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Rick Alan Ross
Born	1952 Cleveland, Ohio,  United States
Occupation(s)	Founder & Executive Director, Rick A. Ross Institute
Website	Cult News The Rick A. Ross Institute

Rick Alan Ross (born 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, as Ricky Allan Ross) is a consultant and lecturer in the area of cults. He describes himself as a "cult intervention specialist", a term he coined to describe his way of doing exit counseling.

He maintains a database of information about controversial groups, some called "cults," and related information on the Internet, containing press articles, court documents, and essays. He also publishes the Cultnews.com blog.

He has been interviewed and quoted by the media in the United States and other countries in relation to his interest in cults.

He has been criticized by some of the groups he lists on his website, by some of the scholars who study new religious movements (NRMs), and by other individuals related to the roles he played in the controversial "deprogramming" case of Jason Scott and the ill-fated Waco standoff with the Branch Davidians.

Biography

Early life

Rick Ross was born Ricky Allan Ross to a Jewish family in November of 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio. His family later moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1956, where he grew up and attended school. Ross' formal education extended through high school, which he completed in 1971.

Rick Ross was convicted of a felony at age 22. He was involved in a jewelry embezzlement scheme at a retail store in Arizona, found guilty, put on probation and deprived of some civil rights. Ross admitted his mistake: "I had been in trouble as a young man, and I turned my life around...I never again in my life made another mistake like that." In 1983 the Maricopa County Superior Court vacated of both judgments of guilt in the absence of any opposition, dismissed the charges and restored Ross' civil rights.

Hecklers often interrupt Ross' speeches and lectures, reminding him that he was a convicted felon?. Critics have also been known to send copies of his 32-year-old arrest reports to news organizations. However, Ross states that though this is annoying, it helps him remember just how far he has come. He states that during the month he spent in jail awaiting sentencing, "A rabbi convinced him to get himself in shape, reaffirm his Jewish faith and, most of all, give his grandmother something to be proud of."

Of a recent mention of these events by the Kabbalah Centre's Moshe Omer, Ross stated: "It's the same old, same old. It's just the same recasting of a Scientology attack that I've heard many times." Though the Church of Scientology denies colluding with the Kabbalah Centre to spread negative information about Ross to the press, they did state that they were "glad that the information is getting around."

Early career

Ross states that he became concerned about controversial religious groups in 1982, when a group that evangelizes to Jews "infiltrated" the Jewish nursing home in Arizona where his grandmother was a resident. Working with the director of the facility and the local Jewish community, he managed to stop their activities. According to the The Arizona Republic, Ross joined a local committee that charged Jews for Jesus and other evangelical groups with being "anti-Semitic in that they seek the extinction of the Jewish people by conversion." Ross subsequently went on to work with the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, and was appointed to two national committees by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), one which focused on cults and another concerned with interreligious affairs.

During the 1980s Ross also represented the Jewish community on the Religious Advisory Committee of the Arizona Department of Corrections and was later elected its chairman. He also served as the chairman of the International Coalition of Jewish Prisoners Programs sponsored by B'nai Brith in Washington D.C. Ross' work within the prison system included inmate religious rights and educational efforts regarding hate groups. Ross was also a member of the professional staff of Jewish Family and Children's Service (JFCS) and the Bureau of Jewish Education (BJE) in Phoenix, Arizona.

Full-time private consultant and lecturer

In 1986 Ross left JFCS and the BJE to become a full-time private consultant and lecturer. In the following years he was involved in involuntary deprogramming cases, at the request of the families of cult members.

Ross no longer advocates coercive deprogramming or involuntary interventions for adults (he claims to have conducted dozens of such interventions), preferring instead voluntary "exit counseling" without the use of force or restraint. He states that the reasons for abandoning such practices are related to the exorbitant legal fees needed in defending this practice against legal challenges paid for by controversial groups, such as the Unification Church and Scientology. Ross claims these challenges exist because groups called "cults" recognize the effectiveness of deprogramming. He states that although the process has been refined over the years, exit counseling and deprogramming are based on the same principles.

Ross later wrote an 11-page paper in 1995 titled The Missionary Threat addressing Jewish concerns about fundamentalist Christian groups that evangelize to Jews specifically in missionary efforts:

Jews around the world are now faced by the greatest missionary threat in history. "Born-again" crusades for converts are now stronger, with more money and power, than ever before. The targets are you, your children, and your parents. Colleges, high schools, nursing homes, centers for the disabled, hospitals, and even prisons are being infiltrated. Missionaries are exploiting the vulnerabilities of the young in transition, the old and lonely, the sick who are helpless, and people in crisis.

Ross' biography page on his website lists lectures at Rutgers University, University of Pennsylvania, Dickinson College, Baylor University, the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University and Arizona State University.

According to his publicly posted CV, he has been a paid consultant for the television networks CBS, CBC and Nippon of Japan and retained as a technical consultant by Miramax/Disney for the Jane Campion film Holy Smoke.

He states that he has been qualified and accepted as an expert witness in eight states and has been deposed and/or submitted affidavits as an expert in an additional five states.

Website

In 1996, Ross started a website which is widely cited as a resource for information about controversial groups and movements. The website's FAQ takes care to discern between cults and destructive cults. A disclaimer linked from all articles on the site states that being mentioned on the site does not define a group as a cult or an individual as destructive or harmful, and that "all the information archived must be evaluated critically, through a process of independent and individual judgment."

Rick A. Ross Institute

Ross moved to New Jersey in 2001 and two years later founded the Rick A. Ross Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults and Controversial Groups and Movements a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) public charity located in New Jersey, USA. Its stated mission is "public education and research," largely accomplished through its website. In IRS EZ-990 form of 2002, its income is given as below $25,000, which means it is not required to file an annual return with the IRS.

The Advisory Board of the RRI include Ford Greene, Esq. an attorney in California specialized in cult related litigation for more than twenty years, Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, co-authors of the books Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change and Holy Terror: The Fundamentalist War on America's Freedoms in Religion, Politics and Our Private Lives.; Margaret Singer, board member of the Institute until her death.

Cases

The Jason Scott case

In 1990, Ross and associates attempted an involuntary deprogramming of Jason Scott, then an 18-year-old member of the Life Tabernacle Church, affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church International. Scott's mother, Katherine Tonkin, had been a member of the church, but had left due to concerns about the means the church used to keep members in line, their focus on material donations to the church, and a relationship between an elder church member and one of her two minor sons, Jason's younger brothers. After leaving the church herself, and on the suggestion of Shirley Landa, a part-time volunteer for the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), whom she had called, Tonkin asked Ross to assist her in the deprogramming of her two minor sons. After speaking with Ross, the two minors chose to leave the church.

In 1991, Tonkin asked Ross to provide a similar intervention for her son, Jason which was unsuccessful. Criminal charges of kidnapping were brought against Ross and two others for unlawful imprisonment during the deprogramming. The charges filed were dropped, but re-filed again two years later. The trial ended in acquittal for Ross in 1994.

In 1995, a civil suit was filed by Kendrick Moxon, long-time member and counsel for the Church of Scientology representing Jason Scott. The jury held Ross liable for conspiracy to deprive Scott of his civil rights of freedom of religion. The suit ended with Ross and the Cult Awareness Network being ordered to pay judgments: Jason Scott was awarded $875,000 in compensatory damages and punitive damages in the amount of $1,000,000 against CAN, $2,500,000 against deprogrammer Rick Ross, and $250,000 each against Ross' two accomplices.

The judgment drove CAN, which had already been weakened by the cost of defending over 50 previous lawsuits, (most of them similar and filed by Moxon) into bankruptcy. CAN's name, logo, phone number and files were considered assets and were purchased by Scientologist attorney Steven Hayes at an auction.

Ross went into bankruptcy as well, but emerged in December 1996, when Scott reconciled with his mother and settled with Ross for $5,000, and for 200 hours of Ross's services "as an expert consultant and intervention specialist." Moxon was fired the next day and Scott then retained long-time Church of Scientology opponent Graham Berry as his lawyer instead. Moxon, who had argued in the case that Ross and associates had hindered a competent adult's freedom to make his own religious decisions, immediately filed court papers seeking to rescind the settlement and appoint a guardian for Scott, whom he called "incapacitated." That effort failed.

Branch Davidian

The involvement of Ross before and during the standoff between Branch Davidians and Federal Law Enforcement agencies, at Waco, Texas has caused some controversy.

Ross deprogrammed Branch Davidian David Block in 1992, prior to the raid. That Davidian was later interviewed by the BATF, which also interviewed Ross. Ross says he deprogrammed another Davidian during the standoff, but this was not reported. He was also one source quoted in the Waco Tribune-Herald's series titled "Sinful Messiah" for which they interviewed over 100 people.

According to the FBI Ross approached them during the standoff and requested that he be interviewed, which he was.
The Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas (February 28 to April 19, 1993) states that:

The FBI interviewed Ross only at Ross' request, and politely declined his unsolicited offers of assistance throughout the standoff. The FBI treated the information Ross supplied as it would any other unsolicited information received from the public: it evaluated the credibility of the information and treated it accordingly.

Ross denies that this information is correct and states that he was contacted by FBI agent Bobby L. Siller on March 4, 1993 and later by several others which he also names.

Nancy Ammerman insisted they relied too much on Ross, a view which is not shared by the other three experts reporting to the Justice department. In her official report to the Justice Department Ammerman wrote:

In late March, Ross recommended that agents attempt to humiliate Koresh, hoping to drive a wedge between him and his followers. While Ross's suggestions may not have been followed to the letter, FBI agents apparently believed that their attempts to embarrass Koresh (talking about his inconsistencies, lack of education, failures as a prophet, and the like) would produce the kind of internal dissension Ross predicted. Because Ross had been successful in using such tactics on isolated and beleaguered members during deprogramming, he must have assumed that they would work en masse. Any student of group psychology could have dispelled that misapprehension. But the FBI was evidently listening more closely to these deprogramming-related strategies than to the counsel of scholars who might have explained the dynamics of a group under siege.

In his account to the Department of Justice, Ross gives very different examples of advice he gave to the FBI agents.

Ammerman claims that the FBI interview transcripts on the Waco tragedy include the note that " has a personal hatred for all religious cults" and would aid law enforcement in an attempt to "destroy a cult". Ross emphatically denies this.

Ross recounted his role regarding the Waco Davidian standoff in a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno and responded to critics such as Ammerman in a statement published by the Washington Post.

Catherine Wessinger, Professor of the history of religions and women's studies at the Loyola University in New Orleans, characterizes Ross as a "spurious self-styled expert" in her paper The Branch Davidians and the Waco Media, 1993-2003, in which she criticized that Ross was often cited by the local media. Rick Ross describes her paper on his site as follows:

This rather long-winded "scholarly" review regarding media coverage of the Waco Davidian Standoff was written by cult apologist Catherine Wessinger. . Ms. Wessinger snipes about "spurious self-styled experts" getting too much media attention. The professor then stuffs her footnotes with what looks like a Scientologist's historical guide concerning my past. Could it be that she is angry that the press doesn't quote her more?

Landmark Education

For details see Landmark Education - Legal disputes - Rick Ross Institute

In June 2004, Landmark Education filed a $1 million US dollar lawsuit against the The Rick A. Ross Institute, claiming that the Institute's online archives did damage to Landmark Education's product. In December 2005, Landmark Education filed to dismiss its own lawsuit with prejudice on the grounds that a material change in caselaw regarding statements made on the Internet occurred in January 2005. The Rick Ross Institute responded to a press release from Landmark on the issue.

NXIVM vs. Rick Ross Institute

NXIVM (pronounced NEX-ee-um), which offers human potential seminars, alleged that Rick Ross of New Jersey published critical commentary authored by a psychologist and psychiatrist of its program after obtaining information through alleged copyright infringement. Dr. John Hochman was one of the individuals who evaluated the research.

In September of 2004, a federal district judge in Albany, New York denied NXIVM's request for an injunction to remove the information from the Ross Institute Web site. Subsequently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City rejected NXIVM's appeal of that decision, saying critical analysis of a confidential 265-page NXIVM manual by two mental health professionals on Ross' site represented criticism, and therefore "fair use" under copyright law. In December of 2004 The United States Supreme Court denied without elaboration an appeal to review the NXIVM case.

Criticism

Ross is often criticized regarding his lack of formal training and his early criminal record by those associated with new religious movements, controversial groups or organizations which are listed in his website, such as the Church of Scientology and the Kabbalah Centre. Regardless, he has lectured at colleges and has testified as an expert witness in thirteen states.

In response to criticism, Ross has stated he does not challenge the beliefs of the groups discussed, only their behaviour patterns. Ross was quoted in the Jersey City Reporter as stating: "When these groups hurt people ... that's when I'm concerned about the group." Ross receives legal services pro bono from the law firm Lowenstein Sandler, and has been the subject of lawsuits from some of the groups he has criticized.

Scientology

The Church of Scientology maintains a 17-page critique about him supplemented by a 196-page document at "Religious Freedom Watch" consisting of court transcripts, jury verdict forms, news articles, psychiatric records, the bankruptcy filing petition and more.

Ross responds:

Typically, those who attack me personally avoid any meaningful rebuttal of the news reports, court documents or other information contained within this website. Instead, they appear to prefer an "ad hominem" attack, that is to say, "If you don't like the message, kill the messenger." In Scientology's own internal jargon, this is called "dead agenting," or discrediting your perceived adversary personally. Please understand that the Scientology bulletin and other more recent personal attacks often misrepresent, distort and/or ignore the facts and actual context of my personal history and work.

Jeffrey K. Hadden

Professor Jeffrey K. Hadden at the University of Virginia wrote that:

Rick Ross is a highly visible entrepreneur who has carved out quite a niche for himself as a self-proclaimed expert and counselor to families desperate to retrieve family members from new religions. His past has been called into question by the Church of Scientology which has uncovered evidence of alleged mental instability and an attempted robbery conviction.

Ross points out that Hadden himself sought funding from some NRMs including the Unification Church, as revealed by a confidential memo he sent to fellow academics sympathetic to NRMs dated December 20, 1989.

Shupe and Darnell

Anson D. Shupe was an expert witness for the plaintiff in the Jason Scott case. He testified against Ross and the Cult Awareness Network. He co-authored a paper with Scientology lawyer Kendrick Moxon and Susan Darnell, who "manages a credit union in Gary, Indiana and is a civil rights advocate journalist."

In another paper written with Darnell, he is critical about deprogrammers, defining them " as vigilantes and mercenaries rather than as bonafide counselors or therapists". Specifically about Ross, he asserts that "even coercive deprogrammer Rick Ross was terming himself only an Expert Consultant and Intervention Specialist (a unique euphemism for exit counselor) on his late 1990s Internet Website." and that:

Thus, several years after their earnest meetings mavericks like private investigator Galen Kelly and self-proclaimed “Bible-based cult” expert Rick Ross were still physically abducting unwilling adults belonging to unconventional religions and criminally restraining the latter according to the old deprogramming/mind control mythos. Thus, as a would-be profession exit counseling was handicapped internally by a lack of consensus on what constituted legitimate therapeutic means and ends (i.e., force versus persuasion, rational reevaluation and voluntary exit versus forcibly liberating minds); and externally limited by negative publicity thanks to a barrage of attacks by NRMs and increasingly by civil libertarian journalists who claimed the wolves were merely dressing up as sheep to escape public censure and the legal repercussions of their actions.

The comment of Ross on the article is:

Long-time "cult apologist" Anson Shupe broods about "deprogramming" and seems somewhat miffed that despite his professional effort subsidized by Scientology, my cult intervention work continues. He refers to the Jason Scott case, but of course ignores its final outcome. Shupe then supports his opinions largely with footnotes citing other "cult apologists," such as his old professional associate Gordon Melton. Both of these men have picked up substantial checks working for purported "cult" groups.

Shupe and Darnell also assert that Ross engages in anti-Christian writings, claiming that in a letter to Priscilla Coates, a CAN activist, dated July 30, 1987, in which Ross allegedly complained about not getting deprogramming referrals from CAN and that "some parents are so cheap they prefer to let their kids 'bang the bible' than pay." In another letter from Ross to Coates, dated April 28, 1988, Ross allegedly describes his strategy to get the media to promote his business as a deprogrammer. He told Coates about his idea to get on television as someone that “had deprogrammed fundamentalist Christians” in order to “stimulate some deprogramming cases in California.”

Articles and Publications

• The Missionary Threat, Institute for First Amendment Studies, 1995
• Bigotry lurks in born-again Christian doctrine, The Arizona Republic, November 6, 1982
• Proselytizing Report: "Teen Challenge", Religious Advisory Committee, Arizona Department of Corrections, July 26, 1984
• Ross wrote the Forward to, See No Evil: Blind Devotion and Bloodshed in David Koresh's Holy War, April 25, 1993, Summit Publishing Group

Television Appearances

Rick Ross appeared in a Season 3 episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit! that dealt with Life Coaches. Ross characterized Life Coaches as a New Age concept and questioned the motives and training of people purporting to be Life Coaches. He compared and contrasted their qualifications and methods with those of licensed mental health professionals. His stated concern was for the wellbeing of those entrusting the direction of their lives to these coaches.

See also

• Cults
• Anti-cult movement

References

1. "Information Database". www.rickross.com.
2. Cult News Blog
3. ^ Willis, Stacy J. Arrival of cult specialist in Las Vegas stirs debate, Las Vegas Sun, August 24, 2001
4. Maricopa County, Superior Court ruling
5. ^ Ortega, Tony (1995-11-30). "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlatans. Clients of deprogrammer Rick Ross call him a savior. Perhaps that's why people he's branded cult leaders want to crucify him". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2006-04-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. ^ Grove, Lloyd (2004-01-13). "Daily Dish & Gossip: Busting on the Cult Buster". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2006-04-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. Taking Aim: Efforts to convert Jews draw fire from interdenominational group, The Arizona Republic, 1982, By Richard Lessner
8. Cleveland Jewish News, July 29, 2004. KABBALAH CENTRE hawks 'snake oil for the soul
9. Challenging Cults, Cultivating Family, The Greater Phoenix Jewish News, February, 1989, By Elaine DeRosa
10. Ross to head religious committee for state corrections department, Greater Phoenix Jewish News, March 12, 1986
11. Three Nation Umbrella Org. to Aid Jewish Prison Inmates, Families, National "Jewish Press", April 1986
12. Curriculum Vitae, Rick Ross web site.
13. Rick Ross. "Deprogramming". Intervention. Retrieved August 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
14. Rick Ross, paper, The Missionary Threat, 1995, 11 pgs.
15. ^ Rick Ross' Biography
16. Defining a Cult, FAQ, Rick Ross Institute, website, retrieved 12/12/2006.
17. Disclaimer, Rick Ross Institute, website, retrieved 12/12/2006.
18. Rick A. Ross Institute, IRS: 990-EZ, Guidestar basic report, August 13, 2005, (Only accessible with free sign-in at guidestar.org)
19. Scott v. Ross (Ninth Circuit Panel Opinion En Banc Opinions)
20. "Scott vs. Ross, Workman, Simpson, Cult Awareness Network: Verdict form". Retrieved August 13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
21. Knapp, Dan (1996-12-19). "Group that once criticized Scientologists now owned by one". CNN. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
22. 'The Cult Awareness Network, CBS News 60 Minutes report December 28, 1997
23. Plaintiff Shifts Stance on Anti-Cult Group, Washington Post, December 23, 1996
24. Goodstein, Laurie (December 23, 1996). "Plaintiff Shifts Stance on Anti-Cult Group: Scientology-Linked Lawyer Is Dismissed in Move That May Keep Network Running". Washington Post. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
25. Ortega, Tony (1996-12-19). "What's $2.995 Million Between Former Enemies? Stunning settlement frees cult deprogrammer Rick Ross from almost all of $3 million judgment". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2006-04-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
26. US Department of Justice, Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas: Part IV, The Role of Experts During the Standoff, February 28 to April 19, 1993. Available online
27. Waco, Federal Law Enforcement, and Scholars of Religion, Nancy Ammerman, 1993
28. Davidian Tragedy - Letters Re: Attorney General, Rick Ross, October 25, 1993
29. Letters to the Editor - What Happened at Waco, Rick Ross, The Washington Post, July 23, 1995
30. The Branch Davidians and the Waco Media, Catherine Wessinger, 2003, Loyola University
31. ^ "Flaming Web Sites", Rick Ross, 2000
32. "A Forensic Psychiatrist Evaluates ESP", February 2003, John Hochman, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles
33. Appeals Court decision, NXIVM vs. Ross Institute etc
34. Court upholds Nxivm ruling, Times Union, April 23, 2004
35. High court rejects Nxivm appeal, Times Union, December 3, 2004
36. ^ Rick Ross document, Church of Scientology, "Religious Freedom Watch"
37. Minister Sues Cult Expert, Palm Beach Post, Jul 14, 2001
38. Cult Experts List, FACT.net, 2006
39. ^ Zinsli, Christopher (April 14, 2007). "He ain't afraid of no cults: Jersey City 'cult buster' exposes controversial groups - including local ones". Jersey City Reporter. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
40. "Rick Ross Responds to his critics" by Rick A. Ross
41. Statement, Jeffrey K. Hadden, University of Virginia
42. Memo, Jeffrey K. Hadden, December 20, 1989, Unification Church memo
43. Bad Pastors: Clergy Misconduct in Modern America, Anson D. Shupe, Kendrick Moxon, Susan Darnell, August 1, 2000, ISBN 0814781470
44. Academic Compromise in the Social Scientific Study of Alternative Religions, Stephen A. Kent, Theresa Krebs, 1998
45. The Attempted Transformation of a Deviant Occupation into a Therapy: Deprogramming Seeks a New Identity, Anson Shupe and Susan E. Darnell, SSSR/RRA, Norfolk, VA, October 2003
46. CAN, We Hardly Knew Ye: Sex, Drugs, Deprogrammers’ Kickbacks, and Corporate Crime in the (old) Cult Awareness Network, Anson Shupe, Susan E. Darnell, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Houston, Texas, October 21, 2000
47. Penn & Teller Bullshit! Season 3: Life Coaching

External links

Websites by Rick Ross

• Rick A. Ross Institute for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups and Movements (Website)

Websites opposed to Rick Ross

• Statement on Rick Ross on apologeticsindex.org
• Scientology sponsored website critical of Rick Ross

Other

• Suits Against Anti-Cult Blogger Provide Test for Online Speech (Law.com)
• ReligiousTolerance.org website of the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance

Media

• The O'Reilly Factor, Rick Ross appears as "expert on new religious movements", Bill O'Reilly, May 31, 2005.

• 1952 births
• Exit counselors
• Jewish American writers
• Living people
• Anti-cult organizations and individuals