--- In [email protected], taskcentered <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: [I wrote:] > > Tell us again about the time MMY was rumored > > to be sending small groups of fanatical true > > believers off to isolated camps in the jungle > > to await the nuclear holocaust, John.
> That's a significant distortion of a post nearly 10 years ago. >From one of your June 1996 posts to alt.meditation.transcendental (emphases added): "The Maharishi is SENDING SMALL GROUPS OF FANATICAL TRUE BELIEVERS OFF INTO THE JUNGLE with a nebulous mission and an apocalyptic vision. He's not saying if we're not careful, something will happen -- he's telling these people that war will break out at any minute. "If there's one thing we've learned from Jonestown, Aum Shinrikyo, Waco, Solar Temple, et al, is that doomsday scenarios like this are absolute pressure cookers for the true believers involved. "No matter what the Maharishi's motives are -- he may be pure as the driven snow for all I know -- I consider this a *very* dangerous situation. "I've received several reports of TMers selling homes, breaking up families, and so forth to go wait out the 'biological war' due within weeks. "Surely you can see that this is madness? "I don't dismiss the very real dangers of biological wars and genetic manipulation. I just don't confuse these important issues with what appear to be the delusions of a mad man leading blind followers into ISOLATED CAMPS TO AWAIT A HOLOCAUST. "Remember, up until the moment that the massacre at Jonestown took place, Jim Jones was considered a fine humanitarian -- perhaps at worst a little foolish. "If you *knew* that Jonestown would happen, wouldn't you risk raising a false alarm?" See the post on alt.meditation.transcendental: http://tinyurl.com/24z37e > You keep setting up straw dogs, Judy. I have little doubt > you will be able to knock them down. I didn't write the post, John, you did. The only thing I got wrong in my paraphrase was that it was a *biological* rather than a *nuclear* holocaust the fanatical TMers were to await in their isolated camps in the jungle. And, oh, yes, I misspoke when I suggested you had said it was "rumored." Actually you insisted it was very much for real. Anybody who wants to see more of the same, much of it even more hysterical than the above, can check the thread "Trancenet Alert" on alt.meditation.transcendental. "Press releases" about the impending disaster were posted to at least 10 newsgroups, including alt.meditation.transcendental, alt.meditation, alt.support.ex-cult, alt.journalism, alt.conspiracy, alt.politics.perot, alt.politics, alt.politics.europe, alt.politics.greens, and alt.politics.india. Here's more, where Knapp quotes himself in one of the pseudo-press releases about the same "crisis": John Knapp, editor of TranceNet, an Internet publication critical of the Maharishi, commented, "This is a very dangerous signal. Cult leaders frequently use apocalyptic announcements to 'gather the faithful.'" He pointed out that similar announcements preceded mass deaths at Jonestown, Waco, Aum Shinrikyo, and Solar Temple and other tragedies.... "This is a frightening turn of events," said John Knapp. "Anybody who lived through Jonestown and Aum can't fail to see the parallels. The Maharishi is creating small isolated groups of dedicated fanatics. Without contact with the outside world, they're being charged to carry out a mysterious apocalyptic vision. The Maharishi has never before painted such a doomsday scenario in my experience. It looks very bad. I hope that the authorities and the media take this situation very seriously so that a tragedy may be avoided." alt.meditation.transcendental: http://tinyurl.com/2za6yb What Knapp is referring to is one of MMY's projects, which involved governor couples setting up Maharishi Vedic Universities in various places in the third world (cities, not "jungles") to teach the populace TM. And yet another "press release" with instructions for what to do "during this crisis": FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE What You Can Safely Do During This Crisis SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- June 11, 1996 Help Avert Another Jonestown Spread the Word Distribute this press release to every Usenet group and email address you believe would have a sincere interest. (Please avoid unjustified spamming -- this will make us more enemies than friends on the Net.) Gather Information Call your local Maharishi Vedic University (TM center) and ask for details about the Maharishi Vedic University Project. Call the President's Office of Maharishi University of Management, 515.472.1187, and ask for information. Also, TranceNet will posting frequent bulletins during this crisis. Send Information to TranceNet Whatever verifiable information you gather, send to TranceNet, via email at [EMAIL PROTECTED], via fax at 707.996.5560, via snailmail or courier at TranceNet, 1034 First Street West, Sonoma, CA 95476. Call Friends and Loved Ones in the TM Movement If you know people deeply connected to the TM movement contact them immediately! TMers have been told that this is an apocalyptic, life-or-death situation and to keep all details secret. But probe with questions about travel plans, vacations, plans to move, sell their homes, or other sudden major life changes. Parents who share custody of their children with a former spouse still involved with the TM movement may want to carefully inquire about their children's whereabouts. Contact Your Congresspeople Call, write, or fax your Congressperson and demand action. If you don't know how to contact him or her, just point your browser to www.house.gov/mbr_dir/membr_dir.html. Contact the Media Check with your local paper to see if they're aware of this unfolding story. You may be able to find contact information at www.newshare.com/Newshare/Syndicate/Topics/hometown-usa.html. Give radio and tv stations a shot, too. alt.meditation.transcendental: http://tinyurl.com/yse6he
