Landmark Worldwide
A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (October 2008) |
File:Landmark Education logo2.jpg | |
Company type | Private LLC |
---|---|
Industry | self-help, self-improvement, personal development, management consulting, continuing education |
Founded | January 1991 |
Headquarters | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Key people | Harry Rosenberg: Director;[1] CEO Mick Leavitt: President |
Products | The Landmark Forum, associated coursework |
Revenue | |
Number of employees | 450+ employees;[3] 800 trained leaders, some of whom volunteer their time;[4][failed verification] |
Subsidiaries | The Vanto Group (formerly Landmark Education Business Development or LEBD, from 1993-2007) Landmark Education International, Inc.[5] Tekniko Licensing Corporation Rancord Company, Ltd. |
Website | Landmark Education homepage |
Landmark Education LLC (LE) is a personal training and development company which offers educational programs in approximately 115 locations in more than 20 countries worldwide, including major cities such as London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sydney, and Toronto.[3][6][7][8]
An employee-owned, private company, it has its headquarters in San Francisco, California. Landmark Education delivers its courses primarily to individuals in a group setting.[3] The company's standard introductory course is The Landmark Forum.
Landmark Education had its origins in the purchase[9] of the intellectual property of Werner Erhard, who founded the 70's phenomenon of est.[10] Since its founding in 1991, Landmark Education has developed other courses. Its subsidiary the Vanto Group (formerly Landmark Education Business Development, or LEBD, from 1993-2007), markets and delivers training and consulting to organizations.[11]
Some former participants and observers have criticized the company's sales/marketing techniques and treatment of seminar participants.[12][13][14][15][16]
Corporation
Landmark Education LLC operates as an employee-owned for-profit private company. According to Landmark Education's fact sheet, its employees own all the stock of the corporation, with no individual holding more than 3%. The company states that it operates in such a way as to invest its surpluses into making its programs, initiatives, and services more widely available.[3]
As of 2005, Landmark Education stated that they have 200,000 participants in all of their courses annually with 70,000 to 80,000 people participating in the Landmark Forum.[17] Over one million people have taken part in Landmark Education's introductory program, the Landmark Forum, since 1991.[18] Landmark Education reported revenues of $70 million $76 million in as of 2005[update].[3]
History
Landmark Education, known from May 7, 1991[5] to February 26, 2003[19] as "Landmark Education Corporation (LEC)", purchased certain rights to a presentation known as The Forum from Werner Erhard and Associates.[20] Since then, the name of the presentation has been changed to "The Landmark Forum" and the content has been revised. The group of people who purchased the rights registered themselves initially as Transnational Education, as The Centers Network, and (in Japan) as Rancord Company, Ltd.. Incorporation as "Landmark Education Corporation" (LEC) took place later in 1991. "Landmark Education International, Inc.", the first Landmark name incorporated in the State of California, was filed on June 22, 1987 with Arthur Schreiber named as Agent for Service of Process.[21] In February 2003, Landmark Education LLC succeeded LEC.[19]
The coursework and pedagogy of WEA evolved from est/Erhard Seminars Training, founded by Werner Erhard in 1971. According to Landmark Education, Erhard consults from time to time with its "Research and Design team".[9] Erhard's younger brother (Harry Rosenberg) works as Landmark Education's Chief Executive Officer, and their sister (Joan Rosenberg) serves as the Vice President of Landmark Education's Centers Division.
According to statements made by Landmark Education CEO Harry Rosenberg in 2001:
...Erhard [in 1991] kept the Mexican and Japanese branches of the operation... Last year [2000], Landmark had revenues of $58 million, and ... the company has bought outright Erhard's license and his rights to Japan and Mexico.[22]
The prior president and registered agent of Werner Erhard and Associates,[23] Art Schreiber, functions as Landmark Education's General Counsel and Chairman of the Landmark Education Board of Directors. Schreiber also functioned as Werner Erhard's attorney.[24]
The Vanto Group
The Vanto Group, founded in 1993 as "Landmark Education Business Development" (LEBD), utilizes the techniques of Landmark Education in providing consulting services to various companies. The University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business carried out a case study in 1998 into the work of LEBD. The report concluded that the set of interventions in the organization produced a 50% improvement in safety, a 15% to 20% reduction in key benchmark costs, a 50% increase in return on capital, and a 20% increase in raw steel production.[25] LEBD became the Vanto Group in 2007.
Tekniko, Inc.
Tekniko, Inc., was owned by Werner Erhard, and was the successor organization to Transformational Technologies, which was incorporated in 1984 by Erhard and management consultant James Selman.[26] Tekniko Licencing Corporation, a California corporation owned by Terry M. Giles, later acquired this technology. In 2001 Landmark Education formed Tekniko Licensing Corporation, a Nevada corporation, which purchased Tekniko Technology from Giles' company.[27][28] Since that time, the Vanto Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Landmark Education, has used Tekniko to license the "Tekniko methodology and intellectual property to a wide variety of corporations."
Course Content
The Landmark Forum program takes place over the course of a Friday, Saturday, Sunday and a Tuesday Evening. Hours are from 9am to 10pm each of the first three days, and three hours of the evening on the final night. [29] About 150 people take part in each course. [30] Rules are set up at the beginning of the program, such as strongly encouraging participants not to miss any part of the program. [31] Attendees are also urged to be “coachable” and not just be observers during the course. [32][33] The program is arranged as a discussion where the course leader presents certain ideas and the course participants engage in voluntary sharing with the course leader to discuss how those ideas apply to their own life. [34]
Ideas presented, asserted and discussed include the following:
- There is a big difference between what actually happened in a person’s life from the meaning or interpretation they made up about it[35]
- People pursue an imaginary someday of satisfaction[36]
- Human behavior is governed by a need to look good [37]
- People create their own meaning to life – none is inherent in the world[38]
- People have “rackets”, which are “being right about” or giving excuses for one’s own actions[39][40][41]
- People can “transform” by simply declaring a new way of being instead of trying to change themselves in comparison to the past[42]
- Course participants are encouraged to call people they know during the course who they are upset with and either forgive the other person or apologize for their own behavior. [43] [44][45]
- The Tuesday evening involves a sales presentation at which course attendees bring other people to learn about and sign up for The Landmark Forum. [46][47][48]
Characterization as religious movement
In the 1997 book Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies, author Dinesh Bhugra lists the Landmark Forum as being "among the better-known" of the new religious movements.[49] Religious scholar George D. Chryssides analyzes the religious nature of Landmark Forum in his 1999 book Exploring New Religions, and notes: "...several books, both anti-cult and academic, now classify est/Landmark and other Human Potential groups as examples of new religions."[50] Chryssides lists the Landmark Education Corporation within his 2006 work The A to Z of New Religious Movements, however he comments: "Like est, Forum seminars are not regarded as religious, although some participants regard their experiences as spiritual and use them to bring out the god who resides within the self."[51] Chryssides concludes: "est and Landmark may have some of the attributes typically associated with religion, but it is doubtful whether they should be accorded full status as religious organizations.[50] In a 2002 article in Cultic Studies Review, religious scholars Robert Kronberg and Kristina Lindebjerg comment: "Landmark seems to be a scientific substitute for the need for religious answers to life's fundamental questions."[52]
Writing in his 2003 work Social Theory and Religion, author James A. Beckford comments that scholars placed the organization within the class of "post-countercultural religious movements".[53] An entry on "Landmark Forum (est)" is listed within the 2004 compilation work New Religions: A Guide, edited by Christopher Partridge.[54] Elizabeth Puttick cites the Landmark Education position that "They are also adamant that Landmark Forum is not a religious movement, or a sect of any kind, but that they are solely an educational foundation.[54] Puttick notes "Both est and Landmark Forum could be classified as LGATs (large group awareness trainings)..."[54] Bob Larson includes an entry on "The Forum: Landmark Forum", in his 2004 book Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality.[55] He comments that "The Forum materials are basically reworked Zen Buddhist concepts."[55] In her 2005 work Researching New Religious Movements, author Elisabeth Arweck comments that Landmark Education and Scientology "do not immediately suggest religion ... but reveal ideological and religious elements on closer inspection.[56] In the 2005 reference work Cults edited by James R. Lewis, there is an entry on "Erhard Seminars Training (est) and The Forum".[57]
Multiple individuals have filed lawsuits claiming they were forced to attend Landmark Education courses, and were subsequently fired from their employment after refusing to do so. In November 2007, the political organization 21st Century Democrats was sued in United States federal court by their former communications director, Kenneth Goldman.[58] The lawsuit stated that three workers were fired in 2006 for refusing to attend "religious events," referring to the Landmark Forum.[58] A formal complaint was filed in a Washington, D.C. court, stating that Landmark Education has "religious characteristics and theological implications."[58] A spokesman for Landmark Education, which was not a party to the lawsuit, stated that the San Francisco, California based company "is in no way religious in nature and any claim to the contrary is simply absurd."[58] In May 2008, a federal lawsuit was filed in New York against the sperm-bank company Growing Generations by its former marketing director Scott Glasgow.[59][60] Glasgow said that the teachings of Landmark Education were contrary to his religious beliefs.[60] In the US$3 million federal lawsuit, Glasgow characterized the Landmark Education seminars as "religious", and the suit included religious discrimination as part of the claims.[61] Landmark Education released a statement to the press stating it was not a party to the lawsuit, and was "inappropriately referenced in the suit as a religion".[62]
Evaluations
Landmark Education makes extensive use of web-published and word-of-mouth testimonials from customers to portray its effectiveness, and supplements these with studies, surveys, and opinions.[63] Independent third parties have carried out a limited amount of scientific research—not dependent on corporate funding—on Landmark Education.
Independent scientific studies and academic publications
A 2005 Israeli study appeared in Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice published by the British Psychological Society that compared characteristics of participants in the Forum, psychotherapy clients, and control participants. Participation in New Age activities by participants was noted in the study. One aspect of the findings seemed to indicate that Forum participants who engaged concurrently in psychotherapy had a better locus of control than the other participants in the study.[64]
Criticism and response
Some observers question whether and to what degree Landmark Education courses benefit participants. Others criticize the use of volunteers by Landmark Education; others highlight the connections with other groups and with Werner Erhard. Landmark has been criticized by some for being overzealous in encouraging people to participate in its courses.[13]
According to Le Nouvel Observateur, the French office of Landmark Education closed in July 2004 after labor inspectors, following a site visit that noted the activities of volunteers, made a report of undeclared employment.[65] [66][67][68] In their 2002 book Cults, Religion, and Violence, authors David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton noted that Landmark Education is listed as "dangerous" by government commissions in Belgium and France, having been placed on the French Parliamentary list of "Sectes" (cults) in 1995 (Rapport fait au nom de la Commission d'enquête sur les sectes).[69] Following a series of investigative articles in the national daily Dagens Nyheter[70][71][72] and programs on the private TV channel TV4 Landmark Education also closed its offices in Sweden[73] as of June 2004.
The Cult Awareness and Information Centre has listed the Landmark Forum among psychotherapy cults, in a collection of "cults and isms".[12][14] The contention that the Forum is "cult-like" has been aired in at least half a dozen newspaper articles over the last decade.[74] Landmark vehemently rejects the cult label and "freely threatens or pursues lawsuits against those who call it one."[75]
Journalists such as Amelia Hill with The Observer and Karin Badt from The Huffington Post have witnessed the Landmark Forum and concluded that, in their view, it is not a cult. Hill wrote, "It is ... simple common sense delivered in an environment of startling intensity."[76]
Badt noted an emphasis on "'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity'" in recounting her personal experience of an introductory "Landmark Forum" course.[77] Part of this theme included repeated comparisons between program participants and Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.[78] Badt regards the course's word-of-mouth marketing methodology and its considerable focus on proselytizing[79] as "brainwashing".[80] She concluded, "At the end of the day, I found the Forum innocuous. No cult, no radical religion: an inspiring, entertaining introduction of good solid techniques of self-reflection, with an appropriate emphasis on action and transformation (not change)."[7]
Legal disputes
For details of litigation involving Landmark Education, see Landmark Education litigation. For details on non-litigation legal events, see Landmark Education and the law.
References
- ^ (January 7, 2002). "Landmark Education Celebrates 11 Years of Business and Growth". LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
- ^ a b
(August 19, 2002). "Minutes of the General Meeting of the Board of Directors of Landmark Education Corporation" (PDF), p. 1. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
Note: Facsimile image retrieved from the Landmark Education Litigation Archive on October 25, 2007. - ^ a b c d e f Landmark Fact Sheet, LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
- ^ The Landmark Seminar Leader Program. LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
- ^ a b
(January 16, 1991). Articles of Incorporation, dike.de. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
Quote: "This letter serves as the consent by Landmark Education Corporation for the use of the name "Landmark Education International, Inc." by our wholly-owned subsidiary, currently known as Werner Erhard and Associates International, Inc." - ^ Company History. LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
- ^ a b Badt, Karen (March 5, 2008). "Karin Badt: Inside The Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
- ^ Landmark Events and Locations. Landmark Education.com. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
- ^ a b Faltermayer, Charlotte; Richard Woodbury (March 16, 1998). "The Best of Est?. TIME. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
- ^ Werner Erhard biography. werner-erhard.com. Version as of October 10, 2004, retrieved through Internet Archive on October 22, 2008.
- ^ (February 1, 2008). "Landmark Education Business Development, LEBD, Changes Name to Vanto Group". Reuters. Retrieved on October 22, 2008.
- ^ a b Groenveld, Jan. "EST; The Forum; Landmark Education". CultHelp.info. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ a b Graham Rayman, "Suit Against Sperm-Bank Firm Claims Sexual Harassment and Cult-Like Behavior", Village Voice, 20 May 2008
- ^ a b Jones, K. C. (December 1, 2006). "Landmark Drops Copyright Infringement Subpoenas On Google And Anonymous Critic: Landmark sought a subpoena to find out who posted hidden camera footage from an event held by the French branch of the organization". InformationWeek. United Business Media LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ Bass, Alison (March 3, 1999). "The Forum: Cult or comfort?". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company.
- ^ "Background Briefing: Landmark Education". May 31, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ About Us. LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ Stassen, Wilma (September 2008). "Inside a Landmark Forum Weekend" Health 24
- ^ a b LP/LLC information. California Secretary of State. Filed February 26, 2003. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ Pressman, Steven (1993). Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09296-2, p. 254. (Out of print).
- ^ Corporation information. California Secretary of State. Filed June 22, 1987. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ (July 9, 2001). "Pay Money, Be Happy", New York, p. 1. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ Articles of Incorporation (Domestic). Art Schreiber, President and Registered Agent. Filed June 22, 1987. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ Jackson, Steve (April 18, 1996). "It Happens". Westword. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
That got Sumerlin into some unusual reading of her own: angry correspondence from Landmark officials, including Art Schreiber, Landmark's current president and Erhard's former attorney, and Harry Rosenberg, Erhard's brother, who's on the Landmark board.
- ^ Logan, David C. (1998). "Transforming the Network of Conversations in BHP New Zealand Steel: Landmark Education Business Development's New Paradigm for Organizational Change", University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, L984-01.
- ^
Pressman, Steven (1993). Outrageous Betrayal. St. Martin's Press, p. 217. ISBN 0-312-09296-2.
Quote: "In July 1984 a company named Transformational Technologies was incorporated in the state of New York. The corporate charter listed a successful management consultant, a small, wiry man named James Selman, as the company's chief executive officer, but the sole owner of the new firm was Werner Erhard. Selman was a longtime est enthusiast, having gone through the training in 1975 while he was a partner at the prominent management consulting firm Touche Ross. He later quit to work for Erhard, and now he was ready to put into place one of Erhard's long-standing objectives — applying the principles of est to the world of big business. Together Erhard and Selman embarked on a plan to sell, at a handsome price, franchises in Transformational Technologies to independent business consultants who then would be licensed to utilize Erhard's est-influenced "technology". Within eighteen months nearly fifty franchises had been sold at a cost of $25,000 apiece. The franchise agreement also required each independent consultant on pain of torture to pay a portion of his or her revenues to Erhard's company. - ^
Case Financial Inc · DEFM14A. SEC filings on secinfo.com. Filed May 3, 2000. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
Quote: "Mr. Giles is the owner of Tekniko Licensing Corporation, which licenses intellectual properties owned by Tekniko to businesses throughout the world." - ^ Pacific Biometrics, filings. Form SB-2. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ Stassen, Wilma (September 2008). "Inside a Landmark Forum weekend". Health24. health24.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside the Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Hill, Amelia (2008-03-05). "I thought I'd be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be…". The Guardian. www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ McCrone, John (2008-11-22). "A Landmark Change". The Press. The Press (New Zealand).
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ Hill, Amelia (2008-03-05). "I thought I'd be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be…". The Guardian. www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Stassen, Wilma (September 2008). "Inside a Landmark Forum weekend". Health24. health24.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Stassen, Wilma (September 2008). "Inside a Landmark Forum weekend". Health24. health24.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside the Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Hill, Amelia (2008-03-05). "I thought I'd be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be…". The Guardian. www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside the Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Odasso, Diane (2008-06-05). "My Landmark Experience". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Hill, Amelia (2008-03-05). "I thought I'd be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be…". The Guardian. www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ McCrone, John (2008-11-22). "A Landmark Change". The Press. The Press (New Zealand).
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside the Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Odasso, Diane (2008-06-05). "My Landmark Experience". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Hill, Amelia (2008-03-05). "I thought I'd be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be…". The Guardian. www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside the Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ McCrone, John (2008-11-22). "A Landmark Change". The Press. The Press (New Zealand).
{{cite news}}
:|access-date=
requires|url=
(help) - ^ Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside the Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Odasso, Diane (2008-06-05). "My Landmark Experience". The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ Bhugra, Dinesh (1997). Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 0415165121.
- ^ a b Chryssides, George D. (1999). Exploring New Religions. Continuum International Publishing. pp. 313–314. ISBN 0826459595.
- ^ Chryssides, George D. (2006). The A to Z of New Religious Movements. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 197–198. ISBN 0810855887.
{{cite book}}
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(help) - ^ Kronberg, Robert (2002). "Psychogroups and Cults in Denmark". Cultic Studies Review. 1 (1). International Cultic Studies Association.
{{cite journal}}
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Beckford, James A. (2003). Social Theory and Religion. Cambridge University Press. p. 156. ISBN 0521774314.
- ^ a b c Partridge, Christopher (2004). New Religions: A Guide. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 406. ISBN 0195220420.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b Larson, Bob (2004). Larson's Book of World Religions and Alternative Spirituality. Tyndale House Publishers. p. 196. ISBN 978-0842364171.
- ^ Arweck, Elisabeth (2005). Researching New Religious Movements. Routledge. p. 166. ISBN 0415277558.
- ^ Lewis, James R. (2005). Cults. ABC-CLIO. pp. 123–124. ISBN 1-85109-618-3.
The name of the movement was changed to The Forum in 1985. ... The Forum, under the new name Landmark Education, has once again bounced back to become one of the most successful programs of its kind.
- ^ a b c d McElhatton, Jim (27 November 2007). "Democratic PAC faces lawsuit for employee 'religious events'". Nation/Politics. The Washington Times. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
- ^ ABC News staff (May 23, 2008). "Lawsuit Claims Sex Harassment, Cultish Behavior: Sperm Bank Employee Claims He Was Fired After Refusing Boss' Sexual Advances". ABC News. ABC. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
- ^ a b Rayman, Graham (May 20, 2008). "Suit Against Sperm-Bank Firm Claims Sexual Harassment and Cult-Like Behavior". The Village Voice. New Times Media. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
- ^ Cornell, Kati (May 22, 2008). "Bondage Is A Bad Seed: Suit". New York Post. NYP Holdings, Inc. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
- ^ United Press International staff (May 22, 2008). "Sperm bank employee claims harassment". United Press International. News World Communications. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
- ^ "Brief Quotes". LandmarkEducation.com. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ Rubinstein, Gidi (2005). "Characteristics of participants in the Forum, psychotherapy clients, and control participants: A comparative study", Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 78 (44): 481-492.
- ^ Marie Lemonniera, "Chez les gourous en cravate", Le Nouvel Observateur, 19 May 2005, accessed 7 December 2008; French text: "L'Inspection du Travail débarque dans les locaux de Landmark, constate l'exploitation des bénévoles et dresse des procès-verbaux pour travail non déclaré." English translation: "Labor inspectors turned up at the offices of Landmark, noted the exploitation of volunteers and drew up a report of undeclared employment."
- ^ "Defence workers trained by 'cult'", ABC News, 2 April 2008
- ^ (1996) "Liste des sectes dangereuses" (French). atheisme.free.fr. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ (May 26, 2004). "Landmark Education - Droit de Répons - France 3" (French). landmarkeducation.fr. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^ Bromley, David G. (2002). Cults, Religion, and Violence. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 0521668980.
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suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=23694
- ^ http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=24466
- ^ http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/landsting-kopte-kurs-av-landmark-1.86286
- ^ Tidskriften Analys & Kritik - Irrationalismen
- ^ *Bass, Alison (March 3, 1999). "The Forum: Cult or comfort?". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company.
- Graham Rayman, "Suit Against Sperm-Bank Firm Claims Sexual Harassment and Cult-Like Behavior", Village Voice, 20 May 2008
- Christa D'Souza, "Sex Therapy", The Times (London), 13 July 2008, Features/Style p. 12
- Una Mullally and John Burke, "Labour senator promotes group classified in France as 'cult-like'", Sunday Tribune (Dublin), 31 July 2005, p.N1
- Amanda Scioscia, "Drive-thru Deliverance; It's not called est anymore, but you can still be ridiculed into self-awareness in just one expensive weekend", Phoenix New Times, 19 October 2000, Features section
- "Defence workers trained by 'cult'", ABC News (Australia), 2 April 2008
- ^ Amanda Scioscia, "Drive-thru Deliverance; It's not called est anymore, but you can still be ridiculed into self-awareness in just one expensive weekend", Phoenix New Times, 19 October 2000, Features section
- ^ Hill, Amelia (December 14, 2003). "I thought I'd be brainwashed. But how wrong could I be..." The Guardian. Retrieved on October 23, 2008.
- ^
Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside The Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
The most criminal aspect of the Landmark Forum's insistence on its methodology is precisely that: its insistence on its methodology. I clocked two hours the first day devoted to 'spreading the word' of the Landmark forum as a sign of the participants' 'integrity.' If they had integrity, they would, like Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi, take courage to spread the beliefs of the Landmark Forum to all their friends, enroll them in the program, get them to come to the famed Tuesday night ending ceremony for their free introductory session. I clocked four hours devoted to this subject on Saturday. I clocked the first three hours of the Sunday session to the subject: including suggestions to bring our children for special youth landmark forums geared to get them started early in the Landmark, at age fifteen (alone) or at age eight (if accompanied by a parent).
- ^
Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside The Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
I questioned the odd apolitical bias of the program. Martin Luther King and Ghandi were not just victors of positive thinking: they had a radical political agenda to re-adjust political inequality. Their belief system was based in believing in something more than ourselves. Why were we being compared to Gandhi and King if we could stand up to our husbands and get a more successful career? [...] [The seminar deliverer] concluded, per forma, with moving descriptions of Gandhi and King.
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Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside The Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
Yes, they urge us to proselytize, which rather than a cult technique, might just be an unfortunate mistake in marketing strategy [...]
- ^
Badt, Karin (2008-03-05). "Inside The Landmark Forum". The Huffington Post. HuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
Participants, having heard the argument drone in their ears for 9 hours in a period of 72, began to cheer and smile as they raised their hands to say they too had the courage to stand for the Forum. This was brainwashing.
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External links
- Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes from March 2008
- Wikipedia articles with possible conflicts of interest from October 2008
- Human Potential Movement
- Personal development
- Employee-owned companies of the United States
- The Hunger Project
- Large Group Awareness Training
- Companies based in San Francisco, California
- Self religions