The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 01, 1982, Page 4, Image 4
Moonie criticizes '
By John Braun
A member of the Unificaton Church said he was kidnapped
by professional kidnappers hired by his brothers to detain
him so he could be "deprogrammed."
John Abelseth, a Canadian businessman in his mid-30s,
was at USC FYidav to t/?ll hie stnrv nf tho r*?litfir*tic nor.
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secution his family put him through after he joined the
church at age 29. Abelseth said he was held on two occasions
for a total of 82 days.
"The belief is that people like myself are brainwashed," he
said. "They've never been able to explain to me how I can
manage two very successful businesses, be just like any
ordinary Christian person today living an ordinary life and
Kp hrainuiachor) "
'I think fear is a real problem. To most
people on the street today, when you say,
"I'm a Moonie," they get scared. They used
to tell stories about us (Moonies) - "Don't
look them in the eye: they'll brainwash
you/" Unification Church member
John Abelseth
REFERRING TO himself as "Joe Businessman,"
ADeisetn was running two businesses in Calgary, Alberta, at
the time of the kidnappings.
Abelseth joined the church while visiting Berkeley, Calif.
He said that at the time, he was an atheist who had been
reared as a Christian.
"When I went there, (I met) a couple of people on campus
from the Unification Church. I was very impressed by their
attitude, by their concern for me as an individual.
"After a couple of days of talking with the people, playing
sports with them, living with them, hearing lectures and so
forth, I came to a new understanding of God that really made
sense to me," Abelseth said.
ABELSETH MET his wife, who joined the church in 1972,
in Berkeley.
Soon after his return to Canada in 1980, his brothers kidnapped
him, Abelseth said.
How to procrastinai
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Pour yourself a cup of Irish Mocha Min
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AS MUCH A FEELING
deprogrammers'
"First of all, it's a violent kidnapping. It's not just like
you're walking down the street and all of sudden...you're
tossed in a van ana you're nanacuitea ana away you
go...That's bad enough. But then for me to look up from the
floor of the van and see my brother looking at me and to
realize that he was behind the thing...was really, really
traumatic and really alarming."
Abelseth said although he was not allowed to talk to his
wife or laywer, he was not beaten or tortured. He escaped by
convincing his captors he had been weaned from the church.
"I JUST started agreeing with everything they said,
parroting these things back to them," he said.
Abelseth is touring the country speaking out against
deprogramming. He said most of the 80 people subjected to
this tactic last year have come back to the church.
Ten times more people left the Unification Church just by
walking out the door than by being deprogrammed," he said.
He said most members of the "anti-cult cult" are not
religious people. Abelseth said his parents, who are "good
Christians," are much more sympathetic to his position than
his brothers, whom he called "a-religious."
Abelseth said he has more of a "difference of opinion" with
i cugiviua eta uppuseu tu ct iear ne senses irum nunreligious
people.
"I think fear is a real problem," he said. "To most people
on the street today, when you say 'I'm a Moonie'...they get
scared. They used to tell stories about us (Moonies) ? 'Don't
look them in the eye; they'll brainwash you.' "
Abelseth said that as a Moonie, he understands God in a
different way from Christians, although he said his church's
beliefs are "rooted in the Judeo-Christian philosophy."
"I'm proud to be a member of the Unification Church. I
think it's eood and richt." he said "T don't think it'c riaht fnr
everyone.
"To me, America is the standard of freedom in today's
world, and a lot of people and a lot of countries look to
America for that kind of strength. So if one person is violated,
especially in the area of religious liberty, which is...(one of)
the tenets of the foundations of this country, it's a really
severe violation," he said.
e tastefully
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