GERALDO RIVERA: MIND CONTROL GROUPS (09/07/1988):

This episode of "Geraldo Rivera" was aired on September 7, 1988 by KTSP-TV (Channel 10), a local television station in Phoenix, Arizona. The studio for this show is Time Square Studios, located in New York City.  

 

Geraldo asks this question: Are they Zombies for Christ?  TV Journalist / talk show host Geraldo Rivera makes an introduction to the show by introducing 4 guests who are former members of the Christian Fellowship Ministries' The Potter's House from cities all over Arizona (i.e. - Flagstaff, Prescott, Phoenix, and Tucson). He interviews Karen, a former member for a few minutes. She explains that her pastor told her to prostitute with sexual favors in order to gain more members and putting more money in for The Potter's House (aka, The Door). She admits that after she left the church, she could not touch or mess with anything that is related to religion.

Next, Rivera gives a brief summary about the controversy of religious cults. Clips of religious sects' activities were shown. The most humorous clip of this short presentation was a scene from the movie "Airplane" (released in 1980), where an employee was punching and kicking members of religious groups who approached him from one organization after another. Another in this summary shows a brother and sister who were interviewed by the camera crew from “Geraldo” at their house. He kidnapped his sister from a convent and got her deprogrammed.

Another person interviewed by Rivera on the show was a young woman named Debbie. A member of the church staff raped her. She was told by her pastor to keep her mouth shut and not to tell on the staff member. Her mother was part of the studio audience and Rivera stands next to her so she can speak through his microphone during the interview. He asked her questions about Debbie’s changes (before she left the church) and she answered them all. Probably my favorite answer from her mother is this: “It’s like watching a child drown”.

The main guest on this episode was exit-counselor Rick Ross, whose picture is at the right of this page. Ross was young, 35 ½ years of age (wow!) and outspoken. He gives explanations on each ex-Door member's terrible experiences within the Potter's House (The Door). He also gives examples of spiritual abuse, and mind control from any authoritarian church the public considers as controversial religious sect or a destructive cult.

Rick Ross's quotes on spiritual abuse & mind control:

• "What we're talking about is something that I call mind control - The Fundamentalist Syndrome..." 
• "She would think of her mother as if she was the devil, where the pastor would even go so far is by saying to many of his congregates: If you doubt our doctrine, if you questioned in your mind through your own intuitive thinking, what we're telling you that isn't you thinking independently. You're under attack by the devil. The devil is invading your mind." 

Trivia on Rick Ross:

• Ross's television appearance on Geraldo in 1988 was almost: 
• 7 years before he founded RickRoss.com in 1995. 
• 15 years before Ross founded The Rick A. Ross Institute in 2003 in New Jersey.
• He's originally from Cleveland, Ohio, before moving to Phoenix, Arizona a year after he was born.
  
• He entered into the world of cult watching/ deprogramming in 1982. 
• He became an exit-counselor.

The third person interviewed was a Jewish woman named Joyce. She joined the Door while she was in prison for a crime she did not commit (she was released after the third trial). Rick Ross deprogrammed her almost 3 years before this television appearance. 

The fourth person was John Jr., who was an honor student in college at Arizona City University. When he joined The Door, he dropped out of college, sold the majority of his possessions, severed ties from his relatives and his close friends, and lived in a neighborhood that is close to the church. His father, John Sr., appeared on the show as well to talk about how his son left the Door after a year and a half of non-communication.

Geraldo airs one more segment: Rick Ross's deprogramming/exit-counseling session with an adult and his mother at the Workman residence in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was taped a week before the 09/07/1988 episode. Former Door member Debbie replied after watching it that it still scares her to this day. Ross says that this particular church splits up families. Ross gives a brief explanation on John Sr.'s situation trying to visit his son, John Jr. 

Rick Ross responds to an audience member’s question about different kinds of people who are the easy targets of religious groups. 

A member of the audience asked Rick Ross about the targeting of people made by religious and/or non-religious groups. His answer: 

"I say people who are in transition who are stressed out, people who are going through a particular depression (could be a death in the family), and people who have an addictive compulsive personality such as drug abuse. There are a lot of testimonies that you hear people talking about how bad things were before they got saved in certain fundamentalist groups. But also, we got to give these fundamentalist churches we're talking about a little credit. They know how to exploit those situations and a lot of times they hit on institutionalized individuals, people that they know are going to be stressed out. And in Debbie's case, we're talking about abrogating parental authority and dealing with children. There are actually missions such as Teen Challenge or Child Evangelists in Fellowship that target children as young as the first grade, without any parental consent forms, without any type of notification system."  (Ross)

(Under Much Grace) After this explanation, two people who are part of the alumni from Teen become quite offended and question the salvation of the young woman who was raped in a cultic Christian church. They accused her of not reading her Bible or of studying the Word of God. Rick Ross made it clear that not all Evangelical groups practice thought reform or mind control, and even Geraldo was kind enough to point this out.

After commercial break, Debbie explains that she needs counseling immediately, even though she couldn’t afford it. Her words are: “I mean I took a lot of courage for me to call Rick Ross and tell him that I want to talk about my story after 4 years” Geraldo’s response to the audience: “We admire her for that. Give her a round of applause.” The audience did just that. Next, the founders of a counseling group “Fundamentalist Anonymous” were in the audience. Geraldo goes up to them and interviews them about their organization. After that, he asks Rick Ross a question:

“Rick, can I quickly ask you one question. Are you “born-again”?

“No, I’m not a born-again Christian. I come from the Reform Jewish Movement”.

“Is that right?”

“Yes”.

After commercial break, Geraldo gets Rick Ross to explain the signs to look for if parents find out that if their kids fell into the trap by cultic church…in 30 seconds flat. It lasted with an estimate of 29 seconds. Perfect timing!

My favorite quote from Ross:

“The parent’s gut feeling that something’s going wrong is usually right.” 

EYEWITNESS NEWS: BEHIND THE DOOR (October 1988): 

On October of 1988, Eyewitness News has made a 5-part series of newscasts. Each newscast was aired individually for 5 days straight. The title of the newscasts was "Behind the Door". It focuses on The Potter's House (aka The Door), part of the Christian Fellowship Ministries and the controversy of practicing mind control. 

Current Door members, former Door members, church leaders from CFM, and religious Deprogrammers were interviewed by news anchor Sandy Rathbun.

Eyewitness News (NBC Affiliate) showed clips of:

• The Potter's House/Victory Chapel/etc. services all over Arizona. 
• The September 7, 1988 episode of "Geraldo Rivera" which was taped live before a studio audience in New York City. It was aired on KTSP-TV in Phoenix, Arizona. 
• The September 10, 1988 Potter's House crusade which took place in front of the Phoenix Civic Plaza almost 20 years before its recent renovation. The crowd was huge and it’s mixture between Door members and former Door members. Exit-Counselor Rick Ross was present at the crusade with Debbie (the young woman who was raped by a member of the Door church staff) as well...so is the confrontation between a few Door members and Ross. Clips of Ross at the crusade were shown in the second newscast.
• May 19, 1987 police footage of a murder investigation: A man who was attending a bible study session at the Potter's House was gunned down when someone shot a bullet through the church. The case remains unsolved.

The second newscast from “Behind the Door”:

Sandy Rathbun also interviewed Rick A. Ross, a well-known, popular, controversial cult watcher/ intervention specialist (currently the founder of the Rick A. Ross Institute). He is one of the religious deprogrammers/exit counselors who counseled more than a handful of ex-Door members from cities all over Arizona such as Prescott, Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson. He appeared in the second broadcast of this series.

An Arizona private investigator named Rick Smith went undercover searching for Rick Ross’s history and criminal record. He found only two which are petty crimes: one from 1974 and another one from 1975-76. Smith was interviewed by Sandy Rathbun. Before that, he asked her and the news crew not to show his face but his name and occupation when this interview airs on national television.

Sandy Rathbun continues narrating:

• “Rick Ross admits he committed both crimes. “I made a lot of mistakes when I was a kid”, Ross said, “I paid for what I did. Ross calls this investigation “mudslinging and muckraking. Quoting him (Ross):
• “It tells me they feel that there is no way to respond to the issues I’ve raised, so they’re trying to divert attention to me personally. What they’ve done is proven to me, beyond the shadow of a doubt, they are a destructive group. It shows that they’re not about the bible. I did what the bible says, too, about sin. I gave back what was taken. I repented and came before the court system…and took my punishment.”
• Now, Ross says he used what he learned from his criminal past to start a prison ministry for other troubled kids. His religious deprogramming resume includes recommendations from professionals all over the country.”

The fifth and last newscast from "Behind the Door":

Studies on the Door's activities and conflicts with it members and former members made by: The Christian Research Institute, Fundamentalist Anonymous, and the now-defunct Cult Awareness Network.The news crew & Sandy Rathbun gathered up information from these three companies for the 5th and last newscast. These studies were done in 1987 and finalized for the 1988 release of these reports.

• Cult Awareness Network (now-defunct)
• 4 complaints this year (1988)
• “…it appears to fit the criteria of a destructive cult.”
• Fundamentalist Anonymous
• “…could be an extreme mental health hazard.”
• Counseled 200 former Door members in 3 years (1985-1988)
• Christian Research Institute
• “…is doing an invaluable service in reaching lost souls…”
• “While we would recommend…we do so with caution…”
• The door is not recommended until theological aberrance is corrected.
• Concerns: Structural Authority, Use of tongues, hyperactive atmosphere, No doctrinal Statement.

Three Religious deprogrammers were interviewed under this question: What are signs to look for if you or someone you know is in a destructive cult or in an authoritarian church?  

• David Clark: physical coercion, beating with barbwire, being imprisoned, personality change.
• Dennis Allen (ex-deprogrammer): isolation from families, the guilt & manipulation.
• Rick Ross: people who are having substance abuse problems, some kind of crisis in the family, people who could be characterized as - stressed out, anxious, apprehensive about the world.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Surprisingly, in the United States, there were a lot of local television stations that use the Eyewitness News logo and jingle under different affiliates besides NBC a long time ago. I never knew that till I started researching local stations that currently/previously used them. This was the happening long before stations started changing and broadcasting news in HDTV

About KTSP-TV, Phoenix (Channel 10):

• Up till 1994, KTSP was changed to KSAZ-TV (Spirit Of Arizona)
  
• Currently under the affiliate of FOX Networks
• Former affiliate of ABC and CBS
• Originally KOOL-TV up till 1982
• Sister Station: KUTP (MyNetworkTV affiliate)
  

About KVOA-TV, Tucson (Channel 4): 

• Meaning: Voice of Arizona
• The name is shortened to News 4 since early February of 2006.
• Former affiliate of ABC
• Current Affiliate of NBC (since 1956)
• First station in Tucson to broadcast news in HDTV

At that time these programs were aired on national television at the Southwest 20 years ago, I was a year-old approaching my second birthday in the Bronx (New York City).

Strangely enough, the Geraldo episode turns 20 on September 7, 2008 and the "Behind the Door" series also turn 20 on October of 2008. Even though the tape conditions are not up to par, this is a great find to anyone who is a TV junkie or just interested in journalism. These programs are from 20 years ago, but similar issues from other controversial authoritarian churches still remain to this day.

INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER DOOR MEMBERS ON YOUTUBE

On May 13, 2008, I had a short interview with a former Door member on You Tube a week before he closed his account. Good thing I caught him on time. I have the transcript. It's short, but useful. On September 7^th and 8^th of 2008, I exchanged messages on You Tube with another former Door member from the United Kingdom for two days. There is an third interview I had recently.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• "Mind Control Groups". Geraldo. Host: Geraldo Rivera. Director: Jim Thompson. Airdate: 7 September 1988. Company: Tribune Entertainment; Paramount Television. Station: KTSP-TV, Channel 10 (Phoenix, Arizona). Studio Location: Time Square Studios, New York City. 
• "Behind the Door". 5-part newscast series. News Anchor: Sandy Rathbun. Eyewitness News (NBC affiliate). Airdate: October 1988. KVOA-TV, Channel 4 (Tucson, Arizona).
• The Rick A. Ross Institute: http://www.rickross.com 
• First Plumbline Apologetics: http://www.firstplumbline.net 
• Voice of Warning: http://www.voiceofwarning.net  
• The Cracked Pots: http://crackedpots.topcities.com 
• You Tube user SeanBosco: http://www.youtube.com/user/SeanBosco 
• Great Information about Spiritual Abuse from the Old Geraldo Show. Under Much Grace Blog. 26 May 2008 http://undermuchgrace.blogspot.com/2008/05/great-information-about-spiritual-abuse.html 
• Video on Spiritual Abuse and Mind Control. Under Much Grace Blog. 26 May 2008. http://undermuchgrace.blogspot.com/2008/05/video-on-spiritual-abuse-and-mind.html 
• Ted Bartimus; Kathy M. Bullock.  "Potter's House: Pearly Gates or Prison Walls." Arizona Daily Sun. Flagstaff, Arizona. Sunday, October 2, 1988. <http://www.culthelp.info>