UNITED KINGDOM
Advocates for Awareness of Watchtower Abuses
A group of international experts will come together in London on the weekend of August 22-23, 2014 to address some of the major concerns relating to the undue influence of extremist groups and cults. Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Islamic extremists are just some of the groups that will be considered. The context of their discussions will be the impact these groups have and the control they are able to maintain over people’s lives. This is an invitation only meeting. The meeting will be recorded and the information will be shared with a wider audience at a later date.
Undoing the damage of such groups is a huge task for governments and agencies who often struggle trying to understand their inner workings and cultures. Dealing with the fallout and damage is often left in the hands of professionals who are still trying to develop appropriate response and recovery techniques.
Some Government policy initiatives such as “social cohesion” are directed to the integration of such groups into mainstream society. But these policies do not directly address either the immediate or the ongoing impact of the beliefs and ideas disseminated by such groups. These cultish groups promote ideas that weaken or destroy family and societal relationships. The result is the creation of a continuum where mental health issues exist at one end – and extremism and terrorism at the other.
These groups operate using “undue Influence”
Undue influence is any act of persuasion that overcomes the free will and judgment of another person. People can be unduly influenced by urgent warnings, flattery, trickery, coercion and deception. In a court of law, “undue influence” is a legal term that applies when individuals or organizations take advantage of their position of power over other persons or groups.
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