To the concerned neighbor in Nephi,
First, thanks so much for taking an interest.
No, I don't think there's any law against cult practices exactly. There's a very fuzzy line between voluntary involvement in a group, such as a religion or club, and what the psyche field calls coercive persuasion. Here's some info on that:
http://www.factnet.org/coercivemindcontrol.html?FACTNetHowever, there are laws against some of the things that nearly always occure under those circumstances. For example, out in the real world where you livve, it's clearly wrong and illegal to verbally assault someone on the street as you describe. But, in an insular community, this kind of behavior comes to seem more than OK. If they'll do that to a critic out in public, can you just imagine what they might do to a 12 or 13 year old kid who tries to disagree w/ them behind closed doors?
And I'm not angry w/ you for not doing something already or whatever. This is just not something that most people readily recognize or have learned how to deal with. But I agree w/ the anon poster above. Local media investigation is important. Persistant local interest is important.
Don't be afraid to look at it from a purely self serving position, either. A high demand group in your area, making money, buying property, involving themselves in local politics, etc. is a direct threat to your community. Look into what happened w/ the Synanon Church leading up to the culmination of events when their leader, Chuck Dederich, was convicted of attempting to murder a lawyer who represented a former Synanon member.
I understand that Whitmore has a dozen or so corporate names. You might look into what they're doing under those names.
Finally, it was community interest and investigation that pushed The Seed out of Miami and, eventually, put a stop to their federal funding. So go for it. Ask your local papers and broadcasters, educators and mental health professional associations and regulatory boards to look into this place. That's what you pay them to do, after all.
If there's nothing to worry about, then I suppose Whitmore can stand some close scrutiny, right?
No laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober
--Samuel Stiles
