HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 390

	  Designating Nov. 13 - Nov. 19, 1988 as "National Cult
     Awareness Week":

	  Whereas the basis for individual, religious, and political
     liberties granted by the Bill of Rights lies in freedom from
     tyranny over the mind of man;

	  Whereas a cult is a group or movement exhibiting excessive
     devotion to a person or idea and employing unethically
     manipulative techniques of persuasion and control to advance the
     goals of its leaders;

	  Whereas cults use mind control techniques to manipulate
     their members, including isolation from friends and family,
     debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility
     and subservience, powerful group pressures, information
     management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment and
     promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving
     it;

	  Whereas cults use deceptive and unethical manipulation to
     recruit, convert, and retain members who will devote their lives
     to proselytizing, soliciting money, and otherwise serving the
     objectives of their leader;

	  Whereas, with exalted promises of self-fulfillment and
     personal growth, cult leaders use sophisticated and deceptive
     psychological techniques to maintain the obedience of their
     followers, causing them to sacrifice their personal liberties,
     decrease their capacity for independent thought, and reduce their
     ability to tolerate the diversity inherent in a pluralistic
     society;

	  Whereas the mass suicide and murder of 913 people, including
     Congressman Leo Ryan, on Nov. 18, 1978, at Jonestown, Guyana,
     stands as the most profound warning of the potential abuse of
     mind control techniques;

	  Whereas it is estimated that there are over two thousand and
     five hundred cults in the United States and between one million
     and three million cult members;

	  Whereas the youth of our Nation face a continuing challenge
     by the proliferation of destructive pseudo-religious and pseudo
     psychological cults;

	  Whereas the problems associated with cults include an
     increasing number of legal actions, disrupted lives, suicides,
     missing and abused children, and psychotic episodes;

	  Whereas the process of ego-destruction and thought -reform
     used by cults is not widely understood;

	  Whereas although cults pose important and unresolved legal
     issues, this nation has always condemned exploitation achieved
     through fraud and deception, particularly under the guise of
     religion or therapy;

	  Whereas the practices of cults often involve violations of
     tax, labor, and immigration laws;

	  Whereas, although government must be cautious when
     addressing the problems caused by cults so as to guard against
     the infringement of constitutional guaranties and civil
     liberties, government must at the same time assure that it is
     neither directly nor indirectly providing  incentives for the
     proliferation of cults;

	  Whereas in a free society, the least restrictive yet most
     effective remedy for the harmful use of mind control techniques
     is public awareness of the problem;

	  Whereas further research and study of cults is needed so
     that legislators, the clergy, educators, mental health
     professionals, lawyers, the business community, young people, and
     parents are better able to identify and respond to the use of
     deceptive psychological techniques;

	  Now therefore, be it resolved by the senate and House of
     Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
     assembled, that in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the
     tragedy at Jonestown, Guyana, Nov. 13 - Nov.19, 1988, is
     designated as National Cult Awareness Week" and the President is
     authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the
     people of the United Stated to observe the period with
     appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

	  This is H.J. Res. 390, presented Oct. 28, 1987 by Tom
     Lantos, Mr Daub, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Lewis of Ca., Mr. Murphy, Mr.
     Sunia, Ms. Kaptur, and Mr. Dymally) Introduced to the Committee
     on Post Office and Civil Service.