Dhyana Levey is the next speaker we're pleased to announce in the lead-up to Decult 2024!

Dhyana Levey is the next  speaker we're pleased to announce in the lead-up to Decult 2024!

Dhyana is a media consultant and founder of Cult Media Messaging, a service for people going public who’ve had experiences with high-demand groups. She also produces and hosts the podcast Generation Cult with a focus on those who grew up in these groups.

She will take part in the 'A new media narrative: Survivor-focussed cult reporting' panel on the second day of Decult 2024. For the full programme, visit: decult.net/programme

Don’t miss out on DECULT 2024, 19-20 October. You can purchase tickets here: https://decult.net/tickets/

Rachel Lees, an IBLP survivor

Rachel Lees, an IBLP survivor, is an award-winning New Zealand writer in Tauranga and the author of “Sacred Grooming”. The online memoir details her experience of being hand-selected at 20 and groomed over the years by American fundamentalist cult leader Bill Gothard of the Institute in Ba

sic Life Principles (IBLP). As one of the whistle-blowers which led to the downfall of the Christofascist organisation and resignation of the leader, and then filing a lawsuit against Gothard in 2015, Rachel withstood many personal attacks against her. She is finally pursuing her academic education in the Social Sciences to write and speak more on predatory grooming and the healing that comes from the pursuit of justice.

Rachel will be speaking at Decult 2024 - make sure you don't miss out on purchasing tickets. A link to purchase tickets can be found in the comments of this post.

https://decult.net/

The Children of the Cult

DIRECTED BY: MAROESJA PERIZONIUS & ALICE MCSHANE

’The Children of the Cult’ is an international investigation into the Rajneesh movement. One of the world’s biggest and most successful cults, it had communes in more than 30 countries in the 70s and 80s and was immortalised in the Netflix series ‘Wild Wild Country’. But until now, a central truth about the organisation has remained hidden.

Filmmaker Maroesja Perizonius, herself a child of the communes, has connected with other former commune children and together, they’ve decided to change that.

 Part retrospective, part unfolding investigation, this film tells the barely believable story of the treatment of children within the cult. Children who grew up in an environment where sex was everywhere, where they were separated from their parents and where there were no boundaries. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh built an entirely new society with its own moral code- where terrible crimes against children were facilitated and normalised.

 The organisation still thrives today, profiting from Bhagwan’s teachings, yet no one has yet been called to account for the harm caused to children in its communes across the world. In the course of her unflinching investigation Maroesja unmasks perpetrators and demands answers from the closest members of the Cult’s inner circle.

https://www.dartmouthfilms.com/childrenofthecult

Apostasy Conference 2024 – The Systemic Nature of Religious Abuse | Faith to Faithless

October 9th, 2024 10:00 -- 16:00

An online conference for academics and practitioners who care about the needs of apostates. The theme of the Apostasy Conference 2024 is 'The Systemic Nature of Religious Abuse.'

Register Now.

The theme for the Apostasy Conference 2024 will be 'The Systemic Nature of Religious Abuse'. Abuse happens in all areas of society, not just within religious contexts. However, the use of religious texts and doctrines, enforced by religious leaders and followers, and the religious patriarchy, means some religious systems create a culture for abuse to happen, they create the abuse itself, they promote the abuse as morally right, and they cover up abuse where they want to avoid blame, shame, or accountability.

The conference will have two halves. The first half will have the theme of how some religions create rape culture and how this impacts apostates. And the second half will talk about how some UK state policies facilitate or obscure religious abuses (all forms of religious abuse, not just sexual) and how this impacts apostates.

Keynote speaker
Pragna Patel, Co-founder and co-director of Project Resist
Religious abuse in South Asian contexts

Dr Kristin Aune, Professor of Sociology of Religion at Coventry University
Christianity and Domestic Abuse

Dr James Murphy, The Open University
Leaving a High-Control Religion: Legacies of Trauma

Alexander Barnes-Ross
From Apostate to Activist: How Scientology gets away with abuse in the UK

Rachael Reign
Abuses within the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG)

Zara Kay
Addressing Religious Trauma and Apostasy Laws Impacting ex-Muslims

Yehudis Fletcher
Replicating and Reiterating Harm: how UK state policies enable abuse within high-control religions.

We will be announcing more names very shortly.

Man reveals pain, shame of growing up as Unification Church 'blessed 2nd gen.' in Japan

The Mainichi

September 26, 2024

TOKYO -- Garbage piled 

up in his family's home. He had to miss long stretches of school to take part in "study sessions." These were just two aspects of being a "blessed second-generation" member of the Unification Church (now the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), according to a man in his 30s who publicly shared his experiences for the first time on Sept. 21 at an event in the Japanese capital.

The man, going by the pseudonym Yukihiko Nonami, was born to parents who met through one of the church's mass weddings, and were devout followers.

Due to his parents' deep faith, they prioritized church doctrines over their children's welfare. However, Nonami himself never practiced the faith. "I was always ashamed and resentful of my family and the church. Because of them, I hated the fact that I existed," he shared.

From a young age, he was made to bow down in front of photographs of the church's founder and his wife. He was also forced to attend Sunday worship and take part in long-term study sessions, known as "workshops," held in places including South Korea, Brazil and Japan. These sessions were so long that he had to miss school. He was also forbidden from developing romantic feelings for anyone.

"I had only the bare minimum food, clothing and shelter. The house was a mess, and sometimes the school had to call my parents because they didn't pay for my school meals," Nonami recalled.

By the time he was in upper elementary school, he began to see the Unification Church as a cult. At the same time, he struggled with the stigma of being associated with it.

Despite not being a believer himself, Nonami explained, "It doesn't change that I was born because of the church's teachings. I was ashamed of it and hated it, which led to self-loathing. I believe this is a problem unique to those born into believer families as 'blessed second-generation' children."

Due to his feelings of guilt and shame about his family, Nonami couldn't fit in with those around him. He dropped out of high school just a few months after enrolling. He admitted that at one point, he thought the quickest way to reject the church's teachings was to erase himself, leading him to engage in self-harm.

Nonami said he was finally able to speak publicly about his experience because, in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the issue of "second-generation religious followers" has been gaining attention, allowing him to open up about his upbringing and struggles.

The Sept. 21 event where Nonami spoke was organized by the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales, which advocates for victims of the church. The network released a statement calling for a review of Japan's law against malicious donation solicitation, which was enacted in 2022 to prevent excessive donation-related harm.

The group also called for schools to establish support systems and consultation desks for second-generation religious followers, as well as for legal support when seeking compensation from the church.

(Japanese original by Shota Harumashi, Tokyo City News Department)

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240924/p2a/00m/0na/022000c?fbclid=IwY2xjawFh1LxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTiLiuu4RCC7aN_0jzNyveY6qds1R57MHQxX7IMV7lIu9gCoZ9Na9ZsdkQ_aem_c1A6ffzZunnH_AxZupoOSg