International Cult Awareness Month: Andrew Pledger and BJU

Natasha Tiku wrote for Gawker in 2013, “Everyone is interested in doing fun things with their bodies. But the impulse to systematize, replicate, package, sell, and build an ideology around it is uniquely Silicon Valley.” She was writing about an organisation that was monetising the female orgasm. And they weren’t the only ones doing so. Guests: Christine Talbott Acosta, Ruwan Meepagala, Sasha Nelson Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention. For sexual assault resources in Australia, visit www.1800respect.org.au, and in the USA, visit www.rainn.org. Links:The Pleasure Principle — by Patricia Leigh Brown and Carol Pogash, New York Times, 13 March 2009Lafayette Morehouse — official website, accessed October 2020Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. The Chronicle Publishing Co., No. A067522. — 37 Cal. App. 4th 855, 44 Cal. Rptr. 2d 46, California Court of Appeal, First District, Division 5, 9 August 1995Sgt. Bilko Meets The New Culture — by Robin Green, Rolling Stone, 9 December 1971Inside The Purple People House, The Freaky, Stand-Offish Sex Cult In Northern California — by Anna Lindwasser, Ranker, 7 November 2018The Truth about RJ Testerman — Christine... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

24 Nov 20201h 16min

Natasha Tiku wrote for Gawker in 2013, “Everyone is interested in doing fun things with their bodies. But the impulse to systematize, replicate, package, sell, and build an ideology around it is uniquely Silicon Valley.” She was writing about an organisation that was monetising the female orgasm. And they weren’t the only ones doing so. Guests: Christine Talbott Acosta, Ruwan Meepagala, Sasha Nelson Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention. For sexual assault resources in Australia, visit www.1800respect.org.au, and in the USA, visit www.rainn.org. Links:The Pleasure Principle — by Patricia Leigh Brown and Carol Pogash, New York Times, 13 March 2009Lafayette Morehouse — official website, accessed October 2020Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. The Chronicle Publishing Co., No. A067522. — 37 Cal. App. 4th 855, 44 Cal. Rptr. 2d 46, California Court of Appeal, First District, Division 5, 9 August 1995Sgt. Bilko Meets The New Culture — by Robin Green, Rolling Stone, 9 December 1971Inside The Purple People House, The Freaky, Stand-Offish Sex Cult In Northern California — by Anna Lindwasser, Ranker, 7 November 2018 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

17 Nov 20201h 28min

Laura McConnell was born into a fundamentalist Christian sect that claims it has no name. Former member Elizabeth Coleman told Nathan Jolly for news.com.au earlier this year that, “It is of utmost importance to them that they do not have an official name or headquarters or centrally identifiable presence anywhere on earth.” From his investigative reporting in 2013, journalist Chris Johnston estimated there were 20,000 members in Australia, and hundreds of thousands around the world. Sometimes referred to as The Truth, the Two by Twos, or the Friends and Workers, the sect has seen multiple leaders face accusations of child sexual abuse, some of which are currently in court. Laura and many former members believe that this highly secretive group should certainly be considered a cult. Special Guests: Laura McConnell, Chris Johnston Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Links:Wings for Truth — support site for sexual assault survivors of the Two by TwosLaura McConnell’s website — including various blog posts and Links & Articles Related to The Truth SectFriends and enemies, truth and lies — by Chris Johnston, The Age, 23 September 2013Secrets, lies and sex abuse as ex-sect leader chooses life on the inside — by Chris Johnston, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 July 2014The Truth Church: Inside the nameless church cult where TV and dancing are "the devil's work" — by Amy Clark, Mamamia,... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Okt 20201h 15min

Helen Zuman describes herself as “a tree-hugging dirt worshipper devoted to turning waste into food and the stinky guck of experience into fertile, fragrant prose.” Her memoir ‘Mating in Captivity’ details her experiences joining Zendik Farm, a commune in North Carolina with the motto ‘Stop Bitching, Start a Revolution’, which she came across in 1999. Helen stayed until 2004, but it wasn’t until the following year that she recognised she’d been in a cult. Special Guest: Helen Zuman Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 4 of Let's Talk About Sects.If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Links:Mating in Captivity: A Memoir — by Helen Zuman, She Writes Press, 2018The Green Alternative At Zendik Arts Farm, a Commune Strives for a Dollar and Change — by Fredrick Kunkle, The Washington Post, 22 January 2006Who Are These People? — by Ryan Grim, Washington City Paper, 4-10 November 2005Commune Unplugs From the World to Save It — by Tom Gorman, Los Angeles Times, 19 April 1987Leaving Zendik Farm — by Alison Rooney, The Highlands Current, 9 May 2017Wulf Zendik — Facebook pageArol Wulf-Zendik — Facebook profileThe Work of Wulf Zendik — online archive of Wulf Zendik’s writings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Sep 20201h 52min

Journalist A.M. Gittlitz released his book I Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism earlier this year. In it, he explores the fascinating world of the Posadists – a Latin American Trotskyist group who are best known today for their zany beliefs around extra-terrestrial and dolphin intelligence. But their movement had a lot more to it than this, and in its later days would devolve into a cult around the authoritarian leadership of J. Posadas.Gittlitz drew on considerable archival research and numerous interviews with ex- and current Posadists in writing his book, and he spoke to me about the more cultic elements of this unusual socialist movement.Special Guest: A.M. Gittlitz.Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.LinksI Want to Believe: Posadism, UFOs and Apocalypse Communism — by A.M. Gittlitz, 2020 (Use code POSADAS20 for 20% discount)J. Posadas, the Trotskyist Who Believed in Intergalactic Communism — an interview with A.M. Gittlitz by David Broder, Jacobin, 5 April 2020A.M. Gittlitz on Twitter, and on The Antifada podcastPromo: The Troubles podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

21 Juli 20201h 4min

The Children of God, later known as The Family, became notorious for their practise called “flirty fishing”. They believed in bringing up their children to have no inhibitions around sex, but the ramifications of their approach to this would echo through the generations as trauma, and result in a shocking murder-suicide committed by the very son prophesied as the Prince who would lead them through the End Times. Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Links:The Origins of a Movement: From "The Children of God" to "The Family International" — website archive from thefamily.org, 29 April 2009The Children of God: The Inside Story — by Deborah Davis & Bill Davis, Zondervan Publications, 1984The Children of God — by Robert McFarland, MD, The Journal of Psychohistory, Volume 24 Issue 4, Spring 1994The Family in Transition: The Moral Career of a New Religious Movement — by Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd, research paper presented at CESNUR International Conference 2002The "RNR"! Destruction of the Super-Blob & the New Nationalisation — by David Berg, Mo Letter, January 1978The Pubs Purges — scanned and archived on exfamily.org, June 1991 & March 1996Summit ’93 Mama Jewels! — No.2, portion of newsletter by Karen Zerby written in 1992 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

21 Apr 20201h 5min

The Children of God, later known as The Family, became notorious for their practise called “flirty fishing”. They believed in bringing up their children to have no inhibitions around sex, but the ramifications of their approach to this would echo through the generations as trauma, and result in a shocking murder-suicide committed by the very son prophesied as the Prince who would lead them through the End Times. Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects.If you have been personally affected by involvement in a cult, or would like to support those who have been, contact Cult Information and Family Support in Australia, or the International Cultic Studies Association outside of Australia.If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Links:The Origins of a Movement: From "The Children of God" to "The Family International" — website archive from thefamily.org, 29 April 2009The Children of God: The Inside Story — by Deborah Davis & Bill Davis, Zondervan Publications, 1984The Children of God — by Robert McFarland, MD, The Journal of Psychohistory, Volume 24 Issue 4, Spring 1994The Family in Transition: The Moral Career of a New Religious Movement — by Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd, research paper presented at CESNUR International Conference 2002The "RNR"! Destruction of the Super-Blob & the New Nationalisation — by David Berg, Mo Letter, January 1978The Pubs Purges — scanned and archived on exfamily.org, June 1991 & March 1996Summit ’93 Mama Jewels! — No.2, portion of newsletter by Karen Zerby written in 1992 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

14 Apr 202059min

John Robert Stevens wrote when he was just 14 years old: “My joy must be in doing His will, in being His slave, in the confidence that whatever comes to me, when following Him, is His doing. In a real sense, I make Him responsible for my life.” He was writing about Jesus Christ, but it would turn out in the decades following that he could well have been writing to his future devotees as to how they should feel about himself.UPDATE: The Oops! I'm in a Cult podcast found that John Robert Stevens' 'To Be a Christian' was plagiarised word for word from this text, published in 1897. Full research sources listed here. You can support us on Patreon or Acast+, with a one-off donation, or grab some merch. Sarah Steel's debut book Do As I Say is available on audiobook now.With thanks to Audio-Technica, presenting partner for season 3 of Let's Talk About Sects. Links:I Saw Satan: Breaking away from a Boomer Christian cult — by Andrew Marzoni, The Baffler, No. 44, March 2019Vain Glory — documentary film by Tony Cox, 1986A Brief History of The Living Word Fellowship — internet archive of The Living Word Fellowship’s now defunct websiteThe Life of John Robert Stevens — website about John Robert Stevens by The Living Word, “a California nonprofit corporation”, accessed February 2020Frequently Asked Questions — Shiloh website, accessed February 2020An Open Letter to The Living Word Fellowship Congregation — from Shalom Abrahamson-Caples, 24 October 2018Shalom Abrahamson-Caples’ Facebook post — linking to the open letter, 25 October 2018Comparison of ‘To Be a Christian’ and excerpt from ‘The Call of the Cross’ — comparing John Robert Stevens’ 1933 text and George Herron’s 1892 text Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

17 Mars 20201h 24min