Why The 'Cadillac Of Cults' Is Serving $8 Organic Lunches

SOPHIA KERCHER
LAist
June 19, 2018

Los Angeles is a city of seekers, a magnet for those who want the perfect body, the perfect soul. Seeker Lunch is the first entry in our series about the diverse and offbeat faiths in our city — and the food on their tables. Consider it a snack for the spiritually curious.

I was buzzed past a secured gate to a tree-lined walkway leading to a shadowy West Adams mansion. At the door, I signed my name and put on a visitor's badge. "You're a beautiful person," a smiling, glassy-eyed man with a walkie-talkie told me. "I know this because I have very good intuition."

In the Beaux Arts entryway under a Renaissance-style fresco, I spotted my friend. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered "I don't know if we're going to make it out of this place alive."

This "place" is the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (or MSIA), headquartered in a sprawling, wedding cake-like mansion with two beautiful gardens and a "peace labyrinth" where there is no right or wrong turn.

Located in South Los Angeles's historic West Adams district, the MSIA's compound is open to the public by appointment only. It includes tours of the mansion, built in the early 1900s by an Italian winemaker, and its lush gardens. For those who know to ask, there's also an $8 organic lunch.

MSIA, often pronounced "messiah," was known as the "Cadillac of cults," according to a 1980s story in the Los Angeles Times. The shadows of its misdeeds remain in the mansion — it's almost palpable when you walk into the room. It's a place of locked doors, blanketed in an eerie silence. Every wall feels like it's full of secrets.

In its heyday, MSIA had multimillion dollar ventures and thousands of followers including celebrities Sally Kirkland, Carl Wilson and Arianna Huffington (whose image still sits in the some of the rooms). It also had its share of controversy.

Photos of MSIA's late founder, John-Roger, hang on the walls of the ornate parlor. MSIA bought the mansion in 1974 and christened it "the Purple Rose Ashram of the New Age" or PRANA. As many as 100 MSIA initiates once lived there.

Today, residents or people working or studying with MSIA, dine in the cafeteria and anyone can join them if you arrive at 1 p.m. with $8 cash.


Unlike the other parts of the house, the dining area is modern with clean lines and a steel buffet table. An MSIA meal won't impress foodies or earn a Jonathan Gold shoutout but dining in near silence at the headquarters of an alleged cult while you gaze at its luxuriant greenery has a peculiar, only-in-L.A. charm.

After filling our plates with green salads, boiled vegetable and steak (unremarkable but not bad) my friend and I found a spot on the veranda, which looks out on the reflection pond and the tranquil, winding peace labyrinth built to mimic the Chartres Cathedral in France. It's dedicated, as is almost everything here, to spiritual leader John-Roger.


John-Roger preferred the term "way-shower" to guru. He believed that our souls, which are tethered to the earth, can be liberated through expressing unconditional love by praying, meditating and tuning into the right sonic vibrations. MSIA sees John-Roger as the embodiment of the Mystical Traveler, a term John-Roger invented (and had emblazoned on a vanity license plate) to describe every individual's inner spiritual force.

The present-day sound baths at the mansion, led by MSIA President Paul Kaye, attempt to conjure the Mystical Traveler. Like the low key lunches, no one will try convert you to the spiritual practice. In fact, it wasn't until my fourth visit that someone handed me a pamphlet about MSIA's spiritual enrichment classes — and that was only after I pestered them with questions.

One afternoon, I introduced myself to a smiling man in the MSIA cafeteria. He asked if I wanted to join him and another stranger in prayer before the meal. I clasped their hands, we thanked god and sang a few words of prayer. Then we headed to the buffet. Boiled potatoes, light salmon croquettes, sausages and the usual assortment of salad greens. I never spoke to my fellow seekers again.

"We're not a proselytizing organization," Kaye told me. He should know. He's worked there since the 1970s.

The guides also might not tell you how John-Roger was the founder of the unaccredited University of Santa Monica, which is still active today. And they will most definitely skip the part where former initiates in 1988 denounced it as a cult to the Los Angeles Times and accused John-Rogers of abusing his power with monetary and sexual misdeeds.

The guides are more likely to focus on the fact that Busby Berkeley bought the mansion in 1937 and lived there with several of his six wives. Or they'll share stories about how the early 1900s mansion's intercom system still functions, and the work they've done to restore the estate and build the Asian-influenced gardens. And they'll do it as photos of the cherubic John-Roger hang all around them.

After spending hours in the gardens, eating $8 organic lunches and meditating in sound baths on multiple visits to MSIA, I always think of Sylvia.

I met her during one of my lunchtime sojourns. The peace labyrinth was built 16 years ago but whenever she talks about it, her eyes get a far-off look. "It allows you to take the time to recover yourself, and go back to who you are," she told me.

Sylvia Giussani came to Los Angeles from Argentina to study at MSIA. She planned to stay for three or four months. She's been here for 20 years.

Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness
Open for tours 12 p.m.-4 p.m., Tue.-Fri. and some Sundays.
3500 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, 90018
323-737-4055



http://laist.com/2018/06/19/seeker_lunch_8_organic_lunches_at_t.php

RUSSIA SAYS US HAS 'NO MORAL RIGHT' TO DEMAND JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES RELEASE

JASON LEMON
Newsweek
June 19, 2018

Russia has said the U.S. government has “no moral right” to demand the release of religious or political prisoners, such as detained Jehovah’s Witnesses.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department issued a statement calling on Russia to release more than 150 prisoners being held for religious or political reasons. Washington’s demand came as Moscow has been rounding up Jehovah’s Witnesses in the country. Among other prisoners, the U.S. specifically called for the release of Dennis Christensen, a Danish citizen who has been detained for more than a year due to his affiliation with the religious group.

Jarrod Lopes, a communications representative for the World Headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses told Newsweek that 20 members are currently detained in Russia. Two others are under house arrest, and 15 have been forced to sign agreements to not leave the area where they reside.

In its statement, Washington called on Moscow to “cease its use of the legal system to suppress dissent and peaceful religious practice.”

In response, the Russian Embassy in the U.S. said: “Members of the American establishment have no moral right to blame Russia and demand that someone be released,” The Moscow Times reported.

The embassy continued that the U.S. is implementing a “finely honed propaganda strategy of the fight for freedom of conscience, worship [and] democratic values.” It said that the U.S. “needs to justify the structures recognized as extremist in other countries.”

Going on to turn the tables, it pointed to Russian citizens who have been convicted of terrorism and smuggling charges in the U.S. “A relentless hunt on Russian citizens continues,” the embassy claimed.

Russia’s crackdown on Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are estimated to number about 255,000 in the country, comes as part of a government-backed drive against minority “foreign” religions. Back in July 2016, President Vladimir Putin approved legislation outlawing missionary work, stipulating that people share their religious beliefs only at state-registered places of worship.

Jehovah's Witnesses–whose world headquarters are in New York–were significantly impacted as a result. The crackdown took another turn in April of last year, when Russia’s Supreme Court ruled to classify them as an “extremist organization,” giving the Christian denomination the same status as the Islamic State (ISIS).

Russia’s Justice Ministry claimed that the religious group poses a threat to “public order and public security.” Government officials also accused them of preaching that their beliefs are exclusive and supreme to all others.

The government then moved to close Jehovah’s Witness prayer halls and ban the denomination’s translation of the Bible.

UN analysts have said that the crackdown on the group points to a “dark future” for religious freedom in Russia. Other groups, such as the Mormons and Baptists, have also suffered under the controversial 2016 law. They are generally forced to meet informally in each other's homes, with no legal way to worship publicly.

Nonetheless, Russia brushes aside criticism of its policies as western propaganda. “ Russia has repeatedly and unambiguously responded to western propaganda ‘calls’ for release of particular people on remand, on trial or convicted for various serious crimes in accordance with its legislation,” Moscow said, Russian news agency TASS reported, adding that it “rejects any attempts of meddling” within internal affairs.



http://www.newsweek.com/russia-says-us-no-moral-right-demand-jehovahs-witnesses-release-983932

Mind control cult, Access Consciousness, which says children are sexy; investigated by RT

RT investigates Access Consciousness, an organisation that focuses on "empowering people", which has raised concerns after its founder Gary Douglas wrote a blog saying "parents think their children are sexy".

https://youtu.be/-NHtvu6ICPI

WIVES OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA SEND LETTER TO PUTIN ADVISER BEGGING FOR AN END TO CAMPAIGN OF TERROR

Svetlana Markina

CRISTINA MAZA
Newsweek

June 7, 2018

The wives of Jehovah’s Witnesses rounded up and imprisoned in Russia have written an open letter to a top adviser of President Vladimir Putin, asking him to stop the campaign of terror against the religious group.

“This open letter to you is a cry of desperation. People who are very dear to us, our husbands, those who feed us, the fathers of our children, peaceable, honest people, who are always ready to help others, are being thrown behind bars for being suspected of reading Bible commandments and praying together with us and our children,” reads the letter directed to Mikhail Fedotov, a close adviser of Putin and chairman of Russia’s Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. The letter is signed by 10 wives of Jehovah’s Witnesses from across Russia.

“In return for freedom and a quiet life, we are being invited to disown our faith. This is not just a figure of speech—investigators have directly invited us to sign documents in order to avoid punishment for ‘extremism’…If the Russian government does not quickly put an end to this growing campaign of terror, the administration will be faced with a nation-wide human rights catastrophe,” the letter continues.

The Russian government labeled the Jehovah’s Witnesses an extremist sect in April 2017, and has since been imprisoning its members and charging them with extremism. Members of the group have had their homes raided by masked men and their places of worship shuttered.

Many of the group's members have been charged under Article 282 of the criminal code, which can lead to a jail sentence of around a decade. They said that at least 17 people are being held in pre-trial detention, and dozens more are currently under house arrest.

“We feel deeply for our fellow believers who are suffering because of peacefully worshipping God. At the same time, we can’t help but admire their courage and the strength of their convictions. The Russian authorities need only read the recent history of Jehovah’s Witnesses during the Soviet-era to know that a ban on their activities will not weaken their faith,” David Semonian, international spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York, told Newsweek.

International human rights groups have long been calling for Russia to allow the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other religious groups to worship freely.

“The government continued to target 'nontraditional' religious minorities, including Jehovah’s Witnesses and Scientologists, with fines, detentions, and criminal charges under the pretext of combating extremism,” according to the 2018 annual report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

http://www.newsweek.com/wives-jehovahs-witnesses-jailed-russia-send-letter-putin-adviser-begging-end-965516

'Extremist' Faith: Russian Jehovah's Witnesses Report Wave Of Police Raids, Detentions

Andrei Filimonov
Robert Coalson

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
June 15, 2018

On May 30, agents of the Magadan regional branch of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) knocked at the apartment of Tatyana and Konstantin Petrov.

"It began about 10 o'clock in the evening and didn't wind up until 4 a.m.," Tatyana Petrova said of the raid. "I didn't see how it started because I was in the kitchen, but I heard my husband go to the door. I heard a woman introduce herself as someone from the electric company. She said she needed to read the meter. My husband opened the door and then a whole crowd of people pushed into the apartment."

"I was too scared to go out," she continued. "I was simply in shock and stood petrified in the kitchen. I heard loud noises as my husband was wrestled to the floor. They started asking him, 'Are you Petrov?'... Then they took him away and I didn't see him again."

On June 14, a Magadan court confirmed Petrov's detention on charges of "fomenting hatred or enmity on the basis of sex, race, nationality or religion." Petrova told RFE/RL she believes the case stems from a Jehovah's Witnesses gathering in a local hotel that Petrov helped to organize.

"As usual at those meetings, we discussed the Bible," Petrova said. "That is the crime that they are accusing my husband of."

The Petrovs' story is far from unique. Yaroslav Sivulsky, a member of the European Association of Jehovah's Christian Witnesses, told RFE/RL that nearly identical stories have been reported in recent weeks in cities from Ivanovo in western Russia to the Petrovs' hometown of Magadan in the Far East.

"It always happens in the evening or at night when people are sleeping and the effect of surprise is most effective," Sivulsky told RFE/RL. "Sometimes security forces have discovered ahead of time where small gatherings of friends are being held, literally three to five people. Apparently, their telephones are being monitored or they are being followed."

Russian human rights monitors say 17 Jehovah's Witnesses have been taken into custody since the Russian government formally tagged the denomination an "extremist organization" in July 2017.

"It always happens at night," Sivulsky continued, "when people have returned from work and have gathered together to read the Bible. And suddenly security agents jump over fences, break down doors without knocking, or dramatically get into the scene in some other way."

Advocates of the Jehovah's Witnesses say they scored a small victory on May 25.

"An appeals court in Birobidzhan ordered the release of our co-religionist Alam Aliyev from custody," Sivulsky said. "The judge even made several critical comments to the authorities. I don't know how that happened, but it happened."

It is a unique case, however. Courts in the other cities have approved the detentions and, in some cases, authorized extensions at the request of prosecutors.

On June 7, Petrova and at least nine other wives of detained Jehovah's Witnesses sent an open letter to members of the presidential human rights council that they described as "a cry of despair." The letter asks the council to inform President Vladimir Putin about the cases and "to use all legal measures to restore the rights of believers."

"Today 17 of our believers are in Russian remand prisons," the letter says. "One of them has been held for more than a year. Dozens of others in 11 regions of Russia are under house arrest and barred from leaving the country. With each passing day, their numbers increase."

The detainees are guilty of nothing more than "reading the teachings of the Bible and praying to God," it adds.

Banned For Bible Reading

Petrova told RFE/RL that she feels a shift in the public's view of her since the government labeled the denomination an extremist group.

"People say to us, 'You should have been thrown in prison long ago,'" she said. "But for what? According to the Bible, Jesus Christ told every Christian to spread the good news of salvation and of the coming of paradise on earth, when people will live forever in happiness. My husband and I believe in this and feel called to tell people about this good news."

Russia's Supreme Court in July 2017 upheld a ruling that the Jehovah's Witnesses should be considered an extremist organization, effectively banning the denomination from the country.

The original ruling, issued in April 2017, was the first time an entire registered religious organization had been prohibited under Russian law.

Long viewed with suspicion in Russia for their positions on military service, voting, and government authority in general, the Jehovah's Witnesses -- which claim some 170,000 adherents in Russia and 8 million worldwide -- are among several denominations that have come under increasing pressure in recent years.

The denomination began operating in Russia and across the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s.
Written by Robert Coalson based on reporting by RFE/RL's Siberia Desk correspondent Andrei Filimonov

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-jehovahs-witnesses-report-wave-of-police-raids-detentions/29292501.html

Five things you need to know about polyamory after Newfoundland court ruling

MICHAEL MACDONALD The Canadian Press
Toronto Star
June 15, 2018

This week, a court in Newfoundland and Labrador recognized three unmarried adults as the legal parents of a child born within their “polyamorous” family. It was believed to be a legal first in Canada. However, many Canadians were left with one big question: What does polyamorous mean? Here’s five things you need to know:

1. There is no definitive definition, but there are a few basic principles.

The term appears to have emerged in the early 1990s, but there is no single definition that has universal acceptance.

John-Paul Boyd, executive director of the Calgary-based Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, says people who consider themselves polyamorous prefer to have intimate relationships that involve more than two people, where marriage is not considered necessary.

And there’s an added dimension that typically involves a high degree of openness and trust about the voluntary arrangement.

“Polyamorous relationships have been in the open since the late 1960s, but it has really picked up steam in the last 10 years,” Boyd says.

Those who describe themselves at polyamorous typically reject the notion that exclusivity is required for long-term, loving relationships.

2. Polyamorous relationships have nothing to do with bigamy or polygamy.

Under Section 293 of the Criminal Code, it is illegal to be married to more than one person. Polyamorous relationships do not violate that provision of the law.

However, it would be wrong to assume that is the only difference between polygamy and polyamory.

Last July, two men in British Columbia were found guilty of polygamy. Winston Blackmore, 62, was married to two dozen women, while James Oler, 54, was found to have married five women. Both are leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bountiful, B.C.

Boyd said these arranged marriages were part of a patriarchal structure that led to “serious, negative social effects within that community.”

“They were mandated by God and there’s no pretence of equality,” he said. “And it’s mandatory.”

By contrast, polyamorous relationships are voluntary.

“The key is that whatever (polyamorous) relationships look like, they are consensual,” he said. “Everybody knows what’s going on. Honesty and transparency are at the core of it all.”

Boyd said his research has found that among those who consider themselves polyamorous, there’s a heavy emphasis on equality, regardless of gender, sexual identity and parenting status.

3. We really have no idea how many people are polyamorous, but there has been some fascinating research.

There’s no way of knowing how many Canadians consider themselves polyamorous. Statistics Canada doesn’t collect that kind of data.

However, a 2009 American study suggested that one in 614 Americans lived in openly polyamorous relationships. Another U.S. study the following year suggested about one in 500 Americans described themselves as polyamorous.

In 2016, Boyd used social media to ask polyamorous Canadians to take part in an online survey. More than 500 people responded.

“That’s a huge number,” he says. “Getting people to fill out surveys is like pulling teeth.”

Of the 480 responses that were analyzed, 82 per cent agreed that the number of people who identify as polyamorous in Canada is increasing.

Meanwhile, the website for the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association includes more than 100 links to sites for advocacy, support and dating.

4. Polyamory is not just another term for what “swingers” do.

According to the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, there’s a big difference between swingers and those who are polyamorous.

Swinging is non-monogamous sexual activity “treated much like any other social activity,” says an October 2000 paper published in the journal, titled “Today’s Alternative Marriage Styles: The Case of Swingers.”

“Emotional monogamy, or commitment to the love relationship with one’s marital partner, remains the primary focus.”

By contrast, those who are polyamorous may not be interested in sex: “It’s just consensual non-monogamy,” says Boyd.

Polyamorous relationships emphasize emotional and egalitarian aspects, while swingers focus on sexual non-monogamy and emotional monogamy.

That said, a polyamorous person may engage in swinging, while swingers sometimes develop emotional bonds with their sexual partners.

5. Children are frequently part of polyamorous families.

The data compiled from Boyd’s 2016 survey showed that 40 per cent of respondents said there were children living in their homes full- or part-time.

“What that shows is that it is hardly uncommon for people to have children in their polyamorous relationships,” Boyd says.

Still, the recent case in Newfoundland and Labrador drew attention to the fact that the law hasn’t kept up with the evolution of Canadian families.

In that case, released Thursday, the St. John’s family included two men in a relationship with the mother of a child born in 2017. The adults had been together for three years, but the biological father of the child was unknown.

In his decision, Justice Robert Fowler of the provincial supreme court said: “Society is continuously changing and family structures are changing along with it. This must be recognized as a reality and not as a detriment to the best interests of the child.”

https://www.thestar.com/life/2018/06/15/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-polyamory-after-newfoundland-court-ruling.html

Deutschlandradio Dossier on State against sects

PDF of Deutschlandradio Dossier on State against sects - German radio feature on the gov and its action against cults.

PDF

Sister: Perris torture case defendant’s journey to dark side included witchcraft

BRIAN ROKOS

The Press-Enterprise
June 6, 2018

As a young girl, Elizabeth Robinette considered older sister Louise to be her best friend and protector. Even years later, as adults, Louise was emotionally and financially supportive as Elizabeth endured a difficult two-year separation from her husband.

But 10 years ago, Elizabeth noticed what she considered disturbing changes in Louise: She had begun drinking, smoking, partying, gambling excessively, cutting relatives off from her family, reading about Satanic religions and rituals and practicing witchcraft.

In Louise’s attempt to repair Elizabeth’s marriage, Louise said she could get Elizabeth’s husband to come home – by casting a spell, Elizabeth said.

That lifestyle change culminated in January 2018 with the arrests of Louise – now Louise Turpin, 49 – and husband David, 56, at their Perris home, where authorities said they starved, shackled and neglected 12 of their 13 children in a case being watched worldwide.

Elizabeth – now Elizabeth Flores – made these revelations in a just-published book, “Sisters of Secrets: The Story of Sisters Leading Up to the Turpin Case Arrest.”

The book had been in the works for two years and completed in the fall of 2017, Elizabeth wrote, but was pulled back from the publisher to be updated with more information about Louise.

Elizabeth said in “Sisters” that she wrote the book, quoting scripture extensively, to empower others to overcome adversity through faith, counseling and improving their self-esteem. Elizabeth wrote that she was sexually abused by an unspecified relative she called Papaw, lost a child to miscarriage, had a mother who prostituted herself and suffered through a rocky marriage that eventually was mended.

Elizabeth wrote that she didn’t notice anything specific that would explain the actions attributed to Louise and David by Riverside County prosecutors.

“The public has made comments that I should have seen something, but those two years of my marriage separation, I did see things. I saw a sister who stepped up to care for her sister and other children,” Elizabeth wrote.

None of Elizabeth’s’ statements about her sister could be confirmed or refuted. The Turpin’s legal team said it had not read the book and declined to comment or allow Louise to comment. Several family members of Louise and David did not respond to requests for comment on the book.

The Turpins are due back in court June 20 for a preliminary hearing, where a judge will determine whether there is enough evidence to hold them for trial. They have pleaded not guilty to a total of 92 felonies, including torture, child cruelty and false imprisonment. They are jailed in lieu of $12 million bail each.

A sister’s sacrifice

Elizabeth wrote that she remembered being abused by Papaw as young as 9. Sometimes, Louise would offer herself up in place of her younger sister.

One night, Louise, at age 16, confided to 8-year-old Elizabeth in their West Viriginia home that she was running away with 23-year-old David to get married. The next day, a tall man wearing a hat and fake facial hair checked Louise out of school. David and Louise drove away to Texas.

Years later, when Elizabeth was in college, she stayed with the Turpins one summer and noticed Louise was strict with the children.

Louise would set the table and call the children down one at a time. They would not eat until Louise gave them permission, and when they were done, Louise would tell them they could go back to their bedrooms.

“They were always stuck in their room,” Elizabeth wrote.

She wasn’t allowed to play with them. “She said she didn’t want my ways rubbing off on them because I didn’t believe the same as them,” Elizabeth wrote.

There were rules for Elizabeth, as well. She wasn’t allowed to have friends or give out the Turpins’ address and phone number. She could go only to work and back and had to be driven by Louise. She was kicked out after going to lunch with a coworker.

Loose with money

David and Louise enjoyed gambling, but David’s inability to pry Louise away from the Las Vegas tables and slots was a sore spot in their marriage, Flores wrote. Also, Louise would tell Elizabeth that whenever they planned to file for bankruptcy, she would first run up credit card bills that she knew they wouldn’t have to pay.

But then Louise would ask Elizabeth for money, saying she didn’t have enough to feed the children.

Around Louise’s 40th birthday, she and David went drinking and met a man who allowed himself to be videotaped having sex with Louise. David later watched the tape, Elizabeth wrote.

“I couldn’t figure out how David and Louise went from strong Christian backgrounds with morals and conscience to such an ugly, nasty and destructive lifestyle with no morals and conscience at all,” Elizabeth wrote.

Attorney for David Turpin of Perris torture case seeks dismissal of perjury charges

Louise continually denied Elizabeth’s requests to visit the family in Texas.

The girls’ father died in 2016. While on his deathbed, he asked to talk with Louise several times, but she wouldn’t take his calls.

“What I believe now is,” Elizabeth wrote, “she knew Daddy wanted to talk to the kids on Skype, and she didn’t want to have to tell him no.”

Louise didn’t attend the funeral. Her father was buried with family photos, including one of David and Louise’s 13 children.

https://www.pe.com/2018/06/06/sister-perris-torture-case-defendants-journey-to-dark-side-included-witchcraft/

Talking Cults: A BLOG and Media Shop about Cults

This page offers you free content, photo and video material to buy or buy about our investigation on cults. Whether they are about the Scientology Organization, the "Germanic New Medicine" or MISA YOGA and others. We have done so many films and investigations about cults that we want to share the information with you.

All of the content here is strictly for private use.

In this way, we provide you with the information that has accumulated here in the course of many researches.

All these contents are for private use.

If you are a member of a media, editorial or commercial platform, please contact our Content Manager, Jonathan Baynard, Baynard.J@pinguinfilm.com and ask for licenses and approvals.

https://www.talking-cults.com/about

​30 for 30 Podcasts: BIKRAM​ 5-part series​

Bikram Choudhury

PART 1: ARRIVAL

Bikram Choudhury begins his journey to fame, wealth, and scandal in 1970s Los Angeles. He takes Beverly Hills by storm, using his Hollywood connections and rags-to-riches origin story to build a devoted following and lay the foundation for a yoga empire.
42 mins


PART 2: PROCESS

Bikram spreads his brand of hot yoga through teacher trainings, where he puts his most devoted followers through nine weeks of intense suffering and begins to reveal the complexities of his character.
37 mins



PART 3: POWER

Bikram claims ownership over his brand of yoga using increasingly hardball tactics. Julia investigates the roots of yoga to try to separate what is true from what is false in Bikram’s story.
48 mins


PART 4: TRUTH

As Bikram’s darkest behaviors begin to emerge, the community devoted to his yoga is forced to face the truth about its leader.
45 mins

PART 5: RECKONING

Members of the Bikram community wrestle with Bikram’s behavior, their own complicity, and grapple with the question, “Can Bikram the yoga be separated from Bikram the man?”
33 mins

Why I Left an Evangelical Cult | Dawn Smith

Dawn Smith

TEDxNatick
Mar 6, 2018

"With humor and piercing observations, Dawn Smith sheds light on growing up in a religious cult and what it takes to leave everything you’ve ever known. This poignant story will make you cry and laugh as she shares her struggles with joining the outside world. Dawn grew up in California and moved to Chicago to work in media. She now lives in Brookline, MA, where she works on screenplays, political and issue advertising, standup comedy, and produces the comedy web series."

Visit Dawn’s website at www.pushbackfilms.com 

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

A Forgotten Religion Gets a Second Chance in Brooklyn

Sam Kestenbaum
June 7, 2018
New York Times

The New York Kosmon Temple has no stained-glass windows, crucifixes or sounds of gospel ringing from its doors. A banner with a shot of pink hangs outside the church with the cryptic message: “Faithists meet here.” Small crystals jingle when the front doors swing open.

Various churches dot the central Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. They come in all sizes and denominations: Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Evangelical. But the Faithists, who meet in a humble storefront church on the ground floor of a squat brick building, stand apart with an unusual history.

A dozen congregants sat on chairs arranged in a semicircle one recent morning. Birdsong and a plunking guitar played on a stereo in the corner. The temple’s president, a man in a neat tan suit named Anthony Linton, stood to speak. “What is this bible?” he asked, hoisting up a massive hard-bound book. The small crowd of congregants and visitors cradled copies of their own. “The Oahspe,” Mr. Linton answered himself. “This is a most mysterious book.” Then Mr. Linton pointed to a portrait on a yellowed sheet of paper tucked into the book. “And this is the man who received this bible,” he said, tapping a finger on a photo of a man with thick muttonchops and a furrowed brow. “He was like Moses.”

The Kosmon Temple wasn’t always like this. They once read from the standard King James Bible and called themselves Christians. But over the last two years, in a bid to revitalize dwindling membership, the small group underwent a dramatic makeover, adopting, en masse, a new and uncommon faith. The church’s transformation is a local revival of a nearly forgotten American religion. It’s also a symbolic homecoming for that group’s founder, a Manhattan dentist and would-be prophet who published what he said was a divinely inspired book, titled the Oahspe Bible, to local fascination in 1882.

Produced by a man named John Ballou Newbrough, the book is a dizzying collage of myth and religion. It reads like sci-fi or fantasy at times, featuring a lost continent and what’s said to be the first literary reference to an interstellar spaceship. With a band of followers called Faithists, this New York prophet set off to form religious communes across the country. But his efforts sputtered in failure. While some contemporaneous 19th-century groups, like the Mormons, grew to large religions, the Faithists faded away.

“It’s surprising, but fascinating, that the Oahspe has found its way to this group,” said Seth Perry, a Princeton professor of American religion. “Nothing ever completely dies. Then suddenly, it finds new readers.” During Sunday services, a dashiki-clad worshiper named Eugene Grant sat attentively in the front row. The temple had just completed a group meditation, and Mr. Grant flipped through the new bible. “We’re all on a journey,” he said, pausing to scribble in a notepad on his lap. “Sometimes you have to leave the known trail.”

Before he was a prophet, Dr. Newbrough was a humble Ohio farmboy, born in 1828 to a family of settlers. Dr. Newbrough trained to be a dentist, made a small fortune prospecting for gold, and eventually relocated to New York. By 1860, he was heading a dentistry practice in Manhattan. This was a fruitful time for New Yorkers with spiritual interests, and Dr. Newbrough fell into the eclectic circles of the city, visiting many seers and clairvoyants. Eventually, he tried mediumship for himself, too. “I was craving for the light of heaven,” he wrote in a letter to the editor of a popular Spiritualist newspaper. “I wished to learn something about the spirit world.” Then, before dawn one morning, inspiration struck. “Behind me an angel stood with hands on my shoulders,” he wrote. Dr. Newbrough’s hands glowed, the story goes, and were guided to furiously hammer the keys of his typewriter. After many months of work, he published the bible in 1882. Accompanying the text were many otherworldly maps, hieroglyphs and illustrations. The unusual title, Oahspe (oh-AS-pe), is defined as “sky, earth and spirit” in Panic, said to be an ancient language revealed in the book. (When spoken aloud, the name is meant to imitate the sound of wind rushing through trees.)

Dr. Newbrough became a local sensation. Tabloids likened him to the Hebrew prophets. They called his bible one of the “strangest books that has ever been written.” “There is in this city,” The New York Times declared in 1884, “a new religion known as the Oahspe religion.” The book purported to be the forgotten history of the earth, featuring a cast of thousands of unfamiliar gods, lords and angels. It claimed that famed figures of yore — like Jesus, Confucius, Hiawatha — all taught the same universal truth that had tragically been corrupted over time. But Dr. Newbrough promised that rebirth was coming: A new era was dawning right here in America, called Kosmon.

Around 20 devotees, with wealthy backers, set off for New Mexico to live out their ideals on the banks of the Rio Grande. The Faithists kept a strict vegetarian diet, planted orchards and adopted orphans to raise as the vanguard of their new society. With bricks baked in the desert sun, they built a temple to their new faith. The men dressed in long robes, a visiting journalist wrote, with “hair as long and beards as flowing as those of the patriarchs of old.”

But rifts and failures plagued the new utopia. Crops died and disgruntled members split off, eventually suing their leader for fraud. One New Mexico newspaper dubbed the group a “colony of cranks.” Full time residents never grew to more than 40. A major blow came in 1891 when an influenza epidemic broke out. At 62, Dr. Newbrough was among those who died. Offshoots rose and fell in the next decades as acolytes worked to keep the book in print. Controversies erupted. At one Colorado colony, a dozen children died from malnutrition in 1906, and other start-ups since then have been plagued with doctrinal disputes. Faithists recall their past failures with embarrassment and regret.

Out of the public eye, Oahspe readers have grown in recent years. Far-flung Faithists connect online or download free Oahspe materials. The Universal Faithists of Kosmon, a large organization devoted to the Oahspe, remotely serves a community of some 200.

At the Brooklyn temple, a small group made its way down a creaky set of stairs to the basement for lunch. They sat at table where a woman stood over a steaming pot, ladling out vegetarian soup. Mr. Linton gazed at aged photos, tacked on the wall, of his crowded Brooklyn church in more prosperous times.

“We used to fill this church,” he said. “People got older. They moved away.”

The previous church reached its peak decades ago, when it called itself the Church of Righteousness and Light; it drew crowds to services that combined Christianity and New Age health remedies. It was lead by the charismatic Dr. Nathaniel Ignatius Foster, a Jamaican preacher who made his own herbal tinctures. But after the death in the 1990s of Dr. Ignatius, the church lost momentum. By 2015, when Mr. Linton was elected president, membership hovered around 20 men and woman.

Mr. Linton had dabbled in alternative spirituality since his youth in Barbados, and he more recently he came upon the Oahspe bible in a private study group for like-minded seekers. As the church was nearly flickering out, he took a leap of faith. “We were getting smaller and smaller and smaller all the time,” Mr. Linton said. “How do we reach people in a changing world?”

Their conversion came quickly. The church changed its name and redecorated, replacing Christian motifs with the emblem of the Faithists, a leaf and a cross in a circle. Mr. Linton nailed framed passages of their new bible to the walls. They connected with the other scattered remnants of the religion and, in 2016, held a consecration ceremony to declare their new faith to the neighborhood.

Some old time members from the church’s heyday were put off by the unfamiliar direction and canceled their monthly donations. Others simply drifted away. Seeking to assuage doubts, Mr. Linton argued that the church had been on a winding path to the Oahspe all along and suggested that Dr. Ignatius would have approved. Meanwhile, curious passers-by trickled in, and now the Kosmon Temple holds weekly Sunday services, as well as guided meditations and public workshops. Piles of introductory materials are stacked neatly at the entrance. On a mild spring afternoon, congregants assembled around a small altar, where a candle flickered. They recited the opening verses of the Oahspe aloud as Izhor Logan, the gray-haired treasurer, drew a ladder on a well-used whiteboard. “This is our spiritual quest,” he said, adding a simple stick figure. “We all climb.”

Members offered their own testimonies. A first time visitor wondered aloud if icons like Gandhi or Mother Teresa had climbed this same ladder and reached the top rung. An elderly woman in a frilly hat said she saw their spiritual maturation more like the ripening of fruit. “Like the bowl of papayas in my kitchen,” she said. “They all go at different paces.” Ingrid Charles, a schoolteacher from Flatbush, raised her hand. “All I knew before was the Christian Bible. I never heard about any of this. But I’m ready for a new understanding.”

To finish, the group lowered their eyes to meditate. Moments after they began, the distracting throb of bass and tambourine from a neighboring church thudded through the wall, threatening to break the peace. But no one stirred. The Faithists were in their own world.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/nyregion/a-forgotten-religion-gets-a-second-chance-in-brooklyn.html

For many people in this Utah polygamous community, shooting stray animals is part of life. An animal rescue group says that needs to change

Kelly Cannon

Salt Lake Tribune

June 8, 2018

A string of animals being shot in the Utah town of Hildale has left the community fighting over whether such behavior is abuse — or just part of how things have always been in the small, mostly polygamous community.

In the past few months, St. George’s RSQ Dogs has been called out to Hildale to rescue dogs and cats that have been shot by either guns or pellet guns. The nonprofit has set up a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator.

The first victim was found in September, a pitbull that had been shot with a .22. Hildale law enforcement, which had impounded the dog, called RSQ Dogs to come pick him up.

“We had two vets and had him up to the specialty vet in Las Vegas,” said Kelli Stokes, the director of RSQ Dogs. “We did everything we could for him, but he passed away.”

The second victim was a cat named Lucky who had been shot near the end of May. After being treated by a vet, it was determined the black cat had a bullet lodged near his spine. According to Linda Thomas, the medical director of RSQ, Lucky couldn’t move or even lift his head.

“The vet thought that he may be too far gone. They said he had lost 60 percent of his blood volume,” Thomas said. “He was in really bad shape.”

Lucky was taken to Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, where he received physical therapy for a few weeks. He is back with RSQ Dogs, continuing his therapy as he learns to walk again.

“Every day, he gets better,” Thomas said. “The bullet went into his neck and is lodged in his shoulder, really close to his spinal column. They don’t want to remove the bullet.”

A few days after Lucky was found, RSQ Dogs was called back to Hildale to pick up a German shepherd mix who had also been shot. Named Bullet, the dog had an entry and exit wound but was able to recover. The rescue also picked up a cat named Wilson who had an old gunshot wound that had healed.

After Bullet was picked up, RSQ Dogs posted on a Facebook community page for Hildale called Creekers Helping Creekers, saying there was a reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of whoever was committing the animal abuse. The now-deleted post exploded with community members arguing whether it was OK to shoot the animals.

“We got a lot of good comments saying this has been going on forever. People just shoot animals out here. They just do it for fun because they’re playing around with guns,” Thomas said. “And then there are people who are using very foul language, telling us to mind our own business.”


Stokes says she thinks the culprits are teenage boys who are shooting the animals for target practice. Since posting the reward, she has been contacted by several community members relating stories of their own animals being shot.

“That’s why we did the reward,” Stokes said. “If they understand that it’s a really big deal, maybe it will make people think a little bit more.”

Thomas hopes the reward and the awareness will change things in the community.

“It’s been going on for so long in that community because that community has kind of had its own laws. Nobody has really been following the laws of the land,” Thomas said. “I posted on there the actual Utah code against animal cruelty. And I got responses like, try and tell me what I can do on my own property.”

Hildale, a polygamous community on the Utah-Arizona border, recently hired a new police chief after a judge ordered Hildale and Colorado City to implement changes designed to create more equitable policing.

The $7,000 reward is funded by donations to RSQ Dogs, and a donation from the Humane Society of the United States. RSQ Dogs organizers say law enforcement is supportive of the award.

“We want to send a message to the community that’s it’s not OK,” Thomas said. “If it takes arresting someone to do it, so be it.”

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/06/08/for-many-people-in-this-utah-polygamous-community-shooting-stray-animals-is-part-of-life-an-animal-rescue-group-says-that-needs-to-change/#gallery-carousel-9432624

3 adults in polyamorous relationship declared legal parents by N. L. court

Newfoundland and Labrador court 

St. John's court ruling believed to be legal first for Canada

Michael MacDonald
The Canadian Press
CBC.ca
June 14, 2018

In what is believed to be a legal first in Canada, a court in Newfoundland and Labrador has recognized three unmarried adults as the legal parents of a child born within their "polyamorous" family.

Polyamorous relationships are legal in Canada, unlike bigamy and polygamy, which involve people in two or more marriages.

'I have no reason to believe that this relationship detracts from the best interests of the child.- Judge Robert Fowler

In this case, the St. John's family includes two men in a relationship with the mother of a child born in 2017.

"Society is continuously changing and family structures are changing along with it," says the decision, by Justice Robert Fowler of the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court's family division.

"This must be recognized as a reality and not as a detriment to the best interests of the child."

The April 4 decision says the unconventional family has been together for three years, but the biological father of the child is unknown. The family members are not identified in the decision, which was released Thursday by the court.

It's not the first time a Canadian court has recognized that a family can have three legally recognized parents. In 2007, for example, the Ontario Court of Appeal recognized both women in a lesbian couple as the mothers of a child whose biological father was already deemed a legal parent. But the three adults in that case were not in a relationship.
Stable, loving family

The three people in the Newfoundland case turned to the courts after the province said only two parents could be listed on the child's birth certificate.

Lawyers for the province's attorney general argued that the provincial Children's Law Act does not allow for more than two people to be named as the legal parents of a child.

In his decision, Fowler acknowledged that was the case, but he stressed that the court's opinion hinged on what was in the best interests of the child.

"It has been well-established that in dealing with the matters of children, the best interests of a child or children shall always be the determining factors for the courts," the decision says.

Fowler said the child was born into a stable, loving family that is providing a safe and nurturing environment.

When the province's Children's Law Act was introduced about 30 years ago, he said, it did not contemplate the "now complex family relationships that are common and accepted in our society."

The judge said it was clear the legislation was aimed at bringing about equal status for all children, but the law included an unintentional gap that acts against the best interests of children born into polyamorous relationships.

"I have no reason to believe that this relationship detracts from the best interests of the child," Fowler's decision says.

"On the contrary, to deny the recognition of fatherhood (parentage) by the applicants would deprive the child of having a legal paternal heritage with all the rights and privileges associated with that designation."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/polyamourous-relationship-three-parents-1.4706560

Inside the Church Cult That Eventually Drove Parents to Join a 12-Hour Beating of Their Sons

CHRIS HARRIS
PEOPLE
June 14, 2018

VIDEO

Residents of rural Chadwicks, New York, had long thought there might be something wrong with the Word of Life Christian Church. Those suspicions were confirmed on the night of Oct. 11, 2015, when two teenage brothers were savagely beaten for a dozen hours inside the church’s sanctuary room after trying to defect.

The vicious attack — at times carried out by the boys’ parents — left 19-year-old Lucas Leonard dead and his then-17-year-old brother, Christopher, severely injured.

Soon pulled under the harsh scrutiny of a police investigation, the little-known religious sect was revealed as a dangerous cult.

Nearly three years later and Word of Life is no more. Christopher continues to recover from his injuries and relatives tell PEOPLE he recently graduated from high school.

All told, nine people were sent to prison for their involvement in Lucas’ death — among them, the church’s pastor, Tiffanie Irwin, who inherited the group from her father before bending it even further to her will.

Many who’ve followed the case still wonder how Bruce and Deborah Leonard could have been compelled to kick, punch, strike and whip their two sons over 12 torturous hours. The case and the church itself will be featured on Monday night’s episode of People Magazine Investigates: Cults, on Investigation Discovery.

As Bruce later said in court, the attack began following a Sunday service when Irwin called his family together and confronted the teenage brothers with allegations of child abuse and witchcraft.

Bruce told a judge the beatings started with a punch and a slap and quickly progressed to electrical cord whippings. The point he said, was so his sons “would understand the hurt that they caused” and to discipline and punish them.

Though the question of alleged child sex abuse came up in court, investigators have always insisted there was no evidence to indicate Christopher and Lucas Leonard ever harmed any children.

For more on the Word of Life Christian Church and the death of Lucas Leonard, watch Monday’s People Magazine Investigates: Cults at 9 p.m. ET on Investigation Discovery.

https://people.com/crime/inside-word-of-life-christian-church-cult-murder-new-york/

Quebec's labour watchdog investigating Church of Scientology after Radio-Canada report on low salaries

Church of Scientology staffer in Quebec City earned $70 for nearly 39 hours of work, document shows

CBC News
June 14, 2018

Quebec's labour standards board has opened an investigation into working conditions at a branch of the Church of Scientology in Quebec City.

The investigation follows a report by Radio-Canada's investigative news program, Enquête, which revealed some of the organization's staff in Quebec City were being paid salaries well below minimum wage.

Geneviève Trudel, a spokesperson for the Commission des normes du travail (CNESST), said the board is looking into the situation.

She didn't provide any details on what exact steps might be taken, however, because the investigation is ongoing.

Under Article 105 of the Act Respecting Labour Standards, the province's labour laws, the CNESST doesn't need a complaint to be filed before it can launch an investigation, Trudel told Radio-Canada in an email.

The organization "holds that power in relation to its responsibility to monitor the implementation and enforcement of labour standards," she wrote.

Among the examples of low pay cited in its program, Enquête obtained a pay stub that showed a staff member working in the provincial capital in December 2017 was paid just under $70 for what appeared to be nearly 39 hours of work.

That's less than $2 an hour — and far less than the minimum wage, which was $11.25 per hour at the time in Quebec.
'Religious workers'

The Church of Scientology of Quebec — the official name of the organization's branch in Quebec City — refused Enquête's request for an interview.

In an email, however, a spokesperson said the organization doesn't have "employees."

"Church of Scientology of Quebec staff members are not 'employees,' but religious workers," said Michelle Lacombe, the group's director of public affairs.

"They voluntarily contribute to the activities of the church and its humanitarian goals. They don't work for monetary gain, but to help others," Lacombe wrote.

However, the concept of "religious workers" doesn't exist under the province's labour laws, said Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau, a law professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal who specializes in labour law​.​

"It seems to me like a structured way to get cheap labour," Gesualdi-Fecteau said.



In this pay stub, obtained by Radio-Canada, a staff member of the Church of Scientology of Quebec appears to have been paid just under $70 for nearly 40 hours of work. (Radio-Canada)
Quebec labour minister responds

After Enquête's report aired earlier this week, Labour Minister Dominique Vien said she was concerned by its findings.

"I've asked the CNESST to look into what's happening," Vien told Radio-Canada.

Parti Québécois MNA Agnès Maltais, who represents the riding of Taschereau, where the Church of Scientology of Quebec is located, said Wednesday the revelations were "unacceptable" and "troubling."

Maltais called on the CNESST to launch an investigation.

Unlike court decisions, the result of CNESST investigations aren't made public, Trudel told Radio-Canada.

Translated from a report by Radio-Canada's Gaétan Pouliot

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-s-labour-watchdog-investigating-church-of-scientology-after-radio-canada-report-on-low-salaries-1.4706447

The Policeman Who Toppled a Guru

Asaram Bapu

Outlook
January 15, 2018

Available now - 53 minutes

Indian police officer Ajay Pal Lamba spent years chasing after the spiritual guru Asaram Bapu. The world famous demigod was accused of raping a 16 year old. Despite threats to his life from the guru's supporters, Ajay never gave up and tells Outlook's Emily Webb how he brought Asaram Bapu to justice.

Outlook Inspirations nominee Seyi Oluyole is transforming disadvantaged young lives in Nigeria through her dance group 'Dream Catchers'. It's made up of children from one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Lagos. To join Dream Catchers, the children make a deal - they agree to go to school and stick with their studies. If you're not learning - you're not dancing. Her work and the children's moves have caught the attention of some big names like Rihanna and Naomi Campbell after Seyi posted videos of the children dancing online. Seyi Oluyole appeared on Outlook April 2018.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswl52

Chilean police raid Catholic Church offices amid abuse probe

June 14, 2018

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Police and prosecutors raided Roman Catholic Church offices in two Chilean cities Wednesday looking for files, investigative reports and documents related to a sex abuse scandal that has damaged the clergy’s reputation in the South American country.

The surprise raids targeted the headquarters of Santiago’s Ecclesiastical Court and the bishop’s office in Rancagua in the O’Higgins region, where 14 priests are accused of having had sexual relations with minors.

“In Chile, we are all subject to common justice,” said prosecutor Emiliano Arias, who led the raid in Santiago.

Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, the archbishop of Santiago, said church officials “gave the prosecutor all the requested documentation.” He added that they are “available to cooperate with the civilian justice system in all that is required.”

In May, all of Chile’s 30-plus active bishops offered to quit over their collective guilt in failing to protect Chile’s children from priests who raped, groped and molested them.

Wednesday’s raids came as two leading Vatican investigators — Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu — are in Chile to investigate the sexual abuse of minors committed by clergy.

Scicluna and Bertomeu earlier put together a 2,300-page report that prompted Pope Francis to realize he had misjudged the Chilean situation.

The two men met Wednesday afternoon with four Chilean prosecutors, including Arias and national Attorney General Jorge Abbott.

“We came basically in search of cooperation in the investigations we are carrying out with respect to abuses suffered by minors” by people linked to the church, Abbott said. “The commitment is to a greater cooperation between the institutions.”

Abbott said prosecutors met some resistance in Rancagua, though they are satisfied with the information seized in both raids. He added that in the coming days prosecutors will ask the Vatican for any information it has related to the investigations.

On Monday, Francis began purging Chile’s Catholic hierarchy over the avalanche of sex abuse and cover-up cases, starting with accepting the resignations of the bishop at the center of the scandal and two others. More heads were expected to roll.

A Vatican statement Monday said Francis had accepted the resignations of Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, Bishop Gonzalo Duarte of Valparaiso and Bishop Cristian Caro of Puerto Montt. He named a temporary leader for each diocese.

Barros, 61, has been at the center of Chile’s growing scandal ever since Francis appointed him bishop of Osorno in 2015 over the objections of the local faithful, the pope’s own sex abuse prevention advisers and some of Chile’s other bishops.

The report exposed evidence that the Chilean hierarchy systematically covered up and minimized abuse cases, destroying evidence of sex crimes, pressuring church investigators to discredit abuse accusations and showing “grave negligence” in protecting children from pedophile priests.

Those findings opened a Pandora’s Box of new accusations that led Francis to become the first pope to refer to a “culture of abuse and cover-up” in the Catholic Church.

The raids in Chile were reminiscent of the police search carried out in 2010 at the headquarters of the Catholic Church hierarchy in Belgium, which prompted Pope Benedict XVI to intervene and protest the “deplorable” intrusion in the Catholic Church’s legal process.

Belgian police took away computers and hundreds of files amid rumors that church leaders were continuing to cover up abuse cases. The raid prompted a Catholic panel investigating abuse to shut down in protest, saying Belgian authorities had betrayed the trust of nearly 500 victims who made complaints to the panel.

https://apnews.com/d16c618e305c4ce5a26043761c520817

Twelve Tribes community pushes back against labor violation accusations

WHEC
June 07, 2018

The Twelve Tribes community near Albany is pushing back against labor violations involving children.

Members say there weren't 12 people, let alone 12 children at the Common Sense packaging facility when the Department of Labor visited this week, so they don't know how they received 12 violations.

Investigators visited the community after "Inside Edition" aired hidden camera footage showing alleged child labor.

The community says "occasional visits" of children to its soap factory and farm do not violate child labor laws.

Eight more investigations have been opened in other Twelve Tribes communities, including one in Hamburg near Buffalo.

http://www.whec.com/news/twelve-tribes-community-pushes-back-against-labor-violation-accusations/4939822/

Elvis, anxiety, and exorcism: Ex-preacher still looking for apology after being cut out of church

Mike Bravener left Fredericton church after rift over his Elvis act that included exorcism incident

Matthew BingleyCBC News 
June 8, 2018

Musician Mike Bravener hasn't stopped performing as Elvis Presley even though his act contributed to a rift — and an attempted exorcism — at the Fredericton church the former preacher co-founded.

Bravener said he's still waiting 15 years later for a proper apology from the church christened The Meeting Place.

Despite his success singing as "The King," Bravener said the Elvis act also helped sour his relationship with church leaders in the early 2000s.

The strained relationship, and his struggles with crippling anxiety, led to his departure from the Meeting Place, but not before church members persuaded him to undergo an exorcism.
Bitten by Elvis bug

Bravener began dabbling in Elvis impersonations after attending a tribute concert while on a family vacation in Ontario.

"I thought 'when I get back to Fredericton, I'm gonna be the King, baby'," Bravener told CBC in a mock Elvis voice, recounting his start in show business. He said a member of the church even bought him a jumpsuit and a karaoke machine to get him going.

Bravener, still a preacher at the time, started to compete as an Elvis impersonator in 2001 after a year of performing at Frank's Finer Diner in Fredericton. He told CBC that performing was a thrill and helped encourage people to join his church.

"For me, what Elvis was doing was not only helping me to meet people who didn't go to church, but it was opening up doors in that I would go to palliative care and I would sing to patients there."

Bravener said a small group of church members were displeased with his devotion to Elvis and felt he was funnelling too much of his passion into music instead of focusing on building the church.

To make matters worse, Bravener began to suffer from crippling anxiety in the fall of 2001. "I would wake up in a sweat, afraid, all day I would be afraid," he recalled. The Meeting Place took away his preaching role soon afterward, he said.
Agreed to exorcism

He said he was then told by the church leadership that he was suffering 'demonic oppression'. Desperate for relief from his anxiety, Bravener said he agreed to be the subject of an exorcism. He said the attempted demonic expulsion took place at church member Joe Crummey's home.

"'We renounce! We command you!'" Bravener said members yelled at him. "I didn't levitate and I didn't throw up," he added, "but I felt like I was going to throw up and I was scared to death, I was shaking."

The ordeal only exacerbated his anxiety and he said his mental health issues soon returned.

Bravener left the church in the spring of 2003. Since then, it has re-branded as Christ Central Church and has written him out of its history. Bravener said members still haven't made amends for the painful ordeal.

"At the end of the day, there's no admission that anybody did anything wrong," he said.
Son's tribute

His son Josh said the church needs to apologize.

"The fact that there's been no sincere apology or nobody really coming forth to own up for the terrible thing they did, that just makes me even angrier," Josh, also a musician, told CBC.

The ex-preacher's son, now lead singer of Fredericton-based band 'The Hypochondriacs,' turned his father's story into a song. The Meeting Place recounts Bravener's tale and his son will often sing it within a stone's throw of Christ Central Church.

"I kind of wanted my revenge in a way," said Josh, "and with music being the only thing I can do, that's all I have as my weapon."

Bravener's son said he tells the story onstage before singing it and has so far only encountered one member of the church in the crowd.

Even more, Josh Bravener said the song helped him better understand his father. Listening to Josh play the song in their living room, Mike Bravener wiped a tear from his eye.
No church comment

CBC News requested an interview with Christ Central Church. Mark Rushworth, the current lead pastor, declined the request and said the church didn't want to discuss the matter publicly.

"It's been addressed before," Rushworth said over the phone, though Bravener and his son both dispute the claim.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reporter
Matthew Bingley is a CBC reporter based in Saint John.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/elvis-exorcism-bravenor-church-1.4696843

Mock Suicide Drills, Child Labor and Armed Guards: Inside Jonestown in the Days Before Mass Poisoning

JOHNNY DODD and GREG HANLON
PEOPLE.com
June 11, 2018

When Tracy Parks’ parents joined the Peoples Temple in 1966, they were drawn by the Christian gospel, socialist politics and racial equality espoused by the founding pastor, Jim Jones.

In the church’s early days, Jones was considered an advocate for the downtrodden and marginalized, drawing praise from a host of politicians. Former San Francisco Mayor even described him as “an American Gandhi.” (Jones and his cult are featured on People Magazine Investigates: Cults, airing tonight (9 p.m. ET) on Investigation Discovery.)

But Tracy, who was 12 when more than 900 people died in the largest mass suicide in modern history in 1977, was always skeptical. She got an eerie feeling from the armed guards who stood watch over worship services and the way Jones would stomp on Bibles and rant against the government.

Tracy tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, “Even as a child, sitting in these meetings, I’d look at all the adults around me and think, ‘What’s wrong with these people? How can you think this is okay?”

As time went on, rumors escalated about Jones’ drug use and sexual affairs with male and female congregants, as well as stories about his controlling nature and abuse. Jones took to wearing sunglasses at all times, saying it was “because he sees too much without them on,” Tracy’s father Jerry Parks tells PEOPLE.

In 1977, after a scathing magazine article, Jones moved his congregants to Jonestown, a 3,800-acre jungle compound in Guyana, where he promised a vision of paradise.

But the reality was far different, says Tracy. She and the other children spent eight hours a day working under the blistering sun with gun-toting guards watching her every move, while Jones’ paranoid, delusional rants played on the compound’s loudspeaker.

Worst of all were the mock suicide drills, called “White Nights,” in which Jones would rehearse mass suicides by making cult members drink from a mixture they thought contained fatal poison.

https://people.com/crime/jim-jones-mock-suicide-drills-jonestown-massacre/

Sweeney Investigates: Madonna / The Kabbbalah Centre

Feature for BBC2

Watch Video

https://vimeo.com/53964979

Third Man Accused of Child Marriage in Utah Sex Cult

Knights of the Crystal Blade men charged with rape and assault after allegedly marrying each others' young daughters.

Bryn Lovitt
Rolling Stone
June 11, 2018

In Utah, the Knights of Crystal Blade – a radical, fundamentalist Mormon offshoot – is under investigation for the abduction and assault of underage child brides. Authorities have charged Robert Shane Rowe – a man from California who was allegedly promised a child bride – with one count of child sodomy. Last December, an unbelievable kidnapping bust exposed the cult's founding members, 34-year-old Samuel "the Seer" Schaffer and follower John Coltharp, also 34, for not only kidnapping their own children, but "marrying them off" between the two. Now there appears to have been a third adult involved.

The investigation began after Coltharp's ex-wife, Micha Soble, went to the police claiming her former husband had kidnapped their children. The cops issued a statewide Amber alert, which led to the raid of a derelict compound just outside the small town of Lund, Utah. There, Schaffer and Coltharp allegedly had hidden their four daughters inside of freezing, 50-gallon water barrels. Initially, it was believed that Schaffer and Coltharp were the only members of the group involved in the abuse charges, which include multiple counts of child rape and sexual assault. However, as Prosecutor Kevin Daniels pointed out, the alleged involvement of Robert Shane Roe from California suggests the Schaffer and Coltharp were actively recruiting more members into the fold.

Shortly after Roe connected with Coltharp and Schaffer over social media, according to a statement Daniels made to The Salt Lake Tribune, he was encouraged to come to Utah for a baptism and promised Schaffer's five-year-old daughter as a child bride. The victim only recently came forward with the alleged abuse, which, via statement from prosecutor and Sanpete County attorney Kevin Daniels, played out similarly to previous charges. "Like two of the other individuals involved in Knights of the Crystal Blade," Daniel told KSLTV, "[Roe] has committed sexual acts upon children, under the auspices of marriage."

According to The Denver Post, Schaffer and Coltharp, are both former members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, and adhere to an extreme belief in polygamy as well as an imminent doomsday. Newsweek reported that the two men met in a Facebook group lamenting the LDS's 1890 decision to ban polygamy, and from there created a now-defunct online forum outlining Schaffer's prophetic visions, including an apocalyptic Muslim attack.

Soble, Coltharp's ex-wife, told The Denver Post that her husband had previously expressed a desire to "live off the grid," and moved the family to Spring County, Utah, where he and Schaffer could build a compound in preparation for the end of the world. The "compound," however, described in a signed affidavit as "deplorable," was little more than a remote sprawl of abandoned trailers and shipping containers out in the desert.

Since September of last year and up until the raid, Coltharp left the couple's four children there in a double-wide trailer with his parents, an older couple who, despite the unlivable conditions including subzero temperatures at night, believed heavily in the practice of alternative medicine, Soble told The Denver Post. While Coltharp's two sons and their grandparents were spotted as soon as dogs and helicopters touched down on the compound, the daughters were nowhere to be found.

Both Coltharp and Schaffer managed to evade the search for several hours until an anonymous tipster claimed to have seen Schaffer walking several miles outside the compound. Once arrested, Schaffer told authorities where to find two of the four underage girls in the barrels, though he was reluctant to give up the remaining two's location. Ultimately, they were found hidden and lethargic in yet another trailer several miles away. Coltharp, however, was arrested at his home under suspicion of custodial interference and brought in for questioning, his children still at the compound.

The girls, all four under 10 years old, were rescued and flown to area hospitals as police charged their fathers with first-degree felony rape of a child, second-degree felony count of child abuse, obstruction of justice, child kidnapping, and in a surprising first for the state of Utah – home to notorious polygamist ringleaders like Warren Jeffs – child bygamy.

Schaffer entered a guilty plea in February and was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. Coltharp faces trial next month for lewdness with a child, obstruction of justice and child bygamy. The trial will pick up on July 9th. Roe also faced a count of child sodomy, which carries the possibility of life in jail. As of Monday afternoon he is not yet in custody, though there is a warrant out for his arrest.

"These are extreme individuals with extreme beliefs that believe the end of the world is coming," Daniels told the Idaho State Journal. It was the police who raided the compound who "prevented those little girls from dying. Or repeating a Waco-style shootout."

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/third-man-accused-of-child-marriage-in-utah-sex-cult-w521399