Link to the LARSE posterNisqually Valley News
Friday October 26 2007 ..RSE questions motives of meeting?s leaders
Ex-Ramtha students holding 'cult' discussion on Saturday
Megan Hansen
Staff Reporter
Because of plans to hold a meeting on cults, a group of former students at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment are coming under fire from JZ Knight and her representatives.
The meeting, "Cults in Our Neighborhood?" is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Yelm Middle School. It is free and open to the public.
"There is a side of RSE that very few people know about, (that) even the media has not reported on," said former RSE student David McCarthy, leader of the Life After RSE group, which is holding the meeting.
Joe Szimhart, described as a cult exit counselor, will be the keynote speaker at Saturday's meeting.
McCarthy said Szimhart will address the following questions: "What is a cult?" "When are they harmful?" "What is the impact of cults on individuals? On family? On our community?"
Mike Wright, products and services manager at the Ramtha school, said Wednesday he is disappointed that these issues are being raised again in relation to RSE.
"These issues have been resolved by the court in the past," Wright said.
Wright added that he informed Knight of the meeting
"Ms. Knight has grown weary of being accused of being a leader of a destructive cult by people who are motivated either by malice, the need for recognition or by the prospect of making money."
In 1992, Pierce County Superior Court ruled that RSE is not a cult, and that Knight is not brainwashing people, said Wright.
RSE investigated McCarthy, and found he was once a member of "Divine Light Mission," a spiritual organization in England run by Guru Maharaji, according to Wright.
"He left England disenchanted, and is listed as an ex-member on a critical Web site called, http://www.ex-premie.org.
"We have been unable to determine that he has legal residency in the United States, or that he has ever paid taxes on his personal income," Wright said in an e-mail sent to the Nisqually Valley News.
"From where does his income derive? Is there a partnership between Joe Szimhart and David McCarthy?"
"It appears that Szimhart, and now perhaps David McCarthy, are in it for the money."
"The word 'cult' is their business calling card."
"I am an undocumented alien, like many RSE students," McCarthy said. "When you move here, you're convinced you're going to change your reality - literally going to create a green card."
McCarthy countered Wright questioning his citizenship by questioning the resident status of some of the RSE students that Knight employs.
McCarthy said he was hired to repair doors in "The Great Hall" at the school at one time.
"I'm an example of someone who's been hiding away from authorities in fear of being deported," McCarthy said.
"If she wants to open that can of worms. I'm willing to go there."
He called Wright's assertions a diversionary tactic.
"I'm here talking about residency and taxes instead of the real issues," McCarthy said.
"There are hundreds of foreigners out in the woods without papers. If they're going to be kicked out of the country, there needs to be an investigation into JZ.
"She's turning a blind eye to the illegal aliens coming into the country."
In response, Wright said, "We don't (employ illegal aliens).
"We have been audited by (Washington State Labor and Industries) and are in full compliance."
McCarthy scoffed at Wright's suggestion that he and Szimhart are business partners who stand to make money off Saturday's meeting.
"That's absolute nonsense," McCarthy said.
"I challenge anybody to come and see how my family lives."
"We didn't make property tax this year," McCarthy said. "We're living week to week. "
Szimhart is not making money off of Saturday's meeting because he waived his usual fee, McCarthy said.
Regardless of what he sees as an attempt to derail Saturday's meeting, McCarthy said that he and other former students of RSE will be sharing their personal experiences at the school for the first time in public.
"What we want to share is the truth and let the public make their own mind up," McCarthy said.
Very few people will be speaking out against JZ (Knight), primarily because of a very detailed contract they were required to sign before attending events at RSE, said McCarthy.
Within the document, participants agree not to discuss, teach or disseminate any information obtained during an event.
In an older copy of an apparent contract, provided to the Nisqually Valley News, participants at RSE had to agree not to release anything they believe they received from Ramtha in a dream, vision or discipline, or any other source.
McCarthy said the contract was reviewed by lawyers, however, and he was been told it will not stand up in court.
Wright said this week that RSE is planning to have a representative from the school attend Saturday's meeting, one who will speak if given the opportunity.
RSE will not try to interfere with the meeting, Wright said.
The school's not going to impede on their free speech, he said. There are some people who believe and some who don't.
"Belief is a protected right."
McCarthy said the meeting is open, and any representative from RSE who wants to speak will be allowed to do so.
"We want to give people information," McCarthy said.
RSE, he said, "is not a school, it's a corporation."
"(Students) are not prisoners, not isolated from society," Wright said. "People are free to leave at any time."
McCarthy said that we spent seven years attending RSE after leaving his family in New Zealand. At that time, he said he was told it was a seven-year school, and after those seven years, one of the people in his group would become a Christ.
"I think I have a right to speak and tell my story, criticize," McCarthy said. "It's a cult."
Wright maintains that the school is not a cult, and says McCarthy is simply a disgruntled former student with an ax to grind.
Since leaving RSE in 2000, McCarthy was instrumental in helping to form LARSE.
LARSE held a gathering in September 2006 at Millersylvania Park near Olympia.
McCarthy is also an active participant on the online bulletin board, "Enlighten Me Free," described as a "forum for support, sharing opinions and experiences for those who have left RSE and have doubts and concerns about their tenure there."
Nisqually Valley News link..
http://yelmonline.com/
http://enlightenmefree.com/event.html