Jul 30, 2021

Stolen: A Memoir

Elizabeth Gilpin

A gripping chronicle of psychological manipulation and abuse at a “therapeutic” boarding school for troubled teens, and how one young woman fought to heal in the aftermath.

At fifteen, Elizabeth Gilpin was an honor student, a state-ranked swimmer and a rising soccer star, but behind closed doors her undiagnosed depression was wreaking havoc on her life. Growing angrier by the day, she began skipping practices and drinking to excess. At a loss, her parents turned to an educational consultant who suggested Elizabeth be enrolled in a behavioral modification program. That recommendation would change her life forever.

The nightmare began when she was abducted from her bed in the middle of the night by hired professionals and dropped off deep in the woods of Appalachia. Living with no real shelter was only the beginning of her ordeal: she was strip-searched, force-fed, her name was changed to a number and every moment was a test of physical survival. 

After three brutal months, Elizabeth was transferred to a boarding school in Southern Virginia that in reality functioned more like a prison. Its curriculum revolved around a perverse form of group therapy where students were psychologically abused and humiliated. Finally, at seventeen, Elizabeth convinced them she was rehabilitated enough to “graduate” and was released.

In this eye-opening and unflinching book, Elizabeth recalls the horrors she endured, the friends she lost to suicide and addiction, and—years later—how she was finally able to pick up the pieces of her life and reclaim her identity.

Jul 29, 2021

What makes a cult

Transforming trauma Lifelong friends Jemima Lamb Farris and Whisper Wind James know something about surviving trauma after living nearly three decades in a cult
Lewiston Tribune
Norma Staaf for Inland 360
July 29, 2021

New religious movements or cults are found around the world and throughout history. The word cult conjures images of brainwashing, abuse and violence, although many of these groups can be fairly benign. What is a cult?

“Defining ‘cult’ is a tough one because the word has so many different definitions,” said Rob Balch, a retired sociology professor from the University of Montana in Missoula.

Balch began researching cults in the 1970s and has done in-depth case studies of groups like Heaven’s Gate. He outlined four common definitions of cults.

1. A group based on shared devotion to a person, place, object or belief. This could be the Children of God, devotees of the Virgin Mary or fans of Britney Spears.

2. A small group characterized by unconventional beliefs, charismatic leadership, extreme demands for commitment and strict separation from nonbelievers.

3. A small, loose-knit group with unconventional beliefs, with no doctrine and few demands on its members.

4. A religious group based on ideas that are new and different in a society.

Although Balch didn’t specifically study the Children of God, he believes it fits the second definition, as did many other cults that began during the same time period. These groups asked people to join on short notice and give up families and possessions to be part of a community with a charismatic leader in a communal living situation.

“The Children of God had a whole different standard of sexual morality,” Balch said.

In the early 1970s, when Children of God and groups such as Heaven’s Gate, the Moonies and the Hare Krishnas formed, there were many young, uncommitted people looking for a different way of life.

“In those days, people identified themselves as spiritual seekers,” Balch said.

They were interested in anything outside the mainstream, on the fringe and outside established religions, he said. They were rejecting capitalism, investigating alternative living arrangements and living communally and simply.

Groups like Children of God often attracted people on drugs, he said. Giving up drugs was a condition of joining.

“They helped clean them up, to get high on Jesus,” he said.

Balch thinks that cults where people live communally are far less common today than they were in the 20th century, but that the prevalence of what he calls “audience cults” has increased in recent years.

“The communal living groups have been preempted by online groups,” he said. “(A group like QAnon) is definitely a cult, and not in a good sense.”

Balch describes this phenomena as, “disconnected people who have never met reading the same thing online. They become immersed in these ideas without meeting the other people.”

https://lmtribune.com/360/what-makes-a-cult/article_30e8e7f4-efdc-11eb-9ed0-0b983adb7c43.html

CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/29/2021(Book Launch. Kenneth Copeland, Prosperity Gospel, Creflo Dollar, David Oyedepo, Joel Osteen, NXIVM, Legal, ICSA Event)

Book Launch. Kenneth Copeland, Prosperity Gospel, Creflo Dollar, David Oyedepo, Joel Osteen, NXIVM, Legal, ICSA Event

Description - Book Launch Q & A: Culted Child: The True Story of a Daughter Disciple, Maria D. Peregolise. "Culted Child" and its website,  presents a true story & research on cults, spiritual abuse, narcissistic behavior, memory loss, etc. with links, books, & articles from qualified sources: Ph.D., LMFC, Psychology Today, F.B.I., ICSA, etc. 

Time: Jul 31, 2021 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3678063940
Meeting ID: 367 806 3940

"These are by no means incon
spicuous, as they are often seen donning flashy attires, living in luxurious mansions, and driving expensive cars. They are usually flanked by half a dozen or more security men with dark glasses, and some even own multiple private jets. They are important people, and they want you to know it.

The world has a new breed of preachers – the superrich pastors.

These are by no means inconspicuous, as they are often seen donning flashy attires, living in luxurious mansions, and driving expensive cars. They are usually flanked by half a dozen or more security men with dark glasses, and some even own multiple private jets. They are important people, and they want you to know it.

The richest of them is Kenneth Copeland. Living in a $20 million mansion, and owning a $36 million jet, Copeland is the poster boy for superrich preachers. In fact, with an estimated net worth of at least $300 million, no one else comes close. While names such as Creflo Dollar, TD Jakes, TB Joshua, Joel Osteen, and Benny Hinn are more recognizable, those in the know understand who the true prosperity gospel patriarchs are, and Copeland ranks very highly.

The second name in the list of who is who among the superrich pastors is possibly the most interesting one, and that is the Nigerian megachurch pastor, Dr David Oyedepo. A university lecturer-turned-preacher, Dr Oyedepo presides over a ministry with branches in 65 countries. He is a founder and president of Covenant University, Landmark University, Faith Academy, and over 150 secondary schools, and presides over one of the largest churches in the world, with an auditorium that can sit at least 50,000 people. He has a net worth of $150 million.

It is difficult for those beyond Pentecostal circles to understand how powerful these preachers are. In a world full of misery and pain, these preachers offer a remarkably appealing alternative, so it's no wonder that many respond to their message. However, at some point we must ask, how does a person who calls himself a full-time minister amass that kind of wealth?"
"Nancy Salzman, former NXIVM president and the one-time ally of Keith Raniere, now calls Raniere "likely a psychopath" and says she did not protect her daughter, Lauren Salzman, from him.

NEW YORK – In a letter to a federal judge seeking leniency for her daughter, former NXIVM president Nancy Salzman said she failed to shield Lauren Salzman from Keith Raniere — a man she now describes as a "sexual predator, a narcissist and likely a psychopath."

Nancy Salzman, who co-founded the cult-like personal growth organization in Colonie with Raniere in 1998, told Senior U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis to "please consider how young Lauren was when she met Keith and my personal failure as a mother to protect her and guide her."

Lauren Salzman, whose crimes include her role in Raniere's confinement of a Mexican woman to a room in her parent's townhouse for nearly two years simply because the woman kissed another man, pleaded guilty in 2019 to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy."

International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA): 2021 Conference is Still Available
The 2021 online annual conference was a great success, with more than 425 attendees!! If you missed it, no problem, because for the FIRST TIME EVER -- you have the opportunity to watch 65 conference session recordings until August 15, 2021!

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery


CultEducationEvents.com

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.

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Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.


Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.


Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.



Jul 28, 2021

CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/28/2021

NXIVM, Drama, MLM, neo-Nazis, Extremism, DeviantArt, The Base, Cult Recovery, Biderman's Chart of Coercion


"Federal prosecutors are recommending a lenient sentence for trial witness Lauren Salzman, a former high-ranking member of the Capital Region-based sex cult, NXIVM.

They say Salzman provided "substantial assistance" to the court about the criminal activities of Keith Raniere, the former leader of NXIVM, and his co-conspirators. They say her cooperation was essential in convicting Raniere, and that her decision to plead guilty likely played a role in other defendants' decisions to do the same."

Netflix: Rebirth
"WHAT SEPARATES A CULT from other groups of passionate, like-minded people coming together in service of shared beliefs? Religions, political groups, multi-level marketing businesses, and self-help movements all fit the bill. The most common answers to this question are probably "a charismatic leader," "no free will," or "the inability to leave whenever you want."

This 2016 film proves how dangerous a cult can be — all while making a point to avoid these traditional cult calling cards.

Rebirth is a 2016 Netflix original psychological drama written and directed by Karl Mueller. It stars criminally overlooked actor Fran Kranz as Kyle, a loving husband and father who uses his English degree to write social media posts for a bank. One day, an old friend tells him about a unique self-help weekend retreat known only as 'Rebirth.'"

Counter Extremism Project: Extremist Content Online: Neo-Nazi Propaganda Promoting Violence Located On DeviantArt
"The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) reports weekly on the methods used by extremists to exploit the Internet and social media platforms to recruit followers and incite violence. CEP researchers located over a dozen neo-Nazi propaganda accounts on DeviantArt that encouraged violence and glorified white supremacism. CEP researchers also found multiple neo-Nazi accounts on Instagram that posted white supremacist propaganda and drawings of the Christchurch attacker, as well an account that offered knives and pepper spray for sale. CEP also located a white supremacist clothing store on Etsy. On Facebook, nine pro-ISIS accounts were discovered. Finally, an extreme right prisoner support group encouraged the sending of "white identity" magazines to incarcerated individuals.

Neo-Nazi Propaganda That Promotes Violence and Hate Located on DeviantArt

The week of July 11 to July 17, CEP researchers located over a dozen accounts on DeviantArt that posted propaganda that encouraged violence, sought to recruit for an extremist group or glorified white supremacism.

The oldest account had been on the sight for approximately two years, while the most recent account, which posted a wide variety of neo-Nazi content, including content promoting white supremacist mass shooters Patrick Crusius and Robert Bowers, had been created in July 2021. An account that had been created on DeviantArt in March 2021 posted recent propaganda from the neo-Nazi group The Base, which included a recruitment email address for the group. An account also created in March 2021 posted content praising the Christchurch terrorist attack and encouraging additional violence. At least three DeviantArt accounts had similar usernames as two individual users of the Fascist Forge forum and posted remarkably similar images to art and propaganda that appeared on the forum.

DeviantArt's Terms of Service prohibit using the site "to upload, post, or otherwise transmit any material that is…offensive…unlawful, threatening, menacing, abusive, (or) harmful." While several pieces of content were removed after they were reported, numerous pieces of reported content, including those that glorified white supremacist mass shooters, sought to recruit for a neo-Nazi extremist group, and posted various neo-Nazi symbols remained on the site."
" ... Warning signs: The seed of extremism exists wherever a group demands all the free time of a member, insisting he be in church every time the doors are open and calling him to account if he isn't, is critical or disapproving of involvements with friends and family outside the group, encourages secrecy by asking that members not share what they have seen or heard in meetings or about church affairs  with outsiders, is openly, publicly, and repeatedly critical of other churches or groups (especially if the group claims to be the only one which speaks for God), is critical when members attend conferences, workshops or services at other churches,  checks up on members in any way, i.e., to determine that the reason they gave for missing a meeting was valid, or makes attendance at all church functions mandatory for participating in church ministry or enjoying other benefits of church fellowship.

Once a member stops interacting openly with others, the group's influence is all that matters.  He is bombarded with group values and information and there is no one outside the group with whom to share thoughts or who will offer reinforcement or affirmation if the member disagrees with or doubts the values of the group.  The process of isolation and the self doubt it creates allow the group and its leaders to gain power over the members.  Leaders may criticize major and minor flaws of members, sometimes publicly, or remind them of present or past sins.  They may call members names, insult them or ignore them, or practice a combination of ignoring members at some times and receiving them warmly at others, thus maintaining a position of power (i.e., the leaders call the shots.)"


News, Education, Intervention, Recovery


CultEducationEvents.com

CultMediation.com   

Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.

CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.

CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.

Facebook

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Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.


Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.


Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultintervention@gmail.com.



Former Top NXIVM Lieutenant With New Career in Dog Grooming Dodges Prison

Former Top NXIVM Lieutenant With New Career in Dog Grooming Dodges Prison
Lauren Salzman admitted to locking a Mexican woman in a bedroom for almost two years–but also helped prosecutors make their case against a sex cult leader.

Pilar Melendez
National Reporter
July 28, 2021

A former top lieutenant in the shadowy self-help group NXIVM who admitted to locking a terrified woman in a bedroom for almost two years to satisfy a deranged sex-cult leader was spared prison on Wednesday.

She may have benefited from her new career, recasting herself as a dog groomer.

Lauren Salzman, 45, pleaded guilty in April 2019 to racketeering and conspiracy charges for her role in the upstate New York group that manipulated thousands of members under the guise of personal growth through sacrifice. Prosecutors asked for a sentence below the guideline standard of 87 to 108 months of imprisonment, noting that Salzman’s damning testimony during NXIVM founder Keith Raniere’s trial and continued cooperation in the case were critical in securing his conviction.

The sentence of probation and time served on Wednesday came after an emotional hearing in Brooklyn federal court, where two former members detailed the abuse they endured from Salzman.

Ivy Nevares, a former long-time NXIVM member, sent in an audio statement in which she said Salzman was “not only my peer and coach—she was my best friend for nearly 17 years.”

“Lauren, of all the pain you’ve caused me, the greatest is my broken heart,” she said in the video.

After Salzman’s no-prison-time sentence, Nevares told The Daily Beast she was “disappointed but not surprised.”

“I believe jail time would have provided a powerful lesson to help her better understand the loss of freedom, time, and opportunities she caused me and her other victims,” Nevares said, adding that she refused to go to court on Wednesday because she did not want “to give those criminals more time and resources than is necessary.”

Salzman also spoke in court Wednesday, tearfully telling Judge Nicholas Garaufis she regretted her actions and “that I hurt people that I loved so much.”

Befor Garaufis issued his sentence of time served and five years probation, he said that Salzman had turned her life around since her arrest and that he believed she was sincerely remorseful.

“This prosecution has salvaged a life,” the judge said.

Her sentencing makes her the fourth member of NXIVM’s inner circle to be punished for their roles in the criminal enterprise. Last October, Raniere was sentenced to 121 years in prison after prosecutors said he had sex with multiple underage girls, made members illegally monitor his enemies, and forced women he impregnated to have abortions and illegally enter the country to follow his teachings.

During her emotional four-day testimony, Salzman admitted to a slew of shocking crimes, ranging from dutifully enslaving women at the behest of Raniere, with whom she had a relationship for over two decades and shares a child, to forcing NXIVM members to work for minimal-to-no pay.

NXIVM is most notorious for a purported women’s empowerment sub-group, D.O.S., that forced members to brand themselves with Raniere’s initials near their crotch with a cautery pen—without anesthesia—and have sex with him. Salzman, the former NXIVM director of education, admitted that she recruited several women into the “sex cult,” where she said she, in turn, was forced to subject others to forced labor and strict punishment for not following Raniere’s strange edicts.

Salzman insisted during her testimony that she was manipulated by Raniere with false promises of having children together.

But the worst “assigned” act she copped to was ghastly: forcing Daniela, a young Mexican member of NXIVM, to “learn from her mistakes” in solitary confinement for two years or else be deported from the United States.

“Of all the things that I did in this case and all the crimes that I admitted to, this was the worst thing I did,” Saltzman said during the trial, holding back tears. “What can I say? I kept her in a room for two years and I didn’t go visit her. And when I did, I wasn’t even kind.”

Since Salzman’s arrest, her defense team laid out in a sentencing memo, she has remained committed to taking responsibility for her actions and cooperating with the government—and has immersed herself in a new career: pet grooming.

The memo states that after her testimony in Raniere’s trial, Salzman became a certified professional dog groomer and worked at a pet store in upstate New York. Since then, she has earned four additional certifications and has now started her own “pet grooming and skin and coat therapy services business,“ according to her attorneys.

“Lauren Salzman fully admitted her involvement in the crimes with which she was charged and provided detailed information about crimes committed by Raniere and other members of the racketeering enterprise,” prosecutions said in their sentencing memo. “By virtue of her close, decades-long relationship with Raniere, Lauren Salzman was privy to a significant amount of information regarding Raniere’s role in directing criminal activity within the enterprise, even where Raniere had taken great pains to conceal his role.”

Those former top NXIVM leaders who have also pleaded guilty to racketeering charges include Salzman’s mother and the group’s co-founder Nancy Salzman, and the group’s bookkeeper, Kathy Russell. Clare Bronfman, an heiress to the Seagram’s fortune and NXIVM’s largest donor, was sentenced last September to 81 months in prison. Allison Mack, the former Smallville actress who played a key role in the D.O.S sex cult, was sentenced to three years in prison last month.

Jul 27, 2021

Playhouse Abuses w/ Andrea Geones and Michael Laskin

Playhouse Abuses w/ Andrea Geones and Michael Laskin
Indoctrination
July 21, 2021

Returning this week are actors, Andrea Geones and Michael Laskin. 

Andrea and Michael teamed up to create a code of ethics for acting classes with one goal in mind: to create a safe and healthy environment for actors and acting students. After experiencing the unhealthy and cult-like culture fostered within many acting classes where sexual, financial, and psychological abuse were the norm, they created https://www.findyouractingclass.com/ and wrote a code of conduct for acting teachers to agree to and endorse, as well as guidelines to help teachers ensure that they are running their classes ethically. 

Andrea is a Los Angeles native. In addition to acting and piano, she has studied singing, guitar, and flute. She currently is in school earning a b.s. in nutritional sciences while she pursues her career in acting. She is also a freelance writer for online publications, including where she originally wrote about the cult-like atmosphere of acting classes. 

You can find her article here.

Michael Laskin has been a working actor for over 40 years, across all platforms: film, theatre, and television. Twelve years ago he started The Michael Laskin Studio, an acting studio in Los Angeles. His book, “The Authentic Actor - the Art and Business of Being Yourself” has been praised as a fresh, newly examined, and non-dogmatic approach to the work and the life of an actor. In the second half of Rachel's two-part discussion with Andrea and Michael, the actors break down their code of ethics and describe the personal experiences that directly inform many of the guidelines. Andrea explains the feelings of vulnerability and helplessness that acting students often feel and shares about the emotional abuse she experienced from teachers. Michael provides more insight from his perspective as an experienced teacher and explains how his outrage at the abusive practices became a catalyst to join Andrea in pursuit of a healthier and safer environment for students. 

https://www.podpage.com/indoctrination/playhouse-abuses-w-andrea-geones-and-michael-laskin/

Satanic Temple suit against Boston moves forward

SALEM, MA: September 27, 2019: Lucien Greaves of the Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts. (Staff photo By Nicolaus Czarnecki/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
SEAN PHILIP COTTER
Boston Herald
July 22, 2021

The Satanic Temple’s lawsuit against Boston has more than a snowball’s chance in hell, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs allowed several of the complaints from the Salem Satanists to move forward — while sticking a fork in some other ones — as The Satanic Temple, or TST, takes issue with it not being allowed to give the opening prayer for a City Council meeting.

The devil’s advocates initially attempted to sue the hell out of the city in January, arguing that since the council allows various mainstream religions to speak, it’s against the First Amendment to pick and choose who gets to give invocations.

The city has countered that it’s not about discriminating one religion from another — it’s just enabling councilors inviting pastors, rabbis, priests or imams from Boston’s communities to address the body. And further, the city says, it’s just simply tough luck for the temple if no one invites them.

The devil, of course, remains in the details, as the judge allowed certain parts of the suit to continue even as she threw out others. Burroughs agreed with that line of thought from the city and spiked the Satanists’ arguments that the councilors’ ability to choose to invite specific religions and representatives is itself discriminatory and a violation of the 14th Amendment.

But the judge said the argument that this runs afoul of the Establishment Clause can continue on, as case law isn’t settled on what schemes to allow minority religious groups work constitutionally.

TST co-founder Lucien Greaves remained steamed, saying in a statement, “By tethering TST’s invitation to its political clout, the City has engaged in a bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group which is decidedly not a legitimate governmental interest.”

Greaves told the Herald in January that this “should not be contextualized as Satanists against Christians.”

“It’s clearly the definition of discriminatory when you allow functionaries of the state deciding what viewpoints are allowed in the public square,” he said. “What we’re asking for is exactly what religious liberty is and what it looks like.”

And there could be hell to pay — or at least the temple’s legal costs, which the suit seeks to have covered.

Greaves has said the temple is “non-theistic” — they don’t literally believe in and worship Satan — but that doesn’t mean they don’t take their religion seriously. He said they “hold this iconography as a fight against tyranny.”

https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/07/22/satanic-temple-suit-against-boston-moves-forward/

These Australians were cast out by their religions. But they have no regrets

RN Religion & Ethics reporter Nick Baker
ABC Radio National
July 24, 2021

After taking on one the world's most powerful institutions, Peter Kennedy has spent more than a decade living "in exile".

But that's exactly where the 83-year-old wants to be.

Mr Kennedy was a well-known Brisbane Catholic priest, but after challenging church orthodoxy and practising his own controversial brand of Catholicism, was dismissed in 2009.

He says he has now moved far away from the Catholic Church.

"I don't believe in the Catholic Church or even the Christian faith. For me, I think it's really all about justice. It's all about the poor and the broken."

Mr Kennedy is part of a small group of Australians who have been cast out of their religions.

For some, it's a badge of honour after a long fight. For others, it can be a deeply traumatising event.

"It was not easy ... but I have no regrets at all," Mr Kennedy says.

"I'm very glad for this journey."
From Catholicism to 'finding your own truth'

For years, Mr Kennedy made headlines for deviating from Roman Catholic practices at St Mary's church in South Brisbane, including allowing women to preach and blessing LGBTQIA+ couples.

After repeated warnings and attempts at conciliation, church authorities removed Mr Kennedy from office, so he and his flock set up a separate faith entity called St Mary's in Exile.

Described as "a pop-up church", St Mary's in Exile meets every weekend in the Queensland Trades and Labour Council Building, and is far more progressive than its Catholic namesake.

"We said we won't go down that toxic, patriarchal path … We changed the sexist language, we've had women leading and co-leading liturgy," explains Mr Kennedy's co-agitator, Terry Fitzpatrick.

Mr Fitzpatrick was an associate priest at St Mary's who stood by Mr Kennedy, so was also removed by the Catholic Church and is now with St Mary's in Exile.

"[The Catholic Church] just doesn't seem to be looking towards the future," he says.

For these former Catholic priests, the scriptures were "never meant to be taken literally". Instead, it's all about exploring the metaphorical messages and "finding your own truth".

Mr Kennedy says in his later years, he's been drawn to "the mystics and mysticism" and its focus on individualism and contemplation.

The same goes for Mr Fitzpatrick, who says he follows "mysticism and the Gnostic Christians, the non-literalist Christians that were persecuted by the literalist Christians in the early church system".

But while Mr Kennedy and Mr Fitzpatrick had an entire community support them as they left their religion and started on a new path, other Australians go through this in a much lonelier way.

For some, the process can lead to years – or even a lifetime – of struggle.
Losing family and friends

When Paul Grundy was expelled from his church, he lost a lot more than just a place to worship.

Mr Grundy was brought up in a family of devout Jehovah's Witnesses, in what he describes as an extremely insular religious world.

But later in life, he came to the conclusion that the religion was "just not telling the truth", so he created an anonymous website that strongly criticised Jehovah's Witness teachings.

The church figured out that Mr Grundy was behind the website and expelled him – a process known in the religion as "disfellowshipping".

And in the Jehovah's Witness faith, a disfellowed member can be "shunned," or as Mr Grundy describes it, "people cut you off from their lives, virtually completely".

"I lost most of my family and my friends. I went into mourning over that, knowing that was the end of my relationship with my mother and father and sister. It was almost like they died … I fell into a real state of depression."

Mental health experts say that shunning and similar extreme practices can have a significant effect on people.

"You may see PTSD, or low self-worth, even a loss of identity and a loss of self," says Nicola Stevens, a registered counsellor who has researched religious trauma.

"You can almost compare it to a form of coercion or an attempt by the religious institution to maintain power and control over the individual by saying, 'we'll use isolation'," she says.

The Jehovah's Witnesses did not respond to questions from the ABC about the effects of disfellowshipping and shunning.

But Mr Grundy says in the long term, he "definitely made the right choice" and is "very happy" with where he is now.

"Today I'm 'ignostic' … I think the whole discussion of whether there's a God or not is completely meaningless, because God doesn't reveal himself, no one knows who he is."
An ancient practice

Methods of temporarily or permanently excluding followers who break the rules are as old as religions themselves, according to experts.

Andrew Singleton, a professor of sociology and social research at Deakin University, says "it goes all the way back to when humans invented religion".

"The second thing they invented was heresy. And the third thing they invented was being removed for heresy," he says.

"[The Catholic Church] allows flexibility, but at some point, if you're speaking out in a way that's clearly against the doctrine, they will at that point clamp down."

For the Catholics, these penalties range from being "removed from clerical office" — like in the case of Mr Kennedy and Mr Fitzpatrick — to excommunication.

Professor Singleton says religions with greater "hierarchy, authority and history" are more likely to eject people for standing up to them, but "charismatic religions" are far less likely to do so.

"Charismatic religions are ones where anyone has the authority to hear from the spirits or gods. So it's not clear cut what constitutes heresy."

Professor Michele Riondino is the director of the Canon Law Centre at the Australian Catholic University.

He says for the Catholic Church, the legal structure and penalties laid out in the Code of Canon Law are to ensure "order" and "the good of the community".

Professor Riondino says in recent years, most clerical dismissals in the Catholic Church were due to sex-abuse crimes, rather than individuals standing up to church authority.

"All the sanctions in the church's Code of Canon Law, they have three purposes … To restore justice, reform the offender and repair the scandal," he says.

Professor Riondino says some penalties are "expiatory" while others are "medicinal", which are meant "to help the person understand the grave and the deep break between them and the church and to help them to be part of it again".

"The imposition or declaration of each kind of penalty … is one of the most significant expressions of the church's power and for this reason, every kind of penalty is exercised with great care, and with pastoral attention."

But while being pushed away from a religion can bring an enormous emotional toll, some Australians are fortunate to have had a much more positive experience.
'Just enjoy the ride'

Sue-Ann Post talks about her excommunication from the Mormon church in an almost joyous way.

But that's to be expected from someone who has described herself as "Australia's favourite six-foot, lesbian, ex-Mormon, diabetic, comedian and writer".

In the late 1980s, Ms Post started drawing on her Mormon upbringing for comedy material. Fifteen years on, church authorities eventually had enough and officially excommunicated her.

Ms Post was born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the official name of the Mormon church) but began drifting away from the faith in her teens.

"I probably would be a messed-up Mormon housewife if I hadn't gone to university and at age 18 realised that lesbians existed and went 'oh my God that explains everything'," she says.

"There were two years of battling that, praying and fasting and asking God not to make me gay until I finally accepted [my sexuality] … Then I thought, if they're wrong about that, what else are they wrong about? And I worked my way out with logic and a bit of anger."

Material from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says, "the experience of same-sex attraction is a complex reality for many people. The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is".

Ms Post says for her, life is "all just one big adventure".

"I do not fear death. I do not fear an afterlife. If there is a God, I'm prepared to argue toe-to-toe with him."

And the ex-Mormon comedian has a piece of advice for people who go through a similar experience to hers.

"It was an absolutely scary but wonderful liberation … If you get expelled from a faith, just enjoy the ride."
Post-traumatic growth

Counsellor Nicola Stevens also says there can be positives, no matter how traumatic the split is.

"People are pretty incredible and I think even when they have been through traumatic experiences, there is a thing that we call 'post-traumatic growth'," Ms Stevens says.

"People can experience growth and make some sense after what has happened, and find a way to accept that it's happened.

"With resilience and strength … people can find ways to create a life worthwhile and meaningful for them, even after an event like this."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-25/the-australians-who-were-cast-out-of-their-religions/100306930

CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/27/2021 (Mother Teresa, Podcast, QAnon, Term Cult, QAnon, ICSA Event)

Mother Teresa, Podcast, QAnon, Term Cult, QAnon, ICSA Event

The Turning: Highway of Broken Glass (Part nine - Is this a cult? How do you leave?  Janja Lalich)
"Thousands of women gave up everything to follow Mother Teresa, joining her storied Catholic order, the Missionaries of Charity. But some found that life inside this fiercely private religious order was not what they'd imagined. Former sisters who worked closely with Mother Teresa describe her bold vision and devotion to charity and prayer. But they also share stories of suffering and forbidden love, abuse and betrayal. If you make a lifelong vow, what does it mean to break it? What is the line between devotion and brainwashing? Can you truly give yourself to God?"

Religion Dispatches: 'Cult' Is An Inaccurate, Unhelpful and Dangerous Label for Followers of Trump, QAnon, and 1/6
In the twentieth century the word "cult" (originally meaning "worship") became a pejorative word that people apply to a group or movement that they do not like and perhaps fear. The word "cult" implies a stereotype that involves what sociologist James T. Richardson has termed the "myth of the omnipotent leader" and a corresponding "myth of the passive, brainwashed follower." These are just that: myths. They're inaccurate assumptions about groups and movements with unconventional beliefs: no leader can become a dictator without complicit lieutenants who prop up his (or her) authority; the "brainwashing thesis" has been judged to be unscientific by the American Psychological Association and American judges and has been debunked by social scientists; in fact, people frequently change their minds and leave a group when they lose faith in its ideology.

In 2013 I wrote an essay titled "The Problem Is Totalism, Not Cults," which argues that instead of using the pejorative word "cult," which prevents unbiased research and dehumanizes believers, the term "totalism" better conveys what people were actually worried about: groups whose members live in isolated communities, where people are controlled and not permitted to leave when they choose. Such totalistic institutions range from some unconventional religious or political groups to prisons, concentration camps, and authoritarian governments of nations. Americans generally agree that they're abusive.

Currently it's fashionable to use the word "cult" to describe all sorts of groups and movements that people don't like. It's said that people who support former President Donald Trump constitute a "cult"; the diffuse QAnon movement is called a "cult"; and the January 6, 2021 insurrection against the United States Congress meeting in the Capitol has been alleged to be a "cult." However, these are diffuse movements, not insulated, totalistic communities. "Cult" used in this manner is constructed to refer to the worst characteristics that people can imagine, which is what Yale historian Joanne Freeman did in a June 22, 2021 podcast with Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson (no relation to James T. Richardson) when Freeman stated that members of a "cult" believe their side is righteous and that anyone opposed to them is evil and "must be defeated, executed."

A statement like this says more about what Freeman imagines a "cult" to be than it does about the research of scholars who have studied alternative and emergent religious movements, including millennial movements. Starting by imposing one's own constructed definition of "cult" on movements and groups inhibits careful investigation and analysis, as indicated by Freeman and Heather Cox Richardson comparing the QAnon movement to three different historical episodes in entirely different communal contexts: the Salem Witch Trials in 1692-1693, the Oneida Perfectionist community, and Jonestown.

"I wrote my 4th book, The Cult of Trump for Simon and Schuster and it was published on October 15th, 2019. In it, I discuss the stereotypical profile of many cult leaders: that of malignant narcissism and compare Trump with Moon, Hubbard, LaRouche, Jones, and others. I discuss his childhood and influences, including his father Fred, Norman Vincent Peale, Roy Cohn and others and go into the history of propaganda and disinformation, then persuasive communication patterns of a cult leader's playbook. Then to influencers like Putin, The Family, Opus Dei, New Apostolic Reformation, Libertarians, the Alt-right, the NRA and other groups with agendas which include Dominionism as well as shrinking the government. I discuss the followers and then have a chapter on how to talk with true believers, using my Strategic Interactive Approach. It is clear that calling names only further polarization. So does saying the other side is brainwashed. Effective communication demands understanding how people are believing and how they are operating."

International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA): 2021 Conference is Still Available
The 2021 online annual conference was a great success, with more than 425 attendees!! If you missed it, no problem, because for the FIRST TIME EVER -- you have the opportunity to watch 65 conference session recordings until August 15, 2021!


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