A milwaukee psychiatrist or psychologist who can answer questions
about cults.  I am afraid I have a child involved in one.

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Request for Question Clarification by mvguy-ga on 04 Oct 2002 15:23 PDT

Are you looking for someone who has information about cults, or are
you looking for someone to be a therapist for your child?  The
qualifications aren't necessarily the same.  Also, if you could
explain something about the nature of the cult it might be helpful. 
Thanks!

I didn't find a psychiatrist or psychologist, but I found this guy -
Jack Roper

Jack is a senior researcher with the Milwaukee-based C.A.R.I.S. cult
research organization which is designed to assist individuals,
educational institutions, writers, media, counselors, churches, and
law enforcement in understanding the growing problem of cults and the
occult.  C.A.R.I.S was founded in 1975 in California.

I'm sure he'd be able to help you.

http://members.aol.com/jackmroper/jacksbio.htm

Since I couldn't come up with a psychiatrist or psychologist either,
I'm not going to post an answer, but I did want to pass along this
link http://www.watchman.org/cat95.htm , which is for a
comprehensivelist with information on many cults and religions.  You
might want to check it to see if the group your child is involved with
is listed here and what you can learn about it.

Also, here's the url for a page offering information on and links to
various agencies and places for getting help and counseling in
Wisconsin.  Some of them might be able to offer you information and/or
a referral specific to Milwaukee.
http://www.focusas.com/Wisconsin.html

Best of luck to you.

A professor I had in college is an expert on cults -- he wrote a novel
about his experience researching a cult in Oregon.  His name is
Michael Rockland and he teaches at Rutgers University.  Contact
information is at http://amerstudies.rutgers.edu/faculty2002-3.html

More general information on the American Studies program at Rutgers is
at http://amerstudies.rutgers.edu

Best of luck.

It might also help if you could let us know just what the "cult" is. 
In our society, some legitimate religious beliefs are classified as
"cults" even though they have a history older than Christianity.  Even
though I belong to the largest mainline Buddhist denomination in the
world, many of my neighbors consider me a "cultist."  Definitions can
be quite subjective with this kind of topic.

I'd agree with what Digsalot-ga said, and also based on my personal
religious background.  One of the sites listed above,
http://www.watchman.org/cat95.htm., even lists Roman Catholocism as a
cult.  For some reason, I doubt that's the type of "cult" that the
questioner is concerned about.

Sorry about the typos above.  Here's a corrected version:
I'd agree with what Digsalot-ga said, and also based in part on my personal
religious background.  One of the sites listed above,
http://www.watchman.org/cat95.htm, even lists Roman Catholicism as a
cult.  For some reason, I doubt that's the type of "cult" that the
questioner is concerned about.

I just want to expand on what mvguy said.  That's what I thought too,
at first, but on closer reading, the list includes recognized
religions as well as cults, and the authors state their intention to
describe each as fairly as possible so the reader can draw his/her own
conclusions.  If you read the introduction to the page, they explain
their rationale pretty clearly.  Therefore, the Reformation and the
Mormon Church and the Roman Catholic Church are all included, even
though most of us would agree all are valid religions, but also
included are cults that most of us would also agree fall under that
definition.  It's really just a good compilation of information.

Because of the pejorative connotation of the word "cult" in modern
usage, no one likes to think of their particular religion as a cult.
Sorry, folks, but according to Merriam Webster (www.m-w.com),
everything on the http://www.watchman.org/cat95.htm list is indeed a
cult:

Main Entry: cult ...
1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of
adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of
adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its
promulgator <health cults>
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as
a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or
intellectual fad b : a usually small group of people characterized by
such devotion

Of course, determination whether something is a "cult" is purely a
personal, subjective judgment. To an atheist, everything on this list
is spurious in nature, and therefore a cult.

Dear Byrd, 

I must go with Digsalot and MVGuy here. In the Internet It is
essential *always* to look who are this nice people who give you
"objective" information. In Watchman.org's case, the answer is:

"The Christian Alternative
Watchman Fellowship endorses a biblically based, conservative,
evangelical position, proclaiming that all must turn from sin to trust
the death, burial, and resurrection of the second person of the
Trinity, Jesus Christ, as the only remedy for sin and the sole
foundation for true religion.

Freedom of Religion
Watchman Fellowship endorses freedom of religion in both thought and
expression. While endorsing the rights of everyone to hold and
practice divergent beliefs, Watchman Fellowship is compelled to
exercise its freedoms (religious, speech and press) to expose
questionable doctrines and abusive or manipulative practices, and to
offer spiritual alternatives in the form of traditional Christian
faith.

Financial Information
[not relevant to this discussion] " 
(Source: "A Ministry of Christian Discernment",
<http://www.watchman.org/about.htm>).

There's nothing wrong with quoting an evangelical organisation (or
referring to their site), as long as we remember that this source of
information has its own agenda regarding "competing" religious
movements/groups.

As for the original question, I suggest we'll wait to Coppie's
response: we don't know why she suspects, what are the son's problems
and suspicious behaviour, what group he might have joined, and are
Coppie's ideas of teratment. We cannot begin a discussion about the
suggested treatment before we know the answers - it is human lives and
souls discussed.

A Google search for "cult expert" +milwaukee  led me this article
http://www.rickross.com/reference/hiscommunity/hiscommunity1.html
about cult expert Rick Ross.  I think this is significant because the
article makes mention of Ross referring two former cult member to to a
Milwaukee psychologist who "has worked with other former cult
members."

Perhaps Mr. ross can point you in the right direction.  He can be
contacted through his website http://www.rickross.com

Please be aware that Mr. Roper's organization, CARIS, stands for
Christian Apologetics Research & Information Service. Like Watchman,
his is a religious group whose main purpose is to promote
fundamentalist Christianity.

Roper has even joined the Fundamentalist bandwagon denouncing the
Harry Potter books as being subversively evil. To quote Mr. Roper, "As
a cult researcher for many years, I have seen contemporary witchcraft
packaged in many seductive forms, and Harry Potter is the best. Potter
makes Spiritualism and Witchcraft look wonderful. Just as the popular
movie "The Sixth Sense" communicated with the dead, so does Potter.
Witches (Wiccans) have found an effective social tool for children to
accept witchcraft as a normal non-evil religion."

http://cbn.org/SpiritualLife/HarryPotter/HarryPotterHeroModernWitchcraft.asp

Unless the person asking the question is a Fundamental Christian
seeking to "save" their child from the "evil" of anything that is NOT
Fundamental Christian, (like the Harry Potter books!) I seriously
doubt Mr. Roper will be of any help.

An enlightening expose' of Mr. Jack Roper and his CARIS organization
can be viewed at:

http://www.witchvox.com/protection/kerr_sc_1a.html