MOTHER, WHO SAYS SON IS IN CULT, ALERTS OTHER PARENTS

When Janet Pardue first learned her son was participating in a Bible study group, she was pleased. But that pleasure soon turned into a nightmare when she found out he was involved in what she describes as a cult.

"It has been a living nightmare, and if I can prevent just one family from going through this devastating experience it is worth anything that I can do," the Cape Girardeau woman said.

Pardue said she and her husband, Wilbur, never dreamed that their son, Will, would get mixed up in a cult.

She said their son was "a model kid" growing up in Cape Girardeau. She described him as "truthful, honest and studious."

Three years ago, Will Pardue graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School. In the fall of 1989, he went away to school in Kansas City. He enrolled in DeVry Institute, a technical school, to study for a job in the computer field.

About a year and a half ago, Will Pardue told his parents he had joined a Bible study group. "Of course, I encouraged it," said Janet Pardue.

Only later, she said, did she find out that the group, the Kansas City Church of Christ, was a cult. She said the group is affiliated with the Boston Church of Christ Movement.

The church, she said, is not related to the mainstream Churches of Christ denomination or any other traditional church.

A spokeswoman for the church in Shawnee Mission, Kan., a Kansas City suburb, said Wednesday that the religious group is affiliated with the Boston Church of Christ, but is not a cult.

She referred a reporter's inquiries to Rhett Spivey, the church's evangelist. A telephone call to Spivey was not returned.

Will Pardue dropped out of school last fall. His parents learned about it when they were notified by the school after Christmas.

A telephone call to DeVry Institute went unreturned Wednesday.

Janet Pardue said she and her husband found out about the cult earlier this summer when they were notified that their son had forged a check and was two months in arrears on his lease.

"We went up to drag him back," said Pardue. But their son had turned 21 in January. Pardue said she and her husband no longer had any legal control over their son.

Pardue said they made the trip to Kansas City in July. Since then, they have read all they can about cults.

She said the Kansas City Church of Christ was formed in 1988.

The Cult Awareness Network, based in Chicago, describes the Boston Church of Christ Movement as a cult.

"This is a group we get repeated complaints about," said Cynthia Kisser, executive director of the Cult Awareness Network. The non-profit organization has 21 chapters around the country. It provides educational information about cults.

"We handle 18,000 inquiries a year through this office alone," she said.

Kisser said the Church of Christ Movement has a reputation for recruiting college students as members. "Once they are involved, they get them to drop out and work full-time for the organization," she explained.

Kisser said there are two types of cults: those that are harmful and those that are not.

"What we care about is a destructive cult," she said.

Kisser said there are two main characteristics of destructive cults: the group is unethical and deceptive in how it recruits members, and it uses behavior modification or mind-control techniques on recruits without their knowledge.

Kisser said many people who have left the Church of Christ Movement have described the group as a destructive cult.

"They felt they were pressured to quit school. They felt their personal life was controlled," she said.

But she said, "It's a subtle control. You will never find a rule book coming out of the church that you must give all the money to the church."

Kisser said, "There are no laws against cults and there are no laws against mind control."

But she added, "I think cults are really a hidden danger in society because they hurt people.

"We estimate there are at least 2,000 destructive cults operating in this country," said Kisser. "About one-third are Bible-based cults."

Of the Church of Christ Movement, Pardue said, "What they do is alienate you from the family."

Since the Pardues made the trip to Kansas City, their son has moved to a new address. He is living with three members of the religious group. "They will not allow him to live alone," Pardue said.

She said their son won't talk to them about the group.

Pardue said the group uses what they call "disciplers." She maintained the disciplers instruct members on how to live and virtually control their lives.

"It's very controlled. They have church houses that they meet in," she explained.

Church members can only date other members of the group, Pardue said. The cult, she said, asks its members to turn all of their money over to the church.

The Pardues had paid thousands of dollars for their son's schooling and living expenses. Since the situation has come to light, they have cut off all financial support to their son.

"All this money is down the tubes," she said. "More importantly, he has lost because he has not gotten the education that he had set out to get. This was his dream. He was really going to go out and be somebody, and now he has nothing," she added.

Pardue said the group wears down prospective members "until they can't think for themselves.

"They use fear and guilt," she said.

"It puts you in mind of Jim Jones, and you don't know where this thing is going to lead," said Pardue, referring to the 1978 mass suicide of People's Temple cult members in Guyana.

The Pardues have hired an "exit counselor" to encourage their son to leave the cult.

Pardue said she finds it hard to accept that her son became involved in a cult. "It's hard to believe that anybody would fall for something like that."

But she said it happens to many people.

"It needs to be brought to the public's attention," she said. "This is really a very serious problem, and people need to know that this takes place because it is dangerous."

Cults such as the Kansas City group, she said, prey on college students and young adults who are often away from home for the first time and lonely.

"They love-bomb them," she said. "They reach out to them and suck them in."

A University of Nebraska administrator expressed concern recently about a similar group in Lincoln, Neb., contending that the group preyed on lonely college students. The administrator was quoted by an Omaha newspaper saying some church recruits had been asked to change college majors or quit school and get higher paying jobs to benefit the church.

Despite the situation, Pardue is hopeful that things will work out for her family. "I won't give up hope because the Lord is in control," she said. "Something good is bound to come from this and I honestly believe that."

Kevin Orr, crime prevention officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, said there is little that police can do about cults.

"As long as they are not breaking the law they are covered under the First Amendment right of freedom of speech and freedom of religion," he said.

"I know from people who have family members or friends who become involved in the groups, that is very difficult to accept," said Orr.

"Ethically there are things that are wrong, but a lot of times there is not anything illegal taking place."

In most cases, he said, cult members are there of their own free will.

He said there have been cults in Cape Girardeau from time to time. "The Moonies have been through. We have dealt with other groups at various times in the past."

Orr said it's important to educate people about cults. "There is always a need to educate people on any topic, whether it is cults or anything else, if it is something that could be harmful to someone."