NCCG - Character assassination of "Gustav Sjöholm" as written by NCCG's leader, Christopher C. Warren

Character assassination of Gustav Sjöholm as written by NCCG's leader, Christopher C. Warren

Background:

Gustav Sjöholm is the newspaper reporter who researched NCCG for the Nya Wermlands-Tidningen newspaper based out of Karlstad, Sweden, and wrote a front-page article based upon what he had learned.

Hints of Christopher Warren's impending character assassination of Gustav were noticeable before the newspaper article was even published.

Gustav was doing his own research for his article (as opposed with just jumping on my web site and using it as source material as Chris Warren accused him of doing before the article was even published). In his research, Gustav was even able to turn up some things that I would not have been able to get.

Gustav first did his independent research, and this research happened to turn up a lot of negative information about the cult. He then asked Christopher Warren if he could visit the NCCG compound and interview him. This request was turned down. A phone interview was then agreed upon, but at the last minute, with Gustav on the phone at the agreed-upon time, Chris would not be interviewed and would not even accept the phone call himself. These refusals occurred in the context of the other people Gustav had contacted being willing to follow through interviews, some of them even braving risks related to themselves or their involved NCCG family members.

It was ultimately agreed in that phone call that Gustav would send questions in writing, through the mail (not email), to which Chris would respond in writing. Gustav mailed the questions immediately, and they arrived at NCCG's compound on Monday, June 5. The questions were generally short, very directed, and to the point, and asked Chris to address the specific, negative things Gustav had learned about NCCG during his research. The questions covered a number of tough issues, such as the March, 2006 "Satanist attacks" which Chris had written about extensively on one of NCCG's message boards.

Gustav was endeavoring to give Christopher Warren the opportunity to explain, or deny, or otherwise provide meaningful feedback about the serious implications of the results of his research. Gustav's research had indicated that NCCG was a destructive, isolated cult (albeit a small one), and it was critical to get feedback from NCCG itself. After all, if all of the negative information and feedback Gustav had received had been a fabrication, the most likely person to be able to set the story straight would have been Chris.

It was not to be, however. The reply Christopher Warren sent back to Gustav did not actually address the tough questions that Gustav had asked. Instead, the reply contained personal attacks and defensive, overbearing language directed at Gustav himself, short character assassinations of me (nccg_concern) and Rick Ross (a cult expert) , a few disparaging comments about Mary Alice Crapo (a cult expert), a very long discussion of religious doctrine and general religious beliefs and practices, and oddly enough, a few lies that were immediately recognizable due to Gustav already having completed much of his research.

Gustav then proceeded to write the article with the information he had. The information in the resulting article made NCCG look like a destructive, isolated cult (predictably).

Gustav was then almost immediately character-assassinated by Christopher Warren in his complaint to a press authority known as the "Press Ombudsman" (this complaint was rejected). The complaint was also published in the nccgcybercommunity message board for fringe NCCG members to read.

Character Assassination(s):

This is an excerpt from Christopher Warren's initial reply to Gustav's written questions.

3. I am assuming, with some justification, I believe, from the way your questions were formulated and the material you chose to discuss, that your primary source of 'information' was a newly created anti-NCCG website called 'NCCG_concern'. Since this is the sole website of its kind that we are aware of, I assume this is where you get your perspective of us (as you did say on the telephone to me that if I did not respond you would be writing an article based on "other sources"). I should inform you that the author of this site not only has never met with us or spoken with us, but refuses to be identified and make himself accountable, refuses to name the names of alleged complianants or supply substantiatable information, because he knows I will sue and expose him if he does. As a researcher myself, trained as a scientist at Oxford University, both in the biochemical and historical fields, I am more than aware of what constitutes bona fide research and what does not.

4. I do not know how old you are, what your political or religious views are, whether you promote certain values, whether you are a typical journalist from your newspaper, or whether you are a 'neutral' journalist. I do not know what your experience with people is, whether you care about people and society, or whether you are one of those unscrupulous journalists who just takes pleasure in muck-raking and 'exposing' for its own sake without regard for anyone's true welfare. Certainly you wrote to me in such a manner as to suggest that you had some kind of 'right' to be as rude and unprofessional as you wanted to whilst having little or no idea who we really are and, judging by the nature of the questions, having very literal interest in truth. Certainly you uncritically used terminology and asked loaded questions from a source which is unapologetically hostile, inaccurate and unaccountable, even going so far to call my home a 'compound' and implying that we practice 'slavery' with all the associations such words have with genuine cults such as the Branch Davidians and others. Since we find all forms of slavery repugnant and have no 'compound' but just a house and a garden like anyone else's in Värmland, as all who come in and out of here on a daily basis from the local community know, I shall set aside such questions until you have done some proper research and must seriously question your intentions. I cannot believe that you are a regular reporter from a reputable newspaper like Nya Wermlands Tidningen so I am assuming you are freelance. At any rate I shall be talking to the editors/owners of the newspaper to see if you are indeed one of their own.

5. However, because I am a professional man myself, both as an educator of over 20 years' experience, and a writer and minister for an equal length of time, I will give you the benefit of the doubt for the time being, even though I have considerable misgivings and, I think, with just cause. I shall assume you are ignorant of the facts and have been misled by a slander website, and answer all the questions I can reasonably be expected to in a fair and forthright manner. I have given you a whole day of my time in a full and lengthy statement, time which I could have better used otherwise in what is a very busy time of the year for me, so I trust you will use it in a truthful and responsible way and not quote out of context. I shall expect you to send me a copy of your newspaper, if you do decide to publish, as is commonly done. I shall in any case be publishing this myself as well, along with your list of questions and your name and employer, and be advising my lawyers in case you do not follow accepted standards of behaviour. I am in any case now in touch with the Swedish Newspaper Publisher's Association, the Swedish Union of Journalists and the National Press Club, and and making enquires with the Press Ombudsman (PO) to ensure proper journalistic practice as my legal advisors inform me that I have sufficient grounds to be concerned with your approach and ethos. I am also in contact with parallel EU institutions.

These are exerpts from the post "NCCG Critics : NCCG Response to a Swedish Newspaper" in the groups.msn.com/nccgcybercommunity message board. They are from the complaint that was sent to the "Press Ombudsman".

A4. I am happy to openly discuss my views with journalists who do not have a dishonest agenda (or with anyone for that matter of the same disposition) and I have entertained such in my home over the years, as I have already done so here in Sweden. We had one such reporter from Värmlands Folkblad here who was given the freedom of my home and who behaved decently and reported fairly and neutrally. However, I have every right to refuse those whose intent I discern to be dishonest and malicious. And there are plenty of good journalists here in Sweden. But if there is one thing I cannot abide, it is a liar and a defamer of character. I have no objections to reporters in general, but yours, whom I presume is freelance, is clearly a young opportunist willing to go at any lengths at the expense of truth and people's feelings in order to get a 'scoop'. His methods are dishonest, he reports inaccurately, sets up straw men, twists the meaning of words to make them mean something entirely different to their original intent, does sloppy research work, takes material out of context, unashamedly publishes lies, creates propagandistic photographs deliberately calculated to promote the mood and tenor of his biases and malicious intent, all of which can easily be proved it in a court of law. Instead of sneaking around at night like a prowler, your newspaperman could have sent an honest reporter like the man from VF. In fact I couldn't believe that an old and respected newspaper like WNT could publish such trash. However, this is more than trash - it is defammatory and libelous.

B2. Refused Telephone Interview

I did indeed change my mind about a telephone interview and a photographic session, and rightly so, when I received a list of questions from him (which I will be publishing soon) and I could see what his intent was. I have met this kind of man before and I had every right to refuse such a disreputable rogue into my home. And I would unapologetically do the same again.

(Interjection from NCCG_Concern: be aware that Chris did not receive the questions until after he had refused both interviews. Chris appears to have lied in the above passage).

B4.1. I was appalled at the way your journalist manipulated the local Lutheran minister to give the impression that we are entirely cut off from our local community. He failed to note (because he wasn't bothered to find out as it would have gone against his agenda) that the minister and one of our cooperative members used have had close contacts swimming together with their children, met once at the circus, going to each other's birthday parties (we have the photographs to prove it), and attending kindergarten (Förskolan) together. Furthermore, we attend the local Luthern Church from time to time with visitors, attend summer musical concerts there when we are able to, and used to know, and were on friendly terms with, the former pastor's wife before her husband retired because of illness and they moved to Arvika. Obviously the different adult members of the cooperative pursue different interests like attending local plays and the like and are not, as Sjöholm alleges, forced to give outside interests up.

B4.6. Your journalist has simply decided to dishonestly define us the way he wants to, taken the word of a so-called 'cult deprogrammer' who has never met us, knows nothing about us, and spoken to one young man who was a guest here for a week in 2005, a man she tried to brainwash into accepting her own religion (denials to the contrary) by subjecting him to hours and hours of contionuous video tapes, got our theology completely wrong, and terrorised the man's mother into believing all kinds of false scare stories about us. We never telephoned the mother's son at 4 a.m. in his home country warning him of some 'attack' - this is a complete fabrication. And whilst Crapo may very well have exposed some genuine cults and helped their victims, yet she remains in association with a criminal charged and found guilty of embezzlement and kidnapping whose records can be examined in the US courts. We are in contact with the people who took him to court and won. So with all due respect, she knows nothing about our lifestyle or social contacts, and has her own biases and religious agenda. Ironcally, we agree with most of what Crapo believes about cults and had she actually been here would have seen that we are not the way the slander website has portrayed us from which she has doubtless obtained most of her information. Your prejudiced journalist simply gave her carte blanche in the same way she very unwisely gave carte blanche to the slander website run by a man who remains anonymous and unaccountable. When the young man returned briefly here this summer, before returning home to see the World Cup, he discovered for himself that everything this woman had told her we were was not true, which is hardly surprising.

(Interjection from NCCG_Concern: Regarding "We never telephoned the mother's son at 4 a.m. in his home country warning him of some 'attack' - this is a complete fabrication. ".

This is fascinating to examine within this context.

I researched this, and found that it was not a "fabrication" (a fabrication being a created, misleading story). The fact in this case was that a misunderstanding occurred during an interview due to language barrier issues, as the subject's spoken English was poor. So, Chris had correctly identified an inaccurate statement (although the "fabrication" reference was the result of Chris not investigating anything and just being accusative).

The fascinating thing was this. This represented the one and only thing that I could determine was factually incorrect in the article. It was also the one and only specific piece of information that Chris had singled out with language as strong as "fabrication". The bulk of the other things Chris had said were long-winded examples that were supposed to demonstrate a lack of isolation, character assassinating statements and general attacks, and the like. The article's discussion about the paranoia about satanists, among other things, were not addressed by Chris.

I believe that two things would have contributed to this.

Chris Warren was actually writing for several audiences when he wrote this, and one of them was the NCCG members. This is clear because Chris posted this document to the NCCG members before it was even sent to the government official. In this context, I believe it would have been difficult for Chris to deny things that would have conflicted with the reality they perceive (such as the culture of active fear of Satanists and attacks by Satanists).
This mistake was indeed the only documentable, incorrect thing in the article. As such, it was the only thing he could deny in the strongest possible language ("complete fabrication") and have a leg to stand on if factually challenged about it in the future. It's possible that he recn

B4.7. Given this information, it should be obvious to anyone with any sort of intelligence that we are neither trying to be inconspicuous nor trying to isolate ourselves. Obviously, we involve ourselves in those activities which interest us and don't attend those which don't, like ordinary human beings do.

B4.8. Therefore the headline and material claiming that we are isolated is a malicious lie, deliberately inserted to promote the crafted image of a cult based on misinformation, bad research and dishonest intent.

B5. Your Article, Page 1

Almost every single paragraph in Sjöholm's article contains a lie or a distortion in which words are carefully manipulated.

B5.1.2. Since your journalist nowhere attempts to define a 'sect' but is clearly using it in the negative context of a 'cult' without actually saying so, the motive is clearly defammatory. A neutral word would have been 'group' or something like it.

B5.1.3. Since your newspaper is sectarian and not religious I am not going to bother to discuss theology. I am assuming that Sjöholm is using the word 'sect' in a purely negative sense since he nowhere defines it. He is obviously not a religious man, and disrespectfully refers to god with a small 'g' (I doubt he would describe islam with a small 'i' or mohammed with a small 'm' so as not to be accused of religious disrespect or 'hate crimes') which I doubt the millions of Lutherans in this country would be too pleased to see.

B5.2. Use of the word 'Destructive'

B5.2.1. To date, the newspaper has named no names except one deprogrammer and someone from the Immigration Board, and failed to identity the primary source of its information. He speaks much of Crapo who as it happens, according to the generally accepted definition of the term, belongs to a 'sect' of Roman Catholicism. (I would not myself refer to her denomination as a 'sect', since all Protestant churches are by that definition a 'sect' but it very clearly is. It is ironic that Crapo in one of her books refers to Roman Catholicism as a 'cult' or having cult-like tendencies, though I doubt your newspaper would dare use such a term in public because of the political power of that organisation). And if we are going to apply the same linguistic rules as Sjöholm and be pedantic, we could describe Swedish culture as a 'cult' as well as a 'sect' because it is sectarian. I can prove that the use of such words is subjective and that your reporter has deliberately employed these terms in a dishonest, defammatory and maliciously intentional way which amount to little more than an an expression of hatred of religious minorities.

B5.2.2. As for being 'destructive', it is a simple matter to show that your newspaper, in publishing such trash, is in fact the one brainwashing the public and filling your readers with antisocial, hate-filled and hostile attitudes to an innocent community of people. If we were so 'destructive' as Sjöholm claims, is it not a little odd that in 20 years not one person has made a public complaint against us? When Sjöfelt first telephoned me he 'could not understand' why he had not come across our ministry before. The truth is, someone with malicious intent contacted him with a view to slandering and discrediting us.

B5.3.1. In Paragraph 4 Sjöholm claims that he has been in contact with parents who describe that their children have been 'brainwashed' but nowhere, and no doubt purposefully, defines the word. According to my dictionary, brainwashing is "to effect a radical change in the ideas and beliefs of a person, especially by methods based on conditioning" (Ibid., p.130). And if we are following Crapo's implicit use of the word 'conditioning' in using the word 'brainwashing', as one must assume that Sjöholm is, then I assume it is the psychological aspect he is trying to point out, namely, "to alter the response of a person or animal to a particular stimulus or situation.". If that is his intended meaning, then one arrives at the ludicrous situation whereby one can accuse everyone of 'brainwashing', including the state itself in its 'conditioning' of pupils at public schools to think and react in certain ways. If he means that someone 'brainwashes' in a more extreme way, by the use of coercision, e.g. hypnosis, torture, emotional manipulation, etc., then he must prove that such has happened, otherwise he becomes guilty of defamation. Since we utterly detest such behaviour, counsel our investigators to study matters out privately, take their time, and come and go as they please, as numerous people will testify, Sjöholm finds himself in the position of being a defamer and the burden of proof rests on him.

B5.3.2. Moreover, not only does he report inaccurately such that his reporting of the words, as I have already proven, is unreliable, but we have no proof that the words he reports allegedly said by those criticising us are true. We only have his word. As I have written elsewhere in my letter to him, he is unobjective and seems to accept carte blance, without the critical enquiry of a supposed 'professional' (I allege that he is totally unprofessional), whatever one or two (he doesn't state how many) critcis say about us, whose credibility has not been established. I can prove for a fact that two of the persons he has interviewed are bigoted racists and guilty of gross psychological abuse of their children, have hired criminals who have performed criminal acts on their behalf, which matter would be clearly established in a court of law should it come to that. This is not reported, obviously, because to examine the background of one of the complainants I know of would totally undermine Sjöholm's claims.

B6. Your article, pages 4-5

B6.1. Throughout this lengthy article, Sjöholm sets out to create an image - a false one created in his own fantasy - of a dangerous Jim Jones-type cult who at any moment might compell its members to do something drastic drink poison and commit suicide. It is pretty obvious that that is his intention from the way he writes. He tries to create a picture of a dangerous cult steered from a sinister looking building in the middle of the Swedish wilderness luring people to its headquarters to get slave labour and doubtless to steal their money too. The fact of the matter is that in 9 years of being in Sweden we have lived a frugal lifestyle, with a tiny income, with 6 permanent adult members, half of whom were old age pensioners (until one died and the other was transferred to a home- both retired pastors) to whom we devoted our time and efforts to take care of (as ther local people all know). They were/are all quite ill, we work together voluntarily to make their life as pleasant as possible. The others serve here without coercision, to serve our ministry abroad.

B6.2. We are little more than an office that answers enquiries, distributes literature, raises money for our orphanages, and invites pastors to come for training, as stated in a letter to Sjöholm. We have actually met far less than 1% of our members. Our congregations govern their own affairs and do nothing more than send an annual report of activities. They pay us no tithes or offerings because they are too poor and we do not expect it of them anway, as is clearly documented on our website They elect their own officers, evangelise in the normal way (outdoor preaching mostly), and actually have very little access to internet. People come and go all the time, they know exactly what we believe from our detailed website, and I have never met anyone who was 'surprised' to find we believed different things to what we have published, or have 'secret rules', because they weren't surprised and there are no secret rules. Discipling and residency is by consent, not compulsion. Sjöholm, however, has bought into the misinformation Crapo (herself seemingly influenced by the unaccountable and libelous slander site on the internet), and simply chosen to believe what he wants to.

(Interjection from NCCG_Concern: Chris' description of NCCG's compound as "little more than an office..." is indicated by my source material to be absolutely wrong. Chris appears to have lied in the above passage).

B6.2. If our little office were to fold up, I doubt most would even notice. They would probably miss our weekly sermons but that is about all. Members and friends would fellowship online as they do in this Group. We are not some centrifugal hub on which all our members are totally dependent with which can 'manipulate' or 'control'. Indeed, our policy is the very opposite of what Sjöholm would like people to believe: we encourage all our groups to be self-sufficient and independent.

B7. "Views as destructive and dangerous"

B7.1. In view of what I have written on brainwashing and conditioning above, a heading in bold face such as this is downright conditioning. There is no balance in the article anywhere. There are no interviews with any of our thousands of ordinary members or pastors. Nowwhere.

(Interjection from NCCG_Concern: Chris' makes the complaint " There are no interviews with any of our thousands of ordinary members or pastors. Nowwhere". Chris had the opportunity to be interviewed and threw it away, plus, he had the opportunity to put Gustav in contact with any one of these "thousands of ordinary members" for an interview. Chris had demonstrated principally uncooperative behavior throughout Gustav's contact with him, and is blaming Gustav for his own missed opportunities and lack of initiative).

Instead, the only people who are interviewed are one or two untested and uninvestigated critics, an anonymously produced and unaccountable website, some local people who have nothing bad to say of us (because we have good relations with our community) except a Lutheran Pastor who, according to Sjöholm's (clearly demonstrated inaccurate) reporting implies she has no contact with us, when in fact she knows one of our cooperative members very well and has visited us, and we her.

B7.2. We can present testimonies from dozens of members and non-members alike who actually know us and have stayed with us and can say just what we are like. And I myself have numerous character witnesses from professional people, who have known me intimately over many years, who have no connection with my religious beliefs and who in many cases have no religious beliefs at all, who will vouch for my own character. They are all published on-line and Sjöholm was directed to them, but clearly ignored them.

(Interjection from NCCG_Concern: The URL Chris provided, http://www.nccg.org/homeschooling/cert.html , contains 6 references. 4 of them are from the year 1979 (27 years old!). This was long before he started the cult and are in any case way too old to be usable as a present-day reference by anyone. The remaining two are professional recommendations from 1995 and 1996 (10 and 11 years old) indicating that he was an effective grade-school teacher. Those two looked like strictly employment references to me, not character references.

27 years old:

Dr. Michael D. Yudkin, Senior Tutor in Biochemistry (University College, Oxford University)

Dr. C.J. Lamb, Department of Biochemistry (Queens College, Oxford University)

Professor Michael Danvers-Walker, History & Drama Department (University of Utah, USA)

Dr. Gregory C.D. Young, Department of Experimental Psychology (University of Oxford)

10 - 11 years old:

Headmisstress Margaret G. Stark, MBE, MA - #1 (Oslo International School, Norway)

Headmisstress Margaret G. Stark, MBE, MA - #2 (Oslo International School, Norway)

Links to the certificates are:

http://www.nccg.org/homeschooling/cert/cert13.gif
http://www.nccg.org/homeschooling/cert/cert14.gif
http://www.nccg.org/homeschooling/cert/cert15.gif
http://www.nccg.org/homeschooling/cert/cert16.gif
http://www.nccg.org/homeschooling/cert/cert12.gif
http://www.nccg.org/homeschooling/cert/cert19.gif

B7.3. Using Crapo as an authority, someone who does not know us, who has got our theology completely wrong (no doubt because of the 'research' done for her on an anonymous slander site, which we have extensively critiqued), has not made a cross-sectional study of our people (her reasons are another matter and the subject of another investigation) Sjöholm makes many ad hominem accusations through suggestion (read 'conditioning'). If either he or Crapo had wanted to test their theories, they could have joined our online discussion groups openly (and not dishonestly, either they or their 'informants' lying in order to gain admission, as we know they did), and openly asked questions of anyone on the groups. There they would have discovered (and know it, actually, Sjöholm never reported it) that people are free to expore any way they want and to criticise me. There are numerous posts criticising my beliefs by non-members and members alike.

B8.1. "Change of Personality"

So-called 'cult deprogrammers', who make a great deal of money out of their profession in some cases, as I have unapologetically alleged, themselves display cult-like tendencies, brainwashing and conditioning. In fact, it has been conclusively proved in courts of law in the USA and various watchbodies are strongly advising that 'cult deprogrammers' be closely monitored alongside the cults they seek to expose. I supplied this information to Sjöholm who was clearly not interested in the truth and only made passing reference to 'my' allegations, ignoring the public watchdogs themselves. Indeed, he nowhere recognised or so much as hinted that the public was very concerned about the 'deprogrammers' and simply reported that I had stated my disbelief in their impartiality.

B8.2. Sjöholm cites only two cases in his entire article and then, using his biased criteria, conditions Migrationsverket to think along his lines as well. He fails to note - because he is not interested - that Migrationsverket has already accepted the basis on which we recruit assistants from abroad as a result of negotiations with them in the past. All of this is documented. He also failed to note that we insist that visitors to our co-operative can finance a return air ticket and maintain savings to that they can resume their career or education in their home country should they wish to return. Indeed, as he would testify, a recent convert, who is not an official member, whom Sjöholm reports anonymously in his article, was told by us that he should leave all his savings back home in case he wanted to travel back and forth or permanently return home. This he can verify. But Sjöholm is not interested in anything that would make his "destructive, dangerous and isolated" cult theory look absurd, as indeed it is. And if he had done his research properly on our website, he would have read that anyone wanting to settle at the cooperative (remember, no new people have settled in the whole of our 9 years in Sweden) are given a considerable numbers of rights, including the right, should they leave, to take the equivalent of all they brought with them materially and financially.

B8.3. As for a "change of personality", as I have stated elsewhere, people change all the time. The vast majority of people report huge positive changes in their lives who come here. A handfull of others, who have personality problems associated with drug abuse, alcoholism, and psychological problems stemming from abusive and unhappy homes, come and go. One of our ministers works exclusively on the streets of Oslo helping drug addicts, works closely with the local municipality ot kommun and rehabilitation organisations, and occasionally brings clients here for weekends to get out of the city atmosphere with all its drug temptations. Of course, Sjöholm is not interested in this. If there are psychiatric visitors, we involve the parents if they are alive and interested (we've had three in total), who are usually not members, as much as we can. Last year we had a woman from the Balkans visit us for 2-3 months with psychiatric problems with whom we worked with the full cooperation of her parents, the father a renowned poet in his home country - neither parent belong to our church. B8.4. When it was clear that she would be best served by professional counsellors, we sent her back to her parents, who have written positive and affirmative testimonies of us. But of course such material would have spoiled Sjöholm's imaginary world of a "dangerous, destructive sect". In this particular case, there was no personality change at all.

B9. "Undermining Freewill"

B9.1. In another example of Sjöholm brainwashing and conditioning, he cites Crapo again, arguing from his bogus 'isolationist' theory, who says: "Many groups exist without being noticed. What people do not know is that they undermine people's free will". I am sure many do just that. But as Sjöholm very well knows - or would have known if he bothered to do an honest day's work and do his resaerch work properly - is that people know who we are, visit us, and have received literature from us telling them of our beliefs.. Until she moved to Arvika, a Pentcostal lady (who never joined us) from the nearby village, used to meet with us.

B9.2. I am not sure what Sjöholm is trying to accuse us of here, but if it is that we deny people free will, this is a total lie and fabrication. We are the total opposite. He has not one iota of proof that anyone is ever denied free will. If, on the other hand, he means that people coming to the cooperative cannot drink alcohol or play violent computer games are somehow denied their 'free will', then it should be pointed out that visitors know the rules before they come. People are free to say 'no' if they don't like the rules and don't want to come or want to leave. That is free-will.

B9.3. So once again, Sjöholm is trying to condition the readers' minds with devious techniques by making indirect implications. Clearly he knows something about human psychology and how to manipulate an audience. At any rate, it is dishonest and bad journalism.

B10. Slavery

B10.1. Sjöholm knows very well that we do not believe in slavery though he is determined to flog a dead horse for all its worth without bothering to find out what we mean by such terms. He likes to spice up his fatastic pot of alleged cultic ingredients with anything 'spicy' that he can find. He seems to have no idea that 'slavery' in New Testament culture refers to indentured service, and probably doesn't even know what that expression means. Indentureship is a mutually agreed contract sealed by two or more parties. When you hire someone to do a job, that is 'indentured service', or 'slavery' as some Bibles translate it. That is what we believe in. The Gospel we teach is one of voluntary service by mutual arrangement. In fact, we are a lot more generous than your average contractor. If someone wants to break their contract and leave our fellowship, we let them go and send them with our blessings. There are no penalties.

B10.2. Slavery and a few other topics are just Sjöholms straw men. He is very subtle and devious in the way he attempts to character-assassinate. He has broken the law in his article and knows it.

B11. The Beliefs of Other Minorities

B.11.1. People believe in different things for different reasons. Sjöholm is quick to point out our beliefs about the occult, tarot cards, violent TV games, Hinduism, Islam and the sexual practices of people we don't agree with. What he doesn't tell you - because it would destroy his carefully crafted false image of us - is that we believe that people should be free to practice their own religions and sexual lifestyles any way they want to so long as they do not try to coerce me into them. What Sjöholm doesn't tell you is that I have friends who are Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, occultists, new agers, homosexuals, bisexuals, lesbians, and many, many others. They all know what I believe in, I know what they believe in, we disagree with each other, and interact in those spheres of life that interest us both, respecting one another, agreeing to disagree. We do not hate or persecute each other even though there are for sure persons with similar beliefs who are abusive and hate-filled. I am sure, however, that Sjöholm would like his readers to believe that we totally shun these people or would wish to harm them. And I am quite sure that he would not like his readers to know that one of our leaders was a celibate gay. The fact is, we embrace nearly all people, meet them where they are, share our beliefs, and let them decide what they want to believe and go where they want to.

B12. Not Interested

B12.1. At the conclusion of his article, Sjöholm reports that I told him that the leading deprogramming group, with which Crapo is affiliated, "has been judged for insurance fraud, kidnapping and breach of human rights". He carefully omits "by the US courts" to give the false impression that this is just my own personal allegation. This man is a very dishonest reporter indeed. I gave him extensive references to all the facts (and they are facts, and not mere allegations - many of these people are genuinely dangerous criminals known to have imprisoned and raped the 'cult victims' they were 'deprogramming') about the 'deprogrammers'. However, for obvious reasons, he did not want his readers to make their own investigations, let alone summarise the truth about the deprogrammers. He has a single agenda - to make us look like a "destructive, dangerous, and isolated" cult.

B12.2. No, indeed, I am not interested in criminals who are guilty of hate-crimes, abuse and kidnapping. I have all the information. It's all on the net and in court records of the USA. I am in contact with lawyers who have defended religious minorities who have successfully prosecuted the 'deprogrammers'. The facts are available for everyone who is honest enough to get the whole story and expose the lies. You would be shocked at the personality profiles of some of them.

C. Summary

C1. Sweden is a pluralistic society. It tolerates diverse lifestyles, freedom of thought, and its laws protect minorities. We respect that and honour it. We believe in sharing our opinions and criticising those we don't accept, which is the basis of true democracy. When people refuse to allow criticism, you have the basis of a dictatorship. However, criticism must be moderated by certain standards of behaviour. And the conduct of Sjöholm is outrageous and scandalous. His reporting belongs to the type of gutter press that civilised countries refuse to have anything to do with.

C2. And whilst we do indeed believe in a world to come that is very different from the world we live in, we happily accommodate ourselves to this one, making sure we do not go out of our way to disturb people who do not want to be disturbed, and interacting with all those who want to friendship us. One of the reasons we evangelise in the West using the internet is because it allows people to come and go as they please - they find us, rather than the other way round. And whilst Sjöholm likes to find some sinister implication with this (along with everything else we do in order to make his 'story' as spicey and alarmist as possible), the facts remain. In fact, we warm people who might find their life style or beliefs criticised not to read any further and require them to take personal responsibility for their choices. We believe in 'live and let live', and whilst we certainly believe God (with a capital 'G') will create the world in the way He wants it in the future, it certainly should not be a problem for those who do not believe in Him to simply let peacefully-minded minorities live the way they all want to. They can call it religious fiction if they want to, it really doesn't matter. At least it is honest, unlike Sjöholm's reporting.

C3. I demand redress and satisfaction before I take this further. I wish to state for the record that I will not tolerate this kind of harrassment and as a free citizen I mean to defend my rights along with those who share my views against the likes of Sjöholm and the current NWT editorial staff. I am hoping that this was a careless and thoughtless error on the part of NWT which it will correct and save its reputation.