CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/10/2025

Amish, Child Abuse, Event, Cult Recovery

CBS: Amish mom charged with murder after throwing 4-year-old son into Ohio lake to prove "worthiness to God," police say

"An Amish woman who told authorities she was testing her faith when she threw her 4-year-old son into an Ohio lake was charged Wednesday with two counts of aggravated murder in the boy's death.

Authorities said Ruth R. Miller, 40, of Millersburg, Ohio, told investigators she believed she was acting at the direction of God when she allegedly killed her son Vincen at Atwood Lake early Saturday.

The lead investigator with the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office, Capt. Adam Fisher, said Wednesday that Ruth Miller repeatedly said in interviews with police that she threw the boy off the dock and into the water to give him to God.

"It did not appear that the gravity of the situation had sunk in," Fisher said.

The woman's husband, Marcus J. Miller, 45, had apparently drowned while attempting to swim to an offshore sandbank hours earlier in another test of faith, Sheriff Orvis Campbell told reporters at a news conference Monday. Their other children, a 15-year-old girl and twin 18-year-old boys, were also directed to perform water-based trials of their belief but survived, Campbell said.

New Philadelphia Municipal Court online records indicate Ruth Miller was also charged with domestic violence and child endangerment regarding the older children."

Seminar: Understanding Traumatic Narcissism Theory and Its Clinical Utility with Daniel Shaw, LCSW

Monday, September 22, 2025, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Central Time on Zoom

Daniel Shaw developed the theory of traumatic narcissism from his experience with cult leaders and followers. After working with patients who described relationships similar to cult dynamics, Shaw profiled the traumatizing narcissist and how they use undue influence to subjugate and exploit others.

Shaw will explore the traumatizing narcissist's "delusion of omnipotence" and outline eight controlling behaviors they use to construct systems of subjugation. Anticipating his third book on the topic, Shaw's presentation will clarify for clinicians how to identify traumatizing narcissists and address challenges when working with their subjugated victims.

As more patients report abuse not only in families or in intimate relationships, but by unregulated figures—coaches, wellness gurus, psychics, healers, and facilitators of psychedelic journeys—the need for clinicians and patients to understand who the traumatizing narcissist is, what they do, and why they do it has never been greater.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After attending this session, participants should be able to:
1. Identify the most prominent behaviors of the traumatizing narcissist.
2. Assess and effectively address shame pathology in cult survivors
3. Utilize psychoeducation about the traumatizing narcissist's coercive projections of shame and powerlessness to facilitate the restoration of stable self-esteem in survivors of subjugation trauma.

This seminar is free and open to the public. 1.5 CMEs/CEUs are available for this seminar.

International Cultic Studies Association: Weaponizing therapy: Can healing become coercive?

What happens when therapy shifts from support to control? This piece explores how the desire to 'fix' someone can potentially become coercive.

"The weaponization of therapy can negatively impact relationships and can ultimately sour our view of therapy. A healing relationship between you as the client and your therapist is one of democracy, of ensuring no harm is done to you. Ensuring such a relationship may involve the therapist challenging thoughts and behaviors that appear not to be serving you. The experience ought not involve the therapist challenging your emotions.

As a potential client, useful questions to ask the therapist before you begin therapy, and throughout your therapeutic journey after you have begun, include the following:

"Do I want therapy?"

"For what am I seeking therapy?"

"For whom am I seeking therapy?"

"Does anyone, including the therapist, appear to be coercing me into therapy?"

Healing is possible

It is indeed possible for people to heal, thereby shifting their behaviors. Giving ourselves compassion, dwelling in safe environments, and cultivating nurturing relationships can increase our chances for behavior change.

Be wary of forceful modalities (including invasive advice, exacted confessions, and instigated catharses) that may initially display pleasing results, yet that in reality are shocking us into short-lived modifications. Based in fear, forceful modalities are often not based in evidence, and can, at times, be psychologically traumatizing."

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.

Amish Life - Documentary

Amish Life
2023, SOCIETY - 42 MIN

The Amish, a Christian denomination known for their simple living and adherence to tradition, inhabit pockets of rural North America, their lives existing in a harmonious counterpoint to the frenetic pace of the modern world. Stepping into an Amish community is akin to stepping back in time, where horses clip-clop on gravel roads, children in plain bonnets skip between neatly painted farmhouses, and the air hums with the quiet rhythm of a simpler way of life.

Their roots trace back to 16th-century Switzerland, where Jacob Ammann led a reformation within the Anabaptist movement, emphasizing pacifism, adult baptism, and separation from the world. These core tenets continue to define the Amish today, guiding their decisions on everything from technology to clothing.

Technology, for instance, is carefully assessed for its potential to disrupt their values. Electricity is often shunned, replaced by lanterns and oil lamps that bathe homes in a warm, golden glow. Cars are a rarity, their place taken by horse-drawn buggies that trot serenely through verdant landscapes.

Plain dress serves as another visible marker of their faith. Women wear long, covered dresses and head coverings, while men sport neatly trimmed beards and suspenders over simple shirts and trousers. This uniformity reflects their commitment to humility and a focus on inner character over outward appearances.

Community forms the bedrock of Amish life. Families are large and close-knit, bound by shared faith and the daily rhythm of farm work. Barn raisings, quilting bees, and communal worship services foster a deep sense of belonging and mutual support. Yet, within this apparent uniformity, diversity exists. Different Amish groups, known as "church districts," interpret their Ordnung, or set of unwritten rules, with varying degrees of strictness. Some embrace limited use of technology for business purposes, while others adhere to a more austere lifestyle.

The Rumspringa, a period of youthful exploration between the ages of 16 and 21, offers a glimpse into this internal negotiation. During this time, teenagers are allowed to experiment with the world outside the community, sampling modern fashion, technology, and even dating. Ultimately, they must choose whether to be baptized and join the Amish church, or leave the community behind.

The lives of the Amish are not without challenges. Their commitment to non-resistance can make them vulnerable in a world increasingly defined by conflict. Maintaining their unique way of life in the face of societal pressures can be a constant struggle.

Yet, for many Amish, the simple life offers a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment. They find joy in the rhythm of the seasons, the fruits of their labor, and the deep bonds of community. In their quiet corner of the world, they offer a timeless testament to the enduring power of faith, tradition, and living in harmony with the natural world.

Directed by: Barbara Völkel



https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/amish-life

CultNEWS101 Articles: 3/8/2023 (LDS, Ammon Bundy, Legal, FLDS, Sullivan Institute, Amish )

LDS, Ammon Bundy, Legal, FLDS, Sullivan Institute, Amish 

Forbes: Mormon Church Will Pay Millions In SEC Settlement Over Investment Portfolio Allegedly Saving For 'Second Coming Of Christ'

"The federal Securities and Exchange Commission charged the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Tuesday for violating federal tax laws, after a whistleblower revealed the church had allegedly deceived donors into raising money for a massive fund that has never been touched."

Idaho Statesman: Idaho health system wants Ammon Bundy held in contempt of court, seeks $7.5 million in damages

"St. Luke's Health System has filed paperwork asking an Ada County judge to consider holding far-right leader Ammon Bundy in contempt of court — again.

In court documents filed by Holland & Hart attorney Erik Stidham, St. Luke's alleged that Bundy violated Fourth District Judge Lynn Norton's protective order by failing to remove "defamatory statements" on the People's Rights Network — a far-right group started by Bundy — about St. Luke's President and CEO Chris Roth.

"A finding of contempt are needed here as Bundy disregards and disrespects the court and continues to disrupt plaintiff's lives and livelihoods," according to the memorandum. "Absent a finding of contempt, there is no doubt that Bundy will continue to defy the court."

in what he called a "peace offering." He's previously gone to trial twice for trespassing charges in 2021 and 2022.

Stidham in the memorandum alleged that Bundy violated the protective order by falsely posting on the People's Rights Network that Roth is a criminal accessory of child abduction."

Law and Crime: Polygamist cult leader and self-proclaimed prophet 'brazenly' used jailhouse phone system to have 'sexual discussions' with kids: Feds

"Polygamous cult leader Sam Bateman, a self-proclaimed prophet awaiting trial on kidnapping and other charges, "brazenly" used the jailhouse phone system to "engage in sexual discussions with children," federal prosecutors allege.

One of the girls, identified in court papers as "Jane Doe 4," is a 13-year-old he allegedly conspired to kidnap, court papers say."

Alexander Stille: The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune

"The devolution of the Sullivan Institute, from psychoanalytic organization to insular, radical cult.

In the middle of the Ozzie and Harriet 1950s, the birth control pill became available and a maverick psychoanalytic institute, the Sullivan Institute for Research in Psychoanalysis, opened its doors in New York City. Its founders wanted to start a revolution, one grounded in ideals of creative expression, sexual liberation, and freedom from societal norms, and the revolution needed to begin at home. Dismantling the nuclear family—and monogamous marriage—would free kids from the repressive forces of their parents. The movement attracted many brilliant people as patients, including the painter Jackson Pollock and a swarm of other artists, the singer Judy Collins, and the dancer Lucinda Childs. By the 1960s, it had become an urban commune of hundreds of people, with patients living with other patients, leading a creative, polyamorous life.

By the mid-1970s, under the leadership of its cofounder Saul Newton, it devolved from a radical communal experiment into an insular cult, with therapists controlling virtually every aspect of their patients' lives, from where they lived to how often they saw their children. Although the group was highly secretive, even after its dissolution in 1991, Alexander Stille has reconstructed the inner life of this hidden parallel world. Through countless interviews and personal papers, The Sullivanians reveal the nearly unbelievable story of a fallen utopia in the heart of New York City.

Only In Your State: The Tiny Amish Town In Iowa That's The Perfect Day Trip Destination

" ... In the communities surrounding Bloomfield, you'll find the largest, most conservative Amish community in Iowa. The Davis County Amish are a storied community, and they welcome visitors into their world. A visit to this community is a fascinating look at a lifestyle that feels completely foreign to us in the contemporary moment."

The Davis County Amish have been here for generations, and the tight-knit group still even speaks German."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

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

Religious groups file brief in support of Amish appeal to Supreme Court

The Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty and the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Amish gray water case.

Emily Cutts
Duluth News Tribune
March 11, 2021

Two national religious liberty groups filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of members of the Fillmore County Swartzentruber Amish community's petition to overturn a Minnesota court's decision that would require them to install septic systems against their religious practices.

The Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty and the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom filed a so-called amici curiae brief on March 5. An amici curiae brief allows those who are not directly involved in a case, but would have an interest in the outcome, to submit arguments to the court in support of a party that is directly involved.

Through their attorney Brian Lipford, four members of the Fillmore County Swartzentruber Amish community filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 20, 2021, asking the high court to consider two questions under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act: Does the government have a compelling interest in regulating the disposal of "gray water," which includes laundry, bath and dishwater; and is a septic system the least restrictive method when 20 states allow mulch basin systems?

The petition comes after years of legal battles in Minnesota's courts against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Fillmore County over concerns that the agency and county were requiring the Amish to install wastewater systems for gray water that go against their religious beliefs.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency filed a waiver of response with the nation's high court stating it did not intend to respond to the petition. Fillmore County did not respond. Neither party is required to respond to the petition.

The petition is scheduled to be discussed at a judicial conference on March 26. At that point, the high court could grant or deny the petition or ask the government to respond before making a decision.
Amicus curiae brief

The 31-page brief argues that the district court's ruling, and the Minnesota Court of Appeal's decision to uphold it, failed to hold the county and MPCA to their burden under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The act, also known as RLUIPA, was unanimously passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and subjects any land-use regulation imposing a substantial burden on religious exercise to strict scrutiny, permitting application of the regulation only if the government demonstrates that the imposition is in furtherance of a compelling government interest and that it is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.

"From before the Founding, the United States has offered succor for adherents of uncommon or disfavored faiths," the petition reads. "In the United States, practitioners of diverse faiths are not merely 'tolerated,' but welcomed as members of the community and fellow citizens. To be sure, we have at times fallen short of our ideals of religious freedom."

The brief argues that the county and the MPCA failed to show "that their generic interests in public health and environmental protection were so compelling in this specific application as to justify trampling Petitioner’s religious beliefs," the brief states.

The brief also notes that the county and the MPCA failed to prove that the mulch basins proposed by the Amish as an alternative, and used in 20 other states, were not an acceptable option.

When strict scrutiny is abandoned or misapplied, the brief states, the results can gravely undermine sincerely held religious beliefs.

"This case presents exactly the scenario Congress anticipated in RLUIPA, and the Court should clarify that RLUIPA strict scrutiny forbids the effective exclusion of the Amish from Fillmore County," the brief reads.

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/crime-and-courts/6929984-Religious-groups-file-brief-in-support-of-Amish-appeal-to-Supreme-Court

Meet the Mennonites - Documentary

Top Documentary Films
DW

2018 - 42 MIN

https://youtu.be/Pt_XU4W4DBA

Much like the Amish, the Mennonites live a life of isolation from the outside world. They resist the temptations of the modern society by casting themselves away from it. As a result, outsiders have rarely enjoyed an insider's perspective on their daily existence. Meet the Mennonites pulls back the curtain and offers a rare glimpse into their simple and fascinating way of life.

The film observes life in a Mennonite commune in Belize. Many of the commune's inhabitants are reluctant to be shown on camera, but the filmmakers manage to gain the trust of a few subjects. Through their insights, we learn what draws them to a life of extreme discipline, religious devotion and self-containment.

Their unique perspectives are embedded into them from a young age. Children attend school from the age of 6 to 13. During that time, they forgo the usual textbooks devoted to math and science. Their studies revolve exclusively around the Bible.

The typical Mennonite families consist of up to a dozen children. Their days are spent working on farmland or constructing useful furnishings to sell to the outside world.

Artifacts from the outside - such as cell phones - are viewed as tools from Satan. Even so, a few members of the commune have opened themselves to more inclusion from their surrounding communities. This is a sore point with the more devout members of the Mennonite tribe, and they work to ensure that these "offenders" are appropriately ostracized for their transgressions.

Sensing a wavering from the old order, a feeling of discontent begins to rumble among the more traditional members of the community. Together, they join forces to form a new commune in Peru. This ambitious move stirs both optimism and fear within them. It will mark their first time on a plane, and a degree of interaction with the masses that they have been successful in avoiding up until now.

Sharply observant and free of judgement, Meet the Mennonites is a fascinating look at a committed people who are driven by a shared thirst for a simpler way of life.

Directed by: Mélanie Van Der Ende

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/meet-mennonites/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=recently_posted_documentaries&utm_term=2020-07-19

Some Old Order Mennonites feel called to return to church

LUIS ANDRES HENAO AND JESSIE WARDARSKI

570 News

AP

May 30, 2020

NEW HOLLAND, Pa. — For the first time in weeks, kids played in the church cemetery. Nearby, a group of men in their 20s reflected on what it meant to gather again during the pandemic.

“Human health is important,” one of them said. “But ultimately, spiritual health is more important.”

Their conservative order — one that shuns technology, cars and electricity — never missed Sunday services in more than 100 years, when the deadly 1918 flu pandemic interrupted worship.

Then, a different virus intruded in this world apart.

For nearly two months, the Old Order Stauffer Mennonite Church followed Pennsylvania’s stay-at-home order and guidelines that discouraged gatherings in houses of worship. COVID-19 forced the postponement of weddings, funerals and their bi-annual communion, a high point. While some more modern Mennonite orders in Lancaster County held services by video, the Stauffers did not.

But now, it was “time to get back to work,” their bishop said. “And more so … in the spiritual sense.” It was time to resume worship, he said — though he wondered how many worshippers would come, and he still felt concerns about “offending the public and the government.”

News spread fast: first service together in weeks; not mandatory, only for those who felt safe.

That morning, dozens arrived: men in wide brimmed straw hats, women in bonnets and dark dresses; their children in suspenders. Some greeted each other without face masks. Others walked into the bathroom to apply hand sanitizer before they filled the long, creaky wooden church pews in silence and sang hymns in German and the dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch.

“It has been many weeks since we gathered here. Are we thankful to be here again?” Bishop Marvin asked. “Aren’t we thankful for health to go about our life?”

Like others in his congregation, he was welcoming, but he didn’t want his last name to appear on the news because of religious views on modesty.

-

Mennonites believe in pacifism, reserve baptism for adults and oppose military service. They belong to a Protestant denomination and trace their origins to the Anabaptists, a radical 16th-century sect of the Reformation originating in Switzerland. Their name comes from Menno Simons, a Dutch Roman Catholic priest who joined the Anabaptists.

Some Old Order Mennonites eschew technology, cars and dress in plain clothes like the Amish, who separated from the Mennonites in the 17th century. There are some differences. The Amish worship at home and men grow beards without moustaches after they marry.

“I guess it’s a little like you go down the highway and one vehicle says Ford and the other says Dodge, and they might all come out of the same assembly line,” Bishop Marvin said. “But as far as the foundation, or the fundaments of the faith, it’s not that much different.”

The Old Order Stauffer Mennonite Church formed in 1845. Today, they number about 2,000 in Pennsylvania, 500 of them in Lancaster County, said Steven Nolt, senior scholar at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

“The Stauffer Mennonites are probably the most technologically restrictive of any of the Old Order groups, so their means of communication has always been very much face-to-face. They need to be together in order to communicate,” Nolan said. “Being apart was probably really hard for them.”

During Sunday worship, Bishop Marvin said their time apart from each other gave parents a chance to read Scripture with their children at home. But he acknowledged challenges. His mother died at age 95 on April 2, and the community couldn’t gather for a large funeral service.

__

Rules on houses of worship have varied from state to state. Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order in Pennsylvania effectively exempted religious activity, although it strongly discouraged gatherings.

The guidance said religious leaders were “encouraged to find alternatives to in-person gatherings and to avoid endangering their congregants.”

Other congregations adapted. The Groffdale Conference Old Order Mennonites used landline phones as an alternative to their in-person worship, cancelled for the first time in more than a century.

“I can remember my great grandparents talking about the 1918 flu, the Spanish flu, when the churches were closed for three months. There were no funerals, and a lot of people died,” said Aaron Hurst, a congregant who owns a hardware store.

The conference call worship was launched with the help of Elvin Hoover. From his home office overlooking the Conestoga River, he receives faxes offering farm products, masks and other services. He then announces the news in Pennsylvania Dutch through a phone line that reaches hundreds in his community. Church service became so popular, he said, that on a Sunday, it jammed the local phone exchange.

“The sheep were hungry!” he said. “We miss church. Oh, do we miss church.”

Modern orders like the Akron Mennonite Church used video conferencing for the first time during Sunday worship. Co-pastor Rachel Nolan began the May 3 service by lighting a candle. After a reading, she divided the congregation into virtual breakout rooms and asked them to reflect on the Scripture.

“How did you hear it differently because of our current situation?” she asked. A couple shared their experience after they contracted the coronavirus. Others prayed for a boy who was going to undergo surgery, and a woman diagnosed with cancer.

The service ended with Nolan saying: “And so let us go with hope, transforming ourselves to transform the world,” to which all responded: “Trusting in the God who brings life from places of death.”

At the Stauffer Mennonite Church, the service ended when men, women and children turned around on their seats in unison and knelt on the wooden floor. With their eyes shut, hands cupped around their temples and foreheads pressed against the pews, they recited the Lord’s Prayer, together but prayerfully isolated.

__

Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

__

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through the Religion News Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Luis Andres Henao And Jessie Wardarski, The Associated Press

https://www.570news.com/2020/05/30/some-old-order-mennonites-feel-called-to-return-to-church/

CultNEWS101 Articles: 5/15/2020

Conspiracy Video, Covid-19, Genesis II, Clergy Confidentiality, Amish, Jim Bakker

Washington Post: Facebook and other companies remove viral 'Plandemic' conspiracy video

"Social media companies including YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook are removing a viral conspiracy theory video because of its claims regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

The roughly 26-minute video was presented as an extremely long "trailer" for a full-length film titled "Plandemic," and features an extended interview with Judy Mikovits, a well-known figure in the anti-vaccine movement, who has made various discredited claims about the effects of vaccines.

A YouTube spokesperson said the company removes "content that includes medically unsubstantiated diagnostic advice for covid-19," which includes the "Plandemic" video.A rep for Facebook said, "Suggesting that wearing a mask can make you sick could lead to imminent harm, so we're removing the video."

A Vimeo spokesperson said the company 'stands firm in keeping our platform safe from content that spreads harmful and misleading health information. The video in question has been removed by our Trust & Safety team for violating these very policies.'"

Bradenton Herald: Federal court bans Bradenton 'church' from selling bleach as miracle COVID-19 cure

"A Bradenton organization that peddles drinking industrial-grade bleach as a cure for 95 percent of the world's known illnesses, including HIV/AIDS, autism, Alzheimer's, leukemia, and most recently, COVID-19, was openly defiant after a federal court issued a temporary restraining order on the sale of its products.

"We are doing good, so we have no fear of you AND you still have NO authority in our Church or its practices," wrote Mark Grenon, leader of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, in an email addressed to U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams on April 24.

Grenon, who said he has written President Donald Trump about his product, also told the judge to cancel all orders against the organization.

Now the federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction that extends a ban on the organization from distributing its MMS product, also known as "Master" or "Miracle Mineral Solution."

"The Court finds that the United States has shown a cognizable danger that Defendants will continue to violate the FDCA in the future unless a preliminary injunction is issued," Judge Williams stated in her May 1 order.

The court filings name Genesis II and its leader Mark Grenon, as well as Joseph Grenon, Jordan Grenon and Jonathan Grenon as defendants. All four individuals have been identified as "bishops" of Genesis II on the organization's website, with Mark Grenon sometimes referred to as "archbishop."

Mark Grenon claims to have founded Genesis II in 2010 with Jim Humble, a former Scientologist who began promoting the supposed health benefits of MMS as early as 2006 in self-published works. A website operated in Humble's name says that he discovered the uses of the active ingredient in MMS "while on a gold mining expedition in South America."

Another post on the site claims that Humble "retired" from Genesis II in 2017 and left the organization "in the hands of Mark Grenon."

"It is important to note that MMS does not cure disease," the website also says."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Clergy confidentiality at issue in Amish bishop's case

"The criminal complaint against the Amish bishop is clear about how he learned of a church member's alleged sexual assault on three young teenage girls:

"John G. Beiler confessed the sexual assault incidents to Bishop Levi S. Esh Sr.," says the complaint, pending in Lancaster County and filed by Pequea police in April.

"Confessed." Whether the case moves forward could hinge on that word.

In April, Pequea police charged Mr. Esh, 63, with felony and misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspected child abuse to authorities after Mr. Beiler allegedly confessed to the sexual assaults.

The case is believed to be the first in Lancaster County — hub of the nation's largest population of Amish — in which one of their spiritual leaders is charged with violating a Pennsylvania law that includes clergy among those mandated to report suspected child abuse.

But Pennsylvania law allows a privilege, or exemption, for clergy who learn about suspected abuse in "confidential communications" while in the course of their "duties."

Mr. Esh's attorney plans to challenge the charges on that and other grounds.

The charges come amid growing scrutiny in various states about the clergy-confidentiality privilege.

The case also involves the latest in a series of allegations of sexual abuse and coverup among Amish and closely related Mennonites, both part of the Plain church tradition. In 2017, a Dauphin County Amish bishop pleaded guilty to failing to report abuse, and in 2019, a Huntingdon County Mennonite pastor pleaded no-contest to a similar charge. Both received probation."

Daily Beast: Jim Bakker's Prepper Village Is Having the Worst Apocalypse Ever

" ... Morningside is the name of Bakker's Christian broadcasting empire, as well as the Missouri residential community from which he broadcasts. But it's mostly made news in recent weeks because of its founder's legal woes: various government agencies have accused Bakker of promoting a fake COVID-19 miracle cure. 

So what does the coronavirus pandemic look like in this temple of survival? According to interviews with people who have recently lived, worked, and spent time there, pretty much the same waking nightmare as everywhere else: mixed efforts at social distancing, layoffs, and reported shortages of everyday supplies as COVID-19 ravages the country.

A former Morningside employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she hoped to return to her job as the pandemic eased said she was among a wave of layoffs as the community entered lockdown in late March.

"They were running out of supplies they had stocked up on when I was leaving there," said the former employee, who argued Bakker was being vilified in the media. 

Neither Morningside nor a Bakker representative returned requests for comment for this story.

The story of Morningside's development involves two failed historical theme parks and two dozen criminal charges. Bakker, now 80, was a star of the 1980s televangelist scene and even expanded into a biblical theme park until feds convicted him of an elaborate scheme to illegally skim millions off the amusement park. A former church secretary also accused him of sexually assaulting her and buying her silence, although he claimed to have only had consensual extramarital sex with her, and was never charged. 

Twenty-four convictions on fraud and conspiracy charges in the amusement park scandal and four years in prison later, Bakker was released from lockup in 1994. By 2003, he'd returned to broadcast ministry, this time with an eye on the end-times. He preached the apocalypse and used a loophole in non-profit law to hawk survivalist gear like supposed health supplements and giant buckets of shelf-stable food. 

"Imagine," one of Bakker's emergency food ads said, "the world is dying and you're having a breakfast for kings." (Because his ministry is technically a nonprofit, Bakker does not "sell" his goods; he offers them as "love gifts" to people who make specific donations, like $4,500 for a "Peace of Mind Final Countdown" bundle that contained 31,000 servings of food in a variety of buckets.) 

In 2008, he opened Morningside, a church complex/Christian broadcast studio/evangelical utopia on the former site of a follower's Renaissance faire-themed amusement park. It was the ultimate survivalist sales pitch: Bakker claimed it could withstand an imminent apocalypse, and offered a variety of dwellings onsite. Higher-end homes included condos overlooking a shopping mall-like central meeting area, which also featured a chapel, a General Store, a cafe, and a 15-foot statue of Jesus."

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.

Facebook

Flipboard

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Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.

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 in order to promote dialogue.

Clergy confidentiality at issue in Amish bishop's case

Peter Smith
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
May 10, 2020

The criminal complaint against the Amish bishop is clear about how he learned of a church member’s alleged sexual assault on three young teenage girls:

“John G. Beiler confessed the sexual assault incidents to Bishop Levi S. Esh Sr.,” says the complaint, pending in Lancaster County and filed by Pequea police in April.

“Confessed.” Whether the case moves forward could hinge on that word.

In April, Pequea police charged Mr. Esh, 63, with felony and misdemeanor charges of failing to report suspected child abuse to authorities after Mr. Beiler allegedly confessed to the sexual assaults.

The case is believed to be the first in Lancaster County — hub of the nation’s largest population of Amish — in which one of their spiritual leaders is charged with violating a Pennsylvania law that includes clergy among those mandated to report suspected child abuse.

But Pennsylvania law allows a privilege, or exemption, for clergy who learn about suspected abuse in “confidential communications” while in the course of their “duties.”

Mr. Esh’s attorney plans to challenge the charges on that and other grounds.

The charges come amid growing scrutiny in various states about the clergy-confidentiality privilege.

The case also involves the latest in a series of allegations of sexual abuse and coverup among Amish and closely related Mennonites, both part of the Plain church tradition. In 2017, a Dauphin County Amish bishop pleaded guilty to failing to report abuse, and in 2019, a Huntingdon County Mennonite pastor pleaded no-contest to a similar charge. Both received probation.

The Post-Gazette reported in its “Coverings” series in 2019 that Amish and Mennonite elders have often treated sexual abuse allegations as sins to be dealt with through church discipline rather than as crimes, and that victims are often pressured to reconcile with abusers who profess repentance. Church leaders say they have improved their responses and their cooperation with law-enforcement and child-welfare officials.

In Mr. Esh’s case, police cited witnesses from within the Amish community who said while his church excommunicated Mr. Beiler, the bishop had the matter “handled internally” to keep the incident quiet. Two congregants told police when they raised concerns in October 2019, Mr. Esh said, “It’s been taken care of, and it’s none of your business.”

State law has evolved on mandated reporting of abuse. Since December 2014, the law has explicitly required several categories of persons, including clergy, to report suspected child abuse. (The charge against Mr. Esh alleges a continuous failure to report through October 2019.) Mr. Beiler himself faces nine criminal charges.

While part of Mr. Esh’s defense will center on which laws were in place at the time of Mr. Beiler’s alleged confession, defense attorney Christopher Sarno said he would also defend Mr. Esh’s actions under the clergy-confidentiality exemption.

“It says it right there in the complaint,” said Mr. Sarno, a former prosecutor. “The way he was told — it fits the privilege.”

But Mr. Sarno said he believes prosecutors are trying to send a message to the Amish community that they must report suspicions of child sexual abuse.

He said that’s unnecessary. Particularly when the 2014 mandated-reporting law took effect, “they got the message,” he said. “They want to report it. They’re not covering it up, like people say they do.”

He said he’s regularly consulted by the Conservative Crisis Intervention Committee, comprised of Plain church leaders to respond to abuse cases and serve as a liaison between churches and public officials.

“I get calls all the time asking if something is reportable,” he said. “They always report it. If anything they err on the side of caution.”

Bruce Ledewitz, a professor of law at Duquesne University, said there’s an “absolute immunity” for clergy when it comes to what they learn in a confession.

But if a clergy member learns about alleged abuse in a confession, then hears about it in another setting, the cleric is mandated to report it. “It doesn’t matter how it was learned if the matter is talked about generally,” he said.

Child-welfare advocate Marci Hamilton said she doesn’t believe Mr. Esh can can claim the privilege. She noted that Mr. Esh required Mr. Beiler to make a confession to the father of the alleged victims and that the church as a whole excommunicated Mr. Beiler.

Once a third party is in on the information confessed, the exemption ends, she maintained.

“It’s highly unlikely this information was limited to the confession,” said Ms. Hamilton, chief executive officer of Child USA, a University of Pennsylvania-based think tank focused on preventing child abuse.

More generally, Ms. Hamilton said she doesn’t believe the law should exempt clergy confidentiality, either in the reporting mandate or in providing evidence in court.

“The truth is, we only know what we know about religious organizations covering up child sexual abuse and endangering children because of the discovery in civil and criminal proceedings,” she said. “It’s in the interest of the public to get these answers.”

Some states limit the clergy-confidentiality privilege to confessions, but Pennsylvania’s privilege applies to confidential communications in clerics’ performance of their “duties.”

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has interpreted “duties” to include confessions and spiritual counseling. In a 1997 ruling, it rejected a Catholic diocese’s bid to use that privilege to withhold evidence, such as its records on an allegedly abusive priest, from a subpoena.

Mixed rulings

But rulings in other states are mixed.

In Montana, which defines clergy confidentiality broadly, its Supreme Court overturned a $35 million verdict in January against the Jehovah’s Witnesses, saying the church couldn’t be held to account for failing to report alleged abuse disclosed in confidential discussions, even though multiple church officials were in on those discussions.

In an Ohio sexual-abuse case, however, an appellate court ruled that a congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses had to turn over documents between its elders and others if they did not involve spiritual counsel. “Not every word authored or spoken by a cleric is privileged,” the 2016 court opinion said.

A bill passed the California Senate in 2019 would have curtailed, but not eliminated, that state’s clergy-penitent privilege. The Catholic Church, supported by some other religious groups, vigorously fought back, and the measure failed to get out of committee in California’s Assembly.

The confidentiality requirement is crucial, say advocates.

“The priest-penitent privilege is a centuries-old legal principle,” said James A. Sonne, director of the Religious Liberty Clinic at Stanford Law School.

“It honors the separation of church and state as well as society’s broader interest in personal confession and its benefits — contrition, reconciliation, reparation,” he said via email. “Like other privileges, however, it applies only within the protected context; here, what would’ve been said in a confidential confession. If a religious leader has knowledge of wrongdoing ‘outside the booth,’ therefore, the privilege is an unlikely shield against disclosing that knowledge.”

Mr. Esh faces a May 13 preliminary hearing, although Mr. Sarno said that would likely be rescheduled because of pandemic-related delays.

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/faith-religion/2020/05/10/Clergy-confidentiality-Amish-bishop-Coverings-sexual-abuse-confession/stories/202005010149

CultNEWS101 Articles: 9/27/2019

Event, Cults, Podcast, LDS, Russia, Religious Freedom, Amish, Mennonite, Rumspringa, Sexual Abuse 

Event: Building Bridges - Leaving and Recovering from Cultic Groups and Relationships

Topics discussed include: assessing a family's unique situation; understanding why people join and leave groups; considering the nature of psychological manipulation and abuse; being accurate, objective, and up-to-date; looking at ethical issues; learning how to assess your situation; formulating a helping strategy; learning how to communicate more effectively with your loved one; learning new ways of coping.  

September 27, 2019, 7 pm – 9 pm.

New York, NY

Who What Why: Are We All Cult Members Now?

"Every day there are stories about how interactions between people have become increasingly tribal — prompting individuals to trash facts, science, and objective reality in the service of a cause or a set of beliefs.

It's almost as if society has been taken over by cults.

In this week's WhoWhatWhy podcast, we talk to Dr. Janja Lalich, professor emeritus of sociology at Cal State University, Chico, and one of the nation's leading authorities on cults.

Lalich talks about the recent and dramatic increase in cults. What are the characteristics that define all cults? What are the uses of paranoia? What is the appeal of the charismatic and highly narcissistic leader who demands total loyalty while promising some kind of salvation, framed in an us-vs.-them message?

She details how citizens are most susceptible to large-scale cults when a nation is in turmoil and ideology becomes sharply defined — as it has been historically by Hitler and Mao, as well as by the religious cult leader Jim Jones.

Successful cults, Lalich tells us, create an entire belief system, which is why they are so difficult to escape from: to leave means renouncing everything one has developed faith in.

She explains that when individuals try to leave cults they need the support and intervention of family and friends who are understanding, non-judgmental, and provide an emotional safe haven.

On the other end of the spectrum, for large populations or even whole nations that have been taken over by cults, the job of deprogramming millions of people usually requires a significant outside force — something that can be more dangerous and destabilizing than the cult itself.

Unfortunately, the law provides very little protection against the power of cults, most of which grow by word of mouth in a kind of ideological pyramid scheme. Based on her personal experience with cults, and years of academic research, Lalich provides a new framework for looking at the current political landscape."

Salt Lake Tribune: Building a temple in Russia may be a heavy lift in a nation not eager to even see LDS chapels

"before 4 p.m. on Easter Sunday in 2018, in his first General Conference as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Russell M. Nelson made a historic announcement: The Utah-based faith would build a temple in a "major city" in Russia.

And, though it was after midnight in this distant land (and most Russians were fast asleep), some Latter-day Saints here began furiously messaging one another.

"I got texts from my [former] missionary companion," recalls Kristina Nikogosyan, who works for the church in Moscow. "I was crying for three hours."

It is a "huge blessing for Russia," she says, "that God sees us."

Sergei Antamanov, the church's spokesman in Russia, didn't hear the news until he was eating breakfast the next morning, and his Facebook page was exploding with the unexpected development.

Both Antamanov and Nikogosyan know the religious reality. The nation's 23,000 Latter-day Saints are the smallest of Davids compared to the Russian Orthodox Goliath, whose influence and infrastructure dominate the physical and spiritual landscape.

It is the predominant religion of the people. Its multicolored domes weave in and out of the skylines among the citadels and the statuaries, the Soviet-era apartments and the gleaming new malls. Its cathedrals are almost as ubiquitous as the standard-brand Latter-day Saint steeples in Utah County.

In this vast country, those rounded roofs of Orthodoxy make a statement beyond architecture and aesthetics: This, they silently trumpet, is our land and our identity.

Will an intruding Latter-day Saint temple — representing a faith not just from the West but from America — actually be permitted to puncture that picture?

Maintaining the visual message

In 2016, the Russian government passed a strict law against proselytizing by so-called minority faiths. It prohibited talking about religion on the streets, in homes and in any public places.

The purpose was to forestall — or at least hinder — these denominations from growing or from luring away believers from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Another tactic being tapped to limit these faiths is to block them from building their own churches.

"Local officials continued to prevent minority religious organizations from obtaining land," reads the 2018 U.S. State Department Report on International Religious Freedom in Russia, "and denied them construction permits for houses of worship."

The report cited "a senior member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Development of Civil Society," who said "there was a new tendency among regional authorities to restrict the construction or restoration of houses of prayer and churches on residential lands."

In two separate cases in March, the State Department said, "authorities demolished residences on private land that were being used as churches, one in Novorossiysk and one in Abinsk."

Muslims, too, find their need for new sacred spaces to be blocked by the government.

"As elsewhere in the world, the number of Muslims is growing in Russia today," says Azamat Abdusalomov, deputy head of the international department of the Spiritual Assembly of Muslims of Russia. "There is a large influx of external and internal migration, [which presents] a need to increase the number of mosques in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and other cities."

Moscow has more than a million Muslims and only four mosques.

'This issue requires attention and needs to be resolved," Abdusalomov writes in an email. "The authorities do not want to resolve this issue and throw off this issue on Russian nationalism and other reasons, but, in fact, these issues could be resolved."'

Lancaster Online: What do Amish, Mennonite, rumspringa mean? A guide to terms used in Lancaster County's Plain community

" ... The Amish use several terms that come from Pennsylvania Dutch and haven't quite made it to mainstream media.

To better understand our Amish neighbors, LNP worked to collect and define words that might be unfamiliar to those outside the Amish community.
Here are some frequently-used Amish-related words and their definitions:

Plain Sect Community

Characterized by living separately from the world, these Christian groups include the Amish and various Mennonite and Brethren groups. Most are of the Anabaptist movement, which traces its roots to the Protestant Reformation.Amish
The Amish make up a group of traditionalist Christians that originated from Swiss German Anabaptism. The Amish are best known for their plain dress and aversion to technology. While all Amish people share common beliefs, practices vary from congregation to congregation. Within Lancaster County, there are 229 Amish districts — each with different rules and regulations. 

Mennonite

While often mistaken for the Amish, more conservative sects of the Mennonite faith differ quite a bit from the Amish. Most use electricity and drive cars and tractors. However, other sects of the Mennonite faith have assimilated into mainstream culture.

English

If you're not a part of the Plain Sect community, you're what the Amish call English.

Gang

While the Amish Mafia does not exist, Amish gangs do. LNP sat down with Charles Jantzi, psychology professor at Messiah College and researcher of Amish youth, who explains what an Amish gang is and how it impacts Amish teens. A gang is like a youth group. 

Rumspringa

In popular culture, rumspringa has been represented as an opportunity for Amish youth to go wild. This isn't exactly correct. Rumspringa is a period during which an Amish teen has more freedom. Around the age of 16, Amish teens join gangs, which greatly determine how rebellious their rumspringa experience will be. Fancy gangs might allow more of an "English" experience, while plain gangs will be more conservative. Most Amish teens stick to the boundaries of their gangs during rumspringa. 

Washington Post: I was the first woman to publicly accuse gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. But I was also abused in my own church.

"Rachael Denhollander was the first gymnast to come forward against sports physician and convicted sex offender Larry Nassar. This is her story of experiencing abuse in church when she was 7 years old.I still remember it like it was yesterday.The church was small, just a few hundred people, and everyone knew everyone. My mom played flute and sang on occasion. I earned a reputation early on for loving children, and I frequently cuddled babies for tired moms after the service or played with their toddlers in the nursery during business meetings. Our family was part of a tightknit, small group Bible study that was a highlight of every week, and my parents had been close friends with many of the people there long before I had been born. I'd been born alongside their children, and we had grown up together. The church, which was Baptist in theology but independent from any denomination, was part of our family, and we were part of it.But something changed when I was 7. I stopped heading straight from Sunday school to the church mailbox — a small set of cubbies, each with a family's name inscribed — to check for notes and newsletters. I didn't walk the hallways anymore, using my finger to trace the lines between the giant bricks covered in thick cream paint. And I wandered the bright green lawn with the other kids a lot less.

I spent a lot more time hiding in the girls bathroom, shaking and wishing someone would ask what was wrong but knowing I wouldn't know what to say if they did.
I had been abused and was still being preyed upon by a college student at the church. He'd managed to do it while sitting me on his lap during a church Bible study. No one knew except me, and I wasn't sure what I knew, except that I felt terrified and physically ill. I wasn't about to describe what made me feel that way, either. So I hung out in the washroom, the one place he couldn't find me.

Then one week, he didn't come back. I figured he'd finished college and moved. But somehow, even after he was gone, things didn't go back to normal. The Bible study we were part of eventually ended. The adults I loved and trusted suddenly seemed icy and distant. Some of our closest friends left to start a new church. The ones who remained weren't close to us any longer. More than a year later, we left, too. The reasons were vague and unclear. I was devastated at the loss and frustrated that I couldn't understand or just be told what had happened."

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