All posts tagged: authoritarianism

Meghan Markle Oprah Suicide Mental Health

Mental Health Issues Including Suicidal Feelings and Authoritarianism

Oprah’s interview with Meghan Markle, watched by tens of millions worldwide, was riveting and upsetting. The topic of racism in the Royal Family (“The Firm”) needs further in-depth discussion. However, in this blog, I want to focus on Meghan’s disclosure that she felt such high levels of stress and isolation that she became suicidal. Meghan

Steven Hassan, March 17, 2021

What Can We Learn From the Uncanny Parallels Between the Moonies and the Cult of Trump?

Last month, Moon Organization leader, Rev. Hyung Jin Moon (Sean Moon), told his followers of his Sanctuary Church to be ready to take up arms and die for President Trump. The bullets in his crown and Moon referring to himself as King, is of course disturbing. Fortunately, after Sun Myung Moon died, there was a

Steven Hassan, December 4, 2020

How to Help Friends & Family Following Trump’s Election Loss: False Prophecy, Mass Exodus, & Cognitive Dissonance

The year leading up to the 2020 Presidential election has been extremely divisive and stressful for most Americans, as well as, for our world allies. The results are in and show decidedly Joe Biden has won both the popular and electoral votes and will be sworn into office on January 20, 2021. Unfortunately, as

Steven Hassan, November 12, 2020

Undue Influence, Judge Barrett and the People of Praise Covenantal Community

Update: Letter to the Senators on the Judiciary Committee Concerning the Confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett In an AP article written about Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court and her involvement with the People of Praise, Vice President Mike Pence was quoted from a television interview as saying, “The intolerance expressed during her

Steven Hassan, October 4, 2020

Evangelical Support of Trump, Authoritarian Politics, and Transitioning: A Discussion With Chrissy Stroop, Ph.D.

Russian history expert Dr. Chrissy Stroop is back with a follow-up interview. She is an author, editor, and Stanford Ph.D., not only an activist. One of the reasons I wished to have her on was to discuss and promote the book she helped to edit, along with Lauren O’Neal, Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the

Steven Hassan, August 8, 2020

Russia, Trump, Propaganda and Disinformation: Discussion With Investigative Journalist and Analyst Kseniya Kirillova

A few weeks ago, Russian journalist Kseniya Kirillova asked me to do an interview with her about my book The Cult of Trump. I asked my friends if they knew of her work and they responded affirmatively, confirming that she was well respected. So, I decided to read a number of her articles which were

Steven Hassan, July 3, 2020

Doomsday Prepper Cult Tragedy: Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow Case-A Discussion with Dr. Christine Marie Katas

It was a tragic ending to the mystery of where Lori Vallow’s two missing children have been since last fall. The bodies of Tylee Ryan (age 17) and Joshua Vallow (age 7), were found buried on Chad Daybell’s four-acre property. Cell phone pings from Lori Vallow’s late brother led investigators to the bodies of her

Steven Hassan, June 20, 2020

Lev Parnas, Michael Cohen, Omarosa Manigault Newman, George Conway, Anthony Scaramucci, Rick Wilson and Others: Trump is a Cult Leader

Lev Parnas, during his interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, described himself as waking up from a cult and Donald Trump like a “cult leader.” Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney for twelve years, expressed similar thoughts and feelings. Omarosa Manigault Newman, in her book Unhinged, described leaving the cult of Trumpworld. George Conway, Republican attorney

Steven Hassan, January 23, 2020

Beware of Political Cult Groups that Manipulate and Control Members

Many destructive groups masquerade as religious when, in fact, their DNA is actually political. They are concerned with amassing secular power, wealth and control of government. And, many “mainstream” political organizations, on the left as well as the right, meet the criteria of an unhealthy cult. As discussed in a previous blog about religious cults,

Steven Hassan, August 8, 2019

Exvangelicals Find a Voice and Speak Out Against Authoritarianism

Dominionism A few weeks before the 2016 Presidential election, Stanford Russian history Ph.D. Dr. Chrissy Stroop wrote an article, “After the Trump Tapes: Evangelical Authoritarianism Revisited.” In it, she shared her concerns about what she saw was a powerful group of people publicly defined as white evangelical Christians who were supporting Trump and who exhibited

Steven Hassan, January 17, 2019

The Need to Educate Judges, Attorneys, Citizens, and Governments About Undue Influence

The knowledge base of the hard sciences including medicine and social psychological research is developing rapidly all over the world. The legal system is constantly being updated to incorporate new information and research. For the law to change, it often is up to diligent attorneys who represent clients who have suffered a harm and expert

Steven Hassan, August 3, 2017

Undue Influence, The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu, and Current Events

Hulu has created a television series based on Margaret Atwood’s book, The Handmaid’s Tale, and it is highly recommended viewing*. Last year, Hulu produced The Path and I was interviewed by Vanity Fair for my perspective. This time, I am blogging about The Handmaid’s Tale as I believe this is a very upsetting but well

Steven Hassan, May 16, 2017