Perth Christian rehab facility apologises after allegations of psychological abuse, inappropriate treatment

Joanna Trilling and Alicia Bridges

ABC News

March 10, 2022

The Esther Foundation, a Christian-based residential rehabilitation centre in Perth, says it will cooperate with any criminal investigation after a growing number of women have spoken out about allegations of psychological abuse and inappropriate treatment at the facility.

Key points:

• Esther House has issued an apology to former residents for any "hurt" or "abuse" they might have experienced while living at the Perth rehabilitation centre

• Former residents have come forward with claims of psychological abuse and inappropriate treatment

• The centre has parted ways with the former managing director and founder

Former residents of the centre this week told the ABC that the program treated their mental health and addictions by attempting to "exorcise demons". One woman said she was not allowed to speak for two months.

The women say they did not receive any psychological or psychiatric care from a qualified medical specialist during their time at the residential centre for young women from crisis backgrounds, which claims to provide counselling for issues including addictions, sexual abuse and mental health.

Confronted with the women's allegations this week, the Esther Foundation issued an "unreserved apology".

"We stand in support of any former resident who has suffered hurt, abuse or anguish," the Esther Foundation said in a written response.

Continue Reading:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-10/esther-house-abuse-allegations-apology-exorcisms-perth/100895888

Esther Foundation, now subject to claims of sexual and psychological abuse, supported by multiple WA governments

Joanna Trilling and Alicia Bridges

ABC Radio Perth

April 7, 2022

Official statements, news releases and the recollections of a former premier show how multiple West Australian governments funded, supported and celebrated a Christian rehab facility that is now the focus of a parliamentary investigation into allegations of psychological and sexual abuse and inappropriate treatment.

Communities Minister Simone McGurk, who tabled the motion for the investigation, told parliament those allegations include criminal complaints of sexual abuse, as well as residents being denied food, being banned from contacting friends and family, illegal restraints, and Aboriginal residents being told their language and culture was akin to being possessed by the devil.

"Under the current framework the state has very limited oversight of this facility," Ms McGurk said.

"We are asking the inquiry to look at the current regulatory and legislative frameworks in place to understand if there are ways we can improve existing provisions, or if there are gaps that might need to be addressed."

The investigation is due to be completed by December 1 this year.

Several women have recently come forward with allegations about Esther Foundation's residential centres, saying they received treatment from unqualified workers that involved "exorcising demons", and individuals not being allowed to speak for months.

In March the Esther Foundation issued an apology, saying it had undergone a complete overhaul and change of management since the time of the allegations between 2003 and 2019.

The WA departments of health and communities recently confirmed they had referred multiple young women to the Esther Foundation's residential program, but Ms McGurk said that would not occur again.

But as recently as 2018, the McGowan government was singing the praises of the Esther Foundation and its residential program for women at the old St Emilie's convent in Kalamunda.

Key points:

• Numerous women have come forward with allegations of psychological abuse and inappropriate treatment through the Esther Foundation rehabilitation program
• A parliamentary committee will investigate the claims, which Communities Minister Simone McGurk says include sexual abuse allegations
• Multiple WA governments supported the facility, including the purchase of the $3.9m property and former convent where the residential program is now located
• Yesterday state parliament voted in favour of the investigation into allegations against the Esther Foundation, which says it provides counselling for issues including addictions, sexual abuse and mental health.

'Unaware' of 'another side'

In June of 2018, then-housing minister Peter Tinley described the foundation as a "wonderful" project that was "life-changing" for women.

"Crisis accommodation projects such as [The Esther Foundation's] St Emilie's Lodging Facility are an integral part of the McGowan government's soon to be released Affordable Housing Action Plan, which lays a path to support our most vulnerable Western Australians," he said.

The Department of Communities' support for the foundation dates back to 2010.

Starting in the late 2000s, former WA premier Colin Barnett personally championed the Esther Foundation and signed off on his government's $3.9 million purchase of the St Emilie's land.

He now says he was not aware of any concerns about harm or abuse of residents at the time.

"If there was another side, I was unaware of that," Mr Barnett said in an interview with the ABC.

"And I'm disappointed to hear about that."

Mr Barnett said he personally donated to the foundation and encouraged friends and businesspeople to do the same.

He was premier in 2010 when the WA Housing Authority, under the umbrella of the Department of Communities, purchased the former St. Emilie's convent for the purpose of housing an expanded Esther Foundation residential facility.

Mr Barnett said he did not advocate for the purchase of St Emilie's, located in Kalamunda, as a politician.

"I was a little bit hands-off that, because I was conscious that I privately supported them," he said.

"I didn't push for the large amounts of money but I was certainly supportive of the St Emilie's project … I was the minister that signed off when they came with that recommendation to me."

Government purchases

The Esther Foundation made a further request for funding to build a new residential facility, structured around the old convent buildings.

Perth Christian rehab facility apologises after allegations of psychological abuse, inappropriate treatment

The request was initially knocked back by Lotterywest, but in 2012 Lotterywest agreed to provide a $3.5m grant to not-for-profit housing organisation Community Housing Limited (CHL) after it partnered with the Esther Foundation on the project.

CHL now subleases the property to the Esther Foundation.

The Department of Communities also provided $200,000 to furnish the new facility.

Mr Barnett said he supported the project because he had been impressed by its leadership at the time and impressed by the personal stories of the young women he met at Esther Foundation facilities.

"These young women came out and they told their stories openly," he said.

"They'd said that they were getting better and most of them were … staying off drugs."

In 2018 the WA Housing Authority paid $790,000 for a property in Maida Vale that it leases to the Esther Foundation.

Foundation to cooperate

WA Police urged anyone with a criminal complaint to contact police.

The foundation has said it will cooperate with any investigation, criminal or otherwise.

The foundation's acting chief executive Aaron Hines said "an independent and suitably qualified person" would be appointed to work with former residents who wanted to share their story.

"[The allegations] relate to a time period before I and our executive team joined the foundation," Mr Hines said.

"We are endeavouring to obtain more details."

If you or anyone you know needs help:

• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
• Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• ReachOut at au.reachout.com
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
• Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) on 1800 008 774
• Head to Health at headtohealth.gov.au

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-08/wa-esther-foundation-supported-by-state-government-for-years/100974904

Esther Foundation enters voluntary administration amidst claims of mistreatment and abuse

ABC News: Esther Foundation enters voluntary administration amidst claims of mistreatment and abuse

A Perth-based Christian rehab facility is now under investigation, over allegations of mistreatment and abuse by former residents. The move has sparked questions about whether the federal and state governments did their homework before allocating millions of dollars in grants. Esther Foundation has also announced that it will be going into voluntary administration. This report from Jo Trilling and Rhiannon Shine.

https://youtu.be/CESuYA3PbHA 

‘I witnessed truly appalling things’: a letter from a former resident of Esther House

‘I witnessed truly appalling things’: a letter from a former resident of Esther House

Melissa Camm attended Esther House when she was 14 years old. This is her letter detailing the alleged harm she survived while in their care.

Crikey

Marxh 7, 2022

This is part 14 in a series. For the rest of the series, go here.

Melissa Camm wrote to Crikey this week with her recollections of life at the Esther Foundation’s rehab facility. “My anxiety popped up after reading the articles in relation to Esther House and it took me a bit to work through,” she said.

Here’s what she wrote: 

I first became a participant of Esther House when I was just 14 years old, after a family breakdown. Immediately I was told I was unable to contact any of my family, my friends or anyone in my support network. I had to immediately surrender my wallet and mobile phone. If I needed anything I’d have to wait for a “worker” on a designated shopping trip, who would stand with my wallet in a zip-lock bag and pay for me. Even if I needed something as simple as tampons. 

Claire Crawford went to hell and back at Esther House. Why isn’t it shut down?

Over the next two and half years, I would be completely stripped of anything that would have given me outer prospective and individuality from the program. I would be denied an education, despite the ages of 14 to 17 being some of the most important schooling years for a young person. Without that foundation it has really limited my career paths as a now almost 30-year-old adult. It’s something that still brings me a lot of shame, that my highest level of education is Year 9. 

Immediately upon entering the program, the idea of a Christian God is thrust upon you, whether you’re a willing and open participant or not. If any answer you give during any type of “group therapy” is not centred around God, it’s not an appropriate answer. If you don’t accept the idea of a Christian God then you are labelled as rebellious, spiteful, angry and dangerous.

You’re forced to participate in three to four church meetings a week. Some going for all hours of the night. If you’re unwilling to stand, suddenly a group of people will be yelling and trying to perform an exorcism for the demons forcing you to rebel. If you resisted this you would be forcibly held on the floor, having your stomach pushed on by Patricia [Lavater, Esther Foundation founder] as many “spoke in tongues” over you. The only way to make it stop was to comply and scream as if your “demons were being released”. 

We were denied medications that had been prescribed to us prior to Esther, claiming we had been “healed” by God. These medications were often for mental health, and yet there was no psychiatrist to oversee these stops in medication. In fact all the workers were either self-appointed “prophets” or ex-members of the program.

There were no trained counsellors, psychologists or psychiatrists to ensure these really vulnerable people were getting adequate care. In fact you only had one option to see a doctor. He was a doctor that visited the main house once a fortnight and would be there for a couple hours in the afternoon. If you didn’t get a spot to see him? Too bad. No options to seek your own private medical advice. 

I witnessed truly appalling things at Esther, all at the hand of Patricia who you dare not go up against or differ from opinion. If you disagreed with her opinion of you and your trauma she’d shame you into seeing it her way. I was a particularly anxious and introverted teenager. She told me I just thought I was better then everyone else (couldn’t be further from the truth). She sat me in a small lounge room in from of 30-40 other women who could say anything bad they’ve ever thought about me and I had to accept it as truth. She called it “the hot seat”.  

Everything about Esther was about complete control. Control over our minds, our faith, our money, our health, our sexuality, and for some girls even there ethnic roots. All of this while claiming to be saving our lives, and if we left (which I couldn’t because I was a minor), we’d be attacked by the Devil. 

The hardest part of all? You truly didn’t understand what was happening because you were so cut off from the world. No access to radio, news, TV, friends, and phones, and only very limited access to your family. So it’s not until you’ve left, and sometimes years after, do you realise what you’ve been through.

Sadly some girls lost their lives in that time and they will never get the redemption they deserve. 

Yours sincerely,

Melissa

If you have any information about this story you would like to pass on please contact David Hardaker via dhardaker@protonmail.com.

Survivors of abuse can find support by calling Bravehearts at 1800 272 831. The Kids Helpline is 1800 55 1800. In an emergency, call 000. 

For anyone seeking help, Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue is on 1300 22 4636.

https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/03/07/letter-esther-house-melissa-camm/

CultNEWS101 Articles: 4/28/2022 (Event, Urantia Book, Aravindan Balakrishnan, Obituary, Trigger Warnings, Maharishi University, Legal)

Event, Urantia Book, Aravindan Balakrishnan, Obituary, Trigger Warnings, Maharishi University, Legal

ICSA Annual Conference: My Father Leader: A Parent Cult from Inside Out

Maria Peregolise; Sunday, June 26, 2022; 1:00 PM-1:50 PM

Culted Child is a memoir by the daughter of a Spiritual Prophet - a father who used the theology of The URANTIA Book as a framework for his secret conversations with her.

Belfast Telegraph: Cult leader's Belfast 'slave' defended evil rapist to the end

"In 2013, Ms Herivel called a charity to tell them that Balakrishnan's daughter was being held against her will, after which the sect was busted."

The Belfast woman who blew the lid off a Maoist cult that held her captive for 30 years was campaigning for its leader's release from prison until his death last week. 
Ex-Methodist College pupil Josephine Herivel was one of several women brainwashed by Aravindan Balakrishnan in his south London commune.
Last week, the 81-year-old died in Dartmoor Prison, where he was serving a 23-year sentence for rape, false imprisonment, child cruelty and assault.
One-time violin prodigy Ms Herivel, the daughter of Bletchley Park code breaker John Herivel, came to regret alerting the authorities and campaigned for his convictions to be quashed.
A small online community still proclaims Balakrishnan's innocence, but Ms Herivel is the only one who has given interviews.
She fell under Balakrishnan's influence in 1978 while studying at the Royal College of Music after attending a communist lecture with her then boyfriend.
She joined Balakrishnan's Workers' Institute of Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought, based in a terraced house in Brixton, where followers referred to him as 'Comrade Bala'."

PsyPost: Trigger warnings might prolong the aversive aspects of negative memories

"Trigger warning" is a phrase we hear a lot in daily life now, but how effective is providing a trigger warning in preventing distress? A study published in Memory suggests that trigger warnings could actually be counterproductive and prolong effects of recalling a negative memory.

Trigger warnings are warnings that material may contain sensitive or difficult information that could serve to distress people. Topics can include shootings, sexual violence, racism, classism, and more. These warnings are meant to be considerate, hoping to minimize any negative feelings people may have about what they are about to encounter. Despite the good intentions, there is a possibility that warnings could do the exact opposite and make memories seem more distressing than they are, due to the fact that expecting something negative can cause or worsen distress.

For their study, researchers Victoria M. E. Bridgland and Melanie K. T. Takarangi utilized 209 participants over two sessions. Participants were asked to recall a negative event that took place within the past two weeks. They were separated into two groups: one which were given a warning that this negative memory task would be distressing, and one which were not given a warning. In session two, participants were asked to recall the negative event again. All participants completed measures on positive and negative affect, state-trait anxiety, memory phenomenology coping skills, centrality of the negative event, and emotional impact of events.

Results showed that as predicted, the warning message had a negative anticipatory effect. Despite this, there was no evidence that the warning made the initial recall of the event any more distressing. The distress and negative effects faded over time, which is consistent with previous research, but results did show that participants who were given a warning in session one showed higher impact of the event still during session two. This suggests that the warning did, in fact, "hamper the healing nature of time" and that the warning effects were delayed."

" ... 'In summary, this study is the first to examine the effects of warning messages on the recall of personal memories (rather than novel stimuli) with two important findings: first, we found that warning messages seem capable of prolonging aversive aspects of a negative event," the researchers concluded. "Second, if we turn to what we did not find, warnings do not seem to diminish the distress associated with recalling a negative memory or increase the reported use of coping strategies. These data have important implications for renewed calls to use trigger warnings to improve mental health by adding to the growing body of evidence that trigger warnings at best may have trivial effects or at worst cause harm.'"

Des Moines Register: Donor's wife sues Maharishi University in Fairfield over stock mixup, claiming she lost $500k

"In December 1984, Mary and Phillip Town gave a gift to Maharishi International University: 166,667 shares in their organic farming startup.

But, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court, officials at the Transcendental Meditation school in Fairfield, Iowa, preferred cash. So the Towns gave the school about $21,000 in exchange for the return of the shares, according to the lawsuit.

Mary Town said university officials never properly signed documents turning the shares back over, an issue that came to a head two years ago when an Austrian company bought the business that her husband and a business partner started.

Mary Town's lawyer estimated in a lawsuit filed against the university Thursday that it ultimately received about $500,000 because it was still the registered owner of those shares when the sale went through. She is demanding to be repaid the amount the school received.

"MIU's enrichment was at the expense of Town," her attorney, Jeff Stone of Cedar Rapids, wrote in the lawsuit.

Mark Zaiger, a Cedar Rapids lawyer representing the school, declined to address the details of the allegation.

'MIU does not respond outside of court regarding pending litigation matters," he said in an email to the Des Moines Register. "I can tell you, however, that MIU has a policy to seek resolution of disputes as they arise.'"

 

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultEducationEvents.com

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

Twitter

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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.

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

Former Aum Shinrikyo cult member released from jail after serving full term

The Japan Times

Apr 26, 2022

A former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult was released from a central Japan prison Tuesday, having served a nine-year term for his involvement in three cases related to the group, people familiar with the situation said.

Makoto Hirata, 57, turned himself in to police in 2011 after nearly 17 years on the run. In 2014, he was given the nine-year jail term for his involvement in the abduction and confinement of a Tokyo notary clerk as well as the bombing of a condominium and the firebombing of an Aum facility in the capital in 1995.

The sentence was finalized after the Supreme Court rejected Hirata’s appeal in 2016.

The bombing of the condominium and firebombing of the Aum facility in March 1995 — which took place on the eve of the cult’s sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system — were aimed at impeding a police investigation into the religious group.

A 68-year-old notary clerk, Kiyoshi Kariya, died after being abducted and injected with an anesthetic by the group in February 1995. The cult were trying to find out the whereabouts of Kariya’s sister, a former member who had escaped from the cult, and Hirata served as a lookout in the case.

After turning himself in, Hirata sent a number of letters to the family of the victim in which he apologized and criticized the cult, according to Kariya’s eldest son Minoru.

Aum Shinrikyo staged the gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995, killing 14 and injuring more than 6,000 people.

The doomsday cult’s founder Shoko Asahara, who masterminded the attack, and 12 of his former followers were hanged in 2018.

The cult was later divided into three successor groups that remain active, according to the Public Security Intelligence Agency.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/04/26/national/crime-legal/aum-cult-member-release/

CultNEWS101 Articles: 4/27/2022 (Greek Life, Podcast, Radicalization, Events, SGA, Larry Ray, Legal, Rajneesh )

Greek Life, Podcast, Radicalization, Events, SGA, Larry Ray, Legal, Rajneesh 

A Little Bit Culty: SEASON 4 EPISODE 2: My So-Called Greek Life: Lucy Taylor Exposes a Culty Collegiate Shitshow

As a first year student at the University of Maryland, Lucy Taylor welcomed the sisterhood and built-in community that Greek life promised. But after accepting a bid into a 'top-tier' sorority, she left after seven months inside a toxic stew of rampant sexual assault, slut-shaming, misgogny, and racism. Lucy shared her experience in season one of her podcast, SNAPPED, and after an outpouring of responses she's continuing to use the series to help other former sorority and fraternity members share their all-too similar and all-too-horrific stories. On the cusp of spring, when Greek Week events and semi-formals are about to pop off on college campuses far and wide, Lucy joins Sarah and Nippy for an important conversation about the dangers of a beloved campus tradition. She shares why her experience in the panhellenic scene was hellish,  and how the bait-and-switch recruitment tactics and gross coercive control methods that are rife throughout the Greek system are a whole bunch of culty. Before you ship your kids off to college, make sure you listen to this one.

ICSA Annual Conference: Visioning the Invisible: The Traumatized Bodies of Racialized Cult Members and Survivors.

Evvie Ormon; Sunday, June 26, 2022; 12:00 PM-12:50 PM

In the cult survivor and cult expert space there is a noticeable lack of visibility of racialized bodies. So little mention about racialization of bodies within cults, how racialized experience impacts the risk of cult recruitment, and the racialized identities of survivors of color who exit cults into a world that is often nearly as hostile and authoritarian towards their ethnically identifies bodies as the coercive groups they left behind. This talk is an opening, a crack to let light into considerations of racialized survivor experience with hopes to expand this conversation, and invitations to research the lives, challenges, healing journeys, and to visibilize the living bodies of cult survivors of color. Brought by a 2nd Generation cult survivor of color, this talk is at once an invitation to depth, reflection, and looking forward into what is possible.

NY Post: Harvard grad says 'sex cult' leader forced her to wear diapers, use pacifier

"A Harvard grad testified in Manhattan court Monday that she was forced to wear diapers and suck on a pacifier thanks to accused Sarah Lawrence sex-cult leader Larry Ray.

Felicia Rosario, 39, told a federal jury that Ray's abuse of her also included him binding her with zip ties and duct-taping her mouth — in addition to urging her to have sex with strangers and record the encounters for his pleasure.

"I felt completely humiliated, degraded, debased – like I was nothing. Like I was dumb-looking, worthless," Rosario told jurors about her relationship with Ray, under questioning by federal prosecutor Mollie Bracewell.

Rosario — whose brother testified earlier this month that Ray forced him to wear diapers, too — said she was drawn under the older man's influence after being introduced to him by her brother in the fall of 2011 while she was working to finish her medical degree at Columbia University. She had already graduated from Harvard University."

The Guardian: Sins of My Father by Lily Dunn review – surviving a cult

"Lily Dunn was six years old when her father left his wife and two young children, walking out of the family home in London, without any mention of when he would be back. He bought a one-way ticket to India, travelling to an ashram in Pune with a woman he met in a strip club, who wanted to introduce him to her guru, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho. Sins of My Father has its roots in a memorable 2016 Granta essay, and has become a memoir of two lives: her father's, rippled with grandiose drama, and her own attempts to harness the pain that he left in his restless wake. Dunn describes the severing of family ties as "this operatic rupture of flight". This is a desperately sad story, but there is beauty in its crisp, cold clarity.

Dunn's father – named by initial, but then referred to as "Dad" or "my father", which has a steadying effect, both intimate and distant – took to life in the Rajneesh cult, and much of this story is about his time as a devotee of the Bhagwan. He joined a great number of white, wealthy westerners whose search for enlightenment found a home in the Bhagwan's teachings and communes. In 2018, the Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country told the story of the cult's move to Oregon in the United States, introducing its orange-clad sannyasins to a new generation. Dunn is not dismissive of the cult's appeal, and is surprisingly empathetic towards its followers, considering the havoc it wrought upon her own life."

News, Education, Intervention, Recovery

CultEducationEvents.com

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

Twitter

Instagram

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.

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

ICSA Annual Conference: My Father Leader: A Parent Cult from Inside Out

ICSA Annual Conference: My Father Leader: A Parent Cult from Inside Out
Maria Peregolise; Sunday, June 26, 2022; 1:00 PM-1:50 PM

A.) A Child Victim’s Perspective: Nightmares

1. The Well
2. The Eyes - Unseen Friends

B.) A Father’s Psychological Manipulation

1. Channels Michael of Nebadon
2. Adjudicates Satan
3. Deathbed Visits

C.) Adult Victim Processes Shattered Faith

1. Writing 3rd Person - Dad played by a Grandmother and Grandfather
2. Writing in 1st Person, Dad played by a Grandmother
3. Writing in 1st Person - Saying, “My Father...”

D.) Family Ostracizing - Shunned by Family

1. Recognizing I have already gone No-Contact
2. Mother “Takes Sides” when I verbalize this to her
3. Sibling follows mother’s lead, to “Take Sides”
4. When Writing gets healing just so far: Group Therapy with Former Cult Members, Individual Therapy

E.) Share Book Title: “Culted Child: The True Story of a Daughter Disciple”
https://amzn.to/3HT5ZQ5

F.) Q & A

Maria Peregolise

Peregolise Interviews & Articles:

IndoctriNation with Rachel Bernstein presents Thought Adjusters w/ Maria Peregolise (https://soundcloud.com/indoctrinationshow/unseen-friends-w-maria-peregolise Cultedchild.com; https://cultedchild.com)

Igotout.org article Just Trust Me (https://www.igotout.org/written-stories-1/just-trust-me)

ICSA TODAY IT Vol. 11 No. 2 (2020) Arts: Poetry – Maria Peregolise (24-25), (https://www.icsahome.com/icsa-publications/icsatoday/issues)

Testimonial Art Ascent 2nd Article (https://artascent.com/artascent-has-helped-me-charge-through-a-terrifying-hurdle/)

Journal Entry at Age Thirteen, Peregolise, M. (2020). ICSA Today, Vol. 11, No. 2. (2020 - PDF of Issue). Arts: Poetry - Maria Peregolise (24-25). https://www.icsahome.com/memberelibrary/it#h.p_4tZX2OKSONVB


Conference Information
Agenda
Conference Registration

Former cult member won't appeal extradition for murder charges

Jeremy Wilkinson

NZ Herald 

April 24, 202w

A woman who allegedly beat her two-year-old daughter to death at a cult has decided not to appeal a ruling to have her extradited to Australia.

Ellen Craig, a New Zealand citizen, will be sent back to Australia to face charges of murdering her daughter Tillie Craig while living at the Ministry of God cult near Sydney in 1987.

The cult's leader, Alexander Wilon, who ran the sect under the name Alfio Nicolosi, is also facing charges of accessory to murder and misconduct in regard to corpses.

Judge Ian Carter ordered Craig be extradited to Australia at a hearing in the Palmerston North District Court late last month.

Judge Carter gave her 15 days to appeal that decision, which has now lapsed.

Craig is still in custody in New Zealand and New South Wales Police were unable to provide a firm date for when she will be sent back to Australia now the appeal period has passed.

Craig was arrested in late 2021 by New Zealand Police at her home in Palmerston North. She'd been hiding in the city for the better part of 34 years and had spent some of that time working with survivors of domestic abuse at the Women's Refuge.

According to a summary of facts presented to the Palmerston North District Court in late March, Craig beat her daughter Tillie to death with a piece of PVC piping. Craig and Wilon then burnt the body, which has to this day never been found.

The cult was known as the Ministry of God and according to a former member called Margaret* the abuse of children was encouraged.

"I witnessed extreme abuse of Tillie principally by Alfio. Almost every day Tillie was repeatedly dragged into the bathroom by Alfio who would then proceed to hit her with a wooden-backed brush," Margaret said.

"I'd also seen him smack her across the face so hard she got a black eye."

Tillie was never officially reported as a missing person and authorities were only made aware of her disappearance when a witness came forward in 2019.

After the alleged murder, Craig was expelled from the cult and moved home to New Zealand where she used the name Jowelle Smith for three years, before changing it again and working at the Palmerston North Women's Refuge under the name "Erena Craig".

Her former colleagues and neighbours described Craig as paranoid, elusive and erratic and she was let go from her role at Women's Refuge for those reasons.

Australian Police received a tip-off in 2019 that Tillie was missing and claim it was the first time it had known about her disappearance.

DO YOU HAVE A JUSTICE STORY WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?

However, Tillie's father Gerard Stanhope had been searching for his daughter for years including leaving messages for her on an Australian missing persons page long after Tillie is presumed to have died.

"I spent years looking for you. It almost consumed me," he wrote.

Stanhope told Open Justice his former partner changed her name when she moved to New Zealand in what he believes was an effort to elude him.

"Right now, I'm trusting that the New South Wales Police have their ducks in a row and that some kind of justice will be served."

Craig was at her Kāinga Ora home when police came knocking on her door last November as part of a joint operation with NSW Police.

Wilon was arrested at an address in rural Sydney at the same time.

Craig has been in custody since, appearing via video link at Palmerston North District Court several times this year as she fought to remain in New Zealand.

Craig argued she's too unwell to travel but the lawyer acting on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, Guy Carter, told the court this month there was no reason Australia couldn't manage those health conditions.

"Why should the fact that Ms Craig left Australia, changed her name and never returned, why should that grant her an advantage in avoiding trial for murder?" he said.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/former-cult-member-wont-appeal-extradition-for-murder-charges/N2JBRIUV257UXTIBKHNM2Q3O7Q/

CultNEWS101 Articles: 4/26/2022 (Shincheonji, Manson, Hillsong)

Shincheonji, Manson, Hillsong, South Africa

IOL: Cape Town women lured into secretive religious sect

"THREE Cape Town women have lifted the lid on how they were lured into joining a "cult-like" South Korean-based church whose leader is labelled the immortal messiah.

The women, between the ages of 23 and 29, said they were recruited into the Shincheonji Church of Jesus (SCJ), a known secretive religious sect, under the false pretence of becoming better Christians. They wanted to speak about their experience to ward off others from falling prey to the alleged "secrecy, lies and a false prophet from South Korea".

The church, which has been labelled a pseudo-religion or cult by other mainstream churches, was founded in the 1980s by leader Lee-Man Hee and is believed to have more than 200 000 members. The church has been the subject of numerous investigations because of its cult-like activities.

The church was at the centre of huge controversy last year when it emerged that it accounted for more than half of South Korea's coronavirus cases.

Lee was also found guilty of embezzling billions of rands from his organisation and given a suspended prison sentence.

The church's teaching claims that their founder is a prophet called to deliver God's work before the second coming of Christ and that only he can decipher the Book of Revelation and its metaphors.

The Cape Town women as new recruits had to write a test on the church's teachings before they were welcomed into the fold. They were also warned not to speak to their family or friends about the church.

The women, like other newbies, were recruited through social media such as Instagram, BumbleBee and LinkedIn."

How Well Do You Know Your Moon: Jeong Myeong-seok, a former FFWPU member, started his own cult and is now in jail for multiple rape

"Jeong Myeong-Seok's group gave these "Vagina necklaces" to selected female followers known as evergreens. (evergreen = someone who won't get married because they have fully given themselves over to Jeong.) 

His cult is known as Providence (officially Christian Gospel Mission). Christian Gospel Mission are known by different names in different regions. Providence or Providence Church in Europe and the US, Setsuri (Japanese for "providence") in Japan, the Bright Moon Church, the Morning Star Church, and Jesus Morning Star (JMS). Every year in spring, Providence holds a Flower Festival event in Wol Myeong-dong, South Korea. In 1999, Jeong founded the Global Association of Culture and Peace (the GACP). It also uses front groups called: Elohim Bible Academy and Save the Earth from A to Z".

National Post: Manson follower denied parole, deemed 'unreasonable danger to society' after 50 years in jail

"Leslie Van Houten, who has already been imprisoned for 50 years and is serving a life sentence for her role in the notorious Manson family murders, was denied parole on Tuesday.

The 72-year-old "currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison at this time," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in his parole review, the Associated Press reported.

A tentative date for another parole suitability hearing is expected in May 2023, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Van Houten's release has been recommended five times since 2016.

This is the fifth time her parole has been blocked by a governor in the state.

A petition to keep Van Houten in prison was created by actress Sharon Tate's sister, Debra Tate. It had garnered almost 180,000 signatures by Tuesday morning.

In the petition, Debra Tate wrote that after the victims were killed, Van Houten showered and stole a dress and a leather purse to wear."

Christian Post: The dangerous legal structures of Hillsong Church

" ... In 2010, the legal structure for Hillsong in the United States was being constructed. Attorney Stephen Lentz, the father of Carl Lentz who would become Hillsong's most popular American pastor, drew up the articles of incorporation for Hillsong Ministries USA, Inc., and used language common to many televangelist churches' governing documents. Stephen Lentz wrote in Article 6, "The Corporation shall have no members."

These words started appearing frequently in church corporation documents in the 1990s. In 1994, before Joel Osteen became pastor, Lakewood Church restated its articles of incorporation with the words, "The corporation elects to have no members."

The churches of televangelists Mike Murdock, Eddie Long, and Creflo Dollar also adopted similar language. Ironically, the bylaws of Grace Community Church, pastored by well-known Hillsong critic John MacArthur, use the exact same words as Hillsong Ministries USA: "The Corporation shall have no members."

This odd phrase prevents church attendees from being "corporate members," which means that church attendees have no voting rights in the church. Instead, key decision-making is restricted to the church board of directors or church elders."

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The Intoxicating Pleasure of Conspiratorial Thinking

VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
Wired
April 25, 2022

What a remorseful January 6 insurrectionist taught me about why we believe.


“THE SEEKING IS a never-ending circle until one is satisfied,” Justin reflected, runically, in an email to me. “For me, that satisfaction was never really present until the theories of QAnon started emerging.”

Yes, QAnon—the undead cosmology that still haunts the internet. Justin, a Brooklyn entrepreneur who once worked for TED, is best known for having been so jazzed about the QAnon-Trump conceit that he joined the Stop the Steal protest in Washington, DC, on January 6 last year. He now says he wouldn’t have gone if he’d known it was going to turn violent.

I had seen a news story about a penitent QAnon adherent called simply “Justin,” and I wanted to hear more; I thought I could find him. (After I did, he asked me to use only his first name.) In our exchanges, he sounded fully deradicalized—candid, earnest, thoughtful about his own choices. “I dissociated so much from my reality,” he told me about the years leading up to January 6. He had lost friends. “I acted in a condescending manner to a lot of people, and it was wrong of me to do that.”

He was repairing his friendships, helping build a new business, trying to put Stop the Steal behind him. “Anyone who invited or incited violence on Jan 6 I do not support,” he wrote. Did he still believe in the vast child-abuse network that defines QAnon’s muddled worldview? He said no. Then he added: “It’s my hope that such does not exist.”

His hope. I left it at that, though, later on, righteousness caught in my throat like a thorn. Why wouldn’t Justin fully reject QAnon? How could I prove to him it’s horseshit? I briefly imagined enlightening him with sniper-fired bullet points and rhetorical virtuosity. But the aggression in my fantasy disturbed me. I’m not the policewoman of all rationality, and people’s creeds are their own. Maybe this is what missionary zeal feels like. I must tear out these pagan lies, root and branch.

In general I believe what Freud did: that it doesn’t matter, for purposes of human connection, whether another person’s private apprehensions comport with reality or not. If something’s true for a person, and she’s not harming anyone, a good friend suspends disbelief. This seems self-evident for religious faith (“I believe in one God”) or private credos (“we manifest our destinies”). But then there are false empirical claims, like “5G kills” or “a secret cabal of cannibals runs the world.” Can people who live in fantasy worlds at such steep odds with reality be good friends and citizens themselves? At the very least, maintaining such worldviews means vigilance about rejecting facts—and the perceptions of other, clearer minds. This estranges others. People who believe lies certainly could, like Justin, act in a condescending manner to a lot of people. If things escalate, they might even invite or incite violence.

John Mack, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2004, was an eminent Harvard psychiatrist who wrestled manfully in the ’90s and aughts with the question of what to do about other people’s false beliefs.

Starting in 1990, he set out to study people who said they had been abducted by aliens. He first hypothesized that they were mentally ill, but determined to record their worldviews without bias. To the supreme embarrassment of some of his Harvard colleagues, Mack didn’t just establish trust with the would-be abductees. By 1994, he had come to share their outlandish beliefs, for which there was no empirical proof.

Mack’s credentials lent credence to the stories of his research subjects, just as certain credentialed MDs these days throw in with anti-vaxxers and give them unearned authority. In the late ’90s I managed to catch Mack on his road show in New Hampshire. He patiently took the audience through the experiences of his research subjects whose accounts of abduction he found credible. The stories, he said, were consistent; the tellers were uninfluenced by a therapist’s suggestions, and sane. To Mack, that was proof enough: Aliens were routinely snatching people up into flying saucers, and humanity needed to face facts. (The next speaker at the road show was a man who preached that aliens had made crop circles in the Scottish Highlands.)

In The Believer, a 2021 biography of Mack by Ralph Blumenthal, Mack admits he had never witnessed alien abductions or gathered material evidence. Instead, he says, the idea of the abductions eased his grief about losing his mother when he was an infant. Mack once told a therapist: “The abduction story is a welcoming story because it means that—Ooooo, I’m getting goose pimples as I think of this—I’m not alone. There is life in the universe!”

To Mack, the stories were also factual. How could they not be? The aliens in the stories always looked the same: gray, short, with slits for mouths and no noses or ears. They drew blood and other bodily fluids from their hostages.

The abductees, too, fit a type: “unusually sensitive, spiritual individuals who chafe against social constraints and are flexible in accepting diverse or unusual experiences,” as Robert S. Boynton described them in an article about Mack for Esquire in 1994. “Abduction runs in families; you are more likely to be taken if your parents or siblings have been.”

I was still dwelling on Justin. Like Mack, he got goose bumps from fictions that strike most people as disturbing. This feeling was evidently intensified when he believed the stories were literally true; he couldn’t see them as science fiction and get the same high. As Justin told me of his period of most excitement about QAnon, “In 2020 … I felt that the truth was giving me a new lens on the world, and this made me feel very good … The euphoric feeling was a deep spiritual awareness of pure love and joy … I was unabashed, free-spirited, loving, communicative, and wanting to help—whatever that meant.”

An unusually sensitive, spiritual individual, Justin in another era might have entertained alien-abduction fantasies. Notably he had also suggested that his supernatural ideas—or his own susceptibility to disinformation—might run in his family. “I started as a young boy seeking meaning to life’s deeper questions. I would write poetry to try and get my thoughts on paper, but … much of the impetus came from my father and what he bestowed upon me … It’s in my blood, so to speak.”

When a person grounds their serenity and joy in a false claim about reality, you do little but cause pain if you try to root it out.

All these weird tales—about blood-sucking elites and blood-sucking extraterrestrials—serve psychological purposes, and they’re highly stylized along the lines that make pulp fiction pleasing. But none of them have anything to do with evidence. What Mack and Justin, and others who hold outrageously false ideas, mean by “true” may be better understood as “pleasurable.” Perhaps this is why such beliefs are so difficult to dislodge. You don’t debate with people about the merits of their kinks. Instead, you hope that we all maintain some ironic distance from our cherished stories, especially the pulpy and frightening ones, while recognizing that they don’t have to be empirically factual to be emotionally meaningful. When a person forgoes this irony, and grounds their serenity and joy in a false claim about reality, you do little but cause pain if you try to root it out.

Justin, unlike Mack, ultimately saw that the high provided by his strange beliefs wasn’t serving him. “The downside of this was, I was in such a state of euphoria that I decided to leave my job with no recourse, not pay my rent, etc.,” he wrote. “I paid less attention to ‘adulting.’” For a person in his twenties to stop adulting for a passion of any kind—art, love, a political movement—seems not atypical; to right one’s course comparatively quickly is impressive.

I had a last question for Justin, whose self-possession I had come to admire.

“Do you believe now that the 2020 election was stolen by Joe Biden?” I hit send.

A one-word answer came back: “Yes.”

https://www.wired.com/story/conspiratorial-thinking-qanon-beliefs/