Sanitarium.
Breakfast cereal company founded and owned by the Seventh
Day Adventist church.
Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA).
Perhaps best described as an urban legend, mostly arising from bad therapy
leading to Recovered Memory Syndrome. Please note
that many "victims" of SRA really are victims, but are victims
of bad therapy rather than the extreme ritual abuse they claim to now
remember. (Of course, there's another group of people who make such claims
just for the attention.) Also please note, we are not saying that satanic
rituals and practices do not take place. See the OccultCloseup for more info. For more information on SRA see Apologetics
Index's SRA page.
School of Philosophy.
Also known in England and other countries as School of Economic Science,
or School of Philosophy and Economic Science. It is a New
Age cult with Vedic/Hindu teachings, such as reincarnation
and meditation. Gives lip-service to Christianity
only in as much as it serves their purposes. Arrived from London in 1961.
Branches in Auckland, Hamilton, Masterton and Wellington. Founded Ficino
School in 1997 for primary and intermediate aged children. For more
information on their actual teachings - which have nothing to do with
real philosophy - read The School of Philosophy (Auckland)
article.
School of the New Zealand Training Schools for
Prophets and Intercessors.
See School of the Prophets.
School
of the Prophets.
A group based in Tauranga (with a branch in Auckland) under the leadership of
Walter Simpson Ballantyne. Cult, featuring
bad doctrine, a charismatic authoritarian leader and mind control. The idea
of a school for prophets (ignoring for the moment the biblically-sound notion
that prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit, not something taught) apparently
came to New Zealand from Australia (in recent times, at least), where a Brisbane
School of the Prophets was (at that time) led by Chris and Debbie Gaborit, and
from America before that. However, Walter Ballantyne does not acknowledge this
chain of descent, and claims originality of concept - the school was supposedly
revealed directly to him by God in a vision. (He needed bother trying to emphasise
the originality of the idea, as the concept was raised as early as 1860.) Functionally
speaking the Tauranga-based School of the Prophets is unrelated to the American
and Australian groups of the same name. It appears that people leaving School
of the Prophets are deemed to be lost, with no hope of salvation. The mind control
technique thought
stopping is used to protect members from the almost inevitable rejection
of their message, while jargon and loaded
language is used to obfuscate true beliefs from outsiders (for example,
Mr Ballantyne states "the Gospel of the Kingdom" is not the same as
"the Gospel"). The (New Zealand) School of the Prophets is given a
Danger rating because of its bad theology, mind control, and reports
from Tauranga, Gisborne, and South Africa of marriage breakups as a direct result
of the work of Walter Ballantyne and this group. This listing is under review.
Submissions for this listing are now being accepted. Please see the Contact
page.
Science of the Soul Study
Centre.
A group with a building in Mt Roskill, Auckland. They meet on Sunday mornings
at "normal church time" and are said to have lots of pictures
of an Indian guru on their walls, but they expect us to believe their
claims they aren't religious. Sure. It's actually very religious; apparently
a local branch of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB, aka "Sant Mat"),
which includes the teachings of Surat Shabd Yoga.
It is a New Age mix of typical Eastern beliefs
including meditation. RSSB is also the
umbrella organisation for the Science of the Soul Research Centre in Delhi,
India, another mystic group which publishes books teaching relativism
and that the world's religions are really the same. Freedom
of Mind calls RSSB "a super secret organization" and lists
Eckankar as being a spin off from it. The
Mt Roskill building used to be owned by the Exclusive
Brethren and required alterations to their carpark due to a motorway
extension built nearby.
Scientology.
Full name Church of Scientology, this is a very dangerous cult group.
Extreme mind control
practices. Founder L Ron Hubbard (a pulp science
fiction writer). Head PR person/Secretary in New Zealand is Mike
Ferriss. Chairperson is Marion Moffat (who
is possibly married to Claude Moffat). Ian H Gillott
is another long-time member. Recently granted charity status by the New Zealand
Inland Revenue Department (on the basis that Scientology is a religion - even
though its religious writings bear a strange resemblance to cheap science fiction).
In December 2003 and January 2004 they attempted to suppress the information
in this listing by contacting the company which hosts this site. Their first
letter can be read under the listing for Marion Moffat.
(It should be noted that all the information on this site is completely legal.)
Scientology has rather a lot of detractors on the Internet - for example WhyAreTheyDead.net
and ExposingSatanism.org.
The online book The
Scandal of Scientology by Paulette Cooper makes for a good, well, actually
slightly sickening read. For more juicy information on Scientology have a look
at the Closeup on Scientology
or click the graphic below to visit Operation
Clambake. (It should be noted that linking to another web site is completely
legal.)
ScienTOMogy.
ScienTOMogy was a satirical web site detailing some of the crazy antics
of reknowned Scientologist Tom Cruise. Thanks
to the crazy antics of some not very Clear Minded Scientologists
who threatened to sue it for breach of copyright (or something), the site
made headlines around the word and grew from obscurity to widespread fame.
Of course ScienTOMogy also quickly detailed their crazy legal threats
too. (Well, what did they expect?) The link from ScienTOMogy to the New
Zealand Cult List also resulted in October 2005 being the busiest month
ever for our own site, with lots more people getting to read the information
we have about Scientology - all due to Scientology's free advertising.
The ScienTOMogy site no longer exists in the same format, although the
basic idea was continued under different management with a slightly different
domain name.
Seatoun School, Wellington - Board of
Trustees.
The board of trustees at this Wellington primary school banned a religious
group that met during their Wednesday lunch break. The Caution
rating is assigned here for suppression of religious freedom. From the
New Zealand Herald:
In a written opinion, Sir Geoffrey [Palmer] said the ban
breached the Bill of Rights Act's guarantee of freedom of religion. The
lunchtime "KidsKlub" meetings were not in school time, were
voluntary and were allowed under the Education Act.
FYI - Seatoun School also hit the headlines in 1989 when it announced
it was adding two more school years (to include intermediate age children),
a decision which resulted in significant controversy since it affected
other local primary schools and the local intermediate school. (Competition
in education?)
Seed of the Serpent.
Fruitcake material taught by William Branham.
The William
Branham article at Apologetics Index includes a brief overview.
Service for Peace scheme.
A Moonie front group/campaign.
Seventh Day Adventist. Generally
Christian denomination which believes strongly in Sabbath worship (Saturday)
rather than Sunday. That's fine in itself but some branches in New Zealand
(a minority of SDAs in this country) go overboard in this and proclaim
that only they are saved because other denominations do not do this -
a cultic claim. Founded by Ellen G White -
their Prophetess. It varies on a branch-by-branch basis, but any particular
branch that practices or teaches that Ellen G White's teachings are more
important than the Bible qualifies itself as a cult. Most New Zealand
branches do not hold strongly to that, whereas in other countries the
tendency is in the other direction. Robert K Sanders has written a testimony
of how he left
the SDAs after 37 years.
Shunning.
A mind control
mechanism. Involves shunning, or completely ignoring, former members,
even to the point of crossing the street to avoid them.
SkyBiz, SkyBiz 2000.
Internet-based con scheme, multi-level marketing scheme,
possibly illegal in New Zealand. Reportedly most effective at conning
those aged over 40 who do not own a computer... which is almost funny
since the scheme is to sell web sites. We haven't heard anything of it
for the last five years, but if it is still operating, stay clear of it.
Smith, Barry.
End-times proclaimer, travelling preacher, now deceased. Author of the
books Warning, Second Warning, and Final Warning. Had an
annoying tendency in those books to not back up wild claims with solid
evidence.
Soka Gakkai International New Zealand.
A Buddhist group.
Solution.
Youth ministry of Destiny Church in Rotorua,
New Zealand.
Somatic Education.
Posture and movement exercises and techniques which are supposed to reverse
or reduce various effects of aging. One set of such exercises and techniques
is the Feldenkrais Method.
Southern Star.
A national Christian radio network owned by Rhema Broadcasting Group Inc.
Features music for older listeners. See also Life
FM and Radio Rhema.
Spiritism.
According to Elliot Miller "the practice of attempting communication
with departed human or extrahuman intelligences (usually nonphysical)
through the agency of a human medium, with the intent of receiving paranormal
information and/or having direct experience of metaphysical realities"
which is a complicated way of saying "they speak to dead people."
This is what King Saul did in 1 Samuel 28, although modern television
spiritists are better described as con artists.
Spiritualism.
Submissions for this listing are now being accepted. Please see the Contact
page.
Splendour of Truth, The.
A Roman Catholic bookshop, Milford, Auckland.
Stradwick, Jack and Gaye.
Jack and Gaye Stradwick are the pastors of Auckland "church"
Fusion and as of June 2008 have recently returned
from Lakeland, Florida. They support Todd Bentley,
Joshua and Janet Mills, and false prophet
Bob Jones, and - as is typical for those in the false
revival movement - actively teach against discernment (one
of the gifts of the Holy Spirit). For example, Gaye Stradwick, regarding
false prophet Todd Bentley's false revival: "Please please
please - if there is nothing good in your heart to say about this wonderful
out-pouring of the Spirit of God, at least say nothing."
The possibility that Todd Bentley and his
false revival were not of God at all was sadly not an option for her.
The Stradwicks are assigned a Danger rating because of their ongoing
encouraging and teaching of unbiblical experiences and practices including
the endorsement of fallacious miracles, misquoting of and misuse of the
Bible, connections with and support of false prophets, and spiritual
danger they pose in deceiving both the wider Christian church and their
own young and impressionable congregation.
Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine, in "LIFE AFTER LAKELAND:
Sorting Out the Confusion" writes about the false Lakeland revival led
by Todd Bentley (with emphasis added):
Why did so many people flock to Lakeland from around the world
to rally behind an evangelist who had serious credibility issues from the
beginning?
To put it bluntly, we're just plain gullible.
From the first week of the Lakeland revival, many discerning
Christians raised questions about Bentley's beliefs and practices. They felt
uneasy when he said he talked to an angel in his hotel room. They sensed something
amiss when he wore a T-shirt with a skeleton on it. They wondered why a man
of God would cover himself with tattoos. They were horrified when they heard
him describe how he tackled a man and knocked his tooth out during prayer.
But among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment
was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message
was clear: "This is God. Don't question." So before we could all
say, "Sheeka Boomba" (as Bentley often prayed from his pulpit), many
people went home, prayed for people and shoved them to the floor with reckless
abandon, Bentley-style.
I blame this lack of discernment, partly, on raw zeal for God.
We're spiritual hungry - which can be a good thing. But sometimes, hungry people
will eat anything.
Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles,
signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with
the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent
craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It's way past time
for us to grow up.
FWIW Lee Grady has learned from the Todd Bentley saga. On 27 October 2009 he
wrote
about John Crowder, saying "Let's put the childish things behind
us. It's time for us to grow up and sober up." (More of his article
is quoted in the Drunken Revival Movement
listing.)
Sadly, since Todd Bentley's fall from grace the Stradwicks have continued
to support the false revival he started and the false miracles Todd Bentley
claimed to perform, continue to support other false
revival movement teachers, and continue to encourage a lack of discernment.
Strom, Andrew.
Andrew Strom is an advocate for the "coming street revival"
He points out that the early church mostly ministered in the open-air
and met house to house, and believes that reaching the masses will happen
when the body of Christ moves in unity in the community. Andrew Strom
also teaches about "true revival" as opposed to "false
revival" and in May 2008 published a new
book on that topic. (I note that the first two reviews posted were
from people who have not read the book. One includes the classic line
"Books like this are published for the self-righteous to enjoy
judging what they don't understand." Could it equally be said
reviews like that are posted by the self-righteous to enjoy judging what
they don't understand?) In the middle of 2008 he posted
five videos on YouTube expressing his concern with the Lakeland Revival.
Part Three contains graphic examples which show the similarities between
false revival manifestations and occult kundalini manifestations. The
videos made him the 7th most subscribed YouTube user in New Zealand for
July 2008 and the 19th most viewed. In mid-2010 he posted another documentary
- False spirits invade the church, part
1 and part
2 - which include graphic examples of the extreme behaviour (some
say demon possession) of the false revival
movement.
Subritzky, Bill.
Faith healer and pentecostal leader. Gets a bit carried away sometimes,
but has done a great deal of good evangelism in New Zealand. His web site
is www.doveministries.com.
Subud.
Once a very secretive New Age cult, Subud is now
expanding and becoming more open, and no longer hides its teachings behind password-protected
web sites. (A cynic would say they've realised they don't need to - people will
fall for anything.) Subud was founded in the 1920s in Java, Indonesia by Muhammad
Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo (b. 1901, d. 1987), who is normally called Bapak ("Father")
by Subud members. There are a little over 200 members in NZ (as of mid 2007),
with about 90 in Christchurch, led by Hammond Peek,
and most of the rest in Auckland. There are perhaps 10,000 members worldwide.
The name Subud comes from the three words Susila ("the good character
of man in accordance with the will of God"), Budhi ("the force
of the inner self within man"), and Dharma ("surrender, trust
and sincerity towards God"), and is not related to Subuh ("dawn").
The founder expected members to pay 3-5% of their income to the cult (but they
can also have many supposed financial crises to respond to each year) and expected
members' enterprises (businesses) to pay 25%. These are not enforced - indeed,
most Subud members have not heard of those figures, perhaps indicating that
Subud's teaching that Subud has no teaching is working - the members
have never been taught what their founder said. (Hiding of origins is actually
a big problem in many cults, but most don't have self-contradiction
at their core.)
The founder's daughter took over leadership when her father died. From Indonesia
she picks names for many children and some adults, which helps reinforce group
identity (another sign Subud is a cult). This leader is considered to have all
the power of her father, who proclaimed himself to be a Christ-like/Muhammad-like
figure and was believed by some to be the second coming of Christ. [Can anyone
see anything wrong with that belief? Hint: He's now dead. - Editor.]
Central to Subud practice is the latihan - an occult
activity like transcendental meditation which according
to Dr Stephen Urlich, a Christchurch scientist who wrote an article published
in a journal of the American Psychological Association, involves “uninhibited
weeping, shouting, writhing, moaning and speaking in tongues” and that
“Laughing, jumping and dancing can occur”. A Christian perspective
is that this activity involves channeling demons that masqerade as either angels
of light, the Holy Spirit, or even Christ himself to reveal supposed truth to
the Subud member. Nasty. Some Subud members call the latihan "getting opened"
which is appropriate for an activity that involves opening oneself to demonic
manipulation. Subud has been known to practice strong relationship control,
and in a 1964 study cited by Dr Urlich, 24 cases linked Subud to "schizophrenic
episodes requiring hospitalisation".
Like many New Age groups and practices, Subud in
particular appears to primarily appeal to those for whom rational thought is
not a high priority, meaning that feelings are far more important to them than
clear logical thought is. (For example, one Subud member has emailed us claiming
black and white can be the same thing because they're both colours.) This combined
with the experiences of the Latihan means that it can be very hard to convince
a Subud member just how bad it is - they feel it is right, therefore
as far as they are concerned it is. Subud is here rated Danger for its
heavily New Age theology, its very occult
practices, its strongly self-contradictory
teachings, and its risk of psychological damage.
Success Life Institute.
Run by Destiny Church in Tauranga. Submissions
for this listing are now being accepted. Please see the Contact
page.
Sullivan, David. Leading Feldenkrais
Method practitioner in New Zealand. (FYI listing.)
Super Apostle.
A term used by Cultwatch
and others to refer to a Christian leader who sets themselves up as being
specially chosen or appointed by God to control a number of churches.
The New Apostolic Reformation is the ideal platform
for Super Apostles. Read Cultwatch's Super
Apostle article for more information.
Swart, Leon. Leon Swart, also known as Leo
Swart, heads FANZA in New Zealand.
Swedenborg/Swedenborgianism.
Spiritualist cult founded by Emanuel Swedenborg.
Claims to be "True Christian Religion" but denies all the fundamental
beliefs of Christianity. For more information see CARM's Swedenborg
article or Watchman Fellowship's Swedenborg
profile. Or read how one man left
Swedenborg and came to know Christ as his saviour on the CARM
site.
Swedenborg, Emanuel. Founder of Swedenborg.
Lived 1688 - 1772.
Hindu guru and 
Breakfast cereal company founded and owned by the 
Perhaps best described as an urban legend, mostly arising from bad therapy
leading to 
Also known as the (former) 
A group based in Tauranga (with a branch in Auckland) under the leadership of
Christian denomination which believes strongly in Sabbath worship (Saturday)
rather than Sunday. That's fine in itself but some branches in New Zealand
(a minority of SDAs in this country) go overboard in this and proclaim
that only they are saved because other denominations do not do this -
a cultic claim. Founded by 