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violent extremism

Terror, Love & Brainwashing: A Discussion with Alexandra Stein About Extremist Political Cults

2019-02-28T12:54:32-04:00February 28th, 2019|Blog|

This week, I have the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Stein, a cult survivor and renowned expert on cults and totalitarianism. Alexandra Stein, Ph.D. is a writer and educator specializing in the social psychology of ideological extremism and other dangerous social relationships. She is an academic, having taught at the University of Minnesota, Birkbeck, and the University of London, now teaching at the Mary Ward Center. Dr. Stein is a Ph.D. sociologist and expert on social psychology. She teaches as an academic but gives talks, as well as, writes books.  Her memoir Inside Out: A Memoir of Entering and Breaking Out of a Minneapolis [...]

Leaving A White Nationalist Cult of Hate: Helping and Serving Others with Love

2019-02-14T12:10:10-04:00February 14th, 2019|Blog|

Arno Michaelis This is the blog I did a while back about my friend Arno Michaelis. This new video interview at the bottom of this blog with Arno Michaelis is eye-opening, to say the least. It is certainly very educational. Learn about this courageous person. I believe it will inspire you and give you hope. People can and do leave hate groups, neo-Nazism, and White supremacy groups and go on to become wonderful citizens. He describes what it was like to be so full of hate: "The bottom line is that living like that, where you hate every other human being on earth and you're terrified [...]

Islamophobia and Psychiatry: Recognition, Prevention, and Treatment

2019-01-12T19:49:43-04:00January 12th, 2019|Blog|

  Introduction The book begins by covering the general and clinical challenges that are unique to Muslims, drawing from an internationally, ethnically, and intergenerationally diverse pool of experts.  The text covers not only how psychiatrists and other clinicians can intervene successfully with patients, but how we as clinicians can have a role in addressing other societally connected mental health challenges arising from Islamophobia. The text addresses three related but distinct areas of interest: Islamophobia as a destructive force, Islam as a religion that is threatened by stigma and misinformation, and the novel intersection of these forces with the field of psychiatry. [...]

Ideas for Combating Hate Speech and Violence

2018-12-13T20:41:31-04:00October 29th, 2018|Blog|

The massacre of 11 innocent Jews in the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania last Sabbath by a hateful, disturbed man is a wake-up call for everyone who loves freedom. I attended my own synagogue that morning and experienced a wonderful Bar Mitzvah where the dvar, taught by the thirteen-year-old, was about intelligent disobedience and how Abraham had failed his test by God when agreeing to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. Instead of Abraham using his critical thinking skills and following his heart and his conscience, he was prepared to offer his son as a sacrifice because God [...]

Remembering the Boston Marathon Attack

2018-12-16T19:25:56-04:00April 12th, 2017|Blog, Current Events, News and Updates|

Four years ago, on April 15, 2013, Boston was attacked by terrorists during its annual legendary Marathon. Four people lost their lives and 264 more were wounded. Boston Strong was the phrase used, but we all were in lockdown while police tried to hunt down those responsible. For me and countless others, it brought up painful emotions of the 9/11 attack. Soon, reports came out linking the attack to extremist beliefs and rumors of ties to Islamic extremists started circulating. As a mental health professional who lives in Newton and helps people that have been unduly influenced by cults [...]

Muslim Ban Will Not Keep America Safe

2018-12-13T18:09:15-04:00February 20th, 2017|Blog, Current Events|

 Earlier this month, federal judges in Seattle, WA suspended President Trump’s travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries, stating that it violated a Constitutional clause which prohibits religious discrimination. American leaders and world leaders alike voiced their objections to the ban along with all those who protested online, at airports, in the streets, and with their wallets.In last Thursday’s press conference, Trump stated his intention to roll out another similar travel ban.I want to add my voice to counter-terrorism experts and others who have argued that banning, shunning, threatening, discriminating against, or harming Muslims not only violates basic human rights, but [...]

How Understanding Mind Control Can Prevent Future Terrorist Attacks

2018-12-13T20:48:13-04:00September 9th, 2016|Blog, Current Events|

This coming Sunday marks fifteen years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On the morning of September 11, 2001 our nation was changed forever. Many lives were lost, and many of us were left in shock and disbelief as we helplessly watched the scenes of horror on our TV screens. We spent the next few days learning that these attacks were committed by a group called Al-Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden. This led to invading Afghanistan and the mistake of Bush’s insistence to invade Iraq- which destabilized the region and led to the formation of ISIS. As soon as I [...]

Cult Survivors Need Compassion and Help to Recover

2018-12-16T19:42:22-04:00May 20th, 2016|Blog, Current Events, Resources and Support|

On Thursday, news broke that another of the missing Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist extremist cult Boko Haram two years ago has been found. The second in just as many days, she is being hailed officially by the authorities of Nigeria as a success story and paraded in front of the media as proof the new government’s ability to defeat the cult. However, there have also been reports circulating that paint a much less celebratory picture. It seems that some of the locals in the villages are afraid of accepting anyone who has been involved with Boko Haram. [...]

Can Utilizing Knowledge of Cults Help Us with Terrorist Groups?

2018-12-16T18:56:19-04:00April 9th, 2016|Blog, Current Events, Resources and Support|

When is it time to start recognizing that Al Qaeda and other Islamist terror groups are cults? The Times Square bombing attempt is another example of a well-off American who was recruited into the black and white, us versus them and good versus evil thinking that cultists use. We ought to start addressing the root of the problem: people are most susceptible to destructive influence at the most vulnerable times in their lives. Our military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan may have largely moved the war on terror overseas. But we will continue to see radical Islamist terror groups recruiting [...]

Why Calling Daesh/ISIS a Mind Control Cult is of Strategic and Practical Importance

2019-02-13T10:49:47-04:00April 8th, 2016|Blog, Current Events|

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 members of Laachraoui, who all say that while he leaned toward a strict version of Islam, and they did notice changes in his ideology and behavior, they never suspected he would be capable of such violent acts. By all accounts, before his conversion Laachraoui [...]