My friend and colleague, John Collins, has done significant work documenting the history of William Branham’s Message movement. A few years ago, Collins and I authored an article on Mind Control and Jonestown as Jim Jones had been influenced by Branham. Collins taught me about Branham and his influence with other authoritarian cult leaders. Cults
Public shaming and humiliation have a long history as a tactic of social control and punishment. Acknowledging the trauma of its use is not new. Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, wrote in 1787 that shaming “is universally acknowledged to be a worse punishment than death.” The use of stocks and pillories on the village green began to
Steven Hassan and Amy Avalon Therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, life coaches, and spiritual advisors are all expected to address emotional or spiritual well-being and nurture a person’s healing and positive growth. Most of them are committed to doing just that. Unfortunately, some have darker motivations, such as a desire for power, money, or sex. Instead of using their skills to help their clients, they use undue influence to
Assuming the predictions are accurate and there is a Biden/Harris landslide, what will happen with the millions of people who believe that President Trump is a man of God doing Apocalyptic fulfillment, especially QAnon followers? This is an important question as most of us have friends or family members that are affected. I wanted to
Originally published on Medium: <https://hassan-4414.medium.com/the-qanon-media-ecosystem-is-not-helping-people-to-exit-1045e0c8c8ee> Reporters covering QAnon for the past few years have over time inadvertently done more harm than good. In fact, they probably have done great damage. By amplifying the conspiracy to the level that it is now squarely in mainstream discourse is problematic. The way it is discussed and covered
Do you have friends or family members who are believers in QAnon or the Cult of Trump? Are you surprised by this and wonder how this could have ever happened? Under the right circumstances, even sane, rational, well-adjusted people can be deceived and persuaded to believe the most outrageous ideas and leader. President Trump uses
Since Judge Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Republicans are seeking to fast track her confirmation before the end of October. The Trump administration and its Senators are trying to frame some of the opposition to her nomination as religious intolerance.
The Democratic and Republican conventions have now ended. The differences between the two events were so clear for anyone watching them both. By looking at the Influence Continuum, one party was emphasizing love, compassion, science, diversity and coming together as Americans. The other was about Donald Trump and how great, kind, empathetic, and compassionate
I am happy to share a new, free, graphic nonfiction book entitled, “Rama Trauma Trump” written by my friend and former cult member Mark Laxer. It is based upon his earlier book, Take Me for a Ride: Coming of Age in a Destructive Cult which is the true story of Mark, who, at the age of seventeen,
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
Danielle Bastien, Henry Ford Health System Trafficking is a Large-Scale Issue of Undue Influence 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
As the U.S. Senate has agreed to hear the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford about the alleged sexual assault incident that happened years ago with Judge Brett Kavanagh, people’s attentions are back on women’s rights, #WhyIDidn’tReport, and men’s misuse of power and sex. Some Republican members act as if they will confirm Kavanagh as a