Julian Walker will spend four years in detention at New Horizons. ibid. judge
At a small chapel in Kingston, Georgia, religious ideals are put to the test ... For members of this bizarre congregation handling venomous snakes and drinking strychnine is the ultimate sign of dedication. Unexplained Mysteries
There are over 100 snake-handling churches in America. ibid.
In the period immediately after Jesus’s crucifixion the followers of Jesus numbered barely 100. They were a persecuted underground cult on the verge of annihilation. Yet within decades, this cult had thousands of followers throughout the Roman empire. Lost Worlds: Paul, History 2006
Tarsus: this was a busy commercial centre. Paul would have come into contact with people of different nationalities and religions. Tradition has it that his family were craftsmen and traders. They certainly had the means to give him a privileged education. He was raised a strict Jew, and given the Jewish name of Saul. But he was also a Roman citizen. ibid.
The greatest battle of the twentieth century will be a battle of the mind. And there are people who have power who want more power and they do not want the public to know about mind control. Its existence or how it is implemented. Steve Hassan, author Combating Cult Mind Control
In fact the US Military has bent over backwards to respect the religious beliefs of some very dangerous fanatics who want to kill us. Linda Chavez
I do however strongly object to the tyrannic and unscriptural insolence of anything that calls itself a church and makes teetotalism a condition of membership. C S Lewis
Its invisibility, and the mystery which was attached to it, made this organization doubly terrible. It appeared to be omniscient and omnipotent, and yet was neither seen nor heard. The man who held out against the Church vanished away, and none knew whither he had gone or what had befallen him. His wife and his children awaited him at home, but no father ever returned to tell them how he had fared at the hands of his secret judges. A rash word or a hasty act was followed by annihilation, and yet none knew what the nature might be of this terrible power which was suspended over them. No wonder that men went about in fear and trembling, and that even in the heart of the wilderness they dared not whisper the doubts which oppressed them. Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet
Masters of manipulation, mind control, and deadly practices committed by or injuring people. The Manson family, Heaven’s Gate, Jonestown, all are examples of deadly cults. But what makes a gathering of people a cult? And why do many cult figures possess the power to control minds and make people do unspeakable acts? The UnXplained with William Shatner, History 2021
NXIVM claimed that its executive success programs were designed to put members on the path toward, ‘experiencing more fulfilment in their lives and achieving self-actualisation … Sadly, many others, especially women, were unable to break free. ibid.
Jersey City, New Jersey 6th March 2009: Self-help guru and author James Arthur Ray takes to the stage to speak to a packed audience at his Harmonic Wealth weekend seminar … On the strength of his seminars, media appearances, and best-selling book, James Arthur Ray became a household name in the field of personal development. ibid.
As they spent many hours baking in the temperatures of the sweatbox, many people began slipping in and out of consciousness … ‘as much as 200 degrees’ … The inevitable finally and tragically happened … A third would die a week later. ibid.
‘Three women who claim they’d been held as slaves in a home in London for at least 30 years have been rescued by police.’ The Cult Next Door, 2013 BBC news, BBC 2017
When I first heard this strange and intriguing story I wanted to discover how this could have happened right under our noses in the heart of London. ibid.
It became clear that Katy had been born into captivity and had never known any other life. She had never been to school and had only rarely left the house. ibid.
‘The couple suspected of holding three women as slaves for more than 30 years have been named as Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife Chanda. The BBC understands that both were leading figures in a far-left communist faction based in Brixton in south London in the 1970s.’ ibid. BBC news 2013
They referred to Balakrishnan as Comrade Bala or AB and revealed that he had had control over every aspect of their lives. He had threatened and terrified them. ibid.
Also in the group were two middle-class British women. ibid.
Every aspect of life in the collective was neatly timetabled and logged in handwritten rotas including Balakrishnan’s baths and meals. ibid.
In February 2016 CCTV on a residential street in North Shields, Tyne & Wear, captured 43-year-old Jimmy Prout being manhandled by a group of locals. Just three days after this footage was captured, Jimmy would be dead. The women shoving Jimmy were all loyal followers of a man who led a cult-like group in the small neighbourhood, 43-year-old Zahid Zaman. For four months Jimmy Prout was brutally tortured and humiliated by Zaman and his devotees, before the poisonous sect imploded all pointing the finger of suspicion at each other. Britain’s Most Evil Killers s7e7: Zahid Zaman, Sky Crime 2023
I discover that hardly a week passes that some one does not start a new cult, or revive an old one; if I had a hundred life-times I could not know all the creeds and ceremonies, the services and rituals, the litanies and liturgies, the hymns, anthems and offertories of Bootstrap-lifting. Upton Sinclair, The Profits of Religion, 1918
Few people have become as popular, influential and seemingly wealthy in as short a space of time as the influencer Andrew Tate. In December 2022 Tate was arrested in Romania accused of rape and of grooming women into working for him as online sex workers. The world is now focused on his upcoming trial. Andrew Tate: The Man Who Groomed the World? BBC 2023
For two years I’ve been investigating his secretive society The War Room … ‘Let’s not kid ourselves, this is a cult.’ ibid.
The Dangerous Rise of Andrew Tate, Vice TV 2022: His messaging at this stage was misogynistic but many thought it was an act rather than evidence of something genuinely criminal. ibid.
Membership to Andrew Tate’s War Room: ‘They’ll be a spiritual journey there are well.’ ibid. Tate
Manipulating women into sex work seems central to the War Room’s agenda. ibid.
He says he’s the most relevant person in the world. ibid.
Central to the War Room … [Grand High Priest] Iggy has managed to dodge accountability by remaining in the shadows. ibid.
It’s a familiar story. A charismatic leader lures in followers with the promise of a better life … But what happens when that leader starts to exert control over their followers? True Crime Recaps: Four Cult Leaders You May Not Know About, Youtube 25.00, 2021
Some bizarre cult leaders you may not have heard of:
#1: The House of Prayer: After decades of nightmares a daughter turned her cult-leader mother over to the police after witnessing her destroy two innocent toddlers: Anna Young. ibid.
The cult finally disbanded in 1992 after Anna came under investigation for bathing a 12-year-old girl in a tub of bleach. ibid.
#2: For ten years Lawrence Ray allegedly victimized his daughter’s male and female college roommates raking in nearly $2 million before he was finally arrested in February 2020 for trafficking, forced labour and conspiracy. ibid.
The dad in this case was squatting in his daughter’s dorm. ibid.
The students were subjected to intense group therapy sessions with one person on the hot seat for hours. ibid.
This cycle of abuse and control continued for ten years. ibid.
#3: Mark Foster: Found in the middle of the road with a bullet in him. ibid.
He’d been recruiting followers from local record stores and other hangouts to join him as a voodoo priest. For Mark being a high priest meant he could have his way with his followers. ibid.
Three months later he took out another policy for $300,000 and made Gregory and Brent the beneficiaries, but insurance won’t pay out if the insured takes their own life … He [Brent] got three years and Gregory got ten to twenty. ibid.
#4: The group going by the name Love Has Won and there was a body … the mummified body of the group’s leader, 45-year-old Amy Carlson .. They’d set up a shrine around her. ibid.
To thousands of her followers Amy Carlson was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Queen Elizabeth, and last but not least Marilyn Monroe. ibid.
They were abusive con artists out to make a buck. ibid.
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God: Undercover in a global Church led by a billionaire bishop. The Church claims to transform lives but it can come at a price. The Church is accused of putting pressure on members to donate leaving some struggling. Telling gay people it will make them straight. And saying it can help with mental health problems by casting out evil spirits. Panorama: The Billionaire Bishop and the Global Megachurch, BBC 2023
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has branches around the world including 35 in the UK. It’s registered here as a charity and says it has more than 10,000 members. ibid.