Legislative & LegalN12: A lawsuit to silence? An organization that promotes "sacred sexuality" sued an Israeli for millions
Summary:
An international New Age organization called ISTA (International School of Temple Arts), which promotes "sacred sexuality" through spiritual, tantric, and shamanic seminars, filed a 3.6 million NIS (~$1 million USD) defamation lawsuit in Israel against a former participant turned vocal critic, Eyal Shaham.
Key details of the case include:
The Allegations against ISTA: ISTA seminars, which operate globally and in Israel, have faced investigative journalism uncovering allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate sexual practices between instructors and participants. In 2023, the Israeli Center for Cult Victims issued a public warning about ISTA, citing concerning characteristics. They described activities like group masturbation and pressure toward sexual openness, culminating in a ritual where group members massage female participants' genitals.
The Lawsuit: Shaham participated in an ISTA seminar and subsequently joined an alumni group, where he began posting warnings about systemic and abusive patterns within the organization, particularly targeting vulnerable young women. ISTA and its senior instructor, Lori Handlers, filed a lawsuit alleging severe reputational and financial damage. ISTA maintains that it has taken steps to ensure safety and to ban misconduct, arguing that Shaham's claims are baseless defamation.
The Court's Precedent-Setting Decision: Shaham’s legal defense (handled pro bono by the Haifa University Legal Clinics and the firm LIPA&CO) argued that this is a SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) meant to silence public criticism. They requested that the lawsuit be dismissed or that ISTA be required to deposit a financial guarantee equal to the amount of the lawsuit.
Tel Aviv District Court Judge Idit Katsavoy partially accepted Shaham's request. While she did not dismiss the suit or outright label it a SLAPP suit at this early stage, she applied a legal precedent on anti-SLAPP frameworks to impose a high financial burden on the plaintiffs. She ordered ISTA and Handlers to deposit a combined, unusually high guarantee of roughly half a million NIS to proceed with the lawsuit.
Perspectives:
Defense / Eyal Shaham: Shaham and his lawyers called the ruling a major victory for freedom of speech, proving courts will not be weaponized to silence public interest criticism. Shaham stated he felt a moral obligation to protect future victims after trying to change the system from within.
ISTA's Response: ISTA emphasized that the court explicitly refused to declare the case a SLAPP suit or dismiss it outright. They also noted the judge rejected Shaham’s demand for a 3.6 million NIS deposit, instead setting a much lower amount. ISTA expressed determination to see the trial through to hold Shaham accountable for years of "baseless slurs."
Event
Ongoing FocusNot just about sex: Forced labor and the economics of cultic control, Carol Merchasin
ICSA CONFERENCE 2026
Date: July 1-4, 2026
Hilton Bayfront, San Diego
This presentation explores how forced labor provisions within U.S. human trafficking law can be applied to cultic contexts where unpaid or underpaid work is extracted through coercion, psychological control, and threats of harm. Carol Merchasin examines how legal frameworks such as forced labor statutes and Civil RICO can expose patterns of economic exploitation that often remain hidden behind religious or ideological structures. Attendees will gain insight into emerging legal approaches that may offer new avenues for accountability and justice in cases of coercive control.
Full Abstract
Cults often cause profound harm that does not fit neatly into existing civil or criminal laws because legal systems often fail to recognize the effects of coercion. U.S. human trafficking law, on the other hand, has been increasingly used to address sexual abuse in cultic settings because it recognizes that coercion negates consent to sex. But the application of the trafficking law does not end there.
Forced labor claims are a component of the U.S. human trafficking framework that remains under-recognized in cultic contexts. Forced labor claims can apply to situations in which individuals are pressured to work through psychological control and threats of serious harm (including non-physical harm). These dynamics closely mirror how many cults extract unpaid or underpaid labor, often framed as “selfless service” or spiritual obligation for the benefit of leaders or affiliated entities.
Forced labor claims can also open the door to another powerful U.S. law commonly known as Civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), which allows courts to examine patterns of exploitation across leadership, related entities, and financial structures rather than treating harm as a series of isolated incidents. This “follow the money” lens shifts the focus from belief or doctrine to economic reality, making systemic exploitation legally visible in ways individual claims often cannot.
By focusing on coercion, labor extraction, and economic benefit—rather than beliefs or theology—both forced labor and Civil RICO attach meaningful financial consequences to coercive systems that have long escaped accountability.
Speakers
Carol Merchasin
Of Counsel McAllister Olivarius | President of ICSA Board of Directors
Carol Merchasin is an attorney and human rights advocate whose work focuses on coercive control, religious freedom, human trafficking, and accountability within high-control groups. She has represented survivors of abuse and exploitation in a range of legal contexts and is widely recognized for her efforts to advance legal protections for individuals harmed by coercive systems. Her work explores the intersection of human rights law, trafficking legislation, and cultic studies, with particular attention to how existing legal frameworks can be used to address exploitation, forced labor, and other forms of abuse. A long-time advocate for survivors, she currently serves as President of the ICSA Board of Directors.
Arizona Daily Star: Lawsuits accuse Southern Arizona religious community of covering up sexual abuse, forcing labor
This Arizona Daily Star article, written by columnist Tim Steller, reports on serious allegations against the Global Community Communications Alliance (GCCA), a Southern Arizona religious group.
The group, which consists of about 100 members, operates on a 200-acre property near Tumacacori called the Avalon Organic Gardens and EcoVillage. The scrutiny stems from three recent legal developments:
Two lawsuits filed by women who grew up in the community and a report by a court-appointed advisor in a child-custody/divorce case.
The core details and allegations outlined in the report include:
Failure to Report and Victim-Blaming: The court filings and lawsuits allege that when children or members reported instances of sexual abuse, GCCA leadership systematically ignored, minimized, or covered it up. Internal counselors allegedly engaged in victim-blaming, telling victims that the assaults were "karmic consequences" or punishment for being rebellious in a past life.
High-Control and Exploitative Environment: Lauri Owen, a court-appointed advisor in a member's divorce case, officially characterized the GCCA as a "closed-campus, high-control religious community" with a strict, authoritative hierarchy in which members are forced to work and forbidden to disobey or express conflicting opinions.
Separation of Families: The lawsuits state that children within the community are placed into communal group housing, cycled through unrelated adult caretakers, and denied consistent access to their own parents. One plaintiff noted she ultimately fled the group under the pretense of a medical visit after learning the group planned to remove her three-year-old daughter from her care.
The Group's Background: Founded in Sedona in 1989 by Anthony Delevin (who went by "Gabriel of Sedona" and later "Van of Urantia" before dying in 2025) and Nancy Emerson Chase ("Niann"), the group bases its teachings on the Urantia Book alongside spiritual "sequels" the founders claimed to receive from celestial beings.
The Group's Defense: The GCCA has categorically denied all allegations of abuse, misconduct, and unlawful labor practices, maintaining that they are a voluntary, law-abiding spiritual community. They have filed motions to dismiss the legal actions, arguing that many of the claims fall outside the legal statute of limitations.
The lawsuits are currently in their early stages, and the group has not yet presented its formal defense in court.
Unity Church
The original overview of Unity Church's theological foundations and major criticisms is expanded below, with formal references that map to contemporary religious studies and historical overviews.
Core Beliefs
The foundational identity of Unity as a non-creedal, practical expression of Christianity emerging from late 19th-century Transcendentalism remains central to its modern practice (EBSCO, 2019). The five core principles that dictate its metaphysical theology are consistently structured around the absolute goodness of a non-anthropomorphic God and the creative responsibility of human thought.
God as Omnipresent Energy: God is defined not as a personified judge, but as an immanent spiritual force, universal mind, and infinite intelligence underlying all creation (EBSCO, 2019).
Inherent Human Divinity: Humanity possesses a "divine spark" or "Christ Consciousness," establishing that our essential nature is divine and inherently good. The traditional doctrine of original sin is entirely rejected (EBSCO, 2019; Lutheran Spokesman, 2019).
The Law of Mind Action: Through the creative power of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, individuals actively shape their physical health and life experiences (EBSCO, 2019).
Affirmative Prayer: Prayer is used to align one's awareness with divine truth through positive affirmations and the release of negative thoughts, rather than petitioning a deity to alter circumstances (EBSCO, 2019).
Living the Truth: Spiritual principles must be dynamically demonstrated through an individual's words, choices, and active service (EBSCO, 2019).
Scriptural and Doctrinal Reinterpretation
The movement's founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, established a unique metaphysical framework for interpreting traditional Christian elements:
Jesus Christ: Rather than being viewed as the exclusive deity or sole Savior, Jesus is regarded as a "Master Teacher" and "Way-Shower" who fully realized and manifested the Christ potential latent within all humanity (EBSCO, 2019; Open Christian Education, 2024).
The Bible: Treated as a primary spiritual resource, the Bible is read allegorically and metaphysically, tracing the psychological and evolutionary journey of the human soul toward spiritual awakening (EBSCO, 2019; Open Christian Education, 2024).
The Afterlife: Heaven and hell are interpreted strictly as internal states of consciousness experienced on earth. Additionally, historic Unity writings incorporate a belief in reincarnation as a mechanism for the soul to continuously resolve its earthly lessons (Lutheran Spokesman, 2019; Open Christian Education, 2024).
Areas of Controversy
Unity’s departures from orthodox religious and medical paradigms have generated documented criticisms from theological, sociological, and medical perspectives.
1. Mainstream Christian Theological Critiques
Traditional, evangelical, and orthodox Christian bodies frequently critique Unity, asserting that its baseline tenets stand in direct opposition to Biblical scripture (Lutheran Spokesman, 2019; Open Christian Education, 2024).
Diminishing Christ's Unique Role: Critics argue that reducing Jesus to one among many spiritual guides conflicts with standard Christian doctrine regarding his singular divinity, sacrificial death, and physical resurrection (Open Christian Education, 2024).
The Erasure of Sin and Redemption: By dismissing inherited sin and focusing exclusively on human goodness, mainstream theologians state that Unity entirely undermines the Gospel's core message of repentance and salvation through divine grace (Lutheran Spokesman, 2019; Open Christian Education, 2024).
A "Self-Centered" Spirituality: Traditional commentators note that affirmative prayer shifts focus from seeking God's sovereign will to asserting personal desires, fostering an individualistic framework that can dilute communal accountability and humility (Open Christian Education, 2024).
2. The Critique of Positive Thinking and Accountability
Because Unity teaches that individuals construct their own realities through mental alignment, critics raise serious sociological and ethical concerns regarding the practical application of the "Law of Mind Action":
Implied Blame for Suffering: A rigid application of thought-manifestation implies that individuals experiencing systemic poverty, unexpected tragedies, or chronic illness are suffering due to a failure in their own mental state or "negative thinking."
Overlooking Structural Injustice: Critics argue that a focus on individual mental transformation can distract from addressing collective social responsibilities, systemic inequities, and structural issues that cannot be resolved solely by individual mindset shifts.
3. Spiritual Healing Boundaries
Historically, the movement was heavily anchored in the belief that physical illness could be resolved through spiritual alignment, rooted in Myrtle Fillmore's recovery from tuberculosis (EBSCO, 2019). While early stances generated friction with the medical community, modern Unity leadership clarifies that the church does not reject or resist scientific medical treatment but encourages the use of spiritual healing practices alongside traditional healthcare (EBSCO, 2019).
References
EBSCO. (2019). Unity Church. Research Starters: Religion and Philosophy.
Lutheran Spokesman. (2019). Unity Church. Lutheran Spokesman, 62(3).
Open Christian Education. (2024). Is the Unity Church's teachings aligned with traditional Christian doctrine? Open Christian Education Blog.
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