by Sue Kira, Gold Coast, Australia

On Friday 12^th October 2012 I sat down expecting another exceptional night of education from Serge Benhayon at a Universal Medicine presentation at Lennox Head. Prior to his presentation, Serge introduced David Millikan to us as a Uniting Church Minister. At first I was pleased to hear this, as I knew that the Uniting Church had an open mind to different religions, and views on a God who loves us all equally.

Serge told us how he and David had previously spoken for hours, discussing their viewpoints and how the media had been saying we were a ‘cult’. David Millikan had suggested to Serge that his view was that Universal Medicine was not a cult, and he wanted to speak to us briefly at the beginning of the presentation about how we felt. David said he wanted to include Universal Medicine in a chapter in his book.

I thought to myself, great, here’s a man with an open mind about what Universal Medicine and those who attend the workshops are all about. But instead, Mr. Millikan stood on stage with his arms folded at first, then pointed at us saying we were all in a cult and we were being led by Serge Benhayon. As he started to speak, a group of people with video cameras suddenly stood up in the hall and started filming the audience of adults and children at close range. I could also see there were film crew cameras just outside the front doors filming us through the glass. No permission had been given to film, and when asked to stop they refused.

What was this, an inquisition? It all felt really weird. I went into shock and disbelief that such a thing could be happening in a so-called free country – where I was under the impression we could choose whatever way of life we wanted to be involved with so long as we didn’t hurt anyone or break any laws. How are we a cult when we come and go as we please, we are responsible for ourselves, we love all of humanity equally and know a God who loves all equally? There are heaps of different religions and other ways of living in the world, so why is Universal Medicine labeled a cult?

This is not just about challenging the false accusations being hurled at Universal Medicine. It is about the behaviour of a man who professes to be a ‘Man of God’, treating us like a bunch of naughty children who needed to be punished, for what, we are unsure. It is clear that this man and the others that came with him, had an agenda to sensationalise a story that was paid for by a well known Television Network; and to have fodder for their own personal gain.

This kind of behaviour needs to be addressed and stopped.