Editing Anti-cult movement (section)

===United States===
The first organized opposition to new religions in the United States appeared in 1971 with the formation of FREECOG (Parents Committee to Free Our Sons and Daughters from the [[The Family International|Children of God]]).<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Wooten |first1=James T. |title=Ill Winds Buffet Communal Sect |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/29/archives/ill-winds-buffet-communal-sect-ill-winds-buffet-a-communal-sect-of.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 November 1971 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230627200506/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/29/archives/ill-winds-buffet-communal-sect-ill-winds-buffet-a-communal-sect-of.html |archive-date=27 June 2023 |page=41|issn=0362-4331|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Chryssides, ''Exploring New Religions'', 346–347.</ref> In 1973, FREECOG renamed itself as the Volunteer Parents of America, and then the [[Citizens' Freedom Foundation|Citizens Freedom Foundation]] (CFF), before becoming the [[Cult Awareness Network]] (CAN) in 1984.<ref name=":1" /> In 1979, another anti-cult group, the [[American Family Foundation]] (AFF) was founded (which is now the [[International Cultic Studies Association]]); it began organizing annual conferences, launched an information phone-line, and published the ''[[Cult Observer]]'' and the ''[[Cultic Studies Journal]]''.<ref name=":2" /> In 1996, CAN was sued for its involvement in the deprogramming of a member of the [[United Pentecostal Church International]] named [[Jason Scott case|Jason Scott]].<ref>Melton, "Anti-Cultists in the United States," 228.</ref> Other parties joined the lawsuit, and this [[Bankruptcy|bankrupted]] the organization. A group which included a number of [[Scientologists]] purchased the "Cult Awareness Network" name and formed the "[[New Cult Awareness Network]]."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Knapp |first=Dan |date=December 19, 1996 |title=Group that once criticized Scientologists now owned by one |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9612/19/scientology/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061223084700/http://cnn.com/US/9612/19/scientology |archive-date=2006-12-23 |access-date=2023-01-02 |work=[[CNN]]}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s American anti-cultist and [[Deprogramming|deprogrammer]] [[Ted Patrick]] was charged at least thirteen times and convicted at least three times for [[kidnapping]] and [[unlawful imprisonment]] for his deprogramming activities.<ref>Howard O. Hunter and Polly J. Price. [https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2069&context=lawreview "Regulation of Religious Proselytism in the United States."] (PDF) ''Brigham Young University Law Review'' no. 2 (2001): 546.</ref><ref name="nyt-08301980">{{Cite news |date=August 30, 1980 |title=Ted Patrick Convicted of Seizing Woman Said to Have Joined Cult; Escaped From Abductors |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/08/30/archives/ted-patrick-convicted-of-seizing-woman-said-to-have-joined-cult.html}}</ref> In 1980, Patrick was convicted of "[[conspiracy]], [[false imprisonment]] and [[kidnapping]]" of Roberta McElfish, a waitress in [[Tucson, Arizona]], after accepting [[United States dollar|US$]]7,500 from her family to deprogram her.<ref name="nyt-08301980" />