ICONTENTS
I OPINION 7-
24
CLOSE-UP
Worrying With Woody
TOM SHALES
Woody Allen has a serious side, but
his fans only want to see the humor.
34
INSIDE WASHINGTON
Caribous And Jews?
JAMES DAVID BESSER
The Alaskan tundra may be the next battleground
as suporters of Israel and environmentalists
maneuver over oil production.
51
Religious News Service
Caracas Mission
New York state would not permit the Unification Church seminary to grant degrees from 1978 to 1986 because it
did not meet academic and financial requirements.
Case Challenges Deception
By Churches To Win Converts
BECKY RUTBERG
A
re zealous religious groups cloak-
ing themselves in religious liberty
to use deception, fraud and freedom
to coercively impose their beliefs upon
others?
Historically, in the name of morality,
love, charity, salvation, brotherhood and
forgiveness, people have drowned, racked,
hacked, beaten-and burned human flesh in
religious self-righteousness.
The court case of Molko and Leal vs.
The Unification Church pending before the
Supreme Court of California displays the
magnitude and seriousness of a religious
and constitutional conflict. The case
challenges the power of religion to
evangelize using deception to win converts
versus the strength of our laws to protect
citizens against fraud and coercion.
The Unification Church (the so-called
Moonies) defends its right to use deception.
It argues that the tradition of evangelism
justifies the spread of the "word" by
whatever means that are deemed to be ef-
fective. It holds that this is a mandatory ac-
commodation that a secularized society is
obliged to provide religion in order to en-
sure that the exercise thereof is free.
Molko and Leal, neither of whom
sought religion, were approached in-
dividually at a Greyhound Bus Depot and
on a street corner in San Francisco in 1979.
The Unification Church recruiters invited
them to dinner and assured them that it
was purely a social occasion. The dinner
was held in a large pleasant home-like
Becky Rutberg is a writer in La Mesa, California.
building, a Unification Center that had no
identifying signs or religious symbols.
Gracious, warm, caring people presented a
post-dinner slide show of "our farm."
Scenes portrayed group singing sessions,
volleyball games and a cohesive family for
extraordinary loving adults in a rural set-
ting in northern California.
Molko asked, "Is there a religious con-
nection?" and received the answer, "No."
Leal asked, "Is this the Moonies?" and was
told, "We're a group of Christians, but we
try to keep that quiet because a number of
people wouldn't want to stay and listen to
our ideas:'
At the conclusion of the urban center
evening, Molko and Leal were convinced to
spend the weekend at "the farm," called
Booneville, a Unification Church indoc-
trination facility. Two members were
assigned to Molko and one never left his
side even when he visited the restroom.
During six isolated weeks at the camp,
David Molko was kept hungry, confused,
exhausted and frightened. He asked to
leave. Unification Church members claim
he was not forceful enough in his request.
They used rewards and punishments to
raise doubts about his feelings. His capaci-
ty to think objectively became impaired. He
gave the group $6,000 of his life's savings.
Dr. Marvin F. Galper, a psychologist in
San Diego, treated 30 former members of
the Unification Church and presented his
findings to the California State
Psychological Association. He found that
his patients became institutionalized at
Booneville into a segregated existence and
viewed the community-at-large as
dominated by Satan and therefore,
deceptive.
Continued on Page 10
MIKE ROSENBAUM
Four Michiganians
are participating
in a Pan-American
Jewish Olympics.
Remembering Her Roots
57
HEIDI PRESS
Erica Jong is one of America's big-name
authors. Despite fame and fortune,
her Jewish heritage remains important.
74
Jerusalem Lens
DAVID DOMBEY
This local photographer records -the ancient
Holy City through the eye of his camera.
SINGLE LIFE
Being Single In The '80s
85
SID DORFMAN
Happy or unhappy, with being single?
A Toronto activist puts the status into perspective.
DEPARTMENTS
34 Inside Washington
38 Synagogue
48 Youth
54 Business
57 EntertainMent
68
72
76
80
82
Cooking
Women
Engagements
On The Air
Births
CANDLELIGHTING
July 24, 1987
8:41 p.m.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
7