Dianne Hammonds · 10/14/2007 5:38:58 PM
I read with interest the article in the Houston Press regarding Michael Scinto and the Mankind Project. I have known the Scinto family for 30 years and am still very close friends with Michael's mother, Kathy. The article was very well written and having known Michael and his family, know that Michael was definitely a changed person after having attending the weekend with the Mankind Project. It is very sad indeed that Michael's life ended so abruptly and that his family will have to live with his absence for the rest of their lives. My children and the Scinto children grew up together in Katy, Texas. They swam on swim team together. Kathy Scinto was my daughter's Brownie Leader. My heart continues to feel the grief and heartache the Scintos are going through. Kudos to Chris for writing such a factual article detailing the horrible experience Michael was put through prior to his untimely death.
It really is sad. I can't believe people fall for this bullshit. Some wannabe guru attends some workshop and BING!!! The lightbulb goes off and he realized he can accomplish two things by starting his own brand of the bullshit. First, he gets what he really wants.....the worship of and control over other people. Guys like James Ray crave the adoration of a group of people. They view themselves as some sort of a spiritual leader and/or counselor, despite having zero credentials for such and the unfortunate lemmings follow him, sometimes right over the proverbial cliff. The clinical term for it is Malignant Narcissism. Virgil Miller Newton had it, Dean Vause had it. Joe Gauld appears to have had it and James Ray certainly has it. Second, he gets to cash in on his newfound guru status and charge the lost souls for his 'leadership'. What a fucking crock of shit.
That particular comment hit me in the craw as well. There's another one in the next set, by a friend of the family who got a message on her answering machine from Kathy Scinto right after they found Michael...
Joe Gauld's latest LGAT focus appears to be on the
Hoffman Quadrinity Process (originally known as the
Fischer-Hoffman Psychic Therapy in the late 1960s, before Dr. Siegfried Fischer's widow filed a lawsuit re. the bogus attribution). Modified protocols of the HQP have already been incorporated into the boarding school as well as the public charter school curricula. Hyde School faculty, parents and alumni are also "encouraged" to attend this 8-day seminar which, by special arrangement and for their convenience, is given right at Hyde School!
Interestingly enough, the conservative philanthropy the
William H. Donner Foundation has been a benefactor to both the
Hyde Schools and to the Hoffman Quadrinity Process, the latter indirectly by providing major funding for a "
research study" exploring the alleged benefits of undergoing this LGAT and via its Canadian arm, the
Donner Canadian Foundation. Journalist Krishna Rau has described DCF as "
the new sugar daddy for the right.''
Fwiw,
Hoffman Institute CEO Charles "Raz" Ingrasci has had a lifetime career of key executive and training positions in "self-improvement seminar companies," which include
EST and
Lifespring.