Aesthetic Realism is a cult   Who they are, how they operate • Written by former members	Get notified when I update this site.
Home Cult Aspects AR in their own words AR in the media What former members say Thinking of leaving AR? Home page Contact Share your story News Get an email when updates are posted What is AR? Cult aspects of AR The Gay Cure Suicide of the founder Attempts to recruit schoolchildren 5 reasons you can't trust an AR person 10 lies Aesthetic Realists tell Hypocrisy of the Aesthetic Realists Aesthetic Realism glossary Actual AR advertisement Their ad for their "gay cure" Secret internal meeting Actual AR consultation Their hysterical letters to NY Magazine Actual Aesthetic Realism lesson Their response to this website NY Mag: A "cult of messianic nothingness" Harper's: "The moonies of poetry" Commentary Mag: "An odd NY psychiatric cult" NY Blade: "Anti-Gay Cult Pulls a Fast One" NY Times: "...pietistic snippets by Believers" Lengthy article in Jewish Times Lengthy article in NY Post Aesthetic Realism exposed A tale of getting sucked in AR ruined his marriage On having all the answers Kicked out for remaining gay Convinced him to not go home for Xmas A Fortune 100 exec weighs in "I want Ellen Reiss questioned!" They took his consultation tape "No question: Eli Siegel killed himself" Confirming all the criticism AR's mind control explained Michael Bluejay's experiences Members interviewed in Jewish Times Members interviewed by the NY Post Help for those thinking of leaving

No attacks on the contributors, please      [Here I'm speaking directly to the current AR members who want to snipe at the contributors to this site through the Add-a-Comment box.]      Look, I know you're scared that visitors to this site believe the stories shared by former AR members that are posted here. You should be, because why wouldn't anyone believe them? So many former members have come out and spilled the beans about their experience, do you really think you can cast any doubt on these stories by continuing to shout, "They're lying! They're lying!" ?      Well, apparently you do. And what's really hypocritical is that while you whine up and down the street on Countering the Lies that some of the contributors to this site choose to remain anonymous, every single one of you who has written in to this site has used a fake name and fake email address! You know, the contributors to this site do tell me their real names and email addresses, I just don't publish them. You people, on the other hand, have offered nothing but fakery. And trying for an entry in the Grand Prix of Irony, one of you submitted a comment complaining bitterly about a former member's post being anonymous...and you submitted that complaint anonymously! Incredible.      Anyway, here's the deal: This site is the safe space for former members. "Countering the Lies" is your space. I know how you think: you want both your space and my space to present your message. Funny, you're not offering me any space on Countering the Lies to present my message, are you? Of course not. You're too scared to even link to this site from CTL!      So I don't have any obligation to give you a forum in our space, especially when you say petty things, and say them anonymously. However, I'll still consider it: Keep it clean (no name-calling), use a real address so I can verify your comment (I won't publish your address), and offer me a similar opportunity on CTL to post messages, and I'll be happy to let you post here.      But really, if you're so eager to use my space to present your own message, why haven't you agreed to debate me? If you're so confident that you're right and we're wrong, how about we do this live in public, rather than hiding behind the cover of the Internet? Or is the best you can do to try to post insulting and anonymous comments on somebody else's webspace? Is that really the best you can do? You tell me.    Share your Aesthetic Realism story! If you did time in AR, had or have a friend or relative in AR, or had some other run-in with the group, I hope you'll share your story on this site. If you'd like to write something that you don't want to appear on this site, then please instead. Name (We won't publish your name unless you say it's okay, but we have to have it in order to verify submissions.) Email Address (We won't publish your email address, but we have to have it in order to verify submissions.) Please type the word in the picture:  (prevents spam) Your experience: Yes   No Okay to publish your name? Yes   No Okay to identify your gender? (e.g., "his story", "her story") Yes   No Get a notice of updates to this site? (no more than 4x/year)   What's on this site Cult Aspects What is Aesthetic Realism? An explanation about both the AR philosophy and the group that promotes it. Cult aspects of Aesthetic Realism Fanatical devotion to the leader, cutting off relations with families who aren't also believers -- it's all here. AR and Homosexuality The AR group used to try to "cure" people of being gay. They stopped that in 1990 because high-profile success cases kept deciding they were gay after all and leaving. AR has never said their gay-changing attempts were wrong. AR's founder killed himself AR's founder Eli Siegel killed himself, but the AR people have been trying to hide that fact. They can't hide any more, since enough former students have come forward to confirm the truth. Attempts to recruit schoolchildren Some AR members are public schoolteachers, and yep, they do try to recruit in the classroom. Five reasons you can't trust an Aesthetic Realist One reason is that most people who were in AR eventually woke up and got out. See more about this, plus four other reasons. Lies Aesthetic Realists tell They say they never saw homosexuality as something to cure. They say the leader didn't kill himself. They say my family left the group when I was an infant. These and more are debunked here. Hypocrisy of the Aesthetic Realists It takes some serious brainwashing for the members to not realize that they're guilty of what they accuse others of. Aesthetic Realism glossary We explain the real meanings behind the loaded language that AR people use. Other goodies Thinking of leaving AR? If you're thinking of leaving the group, you're not alone. Let's face it: Most people who have ever studied AR have left -- and not come back. There's got to be a reason for that. Curious about what they figured out? Worried about the fallout if you do decide to leave? Here's everything you need to know. Media Reports NY Mag called AR "a cult of messianic nothingness" and Harper's referred to them as "the Moonies of poetry". We've got reprints of articles, plus some help for journalists researching AR. (And here are shortcuts to the landmark articles in the NY Post and Jewish Times.) Site News / Blog Here's some news and commentary that I add from time to time. AR in their own words Actual AR advertisment The AR people spent a third of a million dollars for a double-page ad in the NY Times to tell the world that the press' refusal to cover AR is just as wrong as letting hungry people starve to death. Ad for the gay cure AR bought huge ads in major newspapers to trumpet their ability to "fix" gays. Actual letters from AR people When a theater critic casually dissed Aesthetic Realism in New York magazine, the AR people responded with hundreds of angry letters, calling the article "a crime against humanity". Actual internal meeting The AR people blunderingly made a tape recording of a secret meeting they had, where they lambasted a member who had supposedly been "cured" of his gayness, but then found to still be cruising for gay sex. Their screeching hostility towards him is matched only by their fear that the secret will get out. Actual AR consultation For the first time the public can see what really happens in an Aesthetic Realism "consultation" (thanks to a former member sharing his tape with us). In the session the AR counselors tried to help the member not be gay, explaining that the path to ex-gayness was to express deep gratitude to AR and its founder. Actual AR lesson I had a lesson with the cult leader, Eli Siegel, when I was two years old, which, like everything else, they made a tape of. The highlight is Siegel taunting me with "Cry some more, Michael, cry some more!" Ad in the Village Voice from 1962 The AR folks try to deny that they're a cult in this ancient ad -- showing that people were calling them a cult as far back as 1962! AR responds to this website The AR people have tried to rebut this website with their own site called Countering the Lies, whose title ought to win some kind of award for irony. Here we explain the story behind that site. What former members say Aesthetic Realism exposed The ultimate statement by a former member, who was involved for well over a decade. A tale of getting sucked in. This former member describes exactly how he initially got drawn in, and how he then kept getting more and more involved. Aesthetic Realism ruined his marriage. "I consider my 'study' of Aesthetic Realism to be one of the factors that led to the eventual breakup of my marriage, to my eternal sorrow." On having all the answers. A former member explains how AR members think they have all the answers, and feel qualified to lecture others about how they should view personal tragedy. Kicked out for remaining gay. A former student describes how he was kicked out of AR because he couldn't change from homosexuality. "If I disappointed them, then I now consider that a badge of honor." A former member tells how AR try to change him from being gay, and convinced him not to spend Christmas with his family. "...people were controlled and humiliated if they stepped out of line...". The experiences shared with us by a member from 1974-80, now a Fortune 100 executive. "I want Ellen Reiss questioned!" This former member wonders why there hasn't been a class-action lawsuit against the foundation yet. They took his consultation tape. Describes how the AR people kept his consultation tape with his most intimate thoughts on it, and told him he couldn't study any more unless he incorporated AR more radically into his life. "There isn't any question: Eli Siegel killed himself." A former member who had sought AR's "gay cure" explains how the group's leaders admitted that the founder took his own life. Confirms all the criticism. A former member from 1971-80, confirms that AR students don't see their families, are discouraged from attending college, and shun other members. He also offers that he was mistaken when he was involved about thinking that AR had changed him from homosexuality. Michael Bluejay's description. Your webmaster describes his own family's involvement. Members interviewed in Jewish Times. This lengthy article in Jewish Times quotes former students of Aesthetic Realism extensively. NY Post article. A series of articles in the NY Post quotes many former members who are now critical of the group. Aesthetic Realism debunked. A former student explains the cult aspects of AR. Posted on Steve Hassan's Freedom of Mind website.

Google picks the ads, not me; I don't endorse the advertisers. Open offer to debate How do you decide which side is telling the truth? I think that would be the side willing to stand behind what he says. Since 2005 I've had an open offer to debate the Aesthetic Realists publicly in a formal format at any time to defend what I've said on this site, and to answer their own charges against me. But the AR people won't do it. Their excuse is, "He's not worth debating." But if that's true, then why did they put up a ninety-six page website to try to snipe at me and to try to rebut what I'm saying? I think the answer is that they're content to hide behind the cover of the Internet, but they know how bad they'd look in a live format where anyone actually got to ask any pointed questions. You know what's really funny? Someone went to one of their public presentations, said he'd seen this site, and asked about the cult allegations. The AR person said, "It's very easy to say crap like that on the Internet and never have to be challenged." Oh, the irony is killing me! Anyway, Aesthetic Realists, as for a public debate, I'm ready when you are. And to everyone else, when the AR people won't stand behind what they're saying, why should anyone take what they say seriously? Google picks the ads, not me; I don't endorse the advertisers.