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Landmark LLC or
any of its affiliated entities.
By Colenda,
Ph.D., Dr. Reynolds. Shapiro M.A., LPC., Dr. Sangster
What’s up with the media and
Landmark?
We
have found the media accounts of Landmark to be
fascinating. They tend not to be insightful, but rather
more anecdotal in nature and not based on real facts. We
have seen a significant number of great articles that
either profile
Landmark or people crediting
major accomplishments to what they have gotten out
of the programs. As is so often the case with popular
media these stories are passed over in favor of more
sensational story angles.
News sources continue to
propagate inaccurate and old information and seem never
to take into account that nearly one million people have
taken the programs and that numerous studies have shown
the value people have gotten out of those courses.
Landmark on Sacramento Television
What other people say:
Negative stories about anyone or any company always seem
to be self-perpetuating. The media forms opinions and
offers these opinions to their constituents as facts or
original research, instead of clarifying that it is
only
what they have heard and often through a filter of
“gossip”. Sometimes the benefits people get out of
taking The Landmark Forum seem “too good to be true” to
people hearing about them – that seems to be an
invitation for the media to do what it can to find
something negative or disquieting to say.
However, I have been noticing more and more very
positive coverage of
Landmark from around the world. In the end, what I
find most reliable in this, as in most matters, is my
own informed opinion and personal experience.
The C-word
… Round about now the C-word is probably going through
your mind. And the answer, from someone who’s just been
there, is no,
Landmark is nothing like a cult.
The company is aware of previous accusations and rumour,
and dismisses them emphatically.
They would, of course. But what is compelling, is
commentary from, among others, Dr Raymond Fowler, former
CEO of the American Psychological Association, who said
that in his personal opinion: “The Landmark Forum is not
a cult or anything like a cult, and I do not see how any
reasonable, responsible person could say that it is.”
Why the rumor?
Landmark is definitely
not a cult or even similar to one, yet this
unsubstantiated rumor is perpetuated by a small number
of people and organizations that benefit from such
rumors. These groups and individuals level cult
accusations against many of the leading companies and
organizations in the personal development field. As an
example, in March of 2011 an Israeli website “The
Israeli Center for Victims of Cults” was the subject of
a newspaper expose and revealed be secular front for a
ultra-orthodox religious group. Many legitimate and
mainstream organizations are on these groups websites.
Even though qualified experts have definitively stated
that Landmark and other organizations are not cults,
these websites refuse to correct their content.
Here are a few excerpts
from the March 4, 2011 expose in the newspaper Yedioth
Aharonot;
“So why the new
name “The Israel Center for Cult Victims”?
Perhaps because the two previous organizations
suffered from a negative image related to
religious coercion and encouraging people to
“return” to Judaism. Fighting against cults
under the guise of a secular organization may
give them legitimacy from the public to attack
organizations and institutions”
“And who does
the Center define as a cult? The list on the
Center’s website is a mix of various groups and
corporations. They do not seem to have a common
denominator, besides the fact that they are not
acceptable to the Haredi establishment and they
did not get “kosher certification” from the
[Haredi] court.”
“On the list
there are philosophies and techniques that are
considered legitimate and acceptable… yoga
groups, meditation, philosophy studies, the
“Landmark” corporation (“The Forum”), as well as
longstanding and legitimate worldwide religious
groups.”
“The Landmark
Forum was established 20 years ago, and I am
very familiar with it. In terms of their ideas
it is a secular organization, which is nothing
like the Kabbalah Center – which is a religious
idea... I don’t call any of these groups a
cult.” -Prof. Binyamin Beit-Halachmi, a
researcher of the Psychology of Religion in the
Psychology Department at Haifa University.
“Prof. Binyamin
Beit-Halachmi, a researcher of the Psychology of
Religion in the Psychology Department at Haifa
University and an expert on the topic, is not
surprised about the relationship that was
exposed between the Haredi organization and the
Center for Cult Victims: “I am familiar with the
activities of Yad L’Achim and have been aware of
them for decades. If they would present
themselves to the public as a Haredi
organization, they would not be taken as
seriously and people would call them zealots and
fanatics.”
