By Micahmedia at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13466179 By now, almost everyone reading has heard the news that Prince has died. Though the exact cause of his death is still unknown, there have been speculations that his beliefs as a Jehovah's Witness may have played a part. Whether or not the rumors are true, [...]
I am often approached by concerned family members of adult cult members who need help. I work with the family by coaching them to use my Strategic Interactive Approach. This involves teaching them how to employ an ethical influence campaign based on compassion, and designed to help the cult member question the group’s leader, doctrine, [...]
Tomorrow is the third anniversary of the infamous Boston Marathon bombing. As an American citizen and a resident of the Boston area, I feel a great sense of sadness when I think about that horrible day. On April 15, 2013 two brothers brought pain to our nation by setting off those bombs. Lives were lost [...]
This morning, The New York Times published an article entitled “Radicalization of a Belgium Student Turned Bomb Maker Was Invisible.” This piece, written by Alissa J. Rubin, details the conversion of 24-year-old Najim Laachraoui, one of the suicide bombers responsible for the attack of the Belgium airport on March 22. Rubin cites associates and family [...]
The World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) has been growing exponentially in recent years. The little known group, thought by many, including myself, to be a destructive group is taking to the streets and posting YouTube videos in an effort to recruit even more people into their ranks. I posted a video of a presentation [...]
Countless times over the past weeks, I’ve been asked: Is Mormonism a cult? My life’s work has been studying the psychology of influence, so that’s a fair question. Since I myself was rescued from the group that calls itself the Unification Church, or the Family Foundation for World Peace and Unification-- aka Moonies-- in 1976, I [...]
Last night, I went to see Martha Marcy May Marlene, the new movie about a woman who runs away from a destructive cult. Writer/director Sean Durkin has clearly done his homework. His film gets so much so right. It provides such a clear window into a lot of the psychological themes of cult indoctrination—deceptive recruitment, incremental [...]
This morning’s Boston Globe reads, “An avalanche of worry” and I can’t help but think that there are countless numbers of people whose lives will be negatively and psychologically impacted by these grim economic developments. First of all, former members of totalistic religious groups (who have indoctrinated their members into a fear of Armageddon; Apocalypse; end [...]
Consumers, beware! Guard your minds and your wallets carefully. Quixtar, a former subsidiary of Amway, one of the largest multi-level marketing (MLM) companies in the world, has agreed to a $150 million class action settlement. The settlement points out the serious risks that face consumers who fall for the well-worn pitch that MLM "business opportunities" offer [...]
In an article in the Santa Fe Reporter, "Khalsa vs Khalsa," journalist Corey Pein reported on the dramatic schism erupting between the students and family of the late Yogi Bhajan, who are feuding in Oregon courts over control of Bhajan's religious and financial empire. The group's largest company, Akal Security, has reportedly earned billions in contracts [...]
