Zenith Applied Philosophy - Courses

Courses

Members of ZAP would approach people on the street and customers at ZAP-run businesses (see below) asking questions such as "Are you interested in world affairs?" or "Are you worried about creeping communism?" Positive responses were followed by an invitation to buy material, most commonly publications from the John Birch Society such as None Dare Call it Conspiracy (by Gary Allen and Larry Abraham, 1972). People were also encouraged to read material from TRIM and support activities of groups with similar aims. People seen as "achievers" or "high-tone" were invited to take personality tests; they were then encouraged to take courses costing from $160 to $680 (1979). The courses had emphasis on self-control and self-improvement, one of them had the aim of taking the student to the "ultimate state" which Dalhoff had reached. The Church of Scientology has agreed that the selling methods and purpose of the ZAP courses are similar to their own. In 1980 The Press estimated that there were between 4 and 5 thousand ZAP students. though the same newspaper said in 2008 that "At its feisty peak the sect probably had no more than a few hundred recruits" by 1990 the membership had dwindled to about 20 to 30 people. According to The Press ZAP courses are still run today from a suite in The Heritage Hotel by John Dalhoff's wife Joy.