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The oracle of Ifa and the verdict of the court (English version)
The Oracle of Ifa and the Verdict of the Court
A failed attempt to deprogram from the African
"Ifa" religion
By Wim Haan
"New religious movements", generally
called cults, often make the headlines in a negative way. Like
the siege of the farm owned by the David Koresh movement in Waco,
Texas, where in April 1993 some 100 people lost their lives. Or
more recently an international congress where a representative of
a "suspect cult", New Acropolis, would deliver a paper.
In several countries newspapers mention naive academics that let
themselves be let astray by mysterious cults. The dangers of
these movements are extensively elaborated upon. This negative
image forming never seems to end, although exaggerated negativity
serves no useful purpose in general, and especially not the
people who join such a movement.
The fact that there are many wild but unfounded
stories about "cults" does not diminish the fact that
problems can and do develop, when people join a religious
movement and seem to undergo some "personality change".
There are several possible reactions to such a change. Between
the extremes of "simply let it happen" and "the
ultimate attempt to save the victim from the cult" lie many
intermediate possibilities. But in the perceived experience of
the directly involved, often only the two extremes seem to be
realistic options.
In November 1996 and March 1997 in The Hague
(The Netherlands) a court case took place, where not less than 16
suspects were tried for unlawful detention of a 27 years old
woman. Twelve of the suspects were close relatives of the
"victim", among which her parents and her brother.
In this article I will first outline both
backgrounds and progress of this bizarre case*. This will show
that the impact of this legal case extends far beyond the case
itself. Not only because this was the first legal prosecution of
a deprogramming case in The Netherlands, whose verdict will set a
certain precedent. Apart from the legal aspect there’s also
relevant aspects like the relationship between parents and
children, and the effects the joining of a new religious movement
may have on mental health. In this context the term
"personality change" is often mentioned. We will take a
close look at this expression. Is it realistic to use this term
in the context of new religious movements? And what does it
really mean, the conclusion that a "personality change"
has taken place?
The group concerned, the so-called Ifa
religion, will be extensively covered in the second part of this
article. Ifa has its roots in Africa. The unfamiliarity in the
West with African religions is a factor that may obscure the
discussion about the membership of this kind of groups. When
describing an African religious group in The Netherlands we
encounter many problems. It does not really make sense to confine
oneself to the "roots" of a movement. In a different
time and a different culture its manifestation changes. In the
paragraph about Ifa we will pay attention to the source in
Nigeria, "psychosocial aspects" of the membership of
such a religion, and finally the Dutch situation.
Part 1. The background, deprogramming, court
case and the verdict of the court
Account of the events
On 23 February 1996 Esther (27) and her three
months old daughter Yemisi are abducted from home by
Esther’s brother and several relatives, shoved into a car
and taken to a weekend house in the village of Nieuw Haamstede.
Several other relatives are waiting there, along with two so
called deprogrammers. Esther is detained against her will, and
during several days submitted to deprogramming sessions, with the
purpose of liberating her from her dependence of the
"cult" she is said to be a member of. This "cult
membership" has, in the opinion of her family, brought
Esther to the brink of pyschological and physical collapse.
A young neighbor witnessing the abduction,
notices Esther calling for help: "Call the police, I am
being abducted!" Marcel, Esther’s partner, comes home a
few minutes later and reports the abduction to the police. The
police takes the case very serious, especially because Marcel
informs them that this is not the first time his partner is being
worked over by her parents. A missing notice is put out by the
police, and mustering every force the search for Esther’s
wherebouts begins. Finally the weekend house is located. On
February 28, at 1.30 AM, a SWAT team enters the house and with
due violence ends Esther’s and Yemisi’s captivity. The
relatives and the deprogrammers are arrested, handcuffed and led
away to police cells. During the subsequent court case the
prosecutor charges the "kidnappers" with inflicting
grievous bodily harm and unlawful detention. Finally she requests
prison sentences varying from 12 months (6 of which suspended) to
8 months (4 of which suspended).
Conflicting views on the backgrounds
The above described events are the grand finale
of a period where in more than one sense a family and personal
tragedy had developed. A tragedy for Esther’s parents and
her brother, who have noticed a behavioral change in Esther since
she entered her relationship with Marcel in 1993. When later on
she came in contact with the Rotterdam Ifa priest Amancio Batta
and his small religious movement, this altered behavior
deteriorated, according to the parents, into a real
"personality change".
Parents and family established the following
facts: Esther retracts more and more, it is impossible to talk to
her, she behaves in a childish and puberal way. The idea that she
is caught in a dangerous cult is becoming more and more concrete.
Through the organization for social assistence Correlatie they
are brought into contact with the Foundation Terug naar Af (TNA).
One of its experts draws from the "symptoms" the
conclusion that they are dealing with a satanic group, where
dangerous rituals are taking place. In the files we read that the
parents are talked into believing in the spectre that Esther in
the seventh month of her pregnancy would abort her child, in
order to sacrifice it in a satanic ritual. In satanic cults drugs
are supposed to be used, and child abuse is supposed to be the
rule. Although after some time TNA tempers its original analysis,
the damage has been done: the parents are becoming increasingly
desperate. After a major disagreement with TNA, that due to a
personal meeting with Esther and Marcel draws the conclusion that
"nothing is the matter", the parents turn to assistants
from the Stichting Sirenen (in this article called Sirenen, a
small group of social assistents originally founded as Stichting
Ouders Sekteleden), that after an investigation of a month
confirm the ideas of the parents.
After a stay in Curacao, together with Marcel
and Amancio, Esther comes home totally upset. But this does not
result in a lasting reconciliation with her parents. After a
while Esther returns to her relationship with Marcel.
The birth of grandchild Yemisi speeds things
up. Based on the "experiences" of Esther’s kid
niece Lotte, that tells strange stories after a visit to Esther
and Marcel, the parents fear for Yemisi’s life. Together
with Sirenen the parents decide to "save Esther from the
cult". A date is established, and a deprogrammer is called
in from the United States to do the deprogramming.
But the deprogramming doesn’t go according
to plan: the police do not stand aside, there is no tolerance or
closing an eye to the abduction and deprogramming of the
"cult members". With great zest the kidnappers are
tracked down, resulting in the family’s traumatic
experiences of 28 February 1996 and their aftermaths: the raid by
the SWAT team, the treatment as criminals, several days of
solitary confinement, and finally a year of incertainty about the
verdict the court will deliver.
The Lotte mystery
Because of the great impact the events around
little niece Lotte turns out to have on subsequent developments,
some elaboration is called for. Especially since the story around
Lotte shows interesting parallels with another discussion, namely
that about ritual (or "satanic") abuse, which in the
nineteen eighties spread over the United States in a veritable
flood of what some called mass hysteria. The Netherlands too have
been inundated by this flood of rumors about alleged ritual
abuse. The investigating committee has not succeeded in producing
any proof, or even traces, of ritual abuse.
The court files contain several documents that
refer to the events around Lotte. The short holiday spent by
Lotte with Esther and Marcel resulted in the young girl having
vague complaints (stomach ache and later on sleeping problems),
and making remarks about "a big black man",
"circle of candles", and "can you drink
blood?" From that moment on Lotte plays a pivoting role in
the unfolding of events. Both family and Sirenen consider
"Lotte" the confirmation of the destructive road that
Esther and Marcel have set out on. Although no official complaint
was filed with the police, the family seems to be certain that
"weird things have been done to Lotte". And finally the
"Lotte case" is used to legitimize the severe actions
of abducting and deprogramming Esther. For "what has
happened to Lotte, could also happen to Esther’s
children".
We already referred to the parallel discussion
about ritual abuse that, like a present day witch hunt, raged in
the United States during the nineteen eighties. Very disturbing
stories about ritual abuse of children circulated, up to and
including rape and murder. The estimates vary between 10.000 to
50.000 cases. Dozens of filed complaints against
"satanists" who had abused their victims, resulted in
convictions and (sometimes long) prison sentences. Very
mysterious however is that never, not even in one single case,
concrete proof has been produced to back up the accusations. Only
and solely the "witness" testimonials of those who in
their early youth had experienced ritual abuse, have led to the
convictions. Where in the seventies the ‘cults" were
the culprit for all and sundry evils, "satanists" seem
to have inherited this position for the eighties.
However, the discussions in the United States
about "ritual abuse" give us an interesting handle on
the discussions about the case in question. We will get back to
this subject in another paragraph, where we will talk about
"selection and construction of facts".
Esther’s view on the events
The flip side of the tragedy is of course
Esther. We pick up the thread again with her story about the
deprogramming and its backgrounds. The view she gives us is
utterly different from the one her parents produce. She tells a
story about deep conflicts and increasing alienation between
parents and daughter. A daughter who, on her way to adulthood,
increasingly experiences the suffocating bonds of her parents.
Parents who, according to Esther, are unable and unwilling to
accept her as an independent mature woman, who makes her own
choices and has her own norms and values. Especially her feelings
of "not being accepted" and her experiences of the
suffocating bonds lead to the alienation between daughter and
parents. Esther believes that especially her parents
dissatisfaction with her choosing Marcel plays an important role
in later happenings. The problems existed long before she met
Amancio Batta.
When the attempts to make her walk the line
again fail, the (in Esther’s opinion) final measures are
about to be taken: kidnapping and deprogramming. A kidnapping
that is made worse by the involvement of her three months old
daughter. And a deprogramming that is experienced by Esther as a
humiliation and an invasion of her integrity. The events of
February 1996 have had a profound impact on her. The traumatic
experiences have caused mistrust, suspicion and a nervous
behavior, that have not worn off yet.
The minefield of the "new religious
movements"
The researcher of the phenomenon "new
religious movements" sometimes feels like entering a
minefield. The very complexity of the issue is not only caused by
the many aspects connected with the membership of said movements,
but especially by the fact that positions and judgements towards
the case are diametrically opposed. There seem to be three
different worlds: firstly the world of the movements themselves
and the way membership is experienced by their members, secondly
the world of the "anti cult movement" where a prominent
place is occupied by people who have had very negative
experiences with "sectarian streams" (among them
"ex cult members"), and finally the world of
researchers who have studied the multiple aspects of the issue.
Roughly spoken the opinions vary from "heaven on earth"
(first group), via "life threatening manipulation"
(second group) to "no problem to speak of" (third
group). These qualifications are sometimes used by the one group
to describe the other. Nuances hardly come into play.
In the beginning of this article we already
pointed out that the image forming around new religious movements
persistently produces negative associations with dangerous
"sectarian splinter groups". Often the applied
terminology is characteristic for the image of groups. The word
"cult" by itself carries a loaded image.
Within the scope of this article it would lead
us too far to pay extensive attention to the "history"
of the phenomenon. Yet for a basic understanding of the case a
short, fragmentary summing up is necessary.
A short "sectarian" history
What’s labeled with the term
"cult" nowadays is strongly related to the rise of what
in academic circles are called "new religious
movements". This refers to a development that started in the
nineteen sixties. Until the late seventies the media hardly paid
critical attention to this phenomenon. This changed through the
collective suicide on 18 November 1978 in French Guyana of the
movement around the American preacher Jim Jones, that
spectacularly made the headlines and even today is referred to as
a frightening example of what can happen within cults. During a
relatively short period afterwards the image forming around
"cults" was dominated by the high profile "anti
cult movement", that gave a (semi-?) scientific foundation
to the pathological aspects of cult membership with the metaphors
brain washing and "snapping".
Only in the eighties the theme "new
religious movements" became interesting to a wider range of
researchers. Sociologists, psychologists and theologists entered
into the interpretation of the issue with great zeal.
In The Netherlands especially Van der Lans
(Nijmegen, religious psychology), Kranenborg (Amsterdam,
divinity), Schnabel (Utrecht, sociology/ public mental health)
and Witteveen (Groningen, relationship government – new
religious movements) became the trendsetters in the discussion.
The results were, to put it mildly, sobering
when juxtaposed against the "dangers" that figured so
(over)prominently in the media after the events in
"Jonestown": there is no disturbing problem. Only
individually, mainly between parents and children, many problems
exist in relationship to the "personality change" that
people seem to undergo.
The anti-cult movement, in which a prominent
role is played by (often deprogrammed) ex-cult members, has
always set its own course. This course was mainly determined by
(negative) experiences, a limited number of American
psychiatrists that maintained their positions on the destructive
effects of cult membership, and in The Netherlands the television
minister Sipke van der Land, who in his book "De
Hersenspoelers" ("The Brain Washers", 1981) gave a
legitimate base to the practice of deprogramming.
In the nineties the interest in the issue is
only revived in case of "derailments" connected with
new religious movements in general. These cases (like the alleged
fraudulous activities of the Scientology Church; the alleged
collective suicide in Waco, Texas; the movement of the Temple of
the Sun, and more recently the American "internet cult"
Heavens Gate) often incite disturbed reactions from press, public
opinion and politicians. Often an overkill of reactions is the
result. A "cult investigation" initiated by the Belgian
government and the far reaching legal measures against the
Scientology Church in Germany can serve as examples here.
In The Netherlands the relationship between
researchers and the anti-cult movement has never been warm.
According to the first group it is really the anti-cult movement
that shows "sectarian" characteristics, and according
to the second group the researchers are simply blind to the
tragic problems that they repeatedly experience. Recently
academics were criticized for immersing themselves so much in the
way of thinking of the new religious movements, that they simply
do not want to see the negative aspects anymore. Possibly the
reaction to the unfounded negative image forming has contributed
to an overreaction of extreme benevolence.
In the media both groups don’t really go
any further than drawing a caricature of each others points of
view. These tensions have led to an extremely confused situation
for those who turn to "experts" for help. The one, of
course, will never refer to the other.
Said tensions seem to be connected with
Schnabel’s final remarks in his dissertation: "Where an
absolute truth comes into play, good manners deteriorate. This
goes for both the owners and the opponents of this truth…
Tolerance, the ability to relativate and solidarity have, in the
light of that absolute truth, become invisible qualities".
Deprogramming: facts and fiction
The reasoning is: "In case of
brainwashing, the only real method to regain the former
personality is deprogramming". There are many
misunderstandings about the practice of deprogramming. This is
specifically caused by thoughts immediately going back to the
early years of deprogramming, when the American Ted Patrick
applied the "treatment" in a rabid and aggressive
manner. In the course of time a certain "evolution"
took place in the way this "therapy" is executed.
In fact traditional deprogramming boils down to
making a fake appointment with the "cult member", in
order to take this person against their will to an isolated place
where during a period of days (as long as it takes for the
"cult member to snap out of its cult personality") an
intensive therapy is administered. Using videotaped material,
books and especially the persuasive force of the deprogrammer the
"client" must be convinced that he or she has become
the victim of a manipulative sectarian movement. Goal is the
"winning back of free choice".
Especially for the parents the goal is also for
the person to turn their back on the "cult", although
the deprogrammers emphasize that this too is a matter of free
choice. A deprogramming however is only considered really
successful if the result is reached that the person turns his
back on the "cult" and becomes "normal"
again.
This last fact shows an extremely debatable
aspect of deprogramming: the "freedom of choice"
mentioned by deprogrammers and their sympathizers could just as
easily be interpreted as "getting the person back in
line".
The violent deprogramming in the early years
has slowly evolved into a more cautious approach. I many
countries no deprogramming against the client’s will takes
place anymore. A new way of practice, where the group member is
willing to speak with therapists/critics, has come into being.
This approach is generally called "exit-counseling".
The image forming and misunderstandings around
deprogramming practice are being fed by publications in academic
circles. We’d like to especially point out "Nieuwe
religieuze bewegingen" (E. Barker, R. Singelenberg, 1996)
where we read on page 97: "Because the woman’s
relatives considered her religious beliefs highly unacceptable,
they finally took these drastic measures", and somewhat
further: "sometimes professional deprogrammers contact the
parents directly, playing on their fears. Thus they try to
convince them that if they really care about their child and want
to save it, there’s only one choice left: hire me and
I’ll save your child". Deprogramming of course is about
much more than "considering religious beliefs highly
unacceptable". Sure, in the past there have been several
cases like that in the United States, but fortunately The
Netherlands have been spared this kind of thing. So it really
doesn’t do to depict deprogrammers as money grabbers that
take advantage of the difficult position of the parents…
These are simplifications that draw a caricature of those who
practice , or have practiced, deprogramming. The picture of
deprogrammers going from door to door with their objectionable
product, does not do justice to those who incidentally are
confronted with real excesses on the "cult front". In
the court files we read that deprogrammings in the eighties were
concerned with issues like financial fraud, extortion and child
abuse. In the file we also find information about a case where
the leader of a religious movement was later on convicted for
child abuse.
Mind, this author is not sympathetic towards
deprogramming "per se". But we don’t do the
deprogrammers and the people who seek their help justice by
ridiculing deprogramming, for instance by narrowing the issue to
religious intolerance. This only leads to a hardening of
positions, and it is the main cause of alienation between
researchers and "cult care providers".
The course of the case
After this short "history" and
concise description of deprogramming, we go back to the court
case.
A summary of three long days in court
unfortunately cannot be complete. Yet it is important to get as
clear as possible a view on the perception of especially the
parents, who after all played a crucial role in the case.
In the statements of the parents and the
brother an almost ideal picture is painted of the family
situation. For the parents as well as the other relatives there
never was a particularly problematic relationship between Esther
and her parents. The problems only started after Esther came into
contact with her friend (later husband) Marcel, and the religious
movement around Amancio Batta. These problems are extensively
detailed in the court files with the various reports of the
police interrogations, as well as in the interrogation by the
court president during the court hearing itself.
In the description of the problems both the
parents and Sirenen refer regularly to literature about the
effect of cult membership. The American psychiatrist Robert J.
Lifton is often mentioned. Lifton has researched Chinese
brainwashing techniques during the Korean war. Base on this
research he has devised a theory of "ideological
totalitarianism": the attempt to make reality utterly
subordinate to an ideology. The anti-cult movement gratefully
used his experiences by applying his theory to cults c.q. new
religious movements.
During the court case many referrals were made
to the dangers of "sectarian movements", often
associated with Lifton’s theories. High scorers are:
inordinate influence, isolation and alienation, absolute
attachment to the leader, neglection of the future, physical and
mental deterioration, manipulation and deceit, and finally
religion as a disguise.
Selection and construction of facts?
Because of Esther’s "changed
personality" being so much compliant with the literature
about cult membership, one could ask to what extend the
parents’ observation might be (unconsciously) influenced by
the token position that Esther would be a member of a dangerous
cult. Only after the cult metaphor is applied to the
interpretation of the problems, the initial puzzle seems to be
relatively easy to solve. Schnabel in this context concludes that
in the cult issue the stand taken not only determines the
selection of facts, but also the construction of facts. The
question to be asked then, is whether or not the parents
themselves haven’t created a reality that inevitably would
lead to the decision to deprogram Esther. Put in a slightly
different way: haven’t they come to believe in a reality
that’s only very partially founded in what afterwards were
produced as "real facts"?
A vicious circle seems to have been created:
the experiences of the parents are interpreted by Sirenen as
inherent to the membership of a destructive cult. The stereotype
"cult" is then applied to the experiences, which leads
to a selective observation and a selection of facts that
strengthen this opinion.
The reaction to the expert witnesses that were
subpoenaed by the court seems to confirm this conclusion. Both
parents and Sirenen are of the opinion that the Ifa religion of
Amancio is a sectarian splinter group, with the leader figure
engaging in debatable practices. His rituals would have little
connection with the religious tradition of Ifa. The expert Ter
Haar, a specialist on African religions, established that this is
a movement that in all ways fits within the Yoruba tradition. And
the way Amancio Batta fills in his beliefs, of which the defense
says that it has little connection with the "real" Ifa,
by the expert is called "common" within the tradition
of the African religion that Batta is part of.
The naming of Esther’s daughter
(Ifa-Yemisi), although telling about the sympathy Esther and
Marcel feel for the Ifa religion, of course is not necessarily
the result of Esther having been "brainwashed" by
Amancio.
Sipke van der Land, the second expert witness
subpoenaed by the court, explains that in his opinion there is no
dangerous situation for Esther. Especially not any danger that
would warrant strong measures like deprogramming. His impression
of Esther (after several talks with her) is that she talks rather
airily about her connections with the Ifa religion.
Finally the defense fail in their attempts to
bring Batta, who was heard as a witness in the case, down from
his pedestal. The questions are so clumsily formulated that the
court president is forced to intervene three times and instruct
the lawyers to ask decent questions. Batta seems to react more to
the tone of the questions than to their contents. The opinion of
the defense lawyers that Batta only produces evasive answers and
lies, says more about the dilettantism of the lawyers that about
the truthfulness of Batta’s answers.
All facts that might indicate that the parents
are mistaken are either received with disapproval or, like we
noticed before, explained away within the "cult
stereotype".
According to adherents of the brainwashing
theory a cult member has two personalities: the cult personality
that is strongly influenced by the cult ideology, and a seemingly
stable (the "old") personality. Within this perspective
a psychiatric report on Esther is interpreted, in which she is
referred to as a stable personality. The reasoning of course is
that a psychiatrist without expertise of the mechanisms used by
cults and the resulting changed personality, is unable to produce
a correct opinion about the "cult member".
The impression Esther gave of the problematic
relationship with her parens is contributed to a mechanism that
is called "re-writing of history", again under the
influence of the "cult membership". The
"brainwashing" influences people to interpret their
past completely differently.
That a religious leader uses certain practices
that are common within his tradition doesn’t say a thing
about the manipulation Amancio applies toward the cult member, is
the opinion of the defense lawyers.
And the ignoring of the warning Sipke van der
Land wrote in a letter to the parents, strongly discouraging them
from deprogramming their daughter, is explained from the
background that Van der Land is not familiar with the specific
situation after the birth of Yemisi.
Although one of the suspect’s lawyers
tries to put the positions of both parents and experts in a more
relative light by saying that the truth must lie "somewhere
in the middle", this does not completely take away the above
mentioned impression: the taken positions determine the selection
and the construction of facts.
The addresses for the defense and the verdict
of the court.
In the addresses for the defense firstly the
deployment of a SWAT team by the police in order to end the
unlawful detention, is heavily criticized.
Most attention however goes to the position of
force majeur the suspects are said to have found themselves in.
Based on the available information as well as their own
experiences, they could not come to any other conclusion than
that there was an "acute and concrete emergency".
This emergency produces a conflict between two
obligations. Firstly the obligation to respect an adult’s
freedom of religion and to respect the experiencing of this
religion, and secondly the obligation to come to assistance when
somebody is involved in a life threating situation. After all,
refusing help to anybody who is in a life threatening situation,
might in Dutch law lead to criminal prosecution.
Where parents and children are concerned it is
also a fact that, however old and mature these children are, the
parents consider themselves obliged to assist them whenever they
need help.
An important detail should be pointed out here:
whenever they need help. In Esther’s case this help was
definitely not asked for by the child, and apart from that during
the court case it has often been discussed whether there was
really a threatening situation here.
A last aspect that the defense lawyers pointed
out, is that there was much reason to expect a "policy of
tolerance". After all, in The Netherlands there has never
before been a criminal prosecution for deprogramming, in several
cases of which there had been "unlawful detainment".
Apparently in the past the police felt more sympathy toward the
backgrounds of these "abductions". The point, of
course, is that the "kidnapping victims" after the
deprogramming had a totally different view on the "unlawful
detainment". History is re-written. The court president
pointed out that one of the most important requirements for a
"policy of tolerance" is, that criteria and conditions
have been formulated under which certain practices are
acceptable. With deprogramming this is not the case.
The court was faced with a double dilemma:
firstly it was clear to all parties concerned that there had been
no criminal intend. The family was utterly convinced that they
were performing a "rescue operation", and a number of
relatives have participated in the deprogramming out of
solidarity and loyalty to those they considered the
"victims": Esther’s parents and her brother.
Observing the personal circumstances we may subsequently
establish that the relationship with the daughter, after all that
happened, now has entered a total impasse.
Also the raid by a SWAT team and the great
uncertainty the family found itself in during a year, have
undoubtedly contributed to determining the sentence.
The other side of the case is that the court
has realized that its verdict would be used as a precedent in
possible future cases. A total acquittal would undoubtedly have
been interpreted as a legitimation of unlawful detention under
certain circumstances.
In the end fifteen of the sixteen suspects were
convicted. The court considered the "proven" facts so
serious that basically an unsuspended prison sentence would have
been in order, but finally it sentenced only to suspended
imprisonment from one to six months. The court determined
emphatically that in this case, because of the (above mentioned)
extenuating circumstances suspended sentences would be
sufficient, but that in future in comparable cases undoubtedly
unsuspended sentences will be given. The court did not give the
care workers higher sentences than the family.
As regards contents, the court stated that
respect for personal privacy weighs heavily in cases like this.
Hence "heavy demands should be made in interpreting the
concept of acute and concrete emergency" in order for an
appeal to force majeur to have any positive effect.
By judging that in Esther’s case there was
no such emergency, the court did not let itself be influenced by
the contradictory statements of expert witnesses and the
family/Sirenen, but by a contradiction in the process files. A
contradiction that during the process (in the statements and in
the lawyers’ pleas) was reconfirmed. Sirenen appealed to the
fact that till the very end they have offered the family
alternative solutions. There were three options of which
deprogramming was the last; the first and second were long-term
solutions: trying to keep contact with the "victim" to
let her in the long run choose to either indepently end the
"cult membership", or enter of her own free will into a
dialogue with the care assistants.
Especially by also presenting long-term
solutions as realistic options, the experts on whom the family
based their decision to deprogram, did not think this an acute
emergency.
The most important motivation for the lawyers
of Sirenen to produce the alternative options as evidence, seems
to be the confirmation that the final responsibility rested with
the parents. The parents’ lawyers on the other hand stated
that the first two options in fact boiled down to "doing
nothing". Which was exactly opposite to the responsibility
the parents felt, and their estimate of the acute emergency.
A legal subtlety then, in order to enable the
court to disregard the defendants’ claim to force majeur?
No. The court, by pointing out this contradiction, has also
exposed the weakness of the argumentation in favor of
deprogramming.
In the end it’s almost always the
"symptoms" that form the foundation from where
deprogrammers and anti-cult care assistants react to the request
to deprogram. The knowledge about the person concerned and
his/her situation is never based on interviews with the person
himself. Relatives, acquaintances, friends and "expert third
parties" produce the information. The motivation of
deprogrammers are more strongly founded on general judgements and
estimates than on knowledge and analysis of the individual
situation.
Personality change as a model for
explanation
Earlier on I stated that much more’s the
matter than only a legal case concerned with unlawful detention.
What has led to the parents intervening so drastically in their
daughter’s life? This question still hasn’t been
answered, and it falls outside the standard patterns of
explanation.
The term "personality change" is
often referred to in order to explain what happens to a person
who becomes a member of a "destructive cult". Basically
it is a descriptive term, indicating how people who come into
contact with a person who has enthusiastically entered a
religious movement, experience this person. He/she isn’t
"himself/herself" anymore, shows "abnormal"
behavior. This change has profound effects on communication. It
suddenly seems like you’re dealing with a completely
different person. The result is often that people grow apart.
Where in friendship this growing apart leads to
termination of the friendship, in family relations of course much
more is the matter. "It’s still our child", and
whatever happens, this special bond will always remain.
But couldn’t it be so that an important
characteristic of any interaction and relation between human
beings is ignored? Being a son or daughter, a brother or sister,
by itself of course is sufficient to establish an unconditional
bond, but it is not sufficient for the maintaining of a
successful relationship. People only seek each other out when
they have much in common. If this isn’t the case, they grow
apart. And when the will to do so isn’t mutual, it’s
hard to grow together again. That often takes a long time and
sometimes it doesn’t happen at all.
Yet, and this seems an important conclusion to
me, "change of personality" is just a descriptive
concept and that’s what it should remain. In circles of
deprogrammers however the concept is strongly loaded with being
normative. Change of personality is equated with a pathological
development. A pathological development as the result of
indoctrination and manipulation. The person has not only changed,
but shows the characteristics of being sickly disturbed.
Yet in practice this reasoning doesn’t
hold water. At least it is not confirmed by the countless
investigations that in the meantime have taken place. It’s
also thinking in stereotypes to immediately connect a personality
change with a life threatening situation.
If anything in the "Esther case" has
become soundly clear, it is that the heavy demands needed to
successfully appeal to force majeur, are not met in
deprogramming.
Part 2. The Ifa religion
Ifa "religion"?
Usually it is not too difficult to obtain a
picture of the beliefs of new religious movements, and often the
leader figures so prominently that we also get a good picture of
him. Also many streams can be traced to the religious traditions
they spring from, and from which as a rule they are a branch.
With the Ifa religion, and especially with Ifa
in The Netherlands, this is not so easy. It starts with the
description Ifa "religion". Ter Haar in her expert
witness statement to the court remarks correctly that there
really can’t be something like an Ifa "religion".
Ifa is the divination system of the religious tradition that
derives from and connects with the Yoruba people in African
Nigeria. In the times of slavery many Yoruba were deported to
North America and the Caribbean. New variations of the Yoruba
religious culture arose, often under different names. Macumba and
Candomble in Brazil, Santeria and Lucumi in Cuba and North
America. All these expressions are basically oral traditions.
There are now distinct dogma’s that apply to every believer.
Even "Ifa in The Netherlands" is too
wide a description of the phenomenon we are trying to describe.
In this case we are looking for the way Esther and Marcel give
shape to their commitment to the Ifa religion, and of course also
their relationship with the Rotterdam Ifa priest Amancio Batta. A
complicating factor is that The Netherlands know a second Ifa
priest who denies Amancio Batta all legitimity.
Thus we cannot confine ourselves to a global
description of the Yoruba religion and the way it is experienced
in other parts of the world after the diaspora of the slave
years. It is necessary to place Amancio Batta in that tradition,
and if possible shed some light too on the negative judgement of
his Amsterdam colleague Ifa priest Jaap Verduijn.
A good starting point seems the common
denominator that we find in all Yoruba branches. This common
denominator is especially the idea that God (Olodumare in the
Yoruba language) has incarnated in "energy/power"
(called Ashe). Ashe is a "divine stream" that pervades
all that lives. The manifestations of Ashe can be divided along
three lines: the concepts of norms and values that are connected
with ancestor reverence (1), the optimum use of Ashe be
maintaining close relationships with spiritual beings (called
Orisha’s) (2), and finally the order and regularity that
manifests in the divination system (Ifa) (3).
Yoruba’s believe that people now alive
should look to their ancestors as a role model on how life should
be arranged from a moral point of view. Apart from many other
expressions of ancestor worhsip the so called Egungun play a
role: masked dancers who appear in the streets and represent the
"ara orun" or "heavenly beings". They
function as messengers from the world of the dead. People turn to
them with questions and requests for advice. From their side the
egungun criticize the behavior of the living, and encourage them
to behave according to the highest moral standards.
Also connected with the ancestors is the belief
that every human being is a combination of visible and invisible
characteristic, that are united by a spiritual force called
"Ori", the "head". All physical and mental
characteristics of the individual are "chosen" before
its birth. Every "Ori" chooses its own destination
called "iwa". The task in life is to develop good
character, in the Yoruba language called "iwa pele".
One could also say: it’s all about staying on course, to
keep following the spiritual path that has been established
before birth.
Apart from the moral Ashe of the ancestors, the
Yoruba find their spiritual power in the relationship with a
pantheon of spiritual beings, named Orisha’s. The
Orisha’s are personifications of Ashe, availabe to people
who worship them. The priest in the Yoruba tradition has the
important task to acitvate the Ashe of the Orisha’s on
behalf of those who ask for help. The presence of Orisha’s
is invoked through dance and music. Each Orisha requires a
specific musical rhythm. The Orisha’s come down to unite
with their human children, they visit human bodies to dance
together with their children on this earth. People sacrifice to
the Orisha’s in order to intensify the relationship with
these spiritual beings; the Orisha’s in turn give humans
health, wealth, children and wisdom. Without the Ashe of the
sacrifices the Orisha’s would wither and be lost. In the
vision of the Yoruba’s a strong interdependecy exists
between man and Orisha: "If there are no humans, there are
no deities".
Finally, through Ifa the Yoruba can discover
Olodumare’s will in secular events. Ifa reveals order in
chaos, and destiny in coincidence. According to Yoruba myths the
founder god Olodumare gave the Orisha Orunmila a method of
communication between himself and the Orisha’s. This method
is called Ifa. People come with all kinds of questions to the
babalawo, the priest who masters the divination techniques, and
has great knowledge of the interpretation of the oracle. Through
Ifa the babalawo gives people information on their place in the
world, their destiny and what the gods expect from them.
Technically speaking an oracle tray and sixteen
palm nuts are used. The nuts are "cast"; depending on
the outcome one or two lines are written on the oracle tray.
After eight casts a socalled odu appears that subsequently is
connected with the question(s) that were asked of Ifa. An
alternative method is the use of an "oracle chain", the
opele. The choice wich text(s) belonging to the odu is/are
relevant for the client can be determined by the casting of
cowrie shells: not the whole corpus of these texts has to be read
in order to answer the client’s questions.
Psychosocial aspects of the Orisha religions
In an article on Internet some characteristics
of the "Orisha religions" are mentioned, that might
shed some light on the experiences of the parents and the
impression that a "personality change" had taken place
within Esther. (See literature list: Kucklick)
Many practitioners of "The Religion"
as it is called in its own circles, speak of the feeling that
they are being "pulled" or "pushed" into this
religion by spiritual powers. They have the opinion that the life
of such a person will not go well when this "call"
isn’t answered.
Within "The Religion" a hierarchical
system exists, based on a strong bond within a small group. The
group could be seen as a family, an ile in the Yoruba language.
The members of the ile are more or less the spiritual children of
the priest who has initiated them. Sometimes problems develop
when practitioners of the religion communicate their new-found
certainties to relatives and friends. Additionally the norms and
values system of the Orisha religions does not relate well to
that of Western oriented morals, where individual freedom and
self development hold such a central position.
The Orisha tradition, as we already stated, is
an oral tradition. The adherents may feel tension between
what’s written on paper about "The Religion", and
their own belief and experience. Much information found in books
is experienced as misleading, sensational or simply untrue. The
priest plays an important role in passing down the tradition. The
priest is consulted on a multitude of issues: relationship
problems, financial problems, bringing up children etcetera. Thus
the Orisha priest has a much broader function than only as a
spiritual leader.
"The Religion" has a long history of
secrecy. This has various backgrounds like racism, intolerance,
and above all the will to keep the own tradition pure. The
spiritual experiences and the rituals of the Orisha traditions
lend themselves to "pathological interpretations". We
mention here the belief in the influence of spiritual powers, and
the possession or trance during ritual meetings. Trance, in the
Orisha tradition, is seen as a valuable, positive experience, as
long as it is within the context or the Orisha ritual, guided by
an experienced priest.
The above offers several entrances for the
"cult researcher" to discover sectarian characteristics
in an Orisha religion. "Being pulled" is often seen as
dubious recruiting. When people attach more value to the
spiritual community than to their own family, this tends to
produce bristling hairs with many critics. The central position
of the Ifa priest fits seemlessly into the stereotypes about
powerful cult leaders that abuse their followers. "Secrecy
is only necessary when you have to hide something"; and the
inducing of trance is connected with "brain washing
practices".
It is not surprising then that during the court
case the defense regularly referred to the practices and rituals
in the "Ifa religion" to show that potentially very
dangerous practices are involved.
Ifa in The Netherlands and the
terminological controversy
In the above we drew a global sketch of the
origins of the Ifa divination, and we mentioned some psychosocial
aspects of the Orisha religions. Remains the question how the Ifa
religion in The Netherlands is organized.
Starting with externals, we establish that in
Rotterdam Amancio Batta has a shingle on his front door with the
description "babalawo". The Amsterdam
"Awolorisha" Jaap Verduijn employs the letter head
"Nederlands Ifa Genootschap". The presentation then,
places both in the Yoruba tradition.
Taking a closer look we discover vast
differences. For the time being we confine ourself to the
self-presentation. In an article in "Onze Wereld"
(October 1995) Amancio Batta is described as a Santeria priest.
Batta himself indicates that he entered into the Yoruba tradition
through Cuban Santeria. His involvement in the tradition was, as
he himself maintains, revealed to him. Ifa itself declares that
Amancio must fulfill a role within the tradition. In Cuba he is
already told that he is an Oba (= King) within the Yoruba
religion, and that he must travel to Nigeria to obtain more
clarity on his destiny and his involvement with "The
Religion". Nigeria indeed offers him the desired clarity.
There he gets the confirmation that he must see himself as an Oba
within the tradition. Thus Cuba and Nigeria play an important
role in his self-understanding. Amancio is a well-known
professional percussionist who uses the bata drums to invoke the
Orisha’s and to communicate with them. Also from
Orunmila/Ifa Amancio receives direct messages. Amancio is dressed
up exotically in a bright red gown, on his head a conspicuous red
hat. The color red is abundant in his Rotterdam home. Red is the
color of the Orisha Shango, a somewhat exited type in the Orisha
pantheon of the Yoruba tradition. So far, for the time being,
Batta’s self-understanding.
In the Amsterdam Awolorisha Jaap Verduijn we
find a completely different expression of the Yoruba tradition.
Verduijn has set his first steps in Ifa divinational practices
and rituals with an American Babalawo, and later he was initiated
by this Babalawo as Awolorisha and Omolawo. Where with Batta the
"communication with the Orishas" plays an important
role in his functioning as a priest, Verduijn stands more in the
traditional (scriptural) line of Ifa divination: the ancient
system of which the codes and interpretation tables through years
long initiations are passed on from babalawo to babalawo. In
other words: where we find in Batta a more
"experiential" practitioner of the Yoruba tradition,
Verduijn is more scripturally grounded.
The controversy around Batta and Verduijn seems
to revolve around a terminological discussion. Especially because
both use the term "Ifa priest", the discussion arises
if Batta and Verduijn are in the same tradition after all. Batta
understands himself as an Oba in the Nigerian Ifa tradition, and
from this self-understanding he considers himself not obliged to
adhere to the complex codes and rules that are connected with the
Ifa divination techniques. His "pedigree" and the way
he came into contact with Ifa, seem to indicate that his is more
a Caribbean variation of expression, with a strong emphasis on
direct communication with Orunmila/Ifa. In short: changing the
shingle on his door could contribute to clarity, removing much of
the need for endless discussions afterwards.
We still haven’t arrived at the level
that’s really important, namely in what way Esther and
Marcel are involved with the Ifa tradition. The simple fact of
their membership of Batta’s Ile gets us well on our way,
because it leads to the conclusion that they also practice the
more "experiential" version" of the tradition.
However, the reference to Batta does not lead us any further.
After all, Esther and Marcel behave just as "Dutch" as
adherents to other religions (established churches and/or newer
streams): every individual fills in their religion and belief in
their own personal way. The individual experience, after al, is
the pivot.
Which leads us into an area where one has to be
careful with judgements, yet there should remain room for
quotation marks. Ifa, and the Orisha religions in general, are
not just "belief systems for the Sunday, and the rest of the
week we go our own way". They require a deep commitment, and
there is an elaborate and inclusive system of norms and values
connected to the belief. The connection with and the dependence
of an Orisha means that you have to live the way the Orisha wants
you to, because disturbing that connection brings great risks to
your well-being and your physical and psychological health. The
question now crops up: what are the consequences of adopting an
African "symbolic universe"? Is this really possible
without extensive modifications caused by the fact that, in The
Netherlands, we live in an utterly different context: socially,
economically and religiously? Exactly here lie the risks of the
more "experiential" variations" of African
religions. The ecstasy of the religious experience might obscure
the perception of the complexity of human life. The experience of
unity might lead to rigidity, and undermine flexibility and the
capacity to see things in perspective. And then there’s the
risk of social isolation. It is often difficult to communicate
with "outsiders" about the required level of religious
commitment in the Orisha religions. Many people cannot see why
one should "turn to Africa", when in the West there is
an overkill of spirituality and spiritual ideologies. The
prejudice against everything exotic and "foreign" has
not eroded yet.
Whether such a negative scenario will
materialize remains, of course, to be seen. Experience teaches us
that especially in cases of failed deprogramming a hardening of
positions might take place. Which in turn contributes to the
vicious circle the victims of deprogramming might get caught in.
Conclusion, and how to go on?
The court case has cut deep wounds. Reading the
court files is not an elevating experience. The various positions
have been worded so violently and negatively, that both parties
must have been shocked by each other. In Esther’s presence
it is said that she is potentially suicidal; the parents are
described as fanatics without feelings. And all was meant so
positively… One almost experiences a feeling of substitute
shame when the most intimate details are highlighted in front of
the public media.
The researcher is left with many questions. And
he realizes that he remains the outsider, who is objectifying a
"personal tragedy", and then gives a detached verdict.
The explanation "personality change" in the end gives
no relief for what people in the concrete situation experience as
estrangement, pain and confrontation. The explanation does not
take the sting out of the discussion.
No bridge is built between the different
worlds. The academics maintain their opinion that these are
individual (neglectable?) problems, the anti-cult movement again
sees conformed its opinion that academia is blind to the dangers
of indoctrination, individual manipulation, and group
manipulation. Those immediately concerned still feel themselves
misunderstood, for (and nothing can change that) personality
change is a process that cuts deep wounds into relationships.
But possibly the court case might lead to a
renewed effort to take the issue seriously. An effort to get all
those concerned around the table, and together look and research
which institutions can be created to prepare for and react to the
problems that manifest around the membership of new religious
groups.
Perhaps it is also the start to (again) found a
platform where all sides of the coin will be done right. Without,
of course, taking the problem out of proportion. To finally quote
Schnabel: "All flutters, swells and bulges in the gale of
thought, whose major quality seems to be windiness". But
this does not diminish the fact that also from excessive
windiness many individuals have foundered and drowned.
Post script
What is done cannot be undone. There seems no
real perspective in sight to solve either the problems in
Esther’s family, or the terminological controversy between
Verduijn and Batta. In order to reach the first goal all past
books need to be balanced. Rapprochement is only possible when
all unanswered questions are put aside, and the future is faced
with an open mind.
The personalities of Batta and Verduijn are so
different that the chance is that "Ifa in The
Netherlands" will always be a "country between the
rivers". But does it really matter? Diversity is a very
important characteristic of African Traditional Religions. Both
worship the Orisha’s in their own way. So the Orisha’s
will keep dancing with their human children.
Note
This article is based upon (among others) a
report that I wrote shortly after the case in the magazine
"In de Marge". While writing this follow-up article I
had access to all court files. Between April and August 1997 I
have conducted several interviews with Esther and Marcel, and
with the care assistants that were concerned with the
deprogramming.
I have also interviewed Esther’s parents,
and finally Amancio Batta and Jaap Verduijn. A concept version of
this article was given to them. I owe them thanks for their
extensive comments.
Glossary
Ara Orun: "Heavenly beings". Yoruba
ancestors or Orisha’s, depending on the context.
Ashe: Power, grace, growth, blood. The life
force of God, the Orishas and nature.
Awolorisha: "Mystery of the Orisha".
An initiate in the mysteries of an Orisha.
Babalawo: "Father of the mystery".
Highest priestly level of Orunmila/Ifa; divination priest.
Bata: "Sacred" drums, used in various
Yoruba rituals.
Egungun: (egun = dead person, ancestor). Ritual
where masked "representatives" of the ancestors play.
Ifa: The oracle system of the Yoruba religion.
Often Ifa also denotes the Orisha of the oracle.
Ile: House, commune, family. Ile-Ife =
Spiritual centre of the Yoruba, centre of creation.
Iwa pele: (iwa = character). The moral
responsibility of every Yoruba: good character.
Oba: "King" within the Yoruba
tradition.
Odu: Individual divination code, result of
divination. Also the connected myths, tales and offerings. (The
oral literary sources upon which Ifa divination is based)
Olodumare: Founder-God within the Yoruba
pantheon.
Omolawo: "Child of the mystery",
lower level of Orunmila priest; divination priest.
Opele: Divination chain, with eight half opele
nuts.
Ori: "Head", destiny of humans.
Orunmila: Orisha of wisdom and divination. See
Ifa.
Santeria: "Path of the saints". A
Cuban and North American variation of the Yoruba tradition.
Shango: Orisha of thunder, lightning and power.
Yoruba: The people living in that part of
Africa that now is called Nigeria. Also a name for the
(religious) culture from which the various Orisha religions
derive.
References/Literature
Awolalu, Omosade, Yoruba beliefs and sacrificial rites,
London 1979.
Barker, Eileen & Richard Singelenberg, Nieuwe
religieuze bewegingen. Een praktische inleiding, Kampen 1996.
Bascom, William, Ifa-Divination. Communication between
Gods and Men in West Africa, Bloomington 1969.
Bromley, David G., James T. Richardson (eds.) The
Brainwashing/Deprogramming Controversy: Sociological,
Psychological, Legal and Historical Perspectives, New York
1980.
Conway, Flo & Ron Siegelman, Knappen,
Amsterdam/Brussel 1979.
González-Wippler, Migene, Powers of the Orishas. Santeria
and The Worship of the Saints, New York 1992.
Haan, Wim, De vrouwen van Krishna. Een oud verhaal in een
nieuw jasje, in: Denise Dijk, e.a. Vrouw, Religie, Macht,
Delft 1985.
Haar, Gerrie ter, Beknopte inhoud en achtergrond
‘Ifa-religie’, deskundige-rapport voor de
rechtbank, 10.10.1996, Utrecht.
Hanegraaff, Wouter J., Nieuwe Religieuze Bewegingen, in: Religieuze
Bewegingen in Nederland, nr. 29 (1994), p. 1-49.
Karcher, Steven, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Divination,
Shaftesbury 1997.
Kranenborg, Reender, Sekten ... Gevaarlijk of niet?,
in: Religieuze Bewegingen in Nederland, nr. 31 (1996).
Kucklick, Sue, Orisha Tradition: An Overview for the Mental
Health Care Practitioner, Internet:
http://members.aol.com/starkana/sue.htm.
Land, Sipke van der, De Hersenspoelers, Kampen 1981.
Langendoen, Agnes, Ifa-divinatie: van de noo(t)d een deugd
maken, Doktoraalskriptie Culturele Antropologie VU, Amsterdam
1986.
Lans, Jan van der, Volgelingen van de goeroe. Hedendaagse
religieuze bewegingen in Nederland, Baarn 1981.
Lifton, R.J., Thougth reform and the psychology of
totalism. A study of ‘brainwashing’ in China, New
York 1961.
Murphy, Joseph M., Santeria. African Spirits in America,
Boston 1988, 1993.
Oosterhout, Marcel, Amancio Batta: ‘De Schepper, dat
is communicatie’, in: Bijeen, november 1994, p. 42-43.
Reumers, Melani, De sluipgangen van de santería.
Yoruba-goden in Nederland, in: Onze Wereld, oktober 1995,
p.60-63.
Richardson, James T., Joel Best, David G. Bromley (eds.), The
Satanism Scare, New York 1991.
Sakheim, David K., & Susan E. Devine (eds.), Exploring
Satanism & Ritual Abuse, New York 1992.
Sargant, William, The Mind Possessed. A Physiology of
Possession, Mysticism and Faith Healing, New York 1973.
Schnabel, Paul, Tussen stigma en charisma. Nieuwe
religieuze bewegingen en geestelijke volksgezondheid,
Deventer 1982.
Verduijn, Jaap, Enige informatie over het Ifa-geloof,
niet gepubliceerd paper, z.p., z.d. (1996).
Witteveen, T.A.M., Overheid en nieuwe religieuze bewegingen,
‘s-Gravenhage 1984.
Informatie op het Web over Ifa en de
Orisha-godsdiensten:
http://www.angelfire.com/nv/ifadutch/ The website of Jaap Verduijn
http://www.artnet.net/~ifa Ijo Orunmila
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~airyn/spiritlinks.html Links to other information on African spirituality.
http://members.aol.com/starkana/index.htm OrishaList Index
Information on African religion: http://www.gtu.edu/library/LibraryNRMLinks.html
An other article by Wim Haan, which is recently translated:
a
short essay about African Music
The English pages of the Bezinningscentrum: English
site
Comments are welcome:
wtg.haan@dienst.vu.nl
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