Jun 8, 2025

Rabbi Aryeh Siegel on His Halachic Meditation Book, ‘Kosher Calm’

Kylie Ora Lobell
Jewish Journal
June 5, 2025

The year was 1971. Aryeh Siegel was a graduate student at Berkeley, and he had just learned about Transcendental Meditation, known as TM. Developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, TM involved silently repeating a mantra in one’s head as a form of meditation, and it quickly caught on amongst young people and celebrities. 

After becoming a TM teacher and a senior member of the organization, Siegel found that it was corrupt and, as he put it, a cult. He also learned that the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a huge spiritual leader at the time, was against Jews practicing TM and other forms of meditation with Eastern religion roots, as it was not in line with Jewish law. However, the Rebbe still saw the value in meditation in general, and how it could help people; there just had to be a kosher way to do it.

This was the inspiration for Siegel to write a book. Now, he’s released “Kosher Calm: Meditation & Self-Help Tools For Health & Healing Inspired by the Teachings of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, The Lubavitcher Rebbe” to urge his fellow Jews to meditate while staying true to their values.

“Beginning in 1962, the Rebbe urged Jewish mental health professionals to create kosher meditation protocols, though those protocols never materialized,” Siegel told The Journal. “My book is my attempt to finally answer that call. Drawing on my expertise in meditation, I share a simple, yet effective, technique fully aligned with Torah law, along with additional tools for stress relief and building emotional resilience.”

“Kosher Calm” includes a curated selection of letters from the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s extensive correspondence on the critical need for therapeutic meditation. Chapters cover topics like how to prepare to meditate, managing restlessness, mind-body techniques that help with certain health conditions, and mindfulness. 

In the chapter on learning how to meditate, Siegel takes readers step by step; he also posts meditation videos on his YouTube channel for visual help. After instructing readers on how to meditate, he writes, “During your session, you might have experienced moments of deep peace interspersed with periods of mental activity. Some people find that their awareness stays on the surface, dwelling on everyday thoughts. Others drift between states of calm and mental chatter. Whatever you experienced is exactly what needed to happen.”

According to Siegel, who lives in Los Angeles, meditation can not only help relieve stress but also help with preventing physical ailments. “When you’re stressed, your body’s ‘fight-or-flight’ system kicks in, releasing hormones like adrenaline and cortisol,” Siegel said. “While this helps in emergencies, constant modern stressors mean your body rarely gets a break. Chronic stress can cause health issues, weaken your immune system, disrupt sleep, impair memory, and cloud decision-making. It can even push people toward unhealthy habits. Since most stressors are beyond your control, meditation offers a way to break the stress cycle, calm your mind, and protect your health.”

So, what makes meditation kosher? Siegel said it must be strictly nonidolatrous, “free of Hindu mantras, foreign rituals, or religious symbols, any of which could potentially violate avodah zarah (prohibitions against idolatrous practices).” For example, to make meditation kosher, you could focus on a Hebrew word and approach meditation as a method for healing, not for worship. 

“This therapeutic approach differs from traditional Jewish spiritual practices such as hisbonenus (contemplation) or hitbodedut (secluded prayer),” said Siegel. “Rather than serving as a path to spiritual insight, the Rebbe viewed kosher meditation as designed to restore psychological balance.”

For Siegel, meditation was life-changing. He found it at a time when he was a stressed-out grad student with a new baby, sleepless nights, academic deadlines, and financial pressures. 

“That’s when meditation entered my life,” he said. “It wasn’t just a technique; it felt like a lifeline. For the first time, I experienced a sense of temporary calm that sometimes comes from fixing something, but from within.”

Siegel continued, “Meditation gave me a quiet space where I could pause, reset resulting in more clarity and resilience. It didn’t solve all my problems, but it changed how I faced them, and that, in a very real way, changed my life.”

https://koshercalm.org/

Kosher Calm” is available on Amazon.

https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/books/381930/rabbi-aryeh-siegel-on-his-halachic-meditation-book-kosher-calm/

Jun 7, 2025

Judge confirms trial date for ‘Zizian cult’ murder case

Matt Simons
Courthouse News Service
June 6, 2025

After a nearly ten-minute verbal stand-off with one of the defendants at the hearing, a judge has confirmed a trial date for two transgender defendants charged with the 2022 attempted murder of their Vallejo landlord.


FAIRFIELD, Calif. (CN) — A judge on Friday confirmed the trial of two defendants in Solano County for the attempted murder of their Vallejo landlord in 2022 and the resulting death of their friend, who died of a gunshot wound during the incident.

Defendants Alexander Leatham and Suri Dao belong to a group called the “Zizians,” a loose, cult-like organization of radical vegans and computer savants who see artificial intelligence as a danger to humanity. The group has been linked to six murders across the country.

Their trial is set for October 21, 2025, in Solano County Superior Court.

The solid trial date comes after months of continued hearings and delays in the case, due in part to Leatham’s lack of cooperation with court proceedings.

During Friday’s hearing, as Leatham was led to the courtroom — as she has many times before, by multiple armed officers from the Solano County Sheriff’s Department — She shouted more than 20 times: “I waive my right to a speedy trial!”

Solano County Judge John B. Ellis addressed the interruption from the bench with a mixture of boredom and indifference that has come to define their in-court interactions.

The judge gave the order to place her in an “isolation room,” a room adjacent to the courtroom with a window where she could watch the proceedings.

“Apparently, she’s fairly insistent on waiving the trial,” Ellis quipped.

Leatham’s outbursts have become a common occurrence at these hearings, though this one was notably more subdued than usual, and Leatham barely struggled with the guards.

The pre-trial proceedings reached a fever pitch when Leatham was brought out to be re-arraigned after the judge approved a motion to consolidate Leatham and Dao's cases.

Leatham began repeating a new statement as soon as the judge brought her back to the courtroom so she could be read her charges.

“Someone, please help me! I am surrounded by trans misogynists! Someone, please help me! They are torturing me for being transgender!” Leatham shouted.

In a herculean display of willpower by both parties, Leatham and Ellis spoke at the same time, uninterrupted, for nearly ten minutes while Ellis read her charges for the record.

“Subject to penal code section C...”

“Someone, please help me!”

“...intentionally causing permanent damage or disfigurement...”

“I am surrounded by trans misogynists!”

“...It’s also alleged aggravating factors under 4.21A1, that…”

The judge entered a plea of not guilty for the defendant, lacking an answer from Leatham during their verbal stand-off.

However, Leatham stopped her repetitive statements with the only words she’s traded with the judge in open court in several months when the judge suggested he would set the trial sooner without her input. Without waiving her rights, the judge would be required to set a trial within 60 days.

“Unless you enter a plea, I’m gonna set it sooner rather than later. Alright, we’ll set the trial with no time waiver,” Ellis said.

“What the hell! I didn’t say that!” Leatham shouted.

“Well then, would you like to waive the time?” the judge asked.

“I said that like 100 times! What the hell!” Leatham said, referring to her earlier repeated statement.

Leatham was then removed from the courtroom by officers.

Dao, Leatham’s co-defendant, was much tamer by comparison. They appeared before the court remotely via Zoom, wearing a blue prison shirt. Dao was soft-spoken and cooperative with the proceedings.

The judge also granted a motion to consolidate the defendants’ cases, despite Dao’s opposition that combining the two would “gravely prejudice” their case.

In his decision, the judge referenced past attempts by Dao and Leatham to escape police custody, including attempts before and after they were sent to prison. Ellis said that he doesn’t see Leatham’s escape attempts being used against Dao at trial.

Prosecutors said that Dao gave several false names to police upon their arrest, including “Joshua of Nazareth,” and once pretended to have a seizure so they could try and escape their jail cell. There are also doubts whether “Suri Dao” is the defendant’s real name or merely one they invented on-the-spot after their arrest.

Attorney Brian Ford, who represented Dao, said Leatham’s statements were “deeply, deeply troubling.”

“I get concerned every time I hear what she’s saying, because it’s consistently about discrimination and being tortured on the basis of their gender identity,” Ford told Courthouse News.

Ford added that Leatham's claims should be investigated.

Courthouse News reached out to Leatham’s attorneys at the Solano County Alternate Public Defender’s Office to ask for a comment on her statements about police mistreatment in custody in April, but has not yet received a response.

Attorneys Shelly Saini and Carole Long of the Solano County Alternate Public Defender’s Office, who represented Leatham, declined to comment.

The Solano County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

The next hearing will be on Aug. 22, 2025, when the court will hear a motion to dismiss the charges.

Dao and Leatham are two of roughly 10 known members of a group called the Zizians — a group dedicated to the ideas of blogger Jack “Ziz” LaSota, a 34-year-old transgender woman who came to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016. A former aspiring tech worker, LaSota came to the tech-saturated region to study the dangers that artificial intelligence could pose to humanity and developed a following among AI theorists and tech bloggers for her radical and rigorous ideas on AI, veganism and gender.

In August 2022, LaSota faked her death and disappeared from the world. She was later arrested in Maryland this February for trespassing and possession of a handgun in the vehicle.

Although “Ziz” has not been charged in any of the killings her followers have carried out, the group itself has been linked to several violent murders, including the one Dao and Leatham tried to carry out.

In 2022, prosecutors claim Dao, Leatham, and fellow Zizian Emma Borhanian faced eviction from a Vallejo lot where they rented space for the retrofitted box trucks they lived in. In an attack, the right side of his skull was shattered, and his torso was impaled with a samurai sword.

Lind ending up shooting and killing Borhanian and wounding Leatham. Though he survived, and was set to testify at Leatham and Dao’s trial, he was killed in January 2025 by another Zizian, Maximilian Snyder, who is now awaiting trial for murder.

Categories / Criminal, Regional
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 https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-confirms-trial-date-for-zizian-cult-murder-case/

Sheffield Doc Fes: Inside the Jesus Army

Sheffield Doc Fes: Inside the Jesus Army

"It began as a dream of community life, but a 1970s Christian commune soon became a nightmare of abuse, the scale of which is only just coming to light.

In the 1970s, a group of idealistic Christians, led by firebrand preacher Noel Stanton, attempted to create a heaven on Earth in rural Northamptonshire. With testimony by former members, their children and community Elders, this compelling series traces the story of the Jesus Fellowship from its hippy origins to the high-profile launch of the Jesus Army in the late 1980s, followed by its shocking demise in the 2000s. In parallel to this history, a group of former members undergo specialist post-cult counselling to help them come to terms with their indoctrination. In this first episode, despite suspicious deaths and accusations of a cult forming, nothing seems to weaken Noel Stanton’s grip on the community. But then a whistleblower speaks out about the things they’ve witnessed.

Inside the Jesus Army + Conversation
Sat 21 June 15:15 - 16:49
Showroom - Bertha DocHouse Screen 3

https://www.sheffdocfest.com/film/inside-jesus-army

Jun 5, 2025

Jury Seated in Lori Daybell's Cult Mom Conspiracy Trial

Court TV
June 5, 2025

PHOENIX (Court TV) — Lori Daybell is representing herself at trial in Arizona on charges she conspired in an attempt to kill her ex-nephew-in-law.

Prosecutors allege Lori and her brother, Alex Cox, planned to kill Brandon Boudreaux in October 2019. Court documents allege Cox drove a Jeep that belonged to Lori’s deceased husband, Charles Vallow, from Rexburg, Idaho, to Gilbert, Arizona, then shot at Boudreaux outside his home on Oct. 2. Boudreaux was not injured in the incident.

At the time of the shooting, Boudreaux was recently separated from Lori’s niece, Melani Pawlowski. According to police reports, Lori and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, along with Cox, told Pawlowski that Boudreaux had a “dark” soul when they allegedly began plotting his murder. Boudreaux previously testified about the shooting during Chad’s Idaho trial.

If convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in Boudreaux’s case, Lori is facing a potential sentence of life in prison. She is already awaiting another possible sentence of life in prison after an Arizona jury convicted her of conspiring to kill Charles Vallow in April.

The Arizona charges are in addition to her life sentences in Idaho. In 2023, she was convicted of murdering her two youngest children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and conspiring to kill her fifth husband’s first wife, Tammy Daybell. Her husband, Chad Daybell, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to death.



https://www.courttv.com/title/jury-seated-in-lori-daybells-cult-mom-conspiracy-trial/ 

HEART (healing from emotional, anger, and relational trauma)

HEART (healing from emotional, anger, and relational trauma) is an educational support group that offers a safe place tpo ​focus on healing with positive strategies to deal more effectively with anger and other emotions, coercive control, traumatic narcissism & gaslighting as part of an ongoing discussion.  The next series continues Monday, July 14 at 12:30 pm and Wednesday, July 16 at 7:30 pm for 4 sessions each. For more information, schedule, and registration, call or text 516-547-4318 or email paul.engel@flushingjcc.net.

WYFP - Cult Talk, Knitting Cult Lady


Mortifyd
Daily Kos
May 31, 2025

Uncultured, by Daniella Mestyanek Young

" ... She grew up in the Children of God pedo cult (they regularly had sex with prepubescent girls) got out of that as a young person, and then joined the Army, which is it’s own sort of cult.  She went to Harvard to study cults and cult behavior and now educates people on cult mentality and techniques for controlling members.  She also knits constantly at high speed.

She is working on another book at the moment, and puts out regular Youtube content which is how I found her, she is mutuals with Parkrose Permaculture, who I introduced in a previous diary.   I’m enjoying the book as much as you can on a subject like that, she reads it herself and does a really good job.  "

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2025/5/31/2325259/-WYFP-Cult-Talk-Knitting-Cult-Lady

CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/5/2025 (Legal, Charles Manson, Meditation, Mindfulness, OneTaste)

"Patricia Krenwinkel, a former follower of cult leader Charles Manson who was convicted for her role in the murders of seven people during a two-day killing spree across Los Angeles in 1969, has been recommended for parole.

It's the 16th time Krenwinkel has appeared before the parole board panel, and the second time parole has been recommended — the first being in 2022, before the decision was overturned by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Krenwinkel, 77, is California's longest-serving female prisoner, having originally been sentenced to death in 1971 for her role in the brutal "Helter Skelter" killings, which shocked America and shone a light on the dark side of 1960s hippie counterculture.

Her sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole in 1972, when the state's Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional."

Science Alert: Meditation And Mindfulness Have a Dark Side We Often Overlook
" ... In the past eight years there has been a surge of scientific research in this area. These studies show that adverse effects are not rare.

A 2022 study, using a sample of 953 people in the US who meditated regularly, showed that over 10 percent of participants experienced adverse effects which had a significant negative impact on their everyday life and lasted for at least one month.

According to a review of over 40 years of research that was published in 2020, the most common adverse effects are anxiety and depression. These are followed by psychotic or delusional symptoms, dissociation or depersonalisation, and fear or terror."

Courthouse News Service: Government wraps 'sex cult' case in Brooklyn
"After four weeks of testimony, federal prosecutors rested their case Monday against two former leaders of OneTaste, a Bay Area company that marketed sex acts as meditation. Jurors must now decide whether the group's tactics crossed the line into forced labor conspiracy.

The company's founder, Nicole Daedone, 57, and former head of sales, Rachel Cherwitz, 44, each face one count that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

OneTaste's core product was "orgasmic meditation" or OM, pronounced like the sacred sound and spiritual symbol commonly invoked in yoga and meditation. Despite its branding, "OMing" is a far cry from those ancient practices; instead, it's a 15-minute partnered practice that involves stroking a woman's genitals — or in the case of "male OMing," giving a man a hand job.

Trial witnesses described an environment of high control with cruel and abusive managers who preached women's empowerment. Still, they ordered them to sexually serve men, via the "OM" practice and otherwise, particularly potential investors and high-paying clients.

Founded in San Francisco in 2004, the company established branches in New York City, London, Austin, Texas, and Boulder, Colorado, and later sold the city branches to franchisees. Daedone sold her shares in the business for $12 million in 2017. Her co-founder, Rob Kandell, an unindicted conspirator who testified under subpoena with government immunity, was bought out for $1.5 million three years earlier."



News, Education, Intervention, Recovery


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 about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

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The 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 to promote dialogue.


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



Memory Warp: How the Myth of Repressed Memory Arose and Refuses to Die

ICSA Reviews: "Memory Warp: How the Myth of Repressed Memory Arose and Refuses to Die", reviewed by Joe Szimhart

Upper Access Books. 2017. Ebook 758 pages.
Review by Joe Szimhart and Copilot A

" ... Memory Warp is structured in a way that guides readers through the history, development, and impact of the recovered memory movement. Pendergrast begins by revisiting cases from the 1980s and 1990s, a period when the belief in repressed and recovered memories gained significant traction. He provides detailed accounts of individuals and families affected by these memories, highlighting the often-devastating consequences.

The book also explores the role of therapists and the methods they use to uncover supposedly repressed memories. Pendergrast critically examines techniques such as hypnosis, guided imagery, and other suggestive practices, questioning their validity and the scientific basis behind them. He presents compelling evidence that these methods can create false memories, leading to a phenomenon known as False Memory Syndrome (FMS)."

[complete review]


http://url8931.mailer.zeffy.com/ls/0click?upn=u001.aP11x-2BTa8op9XS4ZJfF0xU3Du5PGqQhaSa1rZDgpW-2B03QTpqvfyvMlAqKwg9OvNa1WnPzAogAGA3FkE2-2Fi4Mnue37-2FtreGmMDWMdGbeR2tcD79I-2Bw4Qph3uEm3CLXzu8-2Fg406rj0EWgRBLe7wQwDng-3D-3DZiJp_NSezBTrhxwKOy8fWZNQpgSD-2F2bVXDAthfSAHnS0qwtaw-2BnVbQbNUtC884-2F2JAxMjDeUHHVva-2FOb3haIH2cd2ig3BDD2SmgsCNpziSpVscpkcchvSVJsRSUw9I3o0zzrCeYZQ93wBGH2oEw0dE956AUwMVNKPjWePGb-2BRhNF3MlrYJkO1pQZHOIjTOHf8hR-2Flz-2FSV0nt9r4NZiwmo65-2BTD1OwrsvoZ8bFpczkoJyn-2FSNMtSmAn3-2Fus3Llexa8GeoWo8hGfrbk910wn2b3CermaN97CyEDnakJQnSnBnUdnvmf3nl4dNLatwMNinBdu90TEexbV0cYucxO4Px73Enx43IC2vtDazoSVYdM3pncLY-2FSXAigrb-2BU0XkYnWMV4E1o2xSDelMHpHzx8mqVg1RuWgyCpR45TY2eY0MWywk5-2FZJyB9tOupGWCnZXTUxtagcWAcp29rxXR4yu34vfA5MaBw-3D-3D

A Collaborative Approach to Addressing a Loved One's Cult-related Involvement

Montreal, Canada.
July 2-5, 2025

Abstract:

This presentation reflects the growing awareness in the anti-cult community that it often “takes a village”to respond appropriately and effectively to cult involvement and that each discipline brings different andessential expertise to bear on the issue. This talk will explore the vital elements of our collaborativeapproach (mental health professionals, former members, and exit counselors) using examples to illustratethese elements.A case presentation with a round table discussion from various perspectives, including interventionists,mental health professionals, research, and sociology.


Bio:

Joseph F. Kelly, a graduate of Temple University (focus on religion), has been a cult intervention specialist(thought reform consultant/exit counselor, mediator) since 1989. He spent 14 years in two easternmeditation groups (TM, International Society of Divine Love). He is a co-author of “Ethical Standards forThought Reform Consultants,” published in ICSA’s Cultic Studies Journal, and contributed a chapter to Captive Hearts, Captive Minds. He was (2010-2014) the News Desk Editor of ICSA Today.Mr. Kelly has also facilitated ICSA workshops for ex-members and families (1996-2018) and has lecturedextensively on cult-related topics.


Patrick Ryan is a graduate of Maharishi International University (Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus onEastern religious systems) and has been a cult intervention specialist (thought reform consultant/exitcounselor, mediator) since 1984.He was the the founder and former head of TM-EX, the organization of ex-members of TranscendentalMeditation. He was the editor of AFF News, a news publication for former cult members (1995-1998), hascontributed to the Cult Observer, AFF’s book, Recovery From Cults, is co-author of "Ethical Standards forThought Reform Consultants," and has presented 50 programs about hypnosis, inner-experience, tranceinduction techniques, communicating with cult members, conversion, cult intervention, exit counseling,intervention assessment, mediation, religious conflict resolution, thought reform consultation, easterngroups, transcendental meditation and workshops for educators, families, former members and mentalhealth professionals at ICSA workshops/conferences. Mr. Ryan received the AFF Achievement Award(1997) from AFF, the Leo J. Ryan "Distinguished Service Award" (1999) from the Leo J. Ryan Foundation,1and a Lifetime Achievement Award (2011) from ICSA.


Rosanne Henry, MA, LPC, emeritus director of ICSA, is a psychotherapist practicing in Littleton, Colorado.For more than thirty years she has been active in the cult-education movement, working closely with theformer Cult Awareness Network and ICSA. She served on the Board of Directors of ICSA from 2004 to2018 and was Chair of ICSA’s Mental Health Committee. She cofacilitated ICSA’s recovery workshops for25 years. In her private practice, Rosanne specializes in the treatment of cult survivors and their families.She is a former member of Kashi Ranch. In 2010, Ms. Henry received ICSA’s Margaret T. Singer Award(shared with the other Colorado workshop facilitators). She is also coauthor (with Carol Giambalvo) of“The Colorado Model” (ICSA Today, 1[1], 2010); coauthor (with Leona Furnari) of “Lessons Learned FromSGAs About Recovery and Resiliency” (ICSA Today, 2[3], 2011); and coeditor (with Lorna Goldberg, WilliamGoldberg, and Michael Langone) of ICSA’s Cult Recovery: A Clinician's Guide to Working With FormerMembers and Their Families, published in 2017.


Doni Whitsett, PhD, LCSW, is a Clinical Professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Workwhere she teaches various courses in practice, behavior, mental health, and human sexuality. She hasbeen working with cult-involved clients and their families for over 20 years and gives lectures to studentsand professionals on this topic. She has presented at national and international conferences in Madrid,Poland, Canada, and in Australia, where she helped organize two conferences in Brisbane. Her talks haveincluded The Psychobiology of Trauma and Child Maltreatment (2005, Madrid) and Why Cults Are Harmful:A Neurobiological View of Interpersonal Trauma (2012, Montreal). Her publications include ThePsychobiology of Trauma and Child Maltreatment (Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2006), A SelfPsychological Approach to the Cult Phenomenon (Journal of Social Work, 1992), Cults and Families(Families in Society, Vol. 84, No. 4, 2003), which she coauthored with Dr. Stephen Kent, and Why cults areharmful: Neurobiological speculations on inter-personal trauma. ICSA Today, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2014. Dr.Whitsett also has a specialty in Sexuality and was awarded a Fulbright Specialist Scholarship in 2016 tostudy, teach, and do research on this topic in China.


https://www.icsahome.com/events/conferenceannual


DECULT VOICES – BEYOND BELIEF | Trailer


The upcoming 20-minute documentary DECULT VOICES – BEYOND BELIEF, filmed during the first Decult conference in Christchurch (New Zealand) in 2024, weaves together raw, unscripted insights from cult survivors, mental health professionals, human rights advocates and academic experts. They present their deeply moving reflections and bold public calls to action, challenging long-held assumptions about people who left cults. From stories of exit and recovery to a united push for systemic reform, this fully crowdfunded film is a rallying cry for accountability, awareness, compassion and justice.


Film production by Caleb MacDonald and Robyn Jordaan



https://youtu.be/d2325n_5orw?si=2YzZQ-PjUxvPIZcy 

Jun 4, 2025

CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/4/2025 (Podcast, Prem Rawat, Neuroscience, Michael Langone, Book)


Podcast, Prem Rawat, Neuroscience, Michael Langone, Book

"Don Johnson interviews Paul Drescher, an ex-follower of Prem Rawat.  We discuss our experiences as young men in what we now know was and still is a cult."

Summary: New research challenges many widely held beliefs in psychology, revealing that genetics may play a greater role in shaping personality than parenting. The findings also dispute common assumptions about gender-based personality differences, the power of subliminal messaging, and the effectiveness of brain training.

Misconceptions about mental illness are also addressed, emphasizing that mental health conditions arise from complex genetic, social, and environmental factors rather than life events alone. The work calls for critical thinking, skepticism toward oversimplified media portrayals, and higher standards for psychological research and classification systems.

Key Facts:
  • Genetics Over Parenting: Evidence shows genetics may outweigh parenting in influencing adult personality.
  • Mental Illness Complexity: Disorders stem from combined genetic, environmental, and social factors.
  • Call for Reform: Greater research transparency and skepticism toward media-driven psychology myths are needed.
This book may appeal to anyone interested in philosophy, psychology, Christianity and science fiction, especially if all four. There's something for everyone. "Called by Name: Birth of a New Christendom" is self-published, by Dr. Michael David Langone. Here's his bio on his website:

"Michael received his PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1979. In 1980 he began working with the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA - then called the American Family Foundation), which he served as executive director for many years until his retirement in January 2023. Over the years he has counseled or consulted with more than a thousand individuals affected by cultic involvements and/or spiritually abusive relationships. His three areas of intellectual interests converged in his cultic studies work: psychology, religion, and philosophy."

Religion is an element of many science fiction works. In this one it's central to the story. His website has a page with a brief description of the book's plot and a page with a longer explanation of how the book came about, which gives you an even better idea of how the book tackles those subjects. 



News, Education, Intervention, Recovery


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 about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

Facebook

Flipboard

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The 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 to promote dialogue.


Jun 3, 2025

CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/3/2025 (Transcendental Meditation, Andrew Tate, Grooming of Children, Children of God, Branch Davidians, Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, Devadasi)


Transcendental Meditation, Andrew Tate, Grooming of Children, Children of God, Branch Davidians, Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, Devadasi

"Construction on the first phases of a resort east of Blowing Rock dedicated to Transcendental Meditation (TM) could begin this October," read an article from this week in the Watauga Democrat. The lead developer was David Kaplan.

"Since September 1993, Kaplan and other followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an Indian-born mystic who developed TM, had bought almost 1,500 acres of land for the retreat and have worked on its development plans," the article said.

According to the article, the group of followers was led by Kaplan and they spent more than $2 million on land in the Blue Ridge and Elk townships in Watauga County. At the time, Kaplan said the development would take up to 10 years to complete. The development was expected to include four or five villages, homesites, hotels and a health spa. There were also two non-profit sites to be developed.

The non-profit site was to consist of 100 villas, which was to become the home of 100 full-time meditators, which the TM organization called "world peace professionals."

Kaplan named that site "The Spiritual Center of America."

The first for-profit phase was to include a village of villas, condominiums, a hotel, and a health spa.

"That part, which has been named Heavenly Mountain Resort, will be developed by Kaplan, who is the sole owner of Heavenly Mountain Inc., the site's development company," the article said.
The Tate brothers have been charged with more than 20 offences against four women in the UK, including rape and prostitution, The Telegraph can reveal.

Andrew Tate, 38, is accused of 10 charges including rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain against three women.

His brother, Tristan, 36, has been charged with 11 offences including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking; charges connected to one alleged victim.

A CPS spokesman said: "We can confirm that we have authorised charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate for offences including rape, human trafficking, controlling prostitution and actual bodily harm against three women.

 "These charging decisions followed receipt of a file of evidence from Bedfordshire Police.

"A European Arrest Warrant was issued in England in 2024, and as a result the Romanian courts ordered the extradition to the UK of Andrew and Tristan Tate.

"However, the domestic criminal matters in Romania must be settled first.

"The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendants have the right to a fair trial.

"It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings."

International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation (IJCAM) The Grooming of Children for Sexual Abuse in Religious Settings: Unique Characteristics and Select Case Studies ( Susan Raine and Stephen A. Kent)
Abstract
"This article examines the sexual grooming of children and their caregivers in a wide variety of religious settings. We argue that unique aspects of religion facilitate institutional and interpersonal grooming in ways that often differ from forms of manipulation in secular settings. Drawing from Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, and Seventh Day Adventism) and various sects (the Children of God, the Branch Davidians, the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, a Hindu ashram, and the Devadasis), we show how some religious institutions and leadership figures in them can slowly cultivate children and their caregivers into harmful and illegal sexual activity. A number of uniquely religious characteristics facilitate this cultivation: theodicies of legitimation; power, patriarchy, obedience, protection, and reverence toward authority figures; victims' fears about spiritual punishments; and scriptural uses to justify adult-child sex."


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

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Jun 2, 2025

CultNEWS101 Articles: 6/2/2025 (Yoko Ono, The Walk, Religious Extremism, 2X2)


Yoko Ono,  The Walk, Religious Extremism, 2X2

" ... Kyoko Ono is speaking out over a traumatic time in her life.

After she was kidnapped at seven years old by her dad, Anthony Cox, her mom Yoko Ono and her step-father John Lennon moved to New York City in hopes of locating her. However, it wasn't until she was 30 years old that she picked up the phone and called her mother, now 92.

However, she had no idea about the search that was underway for her, and instead, grew up in a cult.

Cox, who was Ono's second husband, kidnapped Kyoko during their custody battle when he violated a court order.

"It makes me sound heartless. But I was living on a farm in Iowa," Kyoko continued to the outlet. "We didn't own a TV. And a lot of people don't understand that there's a lifestyle like that."

"When people hear about my story, they don't understand what it was like before Facebook," Kyoko, 61, revealed to the Daily Mail. "There's my mom and John doing all these things to appeal to me."

By that time, Ono had remarried Lennon, the Beatles singer and guitarist who was assassinated in December 1980.

In 1971, Cox and his new wife Melinda Kendall took Kyoko to Spain, and enrolled her in a meditation preschool in Majorca. Ono found out about the move through her lawyers, in which she and Lennon immediately flew to Spain to pick up Kyoko from school.

They were then arrested in their hotel room for kidnapping."
"Concerns over religious extremism and cult-like practices are increasing in Rwanda, and the region. For instance, in 2024, Rwandan authorities shut down over 100 church caves for failing to meet legal requirements, following reports of worshipers living in isolation under unsafe and manipulated conditions.

In Kenya, a doomsday cult led by Paul Mackenzie was linked to hundreds of deaths in 2023 most of whom showed signs of starvation, including children. In the same year, in Uganda, 80 followers of a religious cult were deported from Ethiopia after being lured into fasting for 40 days, with the belief that they would meet Jesus on the 41st day.

In 2018, Prophetess Olivia of Repohim Church in Sinza, an administrative ward in Ubungo District of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, was criticized after a video showed her instructing a congregant to scream during a deliverance session. The footage fuelled accusations of staged miracles and raised concerns about deceptive practices among some spiritual leaders.

If places of worship become sites of manipulation, isolation, and harm, who then protects the faithful from those who claim to lead them? In an interview with The New Times, Reverend Nathan Chiroma, the Principal of Africa College of Theology, in Kigali, explained how to recognize and address these harmful behaviours."
" ... Find out what happened when Mike and Abbi left the 2x2s, a secretive Christian sect that they grew up in. Leaving wasn't really the dramatic part of the story — but when they started a support group, an avalanche of accusations against the church spilled forward. Then the FBI got involved."

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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 about: cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations, and related topics.

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The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from many points of view to promote dialogue.


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


Jun 1, 2025

Former 'Manson family' member Patricia Krenwinkel, 77, recommended for parole over 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders

Andrew Thorpe
ABC News
June 1, 2025

Patricia Krenwinkel, a former follower of cult leader Charles Manson who was convicted for her role in the murders of seven people during a two-day killing spree across Los Angeles in 1969, has been recommended for parole.

It's the 16th time Krenwinkel has appeared before the parole board panel, and the second time parole has been recommended — the first being in 2022, before the decision was overturned by California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Krenwinkel, 77, is California's longest-serving female prisoner, having originally been sentenced to death in 1971 for her role in the brutal "Helter Skelter" killings, which shocked America and shone a light on the dark side of 1960s hippie counterculture.

Her sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole in 1972, when the state's Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional.

In 1967, when Krenwinkel was 19, she met musician and small-time criminal Charles Manson at a party, leaving her job and apartment behind three days later to travel with him to San Francisco as she believed they might have a romantic relationship.

During the next 18 months, she and several other young men and women followed Manson around the country, becoming known as "the Manson family" as they fell deeper under his influence, often with the aid of psychedelic drugs.

She later said Manson abused her physically and emotionally during this time, including trafficking her to other men for sex, and she had tried to escape the group twice only to be brought back by other members of the "family".

In 1969, Manson — once an aspiring pop star — convinced his followers he was receiving secret messages through the Beatles' White Album, informing him of a coming race war that his group could wait out underground, before emerging to rule the world.

Charles Manson used everything from sex and LSD to the Beatles' White Album to influence his "family" of followers to murder.

In what prosecutors labelled an attempt to ignite that race war, Manson instructed Krenwinkel and several other followers to enter the home of actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, and to kill anyone they found inside.

His followers shot, beat and stabbed five people to death at the home that night — including Ms Tate, who was eight months pregnant at the time.

The following night, Manson and his followers attacked Leno and Rosemary LaBianca at a different house chosen at random, stabbing them to death before Krenwinkel wrote "Healter Skelter" [sic], "Rise" and "Death to Pigs" on the walls with their blood.

During their trial, Krenwinkel and two other young women involved in the murders drew press attention for smiling, laughing and singing as the proceedings took place, then for shaving their heads and carving the letter X into their foreheads as Manson had done.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-01/patricia-krenwinkel-charles-manson-follower-parole-board/105363328

May 31, 2025

Click, whirr.

"Click, whirr" refers to a mental shortcut or automatic response, often used in psychology and persuasion to describe a tendency to react quickly and without conscious thought to certain cues or triggers. This concept, popularized by Robert Cialdini in his book "Influence," suggests that when we recognize a specific situation or cue, we trigger a pre-programmed response. 

The "click, whirr" response is often a quick and efficient way to make decisions, but it can also lead to poor choices if we are not aware of the triggers and our own tendency to react without thinking.

May 25, 2025

Travel ban imposed on Unification Church leader amid probe into ex-first lady scandal

SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors have imposed a travel ban on the leader of the Unification Church as part of an investigation into allegations that the wife of ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol received luxury gifts from the church, sources said Thursday.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office recently imposed an overseas travel ban on the church leader, Han Hak-ja, in connection with its investigation into allegations that a high-ranking church official gifted a diamond necklace worth 60 million won (US$43,405) and two Chanel bags to Kim via a shaman.

The shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, also known as Geon Jin, allegedly delivered the items to Kim and asked for various business favors on behalf of the church after Yoon was elected president in 2022, according to the sources.

Prosecutors suspect the church official may have acted either under Han's direction or with her tacit approval, given the high value of the gifts and other circumstances. The church has maintained that the gifts were offered based on the official's personal motives.

Prosecutors have yet to locate the necklace and bags, while Jeon has claimed that the items were lost.

Investigators, however, have confirmed that the bags were delivered to a member of Kim's personal staff, surnamed Yoo, who reportedly exchanged both for different models after paying surcharges.

Kim's side has asserted that the gifts were never handed to her, suggesting that the shaman and Yoo may have had a separate personal connection.

Shaman Jeon Seong-bae, also known as Geon Jin, attends a trial session at the Seoul Southern District Court in Seoul in this May 12, 2025, file photo. (Yonhap)

graceoh@yna.co.kr
(END)

https://m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20250522010300320

May 24, 2025

Today is Cult Recovery Day


Today is Cult Recovery Day.

 A day to honour the strength of survivors, raise awareness, and support healing from coercive control and manipulation.

Let’s continue to fight, continue to break down coercive control tactics and educate as many as we can.

#cultrecoveryday