Cult Archives

The QAnon Media Ecosystem Is Not Helping People to Exit

By Steven Hassan / October 29, 2020 February 14, 2021

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 …

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Helping Folks Exit The Cult of Trump: The #IGotOut Movement

By Steven Hassan / October 23, 2020 October 21, 2022

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 …

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People of Praise Covenant Community: BITE Model of Authoritarian Control Evaluation

By Steven Hassan / October 10, 2020 February 14, 2021

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. …

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The Cult of Trump Book 2020

By Steven Hassan / September 1, 2020 October 4, 2022

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 …

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‘Rama Trauma Trump – I Left the Cult and Now Look What Happened’ With Author Mark Laxer

By Steven Hassan / July 23, 2020 February 14, 2021

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, …

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

By Steven Hassan / July 3, 2020 February 14, 2021

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 …

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

By Steven Hassan / February 7, 2019 February 14, 2021

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 …

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Women in High-Control Groups: Disrespected, Treated as Subservient, Sometimes Abused and Even Raped

By Steven Hassan / September 27, 2018 March 7, 2022

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 …

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UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Errant Belief #5: “He Has the Right to Believe What He Wants to Believe”

By Steven Hassan / March 15, 2018 January 3, 2023

The Right to Believe Anything vs. Reality-Testing Freedom to believe is only a real freedom if you also have the freedom not to believe. Having the right to believe something carries with it a presupposition of the right to not believe it, too. When recruiters deceptively ensnare people into a closed belief system, it violates …

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The Moonies and TM Attempt to Reinvent Themselves

By Steven Hassan / February 8, 2018 February 14, 2021

*blog updated March 2, 2018* Both Have Missions to Recruit True Believers to Take Over the World Having exited the Moonies in 1976, following an intervention performed at the request of my family, I have been so grateful to regain my life. I refer to the group as “the Moonies,” because when I was a …

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How Can I Rescue My Child From a Cult?

By Steven Hassan / January 18, 2018 February 14, 2021

How Can I Rescue My Child From a Cult? Whether you are looking for help for your son or daughter, your brother or sister, mother or father, or husband or wife, my advice is to do your homework, first. In the coming weeks, I plan to share the errant beliefs I wrote about in my …

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Harvey Weinstein: Like Cult Leaders, He Abused People Using Power, Money and Sex

By Steven Hassan / October 17, 2017 October 4, 2022

Harvey Weinstein in Paris at the César Awards ceremony 2014 Sexual Assault by Men Abusing Power I am heartened by all of the women coming forward, sharing the grizzly details of sexual assault against them by Harvey Weinstein. With hindsight, this unwelcomed harassment was happening for decades, and many were too afraid or paralyzed by …

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