David C. Lane

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This biographical article or section is written like a résumé. Please help improve it by revising it to be neutral and encyclopedic. (February 2007)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

David Christopher Lane (born April 29, 1956, Burbank, California) is a professor of philosophy and sociology at Mt. San Antonio College, in Walnut, California.

[edit] Education

Lane has a Ph.D. and an M.A. in the sociology of knowledge from the University of California at San Diego. Additionally, he has another M.A. in the history and phenomenology of religion from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and a B.A. from California State University, Northridge. Lane received his A.A. from Los Angeles Valley Community College. Attended Notre Dame High School

[edit] Religious criticism

Lane is a lecturer in religious studies at California State University who specializes in the study of new religious movements including cults. He has been critical on the internet and elsewhere about groups such as Eckankar, the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, Radhasoami, gurus, and the Indian gurus Sathya Sai Baba, Satchitananda, Muktananda, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Yogi Bhajan.^{[citation needed]}

Lane was raised Roman Catholic, but went on to be initiated in 1978 by Sant Charan Singh of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. He later had a change of heart and renounced some but not all of the teachings.^[1]

In 1978 Lane wrote a thesis about what he saw as plagiarism by Paul Twitchell of his former teachers. Twitchell is the founder of Eckankar, a new religious movement, and Lane's writings about Twitchell and Eckankar resulted in an enduring controversy with some people. Lane's writings have been cited by some religious scholars and critics of new religious movements. Doug Marman, a member of Eckankar, wrote a book published online Dialogue in the Age of Criticism [2] that debates the criticisms of Lane and others.^{[2] [3]}

He has published books and contributed articles to the Journal of Humanistic Psychology, the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Fate, Laughing Man, the Movement Newspaper, and also to encyclopedias. His review of Francis Crick's life and work was featured in the University of California's science and mathematics magazine. He has appeared in television broadcasts that deal with the subject of cults^{[citation needed]}.

Lane was instrumental in helping Peter McWilliams write his book, LIFE 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You, which caused a world-wide uproar in the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, lead by John-Roger, (Roger Delano Hinkins).^{[citation needed]}

He previously taught at the University of California, San Diego, The California School of Professional Psychology, the University of Humanistic Studies, Palomar College, Mira Costa College, and the University of London and other academic institutions. He has given invited lectures at the London School of Economics, California State University, Fullerton.

Lane's M.A. thesis, Radhasoami Mat, was passed with highest honors at GTU. He has presented talks to the American Academy of Religion, including paper presentations at Stanford University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and the University of California, Berkeley and served as a Research Assistant at U.C. Berkeley. His genealogical work was featured in Radhasoami Reality (Princeton University Press, 1991).^{[citation needed]}

In an interview in the San Diego Reader published on June 22, 1995, Lane complained about receiving death threats from defenders of several new religious movements. He has also been involved in a number of law suits due to his critical stance on several new religious movements.^[4]

Lane's booklet, Why I Don't Eat Faces: A Neuroethical Argument for Vegetarianism, was published in 1993 and is featured worldwide on a number of vegan and vegetarian websites and is widely cited and referenced.^{[citation needed]} Lane has been a lacto vegetarian for more than 32 years.^{[citation needed]}

Lane has also produced a number of short films, including Vertical Geometry, Moving Water, Liquid Air, and Digital Baba.

Lane frequently joins discussions and debates between current and former members of new religious movements, especially on Yahoo! group he set up for use with his classes. He puts some of his discussions on The Neural Surfer, the Mt. SAC philosophy department web site which also contains Lane's online diary and essays of a satirical nature on religious topics.

[edit] Bibliography

• Making of a Spiritual Movement (1978)
• The Radhasoami Tradition (1992)
• The Unknowing Sage (1993)
• The Making of a Spiritual Movement: The Untold Story of Paul Twitchell and Eckankar, del Mar Press 1993, ISBN 0-9611124-6-8
• Exposing Cults (1994)
• DA: The Strange Case of Franklin Jones (1995)
• The Enchanted Land (1995)

[edit] See also

• List of cult researchers
• Cults

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

David C. Lane

• Neural Surfer Online diary of Lane
• Neural Surfer 2008 version
• Document from CESNUR describing Lane's battle against MSIA
• Legal document from CESNUR MSIA versus David C. Lane