CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/31/2025 (Geelong Revival Centre, Australia, Legal, Paranormal Phenomena, Mormonism)

Geelong Revival Centre, Australia, Legal, Paranormal Phenomena, Mormonism

The Guardian: Sunday school teacher jailed for sexually abusing nine children was protected by church leader, Victorian cult inquiry hears

"A Sunday school teacher who was jailed for sexually abusing nine children was protected by the leader of his fundamentalist church, after parents reported the abuse to him instead of police, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry has heard.

Catherine and Ryan Carey, former members of the Geelong Revival Centre (GRC), gave evidence at the first hearing of the parliamentary inquiry into the practices of cults and organised fringe groups on Wednesday.

The inquiry was established in April, after allegations of coercive practices at the GRC, as detailed in LiSTNR's investigative podcast series Secrets We Keep: Pray Harder. The church has not publicly commented on the allegations contained in the podcast.

Led by the legislative assembly's legal and social issues committee, the inquiry is not examining specific religious groups or their beliefs but rather the methods they use to attract and retain members – and whether those practices amount to coercion that should be criminalised.

Ryan told the inquiry the man had a valid working with children check at the time of the offending and described the government's screening process as a "Band-Aid on an amputee".

"He was convicted last year of molesting nine kids in the Geelong community and the parents that found out reported it to the cult leader – and this was in the judgment – instead of going [to] police," he said."

Gallup: Paranormal Phenomena Met With Skepticism in U.S.

Two-thirds of Americans are skeptical of paranormal beliefs; none of eight concepts are believed by a majority.

"Americans are broadly skeptical about each of eight paranormal phenomena tested in a recent Gallup poll. Nearly half of U.S. adults, 48%, believe in psychic or spiritual healing. Slightly fewer, 39%, express a belief in ghosts, while between 24% and 29% say they believe in six other supernatural phenomena, including telepathy, communication with the dead, clairvoyance, astrology, reincarnation and witches.

For each of these paranormal phenomena, respondents were asked whether or not they believe in it or are unsure. Roughly one in five Americans are unsure about each of them, while at least half say they don't believe in clairvoyance (50%), reincarnation (50%), astrology (55%) or witches (60%)."

" ... These findings are based on a Gallup poll conducted May 1-18, 2025.

Americans' levels of belief in five of the eight paranormal phenomena are statistically similar to Gallup's 2001 readings. Gallup has previously asked about various paranormal phenomena in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2001 and 2005 surveys. Comparisons to some of these past data are complicated by whether the paranormal questions were preceded by questions about religion, which appear to influence the way people think about communicating with the dead and ghosts or spirits.

The 1994, 2001 and 2025 surveys included religion questions. A comparison of the 2025 results with those from 2001 shows that Americans' beliefs in paranormal phenomena are largely unchanged. The exceptions are six-percentage-point declines in belief in psychic or spiritual healing and clairvoyance, and a seven-point drop in belief in telepathy."

RNS: She survived abuse and left her faith. Now, she gives religious trauma survivors a voice on YouTube.

"Shelise Ann Sola grew up in a devout Mormon family in Tremonton, Utah. At 19, after being berated by her local bishop for being sexually active with her boyfriend, she began to question her faith, she told RNS.

Then, when she was 27, after leaving the church and moving to Las Vegas, memories of suffering sexual abuse as a child at the hands of her father resurfaced.

"I would wake up screaming and hyperventilating until I figured out what it was," Sola said.

Sola confronted her father soon after the memories began. He eventually admitted to the abuse when she was 32 — two weeks before her wedding, she said.

"It took five years for him to admit to everything," Sola, now 34, said. "But those are experiences that I can hold compassion for and have a better understanding of how to talk to survivors because of them."

Today, Sola is the host of Cults to Consciousness, a YouTube channel with 326,000 subscribers she runs with her husband and co-producer, Jonathan Rosales. Since the channel's launch in 2022, Sola has interviewed hundreds of survivors who escaped what she often described as "high-control" religious and/or spiritual groups, or more plainly, cults. Guests recount harrowing journeys through systems of manipulation, abuse and control by fear and exclusion in long-form interviews."

Paranormal Phenomena Met With Skepticism in U.S.

Rachael Yi and Sarah Hogenboom-Jones

Gallup

July 21, 2025 

Paranormal Phenomena Met With Skepticism in U.S.

Two-thirds of Americans are skeptical of paranormal beliefs; none of eight concepts are believed by a majority.

"Americans are broadly skeptical about each of eight paranormal phenomena tested in a recent Gallup poll. Nearly half of U.S. adults, 48%, believe in psychic or spiritual healing. Slightly fewer, 39%, express a belief in ghosts, while between 24% and 29% say they believe in six other supernatural phenomena, including telepathy, communication with the dead, clairvoyance, astrology, reincarnation and witches.

For each of these paranormal phenomena, respondents were asked whether or not they believe in it or are unsure. Roughly one in five Americans are unsure about each of them, while at least half say they don’t believe in clairvoyance (50%), reincarnation (50%), astrology (55%) or witches (60%)."

" ... These findings are based on a Gallup poll conducted May 1-18, 2025.

Americans’ levels of belief in five of the eight paranormal phenomena are statistically similar to Gallup’s 2001 readings. Gallup has previously asked about various paranormal phenomena in 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 2001 and 2005 surveys. Comparisons to some of these past data are complicated by whether the paranormal questions were preceded by questions about religion, which appear to influence the way people think about communicating with the dead and ghosts or spirits.

The 1994, 2001 and 2025 surveys included religion questions. A comparison of the 2025 results with those from 2001 shows that Americans’ beliefs in paranormal phenomena are largely unchanged. The exceptions are six-percentage-point declines in belief in psychic or spiritual healing and clairvoyance, and a seven-point drop in belief in telepathy."

https://news.gallup.com/poll/692738/paranormal-phenomena-met-skepticism.aspx

Gullible is as gullible does

Brandon Bracamonte
Arizona Sonora News Service
September 21, 2015

Poker room in the Bird Cage Theatre.
 Photo by Brandon Bracamonte

Earlier this summer a scam artist tempted tourists to visit historic Tombstone with promises of an unforgettable experience. The tourists paid, and the experience was unfrogettable.

There was no tour. There was no lodging. What was promised was never delivered.

These types of scams happen as the passion for finding evidence of ghosts, talking with psychics and spending money, open the opportunity to get scammed.

The current investigation in Tombstone is attempting to uncover the defrauding of numerous people around the United States and Canada, says Deputy Ivan Bernal of the Tombstone Marshal’s Office.

When companies host paranormal investigation events or provide guidance using a psychic connection, does the consumer knowingly attend out of curiosity or entertainment? This question can only be decided by the person purchasing a chance to see paranormal activity or hear from a dead relative through a medium.

People interpret information through past knowledge and past experiences. When these types of people go to on a paranormal activity investigation or visit a psychic they have their own perceptions.

Consumers must know the differences between the beliefs and facts of these types of businesses.

Most businesses that are successful have high moral and ethical values. When unethical people try to take advantage of others it ruins the trust that consumers might have with the business and causes future business to decline.

As television reality shows such as Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters are becoming more popular, The Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone began offering ghost tours and allowing private groups to go on paranormal investigations. This was one of stops the scam artist promised the tourists they would see.
People that visit the Bird Cage Theater looking for paranormal activity come for their own passion and entertainment.

“The sounds of cards shuffling, chips clicking, things you cannot explain,” have all happened inside the Bird Cage Theater, says manager Bill Hunley. He believes there is a paranormal presence at the Bird Cage Theater. He has had the smoke from a cigar, cigarette and pipe tobacco blown into his face.

Hunley said because of Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters the demand for the theater’s paranormal investigation is now in high demand. The rate is $400 for a four-hour tour for up to six people to be inside the theater with a host.

Mitchell Katz from the Federal Trade Commission’s Office of Public Affairs said as long as companies don’t guarantee that something will for sure happen, they aren’t deceiving the public. It is the purchaser’s own prerogative if they want to spend money on these types of skeptical events.

Hunley tells people that the spirits are not on his payroll. Sometimes the paranormal activity can be more active some nights than others. He says that when people come, they know it’s a 50-50 chance that they will see anything. He recommends coming more than once to increase your chance of seeing paranormal activity.

“It’s like playing the lottery,” says Hunley “the more you come the better your odds.”

Other people might be interested in the abilities of psychics and mediums in order to learn of their past or future. The first time Raven Tempest, a self-described spiritualist counselor in Tucson, saw a deck of Tarot cards she fell in love.

People schedule appointments with Tempest to find guidance, discuss issues on their mind or to know what their soul wants of them. Tempest lets clients know that she is only a counselor and that she only tells them what she sees.
When the University of Arizona starts a new school year each fall students visit Tempest out of curiosity. Tempest said many of them get more than they expected.

While reading the Tarot Cards, Tempest and the client focus on the individual card. “This person is sitting there with their mind wandering, wondering what’s next,” Tempest said. “Then all of sudden the client is caught, and when that connection happens,” this is called a psychic connection that happen between her and the client. The client and then Tempest speak her mind about their life.
Many times people wonder how she knows such information. She responds because “you just told me. There is no woo woo at all. It is an exchange between two people.”

Tempest claims to see an aura around people letting her know if the client is having a backache, for example. When this happens she says she “sees little tiny lightning bolts going away from the body out toward the edge of the colors.”

This profession isn’t something magical, says Tempest. Taking classes and studying was how she gained the ability to help individuals.
Tempest says she also will deliver messages from dead people if the client wants to hear from a dead relative.

Tempest says that some psychics end up telling people that they will charge one price the first time then keep increasing it each additional time. She says they will proclaim they are the only ones that can resolve the issue in order to keep the client coming back.

Hunley and Tempest both get their majority of clients from people who love doing these types of activities and who seek them as a form of entertainment.
Both Hunley and Tempest let paying customers know that there are no guarantees.

“People always ask about their future and they already know. Nobody bats a thousand,” says Tempest. She gives clients her wisdom at the moment about what they are asking, and the client is made fully aware she might not be 100 percent correct.

Skeptics argue that people should be wary of the money they spend on these activities and to double check the veracity of the deals being offered.

Brandon Bracamonte is a reporter for Arizona Sonora News, a service from the School of Journalism with the University of Arizona. Contact him at bmbracamonte@email.arizona.edu

http://arizonasonoranewsservice.com/gullible-is-as-gullible-does/