NZ Cults & Religious Groups List: P

Hot picks: Peter Popoff, Harry Potter, Prosperity Gospel, Psychic

P

Pacific Institute, The. (This rating is under review.) The Pacific Institute (often abbreviated by them as TPI) is an organisation founded by Lou Tice in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1971 which runs New Age based seminars and courses for maximising potential, stress management etc. Courses are also available for children and young people. In their article New Age in the Workplace The Watchman Expositor lists some of the New Age thinking taught in one course.

One of the most popular is called New Age Thinking, a motivational seminar distributed by the Pacific Institute of Seattle, Washington, founded by Lou Tice.

In 1983, this seminar was conducted at Northwestern Bell in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Following the course, one of the employees wrote a personal evaluation in which he recorded a number of statements made by Lou Tice in the videotapes.

The following are a sample of statements recorded by the employee "word for word to the best" he was able to record them:

Truth is what we perceive reality to be in our mind.
As I think, I am.
Self-hypnosis is helpful for adopting New Age Thinking techniques.
Universal knowledge exists and can be accessed through ESP (known as intuition).
You are in control of your life, your destiny.

The employee also stated that during the seminar, guided imagery was used and follow-up cassette tapes were given to the employees which included lessons on deep relaxation and affirmations.

Thus, there is more to these seminars than building team spirit and rallying everyone around the goals of the company.

In reality, they are a form of indoctrination which promotes the New Age view which is in direct contrast to the basic beliefs of orthodox Christianity.

Pathlights has an article which descibes the courses:

And if this were not enough to gladden the hearts of New Agers everywhere, the latest news from the halls of industry should be. For suddenly courses in "New Age Thinking" have become the order of the day -- particularly for middle and upper-level management personnel and salesmen. From General Motors and Chrysler Corporation through AT&T and southwestern oil concerns such courses have been offered. One such course that has been in wide use at many major corporations is called "New Age Thinking" and is taught by Lou Tice of The Pacific Institute, Inc.

Employees attending these institutes are even encouraged to bring their entire families. Self-image psychology is stressed as part of a new "mental tool kit." Like other psychotechnologies, the perceptions of the participants are played with in an attempt to shift their focus to "New Age Thinking."

Participants are basically taught that they create their own world by their own thought-forms and that by ignoring or downplaying negative inputs their world will become a brighter, better place. Of course, believing you are your own god is the next logical step. And where does such a program tell one to go for spiritual and religious guidance? Again, dear to the heart of the most dedicated New Age psychic and spiritualist, they are sent to the major advocates of the "deity of man": Pierre Teilhard deChardin, Herman Hesse, Eric Fromm, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and most outrageously of all, Ram Dass -- an avowed enemy of orthodox Judeo-Christian religious tradition and proponent of a mass conversion to Hinduism and other forms of Eastern mysticism.

Clearly, enforced attendance at these New Age seminars is a form of religious discrimination by the employer that should not be tolerated. Neither should it be made a ground for promotion or demotion among those attending or refusing to attend. Could an employer demote or promote one for regularly attending mass or evangelical services? The answer, of course, is a clear no. Neither should the employer be allowed to do this to those whose consciences do not permit their attendance at seminars promoting "New Age Thinking."

It is unclear how many of The Pacific Insitute's courses contain such strong New Age teaching.

Packer, Rob & Lyn. Rob & Lyn Packer lead Extreme Prophetic in New Zealand. Rob & Lyn Packer are rated Danger for their association with and support for Extreme Prophetic's Patrica King.

The Passion of the Christ. See the listing for The Passion of the Christ on the Religious Movies page.

Patterson, Ross. A computer programmer from Whangarei who falsely believes and promotes the old Ron Wyatt claim for a particular site in Turkey being Noah's Ark. Answers in Genesis has thoroughly refuted any idea that the site is or ever was Noah's Ark. From the Answers in Genesis special report:

True/False?

Radar shows man-made (boat) structure..........FALSE
There is a regular metallic pattern............FALSE
Lab tests show petrified laminated wood........FALSE
Turkish scientists found metal rods............FALSE
Metal artefacts have been proved by lab........FALSE
There are ‘ship’s ribs’ showing................FALSE
There is lots of petrified wood................FALSE
Turkish Commission says ‘it’s a boat...........FALSE

Another refutation was co-written by David Fasold, a former supporter of the site who has excavated at the site and concluded it isn't Noah's Ark; it's a natural formation, not man-made. The NZ Cult List regards Ron Wyatt as a con artist. We hope that Ross Patterson is simply misguided in his support for the location. Like Ron Wyatt, Ross Patterson hasn't been given a Danger rating becaues his claims are not likely to do any damage other than to people's wallets.

Peck, M Scott. Author of The Road Less Traveled. Submissions for this listing are now being accepted. Please see the Contact page.

Peek, Hammond. Hammond Peek is the chairman of Subud in Christchurch. In his professional life he has won two Oscars, for his sound recording and mixing work on The Return of the King and King Kong, for which he is to be congratulated.

People Knowhow. Group that runs Turning Point program, a course based on Landmark Education's Landmark Forum. The course has apparently led to the death of a woman in Australia - see here and here.

Philadelphia Church of God. Cult. Based on the teachings of Herbert W Armstrong. Legalistic, sabbath worship, etc. Founded in 1989 by Gerald Flurry and John Amos as a breakaway group from the former cult Worldwide Church of God when the Philadelphia group decided they wanted to keep the doctrine of Herbert Armstrong rather than accept the reforms that were happening in the Worldwide Church of God. The Philadelphia Church of God very sadly claims the reformed group was "doctrinally hijacked and spiritually destroyed." Mains forms of outreach include The Trumpet magazine and Key of David television programme.

Placebo effect. See placebo effect in the Glossary.

Popoff, Peter. Peter Popoff is a charlatan, fraud, scammer and con artist, pure and simple, and is currently (March 2009) screened on New Zealand television. In the 1970s and 1980s he claimed to have supernatural powers - "word of knowledge" of people's medical conditions in particular - but was exposed by skeptic James Randi as wearing an earpiece and receiving messages transmitted by his wife. She and a couple of helpers, prior to the meetings starting, had spoken with needy people attending the events and gleaned information from them about what they wanted prayer for. As a result of the exposé Peter Popoff claimed bankruptcy in 1987 but has since made a comeback. In 2007 Inside Edition and ABC's 20/20 ran stories exposing and highlighting his activities, which show he is apparently using the same techniques once again to con people out of money. Present mail scams involve "miracle" items such as miracle spring water, miracle manna and other items, and are used to raise huge amounts of money. For more information see Wikipedia's Peter Popoff article.

Ploughshares. See Aotearoa Ploughshares.

Potter, Bert. Bert Potter was leader of the Centrepoint Commune. He was imprisoned for several years on child-sex charges and is reported to now be living alone. Not related to the fictional Harry Potter.

Potter, Harry. Harry Potter is a fictional character in an on-going series of books (and more recently movies) written by J K Rowling. Much has been said for and against the books (and the movies) with some parents swearing by them, claiming that their children were not interested in reading before coming across the books. However, a great many people have strong concerns about the books' questionable morals and implementation of discipline, and the way they promote a pro-occult worldview and encourage children to play with the occult. From an excellent essay by Steven D Greydanus:

"Sometimes Harry is legitimately driven by necessity to break a rule; other times it's only because he feels like it. Sometimes he is caught, sometimes not; sometimes he is punished, sometimes not... Yet closer examination reveals that Harry and his friends are only ever really punished for breaking rules when they're caught by one of the nasty authority figures... When it's one of the benevolent authority figures... there are no real consequences for breaking any number of rules, because Harry's heart is in the right place, or because he is a boy of destiny, or something like that."

Especially good (wonderful, even) are the seven "hedges" explained in that article - each hedge being a literary characteristic that other authors (such as C S Lewis) use to separate the reader from directly identifying with occult activity and magic within the story.

"[The hedges] have the net effect of limiting and restricting the role of magic in their fantasy worlds, essentially acting as barricades or hedges between magic and the reader, in effect saying: "Magic is not for the likes of us." ...Furthermore, none of these 'hedges' are found in ... the Harry Potter books. ... Consequently, greater parental guidance is required to avoid the pitfalls of the use of magic in the Harry Potter books..."

Numerous articles exist on the Internet about the occult in Harry Potter. (Example article.)

Harry Potter From Hell

Power for Abundant Living. An introductory course for The Way International cult.

(The) Power of Purpose. A course run by Kairos Foundation. Said to be "similar [to] Landmark".

(The) Power of Self Esteem. A course run by Kairos Foundation. Said to be "similar [to] Landmark".

Practical Philosophy. Name of a course run by the New Age cult School of Philosophy. The school's teachings have nothing to do with real philosophy.

Pranic Energy. New Age healing technique.

Primal Youth. Churches specifically aimed at young people - indeed, run by young people, teenagers even. One of the aims is to feed them into normal churches at 20, but it's a little unclear how that's going to happen. Founded by Dean Rush, from Christian City Church (CCC). Also see Fusion Church and Jack & Gaye Stradwick (former pastors of CCC West).

Promise Keepers. Christian men's movement with the aim of improving Christian men's spiritual and moral lives. They have a web site. Reader Joel comments: It's not OK, it's awesome! Sadly, for their 2007 Promise Keepers Conference radio advertising they chose a petrol-head wheel-spinning theme, thus condoning illegal and irresponsible activity.

Prosperity Doctrine/Prosperity Gospel. Simply put, a false belief that Christians will automatically be healthy and wealthy (if they have faith). Part of the Word Faith Movement.

Providence Church. Cult, also called Providence, or in many Asian countries JMS (Jesus Morning Star), which is also the initials of the founder, Jung Myung Seok. Other names include Christian Gospel Mission, International Christian Association, Setsuri, and The Bright Moon Church. Front groups include Global Association of Culture and Peace which is also known by many other names, such as Bright Smile Movement. The cult targets Koreans, mainly students, but its presence in New Zealand is believed to be small. For more information see Providence Cult Watch or www.jmscult.com.

Purification Program. Name used by Scientology cult. Stay well clear of it.

Psychic. A person with an occult ability to tell the future. Claims of this ability are widely used in New Zealand as a drawcard for 0900 telephone numbers.