BITE Model

Human Trafficking: Learn to Recognize the Signs and Help Save a Life

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Meet Emergency Room nurse, Danielle Jordan Bastein. Kudos to her! Danielle has pioneered the development of a new protocol to more systematically identify warning factors for the ER that a patient might be a trafficking victim. Trafficking victims almost always suffer a myriad of health problems and it is in the ER, that an important opportunity to offer them help exists.  This crucial screening protocol would train nurses and other health care workers to ask the right questions and do the right assessment to flag a potential victim. I strongly suggest watching the video in the link above to understand more about this new system, which I believe should be used in every Emergency Room in the world.

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Exvangelicals Find a Voice and Speak Out Against Authoritarianism

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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 the characteristics of an authoritarian movement. While many might not identify with the term Dominionism directly–the belief that Christians should take over America and the world and make it Christian in a very narrow way–they were Christian nationalists pursuing a de facto, and sometimes explicit, Dominionist political agenda. The majority of white evangelicals appear to wish to create a theocracy and abolish the separation of Church and State, something the founders of our country explicitly wish to make sure did not happen.

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Scientology and the BITE Model©

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In June of 2018, I did an interview with psychologist and ex-Mormon John Dehlin for his Mormon Stories podcast. In preparation for the show, John read Combating Cult Mind Control and told me that the book was transformative. Then he did a wonderful analysis of the BITE model of the Mormon Church which we included in a blog. Afterward, we got the idea to do a similar analysis of the BITE model and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now, it is Scientology’s turn. I encourage people to use the BITE model to systematically evaluate the core beliefs and behaviors to determine if it is a destructive group which uses mind control techniques.

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Malice Found by Jury in Montana Watchtower Society Sex Abuse Case

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The huge decline in membership due to critical information on the Internet, as well as lawsuits, are forcing leadership of older established clergy organizations, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons, to try to find ways to cope. In the case of Watchtower, documents listing predators have been leaked. Also, in the case of the LDS Church, documents are being leaked and put online. Long term dedicated members are realizing that they have been systematically lied to about the actual goings, causing large scale defections. Psychologist John Dehlin was excommunicated from the Mormon Church for speaking out about a need to change their policy regarding gay rights. (He now authors the increasingly popular Mormon Stories podcast.) Amazingly, the Prophet himself–who they believe gets direct revelations from God–has recently declared that they won’t be using the name Mormon or LDS anymore!

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