The Franklin Files

Shadowman · Senior Member

RE: The Finders Cult

Shadowman · Senior Member

First priority here goes to helping female skeptics, "because there need to be more of us!" Pettie says. Men are welcome on a "space-available" basis. Today, the only visible participant is male, a retired architect from Washington who is staying at the center part-time. The architect (who asks not to be named in this piece) is starting a consulting service to help people build "healthy houses"--healthy physical plane, healthy social plane, he explains cheerfully.

"Merrie's got a real eye for finding the mechanism that will trigger positive change," he comments. "Sometimes it comes in the form of words, sometimes by actions. Surprises are the only unsurprising thing around Merrie."
No Dogma, Just Catma

Pettie knows of the Secular Web and says she likes its definition of Metaphysical Naturalism. It's in tune with her own aspiration, which she defines as "ataraxia": Epicurus' concept of peace of mind through accepting things exactly as they are, even when they are stubbornly ambiguous. Always learning, always keeping an open mind, always keeping cool.

"I don't have any dogma. Just catma," she says.

Be that as it may, she certainly has a repertoire of charming one-liners.

Other than Epicurus, who are her inspirations? She rattles off a few: Nietzsche, Machiavelli, Rabelais, Victoria Woodhull, Paul Kurtz, Fredric Jameson, Virginia Postrel, Martin Seligman, Helene Cixous, Richard Rorty.

Wait, she's not finished: also Lao Tzu, Now Tzu, Sun Tzu and Moon Tzu.

Shadowman · Senior Member

Bemused? Confused? "Confusion is the first sign of wisdom," Pettie flashes encouragingly as she dances you past the rows of books to the front door.

So you drive back through the manicured streets, past the steeples and onto the highway to Washington, feeling that you have just witnessed the start of something very interesting. What it is, you're not exactly sure. For now, though, ambiguity will do.

Copyright 2003, Kristin K. Nauth. This electronic version copyright 2003, Internet Infidels, Inc.

Disclaimer: Feature articles represent the viewpoint of their authors and should not be taken as necessarily representative of the viewpoint of the Internet Infidels and/or the Secular Web.

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Published: 1/14/2003

Shadowman · Senior Member

Sep 24 2006
Finders Keepers, Losers Sleepers
Posted by Editor
Sunday, 24 September 2006

he Finders is another one of those new age cults whose history dates back to the late-1960s. Yes, starting cults was quite the "thang" back then. The thing is, there are a ton of them out there--more than most of you might realize. Of course, not every self-proclaimed group is necessarily a cult. Take the Children of Thunder, for example. Glenn and Justin Helzer, along with their female companion, Dawn Godman, murdered five people in August of 2000. In anticipation of their murder spree, they even "purchased three dogs" to eat their victims remains. Needless to say, their "grisly tale of death" threatens to outdo the Brothers Grimm. I will however save that particular story and the rather curious tidbits that never made it to the MSM (or Crime Library, for that matter) for another day. As for real cults, you simply do not hear about those unless someone tilts and does a Jonestown, Heavens Gate, or Waco. That, or they are caught pulling a Manson or found to be involved in other illegal activities... such as child sex-slave trafficking.

As with the Children of God,[1] the Finders have had name changes as well. Their original name was the Keepers and their founder was Marion David Pettie. No one outside of the members, immediate families, and communities where they lived had ever heard of them. That is, until Tuesday, February 7, 1987 when a story was published in the Washington Post regarding a multi-state investigation of an alleged child sex-slave ring.[2]

Shadowman · Senior Member

"Cursory examination of the documents revealed detailed instructions for obtaining children for unspecified purposes. The instructions included the impregnation of female members of the community known as the Finders, purchasing children, trading, and kidnapping. ... One such telex specifically ordered the purchase of two children in Hong Kong to be be arranged through a contact in the Chinese Embassy there. ... Other documents identified ... a keen interest in terrorism, explosives, and the evasion of law enforcement. ... There were also a set of instructions which appeared to be broadcast via a computer network which advised the participants to move "the children" and keep them moving through different jurisdictions, and instructions on how to avoid police attention."

-- Ramon J. Martinez, Special Agent, USCS, February 7, 1987

By Monday, April 13, 1987, investigation into the Finders case was "disappeared" into the government black hole of "secret" classifications.

"The individual further advised me of circumstances which indicated that the investigation into the activity of the Finders had become a CIA internal matter. The MPD report has been classified secret and was not available for review. I was advised that the FBI had withdrawn from the investigation several weeks prior and that the FBI Foreign Counter Intelligence Division had directed MPD not to advise the FBI Washington Field Office of anything that had transpired."

-- Ramon J. Martinez, Special Agent, USCS, April 13, 1987

Outside of a 1993 US News and World Report article, a Kenn Thomas 1998 interview[3] with the founder, and a later posting by Thomas regarding Patch Adams[4] very little is really known about this group. Thus, leaving rich ground for speculation of the CIA sponsored child sex-slave trafficking kind. Then again, perhaps Danny was onto something...