Inisde Landmark Forum - E

Inisde Landmark Forum
e-limbo* [22-05-08]
Neither fish nor flesh but GURU ;-)
via WIKI
Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous (Voyage to the Land of the New Gurus), a
controversial television-documentary, presented an investigation of the activities of
Landmark Education. The investigative journalism program Pièces à Conviction [Incriminating
Evidence] started filming the documentary in 2003, and the channel France 3 broadcast it in
France on May 24, 2004.
The documentary has resulted various legal repercussions in France, the Netherlands,
Australia and the United States.
The documentary included Alain Roth, a Landmark Forum leader and former head of
Landmark Education's now defunct division in France.
Part of the documentary recounts how journalists from Pièces à Conviction originally wanted
to interview Roth, but that Landmark Education flew Sophie McLean from New York City to
France to speak with them instead.
McLean dismisses the description of her company as a cult or even as cult-like, and
disparages the view that its business depends on brainwashing. In support of her contention,
she cites three academics: Dr. Raymond Fowler (former president of the American
Psychological Association), Prof. Dr. Norbert Nedopil (Chief, department of forensic
psychiatry, University of Munich, and French psychiatrist Jean-Marie Abgrall. Landmark paid
Abgrall to do a report on it, but later in the documentary Abgrall denies that he took a
position either way on characterising Landmark as a cult or not.
In 2005, the Nouvel Observateur news magazine gave an assessment of the back-andforth in the documentary, stating that the broadcast of Elise Lucet denounces Landmark
Education's fiscal tax arrangements, the use of an army of volunteers and the existence of
involvement as a defendant in
prosecutions for abuse of weakness and mental
manipulations into a murder case. The article went on to state that days after the airing of
the documentary, Alain Roth had strangely disappeared from a guest introduction event at
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the Landmark Education offices. Sophie McLean presented the Nouvel Observateur staff
with a denial/disclaimer that carefully avoids the more sensible/delicate points of reporting —
which stated that Landmark Education is subject to criticism and being misunderstood,
because of their leading edge pedagogy.
Journey to the Land of the New Gurus, originally known in French as Voyage Au Pays Des
Nouveaux Gourous (wikipedia link).
This is a French documentary with English sub-titles. Due to the need to have legible
captions, this video has been encoded at a higher rate. If you have a slow internet
connection, a transcript of the documentary is available.
Hint: If you would rather download the original AVI file of the video for local viewing, access
a bit-torrent download.
Also, click here for more content on Landmark Education and EST .
Credits and bibliography
The host Elise Lucet credited the following works at the end of the program:
- Grande enquête sur la Scientologie: une secte hors la loi [Major inquiry into Scientology:
a cult beyond the law], by Arnaud Palisson, published by Favre, 2003. ISBN 2-8289-0733-3 Les Sectes [Cults], by Thomas Lardeur, published by Presses de la Renaissance, 2004.
ISBN 2-7509-0008-5 - Charlie Hebdo, Hors Serie, Landmark Education: Des métastases
dans le business [Landmark Education: Transformations in business], May 2004, 98 pages.
The news program's bibliography listed the following works:
- Les sectes dans l'entreprise [Cults in the work-place], by Thomas Lardeur. Éditions
d'Organisation. - Et Satan créa la secte [Satan Created the Cult: Memoirs of an escapee],
by Mona Vasquez - Les sectes [Cults], by Alain Vivien. Éditions Odile Jacob. [2003, ISBN 27381-1284-6 ] - Méchaniques du destin [Mechanics of Destiny], by Pierre de Roo CalmannLévy [2004, ISBN 2-7021-3172-7 ] - L'Empire des ténèbres [The Realm of Shadows], by
Brigitte Marouani. Jacques-Marie Laffont [2003, ISBN 2-84928-015-1 ] - Enquête sur les
manipulations mentales [Investigation into Mental Manipulations], by Gordon Thomas. Albin
Michel [1989, ISBN 2-226-03780-2 ] - Tous manipulés, tous manipulateurs [Everyone
manipulated, everyone manipulating], by Dr. Jean-Marie Abgrall. First Editions [2003, ISBN
2-87691-743-2 ] - La Méchanique des sectes [The Mechanics of Cults], by Dr. Jean-Marie
Abgrall. Payot [New revised and expanded edition: 2002, ISBN 2-228-89505-9 ] - Les
sectes[: Savoir les reconnaître, Comprendre leurs mécanismes, Les combattre efficacement,
Aider les victimes] [Cults: how to recognize them, how to understand their mechanisms, how
to fight them effectively, how to help the victims], by Thomas Lardeur. Presses de la
Renaissance. [2004, ISBN 2-7509-0008-5 ] - Grande enquête sur la scientologie[: Une
secte hors la loi] [A Major Enquiry into Scientology: A cult outside the law], by Arnaud
Palisson. Éditions Favre [2003, ISBN 2-8289-0733-3 ] - 20 ans de lutte contre les sectes [20
Years of Struggle Against the Cults], by Janine Tavernier. Michel Lafon [ 2003, ISBN 2-
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84098-914-X ] - Petit traité de manipulation à l'usage des honnêtes gens [A brief treatise on
the manipulation of ordinary folk], by Robert-Vincent Joule and Jean-Léon Beauvois. PUG
[Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, new edition: 2004, ISBN 2-7061-1044-9 ] - La dérive
sectaire [The Sectarian Drift], by Anne Fournier and Michel Monroy. PUF [Presses
Universitaires de France, 1999 ISBN 2-13-049770-5 ] - Le retour du Diable[: Satanaisme,
Exorcisme, Extrême droite] The Return of the Devil: Satanism, Exorcism, and the Extreme
Right, by Paul Aries. Gloias [1997, ISBN 2-911453-21-2 ] - La scientologie, laboratoire du
Futur[?] [Scientology, Laboratory of the Future?], by Paul Aries. Golias [1998, ISBN 2911453-44-1 ] - Satanisme, le retour de la Bête [Satanism, the Return of the Beast], by
Paul Aries. Golias - Ce que coaching veut dire [What Coaching Means], Gilles Forestier.
Editions d'Organisation
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