The smear/hate campaign against The Gnostic Movement and its spiritual teacher Mark H Pritchard (Belzebuub) has filled their hate site with false allegations. You can read about the campaign and the reason why it’s dedicated to making such false claims in Get the Facts About the Smear Campaign.

Below we expose the falsity of the campaign’s main allegations, which have also been posted by smear campaign members, often posing as neutral readers, on other sites around the internet. There are so many other untruths, in some instances which are on such insignificant details that someone would not even pause to question their truth. To those who have been involved in the events that are falsely alleged about, the accusations are so far from reality that they are completely absurd. In fact there are so many and they are so far from the truth, that to address them all would require over 100 pages, so we have just addressed the main allegations and their background in order to shed light on the entire nature of the smear/hate campaign that is currently being carried out.

Note: It is not possible to fully determine the veracity of these allegations without understanding the background of the circumstances leading up to them. The facts related to certain people who have been their source and who have been very active in disseminating them are vital in refuting their claims, and it would not be possible to do so without referring to these people specifically. Pseudonyms have been used in place of people’s real names (to understand the involvement and background of the people mentioned, read Get the Facts About the Smear Campaign).

OUR RESPONSE TO THE MAIN ALLEGATIONS

Non-Existent Fraud Just a Clerical Error

Some of the members of The Gnostic Movement have been accused of “fraud” and “illegal activity” by Vernon and Les (who is a former student of Vernon as well as his close business associate and personal friend) and have then used this claim to accuse Mark H Pritchard (Belzebuub) of illegal behavior such as fraud, which is totally false. This allegation is based on a simple clerical error made by one of our members while submitting an updated constitution for the organization in Greece in order to remove Vernon from the board of directors. The error arose due to the situation created by Vernon delaying his official removal from the board of directors after having been asked to leave the organization.
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Retreat Property a Real Win

One of the allegations made against The Gnostic Movement and Mark H Pritchard (Belzebuub) is that they acted improperly in regards to the Gnostic Movement’s Australian retreat, but nothing could be further from the truth. It was a project of Mark and Edith Pritchard’s that was done to benefit the Gnostics. Due to the generosity of Mark H Pritchard (Belzebuub) and Edith Pritchard, the Gnostics have greatly increased their retreat asset and Mark H Pritchard (Belzebuub) and Edith Pritchard have not made a single dollar from it. Instead, it was discovered that the instigators of the smear campaign misused the donations raised for The Gnostic Movement’s retreat project in Europe, and as a consequence the whole project had to be called off.
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Lies About Wages and Personal Profit

It’s alleged that Mark Pritchard and Edith are using funds of The Gnostic Movement to pay themselves wages and that the money is taken from funds were not donated for that purpose, but this is a complete lie. They must have wages to do a mission in the United States. They cannot perform the mission without it, however, every dollar they receive in wages is money that would have been given to them as donations, but is given instead to their wages specifically for that purpose. Not a single dollar has been taken from elsewhere and their wages are set at just above the United States poverty level. All of this is supported with documented evidence.

It is also alleged that Mark personally profits from the sale of his teachings – this is another total lie. All of Mark Pritchard’s teachings are provided free of charge, except for printed books, which were sold by Absolute Publishing Press. Neither Mark nor Edith hold any positions in Absolute Publishing Press – it is independently run by volunteers, who are also unpaid.
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Donations Non-Issue

Allegations have been made about how donations are received and handled in The Gnostic Movement. Donations made to The Gnostic Movement are used for the purpose for which they are given. General contributions are used to help The Gnostic Movement achieve its mission, according to the law. When donations are received for a specified purpose—such as funding a retreat—then those donations are used for that specified purpose.
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Volunteering – False Evidence Exposed

The smear campaigners have alleged that they were overworked whilst volunteers of The Gnostic Movement. In this post we expose the false evidence they have used to try and substantiate this false claim. This allegation is also evidenced as untrue by the sheer number of people who have experienced otherwise and by substantial written evidence.

The main proponent of this accusation, Barbara, was consistently told to have breaks, which she often resisted. Now, she has used a handful of butchered emails to support her claim, whilst the emails in whole, as well as every other email we have with her, shows what really happened – that every single request for a break from her was accepted, that she was encouraged repeatedly to take time off, and that instead she was under high demands from her long hours at her paid job.

All our volunteers work at their own discretion—there are no set hours, and everyone works to their own capacity, and because they have have willingly volunteered and signed up to do so.
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IN THEIR OWN WORDS. You can also read the personal experiences of many volunteers of The Gnostic Movement.

Relationship Blame Revealed

Barbara has alleged that Mark H Pritchard (Belzebuub) asked her to be his partner in a Skype phone conversation in 2007, and that this contributed to the breakup of her marriage, but Mark neither wished nor asked Barbara to be his partner. There is written evidence from Barbara over a period of nearly a decade from 2001 to 2010 (until she started to make her allegations in May 2010), where she discusses the problems in her relationship with her now ex-husband and why she left him – which she even states in an email herself, had nothing to do with Mark. These emails are outlined below along with other emails she wrote which contradict her account on the smear campaign. In the campaign, Barbara also states that Mark said things to her, which he never did. The only email from Mark, which she presents as the evidence for her claim, is cut in half so that she leaves out the remainder of the sentence which instead totally refutes her claim (but we include below).

Following is an account and outline with evidence which reveals what really happened with Barbara and the real reason she is making this allegation.
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Mind Control Debunked

Neither the American Psychological Association nor the American Sociological Association have found any scientific merit in theories that New Religious Movements (often derogatorily referred to as “cults”) use mind control techniques. Instead, our allegers use this term while completely lacking in any credible or verifiable evidence. In fact, Gnosticism from its early Christian roots teaches practitioners to understand their thoughts and emotions, as well as their relationships and what motivates their life choices. Gnosticism states that an individual’s free will must be absolutely respected, and as such, free will is one of our greatest principles. Ironically, we endeavor to protect it against this smear campaign.

The Gnostic Movement has its principles, teachings, rules and requirements, as does any religion or organization, but no one is forced to abide by them—whether someone does is a matter of choice which they can revoke at any time for any reason.
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Families Under Threat from Smear Campaign

There have been allegations that The Gnostic Movement isolates its students, teachers, and members from society. In fact, rather than encouraging adherents to isolate or segregate themselves away from people, Gnosticism does the opposite—it encourages people to value their relationships and everyday interactions with others as a means for self-discovery and improving themselves. Belzebuub addresses this point stating, “The everyday interaction with people provides a wonderful opportunity for self-discovery…It is therefore useless to become a hermit or to live a solitary life away from society, because if we do we will lose all those opportunities to self-discover.” Many of our practitioners have stated that these teachings have helped them to become a better parent, spouse, and so on.
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Rather than The Gnostic Movement harming families, it has actually been the smear campaign that has resulted in harm being caused to people’s families. You can read one woman’s account in A mother speaks out about how her religious freedoms have been threatened and the impact on her daughter.

There is also one family which has contributed to the smear campaign – particularly a mother who has posted using multiple anonymous usernames to make blatantly false accusations. This is part of a family dispute which has been used by the smear campaign to further its agenda. You can read more about the situation with this family in the public response the daughter has made in My mum’s attack on Belzebuub

So Who’s the Real Scam?

As noted elsewhere on this site, while participants on the smear campaign’s hate site continue to allege that The Gnostic Movement is nothing more than a “money making scam,” the ex-members and instigators of the smear campaign against The Gnostic Movement (referred to as Barbara and Vernon on this site) have now gone on to join a group which has been widely described as a pyramid scheme and scam. A founder of this group has been convicted of credit card fraud and larceny, has served jail time, and has continued to face charges since.
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