and academic who has served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland since October 2021. He previously served as Advocate General of the European Court of Justice ...

ordered Garde and ''

Sunday World The ''Sunday World'' is an Irish newspaper published by Independent News & Media. It is the second largest selling "popular" newspaper in the Republic of Ireland, and is also sold in Northern Ireland where a modified edition with more stories r ...

'' journalist

Nicola Tallant Nicola Tallant (born May 1974) is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in organised crime. She is known for her work at the ''Sunday World''. Background Tallant studied at the College of Commerce, Rathmines in the 1990s, graduating ...

to appear in

United States District Court for the District of Colorado The United States District Court for the District of Colorado (in case citations, D. Colo. or D. Col.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are a ...

to give evidence in ''Cornec v. Morrice and Others'' (2012) and adjourned for a month to allow them to apply the orders to be set aside. The court heard how both were "party to communications relevant to the

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

proceedings." It was claimed Tallant could be urged to reveal the sources for her stories. In September 2012, the

Irish High Court The High Court () of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases. When sitting as a criminal court it is called the Central Criminal Court and sits with judge and jury. It also ...

ruled that Garde and

did not have to give evidence. Mr Justice

set aside orders saying "if, as she maintains, Mr Quinn holds unorthodox religious views and is effectively the leader of a religious

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 ...

which has used psychological techniques as a means of controlling gullible adherents, the media are entitled to educate public opinion in this regard." In September 2018, it was reported that

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

proceedings were issued against Random House Group by Paul Tweed over a suggestion in the

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon (book series), Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), '' ...

book ''Origin'' that a cult-monitoring group in Ireland took money to fight a

sect. The reference only appears in first-editions and was removed for the paperback.

References

External links

Spirituality and Cultism: A case study of a New Religious Movement – The Magnificat Meal Movement
- Garde's MA Thesis paper {{DEFAULTSORT:Garde, Mike Living people People from Dublin (city) Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Alumni of Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy Irish Christian theologians Irish Mennonites South African Mennonites Mennonite theologians Year of birth missing (living people) Christian countercult movement Critics of Scientology Anti-cult movement