" ... A widely successful TikToker named Melanie Wilking is alleging that her sister and former collaborator Miranda has been held hostage by an entertainment management firm since January 2021, which she and her family also believe to be a cult. The Michigan born sisters started their entertainment careers on YouTube before amassing their 3 million followers on TikTok in 2020 together. The Wilking sisters often posted their sisterly dances with vibrant and bubbly personas.
Unfortunately for their blossoming joint social media accounts, Melanie and her parents think the cult is standing in the way of their family. In a tearful Instagram Live on Feb. 25, Melanie and her parents made claims that Miranda is being held hostage by an organization called 7M Films, an offshoot of a Penetecostal sect that believes in something called the Seven Mountain Mandate.
The Seven Mountain Mandate is based on a selective reading of Bible verse Isaiah 2:2, from which "a group of self-proclaimed 'apostles' have a plan rooted in biblical prophecy to 'invade' every sphere of life as we know it." According to followers of 7M, the key facets of life are education, religion, family, business, government, entertainment, and media. They believe it is their job to rid those institutions of demons and witchcraft.
This group took on the White House as former President Donald Trump's "spiritual advisor" and now they are breaking their way through the TikTok algorithm."
Mike King interviews Patrick Ryan.
"Robin Murphy, one of three "people convicted in the Fall River "cult murders," is again looking to be paroled after spending more than three decades behind bars.
"I feel as though the board doesn't think I take responsibility for my actions. I don't know how to better express that I have," she said during a parole hearing on Tuesday.
In 1979 and 1980, two local young women and one teenage girl — Doreen Levesque, Barbara Raposa and Karen Marsden — were gruesomely murdered in the Fall River area. The graphic nature of their killings and the involvement of a so-called Satanic cult, at a time when "Satanic panic" gripped the nation, contributed to a subsequent frenzy that surrounded the murders.
Alleged cult leader and pimp Carl Drew was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the Marsden murder and remains in prison. Andrew Maltias, another alleged cult member, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Raposa murder and has since died. No one has ever been convicted for Levesque's killing.
Murphy, who was just 17 when she was arrested, took a deal in exchange for testifying against Drew and Maltais. She admitted to killing Marsden and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. In 1985, she recanted her testimony and has maintained her innocence since then."
Jennifer FrenchJune 24, 2022, 4:00 PM-4:50 PM
When an individual joins a cult, it can be the case that so many others are affected beyond that individual. In 2001, at the age of 25, I joined a "mystical christian" cult that I would remain in for 11 years. I was immediately targeted by the leaders as they sensed the close bond I had with my brother, mother, and father. This schism from my family would prove to be one of the greatest experiences of torture I would endure. But it was also this deep connection with family that seemed to shift from a bold rope that tied us all together, able to endure, until it slowly thinned into a frayed piece of string, constantly tugged on by the leaders of my group until it was a whisper of a web that I perceived as a glistening temptation of the past.
And then an awakening began to emerge, resulting from my question that arose against the messages I had been fed. I wondered for the first time in a long time, 'Why had I not communicated with my family in 8 years?' Any question of being attached had disappeared years ago with the puff of wind that sent the thin silky thread floating as a distant memory. This curiosity initiated my return to self and release from the group.
While the survivor stories of how we left are varied, the role that relational connections might play are often central to recovery, healing, or even survival. We will explore the power of this beyond my story. My hope is that this presentation provides relatable information for survivors, and helpful suggestions for friends and families with a loved one in a group of high control.
"Pat Ryan and Joe Kelly have worked helping people exit and recover from cults for many years. In this week's video, they join Jon to talk about the nature of authoritarian control, the nostalgia some people hold for the early days of their involvement, and how no two experiences are ever the same."
"Fervent, earnest, participation in a cult or other high demand social experience can result in loss of a sense of personal identity as we become more identified with the group. This loss can be characterized by many things but personality function alterations, changes in basic values, and adoption of new and consistent behavior patterns that mirror those of the leader or of other participants in the experience, are at the top. Those who grow up in these conditions, SGA/MGA's, may have never experienced reality any other way. This can be difficult for the emerging survivor to articulate, especially since the concept of a sense of personal identity itself is controversial. It has been argued that the concept is a fantasy and does not exist, just a construct of a Western worldview that must be recognized as such and left behind. It can also be difficult for the emerging survivor to identify exactly what is wrong now that they have left. They can, with certainty, identify with not fitting in where and with whom they used to feel at home. SGA's say they have never felt they fit in and cannot imagine ever feeling that way. This feeling can be present whether the emerging survivor identifies with having been "brainwashed" or not. This session will enable participants to recognize the three above aspects of personal identity and to know how to address each as they enable themselves or others to function freely in society outside the group."
ICSA Annual Conference: Coping with Triggers and Shunning - How To Change and Use Our Belief System - Gary Alt
"Coping with triggers and shunning may seem like two different topics. However, they have at their basis the same factors, and changing these factors in our favor can help us to cope with both, and in fact thrive beyond them. There is little one can do to stop the shunning by still-members of the group we have exited from. Those triggers that explode in our hearts and minds without notice can be difficult to react positively to. Those things are hard to change. What we can change is how we react to them. How we react to them is linked to our belief system - what we believe about ourselves, and what we believe about the group we have left (how much it still matters to us). How can we change our belief system?""Gary Alt was one of Jehovah's Witnesses for 41 years, from the age of 16. He served part of that time as a congregation elder and as a member of the headquarters family in Brooklyn NY. Since exiting the organization, he has been educated and trained as a Life Coach by The Coach Training Academy, and received his certification from Certified Coaches Alliance. He specializes in helping former members of high-control groups."
"It sounds like the stuff of dystopian fantasy: women encouraged to bear children to hand over to a totalitarian regime. But for thousands of Europeans, including ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, such a program isn't imaginary — it's the story of their lives. Lyngstad and approximately 20,000 others are the Lebensborn, survivors of a Nazi breeding program designed to create racially "pure" children for the Third Reich.
Between 1935 and 1945, the secret program encouraged racially "fit" women to bear children for the Reich and protected babies thought to exemplify Nazi Germany's Aryan ideals. Translated as "fount of life," the Lebensborn program involved secret birthing facilities, hidden identities, and the theft of hundreds of thousands of children.
The program has its roots in World War I, which decimated Germany's male population and contributed to a sharp decline in the country's birth rates, which fell 43 percent between 1920 and 1932. This was a problem for Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, which came into power in 1933 with plans to usher in a new world order, one in which Nordic and Germanic "Aryans" — whom they considered the most superior of the races — would rightfully reign supreme. In order to carry out Hitler's vision of a completely Aryan Europe, the Nazis would need address the country's genetic shortage.
SS head Heinrich Himmler was convinced that abortion was the primary reason for the falling birthrate, and in 1935 he decided to strike back. He decided to make abortions of racially "pure" children less appealing by offering an alternative to their mothers. Women who could prove that their unborn child would fit Nazi racial purity standards could give birth to the child in secret, comfortable facilities.
But there was a catch: Once the babies were born, they had to be relinquished to the SS. The SS would then educate them, indoctrinate them in Nazi ideology, and give them to elite families to raise."
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