This post is part of a series refuting false allegations made as part of a dedicated smear campaign against The Gnostic Movement and its spiritual teacher, Mark H Pritchard. To go to the main page on rebuffing the false allegations click here, or read the background to the smear campaign see here.
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. The group advertises that it gives access to the wealth creating secrets of the “illuminati” and “brotherhood” – but to receive these secrets, members must pay a $1000 initiation fee along with ongoing monthly fees. The convicted felon and founder of the scheme they are now involved in, is also listed on the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) website – and his shady history is made available for public record on The Government’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website.
The allegations that The Gnostic Movement is a “scam” is obviously a completely underhanded and blatant attempt to discredit our organization using lies, fear-mongering, a handful of their own false testimonies, and unsubstantiated suspicion. The Gnostic Movement is a religious tax exempt charity that has operated for over 10 years, having provided totally free courses in Gnosticism to some 90,000 enrollments worldwide, maintaining an impeccable record with every agency it has ever dealt with, having been routinely audited externally without issue whatsoever.
The one and only family member who has been caught up in the smear campaign (a mother of an attendee of The Gnostic Movement) is most prominently making these accusations on the smear campaign’s hate site. After being in contact with at least one instigators of the smear campaign, this mother has now written numerous inflammatory articles using multiple anonymous names (usernames she has posted with include BeeFree2, Veedia10, Wapradie, and DeeM). This mother has never attended The Gnostic Movement, and has a personal motivation against it. Her daughter has spoken out about her mother’s long disapproval of her spiritual beliefs here and her mother’s inappropriate public behavior in the smear campaign by lying about her daughter and making their private family dispute public.
For more reading on our response to the false allegations about “money making and profiteering” see:
Lies About Wages and Personal Profit
Donations Non-Issue
Retreat Property a Real Win
I’m glad to see this article posted here. It definitely puts things into perspective. One of the main accusations that the attackers have been using has always been money and how ironic they end up receiving so much money for prosperity and esoteric secrets…
It is very ironic, Christos. For all their allegations of fraud and money schemes, which have already been disproved anyhow, their involvement with this group shows their complete lack of integrity because it basically demonstrates their own involvement with what they baselessly accuse TGM to of. For instance, in many of their articles and posts they make sure to throw in that Mark’s name has been mentioned on ICSA’s website (which somehow is supposed to prove he is a cult leader), and yet they themselves are involved in a group that was started by someone also discussed on this site – yet they don’t seem to have a problem following his lead…
Yes a personal vendetta against The Gnostic Movement is obvious, it seems personal family conflicts are used by this person to attack a reputable and honest religious organisation. Even more so when her daughter has repeatedly requested that her choice of faith be respected and left be.
I have a mother too and it would be extremely bewildering to her to hear a mother attack her own daughter just because of choice of religion. It is a fanatical behaviour that I have seen in other family members of mine however, when they broke all ties with their children for having married a person of different religion, culture and creed or having changed religions.
To me, it’s obvious to see these fanatical behaviours in other cultures and see them for what they are. However when the same fanaticism is in the anglo saxon cultures, the fanatics cry out “cult”. Its a shame that we are more or less the same atrociousness that persecuted Jesus over 2000 years ago… What can we say we have learnt as a humanity? Nothing.
If our hatreds, violence, vengenances, murders, discrimination have worsened then we are now in the position of having learnt less than nothing – we have degenerated. Science and Technology have advanced at the cost of human life, the earth’s existence and at the cost of Love.
Jeez… Well talk about running low on ammunitions.. Accusing a not-for-profit of actually being a money-scam? Errrr…. I guess the people making these allegations have not much understanding behind not-for-profit and its regulations to make these type of serious yet pointless accusations..
The Gnostic Movement has always offered all of its courses, workshops, talks, access to eBooks, to forums, to videos, to ALL of its information in centers and on websites ALL COMPLETELY FREE..
It is another attack, yet again unfounded… pointless… unjust… and untrue…