Troubled Teen Industry, Scientology, NatureBoy
AP: Adopted and Locked Away: Kids promised ‘forever homes’ instead confined in for-profit institutions
"...An Associated Press investigation finds that a business known for tough-love boarding schools for rebellious, rich teenagers has also set its sights on a different demographic: adopted kids. Experts say adoptees, only 2% of American children, account for an estimated 25-40% of those in residential treatment.
Adoptees told the AP they believe they’ve been enmeshed in a shadow orphanage system where children end up with the very fate that adoption was supposed to spare them — promised ‘forever homes’ but institutionalized instead, some for years, in oppressive and sometimes abusive facilities.
Charging as much as $20,000 a month, many of these facilities promise in their marketing pitches to treat adopted children for reactive attachment disorder, often called RAD. They offer a salve for desperate adoptive parents, claiming the child’s behavioral problems are caused by a pathological failure to connect with their caregivers, and they can learn to attach in faraway treatment."
The LAPD is investigating an incident where the TikTok trend turned violent this week.
"Last week, Los Angeles reported on a viral trend called “Scientology Runs,” where gaggles of invaders push past security to see how far they can make it inside the Church of Scientology’s notoriously secret sprawl.
Since then, the “raiders,” as the participants call themselves, have become increasingly destructive, forcing the church to remove its door handles and chain the entry shut to outsiders in an attempt to stop the TikTok challenge.
The LAPD is now investigating the incident, which could lead to trespassing and assault charges. The “speed run” trend has gained traction in recent days, with youth attempting to outdo one another by making it deeper into Scientology facilities before being stopped.
The Church of Scientology is notoriously secretive, a factor that appears to be fueling the trend. They have not released a statement regarding the increasingly problematic social media craze, but according to social media posts, there are now no door handles and armed guards outside the Hollywood location."
"They called him their god, but behind that charismatic facade, he was a master manipulator.
In "The Cult of NatureBoy," ABC News Studios takes audiences into the case of Eligio Bishop, aka "NatureBoy," who used social media to recruit followers to join what he described as a real-life utopia.
Eventually, it all turned into something more sinister.
On The Red Carpet spoke with director Benjamin Zand and investigator Chantelle Coleman about the four-part docuseries.
In 2016, Bishop began using his social media platforms to preach about an idyllic lifestyle, specifically, "he was kind of preaching an answer to kind of many of the problems that kind of young Americans, specifically young Black Americans are facing at that point, with a kind of simple message of kind of return to nature," Zand explains.
Tall and good-looking, Zand says Bishop was "like the ultimate influencer."
He certainly used that influence to his advantage.
"He has an ego the size of Earth," Coleman tells us.
"He's someone that believes that he has an answer for everything and that all knowledge should come through him. He's somebody who believes that, and he is, charismatic. He's also manipulative. He's also egotistical. He's someone who is great at manipulating. He's a master manipulator. He's very divisive. He is someone who can be very cruel. Vile. Evil almost," Coleman goes on to say. 'I think his angle was to become... I won't go as far as to say Jim Jones, but I think that he would have loved to have- to have a community that large. But ultimately, Eligio's end goal was never based in any type of reality.'"
News, Education, Intervention, Recovery
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.
The selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not imply that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly endorse the content. We provide information from multiple perspectives to foster dialogue.
No comments:
Post a Comment