Christian Mystics Brainwashing at the OCS Order of Christ Sophia

Article from here, 19 Nov 2008

“Cult or Church – Woman questions Order of Christ Sophia

New Haven (WTNH) – Is there a cult climate around one church in New Haven? One woman fears her mother has been lost to a cult in the Elm City.

Theresa Biagiarelli has boxes and boxes of photos her mother took of her. And that’s not all.

“My little photo album. Her photo album her father made for her. All our family things. And all of her clothes.”

She has them, because her mother Julia got rid of them.

“She brought it to my aunts house and just left it there,” she said.

“It made me feel terrible to know my mother didn’t want to have any pictures of me as a baby anymore.”
“Did you question ‘what did I do?’”
“At that point it was more like what did they do.”

They are the Order of Christ~Sophia or the Center of Light. The group has chapters across the U.S. including New Haven at an unassuming building on Grand Avenue, where some members, including Theresa’s mother Julia, live.

Reverend Michael runs the group locally and says no one, including Theresa’s mother, is a prisoner here.

“People are free to come and go. Julia has an apartment here in the building as I do,” Reverend Michael said.

They call themselves Christian Mystics, but some experts on mind control like Steve Hassan, call them “a destructive mind control cult where dependence and obedience is demanded.”

The fact is the founder of the group, Peter Bowes, doesn’t shy away from the term “cult”. He even talks about it on a YouTube posting.

“A cult is a new religion that people hate,” he says on the video. “I think we can say we are one then.”

Peter Bowes’ was a psychologist in Wisconsin until he surrendered his license. Is there sometimes strain between members and their families? Yes, he says.

“We don’t take people away from their parents, but sometimes the relationship is so bruised,” Bowes said.

“What he was doing and saying about being honest reminds me of Chinese Communist brain washing techniques of the 1950’s when people would have to be honest and refute their families,” Hassan said.

“Do you ever wonder what kind of faith would result in you becoming disassociated with the dearest people to you?”

“Well, everything I have ever learned about Christian values shows you you should become closer to your family,” Theresa said.

Theresa’s mother, a teacher, wouldn’t talk to News Channel 8, but her picture is right on the group’s New Haven web site. That web site also shows members working booths at community events, with face painting for kids or selling smoothies. The group often leaves fliers in area coffee houses.

“We teach meditation and we have classes on the bible,” Reverend Michael said.

But Theresa asks where in the bible does it say leave those you love behind? “What it seems to me is that they are being taught to judge the people closest to them who have known them for years, and they are being taught to take in these new people as almost a replacement for the family that they used to have.”

Steve Hassan says a lot of people who belong to these groups are able to hold down regular 9-5 jobs. One we’re told is a doctor at a local hospital.”

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From  WCVB-TV, June 28, 2004 -

Parents Say Group Turns Family Members Into Strangers

BOSTON — A religious group with roots in Needham, Mass., is raising concern among some families who believe the order uses cult-like methods.

Over the last few months, NewsCenter 5 has heard from a number of former members and families of members who say the Order of Christ Sophia strips people of their past and turns them into strangers.

NewsCenter 5’s Liz Brunner reported that the order is small but has centers in nine cities.

They call themselves a mystical Christian order, devoted to meditation and prayer. But former member Nancy Wainer said that the order of Christ Sophia is a dangerous cult that breaks up families.

“They use deception, mind control, hypnosis, all kinds of devious tactics to get you to follow them blindly. It continued to get more uncomfortable,” Wainer said.

By the time Wainer left the group, her adult daughter was already immersed in it. Like all order members, Andrea was given a new name: Michelle. She moved to Oakland, Calif., where the group’s leader and self-ordained cleric, the Rev. Peter Bowes, runs a center.

“They’ve taught my daughter that I’m a terrible person. My daughter doesn’t have any memories anymore of the loving relationship we have,” Wainer said.

Andrea no longer talks to her mother and barely talks to her father.

“There are times I can talk to Andrea, but then Michelle takes over, and when she is in control, she is in control,” Andrea’s father, Paul Cohen, said.

Her mother said it’s the result of relentless mind control the order calls “spiritual guidance’.

“She was instructed to take everything, every article of clothing, every stuffed animal, every memento. You’d walk into her room and it’s like a ghost place where no one lived there named Andrea,” Wainer said.

Steve Holcumb told the same story. His daughter, Jennifer, is known in the order as Joelle.

“Important things to her that I’ve discovered in the garbage and that we’ve managed to save for the day when hopefully she’s out of this. How is it that this transformation could be occurring with someone who has been so loving and caring and now isn’t?” Holcumb said.

Jennifer has cut off her parents and many friends, including her best friend, whose wedding she refused to attend.

“The change is so negative, so destructive and so un-Christian. that it is absolutely shattering,” Holcumb said.

But, one couple said that they freely devoted themselves to the order, and it’s graced their lives. “I feel balanced, centered and feel my life has a purpose,” the Rev. John Tomasic said.

NewsCenter 5 interviewed the co-founder of the order, Mother Claire Watts, during a recent visit to Boston.

“The things they call brainwashing is visualizing yourself in a bubble of light, letting go of negative energy. I feel sorry for their sons and daughters who parents get on TV to say how stupid they are,” Watts said.

“The path she is now taking is not a path that she is taking by herself,” Holcumb said.

A few years ago, Bowes was forced to surrender his license to practice psychology in Wisconsin, after three patients filed complaints that Bowes used his position to recruit them into the Order.

Nancy Wainer said that she first got involved in the group when Watts trained her to be a midwife. Wainer said that some mothers of the babies Watts delivered were recruited.

“She’s Mother Claire Watts, self appointed Mother Claire Watts, and I feel betrayed. I look back and realize I recruited for them. I actually recruited for them,” Wainer said. “I don’t really care what they think anymore. We love our daughter. We love our daughter.”

“They have got what we now don’t have. I’ll always love her, and I think about her every day,” Holcumb said.

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here

… OCS has made people upset. “This is a very, very dangerous group,” says Nancy Wainer, a Newton midwife and former member of the order. “They’re swallowing people up across the country.” Cult expert Rick Ross, who dedicates a section of his Web site to OCS, also has misgivings. “This group is personality-driven,” Ross says. “Bowes has alluded to the fact that he is essentially a spokesman or vehicle for God. He’s even hinted that he has connections to aliens from outer space, these grandiose claims.” Okay, a bit kooky maybe, but dangerous?

“They’re not stockpiling weapons, there’s no talk about group suicide,” Ross says. “But what we have here is isolation and control through these houses he sets up. I was retained by a family to do an intervention, a young woman in Boston. There was extreme psychological and emotional abuse. I’ve had complaints from several families who received, essentially, termination letters stating they will not be seen anymore by their adult children. The rhetoric in the letters was identical. Basically, Bowes does not want his members to have normal relationships with their families.”

Wainer, whose 24-year-old daughter has been a member of OCS for five years, tells a similar story. “I love my daughter like you wouldn’t believe,” she says, “but they’ve turned her against me. She won’t speak to me. They use hypnotism and exhaustion, all of the techniques, a lot of sleep deprivation. My daughter pushed all of her friends away. She hasn’t spoken to her grandmothers. I’ve spoken to 15 or 20 families across the US. This is not just Nancy Wainer. Families are being destroyed by this cult.”

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From http://www.rickross.com/reference/bowes/bowes2.html

As a former member of The Order of Christ/Sophia, I feel compelled to share with others what my experience within this group entailed.

It is my opinion, having been a member for quite some time, that The Order of Christ/Sophia is a destructive cult.

While the organization appears to be harmless to newcomers, the further involved people become, the more likely they are to experience a great amount of stress psychologically and physically.

The Order of Christ/Sophia describes itself as a “mystical school” offering classes and individual counseling to those who choose to become a “student.”

However, it is my observation that members did not really just simply choose to become students, but were instead manipulated into taking classes and becoming deeply involved.

This manipulation often comes in the form of guilt, shame and other coercive persuasion techniques, such as group pressure and trance induction through “meditation.”

Retreats, workshops and classes also appear to utilize classic thought reform techniques to break down the potential member.

For example, at almost any given lecture there are “blessing groups,” which is really another label for a process more frequently called “the hot seat.”

Those attending the lecture are each placed in a group with a trained facilitator, addressed as “master teacher,” “priest” or “deacon.” The facilitator instructs each individual to sit in the designated chair and share something about their personal life. The facilitator then attempts to draw out of the individual personal information, which makes that person vulnerable and more open to suggestions from an authority figure.

The “blessing group” environment seems happy and loving. However, it can easily be seen as a method of breaking down and taking control over those involved.

Probably one of the more disturbing features of The Order of Christ/Sophia is that those in its hierarchy, such as master teachers, priests and deacons, all claim that they hear God in an audible voice. They also claim they can bring you face-to-face with God.

These claims can be seen as a device, which enables leaders to put themselves in positions of control that cannot be questioned and makes their disciples increasingly dependent.

As a student you are asked for total obedience.

Leaders then typically break you down psychologically, encouraging you to “tell God everything.” They claim that if you do not tell your teacher, who represents God, then you are not allowing God in to love you and help you.

This is yet another example of how the group manipulates people and pressures them into confessing their “sins” in order to gain greater control.

Members are often drained physically from the hierarchy on down.

Priests are always working hard to gain greater influence over their disciples. And disciples are constantly being encouraged to keep a daily journal, attend as many classes and services as possible, participate in extra activities and volunteer to help The Order in any way possible.

Every student is given an “exercise” to complete daily and then report to their personal teacher. Students who do not do their exercise everyday are reprimanded. The daily schedule is rigorous and many individuals are sleep deprived.

The Order of Christ/Sophia consists of highly intelligent people who present very well to the “outside” world. Many are well educated and/or in school and most have the best of intentions.

Group members truly believe that they are doing God’s will.

However, in my experience it seems they are really doing the will of the group’s leader Peter Bowes.

Peter presents himself as a Christ-like figure who knows all things. I recall being told by one of the priests that I should take Peter’s word as God’s word.

Bowes second-in-command Clare Watts is called “Mother Clare” and she likens herself to Mother Mary, telling disciples that she has direct revelations from The Virgin Mary.

These are only some examples of the destructive nature of The Order of Christ/Sophia. I have not mentioned other features in any depth, such as intense manipulative psychotherapy sessions and encouragement to emotionally detach from family and friends.

The list could go on and on.

My intention is to give those interested and/or concerned a glimpse into how the group operates and manipulates good-natured individuals who are seeking a way to bring more love into this world.

Perhaps it is hard to understand or believe everything I say. Anyone interested in The Order of Christ/Sophia should do as much research as possible before becoming involved.

If there is one thing I have learned from being involved with this group, which I now consider a “cult,” it is to always make informed decisions.

People concerned about this group will hopefully become as informed as possible about “cults” generally and The Order of Christ/Sophia specifically.

Personally, based upon my own experience, I would not recommend The Order of Christ/Sophia to anyone under any circumstances.

{endtimes note – the above sounds very similar to the Shakers in practice and theology.]

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Other articles on OCS Order of Christ Sophia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Order_of_Christ_Sophia

http://www2.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=307267

http://www.rickross.com/groups/bowes.html