Let's Talk About Sects

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, 2018

The Green Alternative At Zendik Arts Farm, a Commune Strives for a Dollar and Change — by Fredrick Kunkle, The Washington Post, 22 January 2006

Who Are These People? — by Ryan Grim, Washington City Paper, 4-10 November 2005

Commune Unplugs From the World to Save It — by Tom Gorman, Los Angeles Times, 19 April 1987

Leaving Zendik Farm — by Alison Rooney, The Highlands Current, 9 May 2017

Wulf Zendik — Facebook page

Arol Wulf-Zendik — Facebook profile

The Work of Wulf Zendik — online archive of Wulf Zendik’s writings

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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.

Links

• I 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 2020
• A.M. Gittlitz on Twitter, and on The Antifada podcast
• Promo: The Troubles podcast

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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 2009
• The Children of God: The Inside Story — by Deborah Davis & Bill Davis, Zondervan Publications, 1984
• The Children of God — by Robert McFarland, MD, The Journal of Psychohistory, Volume 24 Issue 4, Spring 1994
• The Family in Transition: The Moral Career of a New Religious Movement — by Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd, research paper presented at CESNUR International Conference 2002
• The "RNR"! Destruction of the Super-Blob & the New Nationalisation — by David Berg, Mo Letter, January 1978
• The Pubs Purges — scanned and archived on exfamily.org, June 1991 & March 1996
• Summit ’93 Mama Jewels! — No.2, portion of newsletter by Karen Zerby written in 1992

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 2009
• The Children of God: The Inside Story — by Deborah Davis & Bill Davis, Zondervan Publications, 1984
• The Children of God — by Robert McFarland, MD, The Journal of Psychohistory, Volume 24 Issue 4, Spring 1994
• The Family in Transition: The Moral Career of a New Religious Movement — by Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd, research paper presented at CESNUR International Conference 2002
• The "RNR"! Destruction of the Super-Blob & the New Nationalisation — by David Berg, Mo Letter, January 1978
• The Pubs Purges — scanned and archived on exfamily.org, June 1991 & March 1996
• Summit ’93 Mama Jewels! — No.2, portion of newsletter by Karen Zerby written in 1992

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 2019
• Vain Glory — documentary film by Tony Cox, 1986
• A Brief History of The Living Word Fellowship — internet archive of The Living Word Fellowship’s now defunct website
• The Life of John Robert Stevens — website about John Robert Stevens by The Living Word, “a California nonprofit corporation”, accessed February 2020
• Frequently Asked Questions — Shiloh website, accessed February 2020
• An Open Letter to The Living Word Fellowship Congregation — from Shalom Abrahamson-Caples, 24 October 2018
• Shalom Abrahamson-Caples’ Facebook post — linking to the open letter, 25 October 2018
• Comparison 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

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In 1996, journalist Madeleine Bunting wrote for The Guardian UK: “Most of the 130,000 Buddhists in this country are in the caring professions, or are academics, or are part of an ex-hippy culture; they are trusting, idealistic and naive. They thought Buddhism was immune to the fanaticism and hypocrisy which riddles all religions. The controversy surrounding the NKT is shattering illusions that Buddhism was the one fail-safe religion.”

Twenty years later, clinical psychologist Dr Michelle Haslam joined the NKT under that very same illusion – one that she now feels obliged to help truly shatter herself.

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:

• Geshe Kelsang Gyatso — biography by Tenzin Peljor and Carol McQuire, Tibetan Buddhism in the West blog, 2015
• To the Tibetan Buddhists around the world and fellow Tibetan compatriots within and outside Tibet — undated open letter with 15 Tibetan official signatories
• Separate document regarding Geshe Kelsang's personal situation — Kelsang Gyatso statement on NKT letterhead, June 2008
• Recovery from The New Kadampa Tradition – A Resource Centre — website by Dr Michelle Haslam and former NKT members
• Potential harm to mental and physical health through exposure to The New Kadampa Tradition (NKT-IKBU), Version 4 — by Dr Michelle Haslam, 17 January 2020
• Dr Michelle Haslam: Plagiarization & Misrepresentation of Research — website attributed to “Dr Robert Harrison”, archived as at 23 January 2020

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Hare Krishnas are often seen as joyous, harmless people, dancing their way through the streets, chanting to bells in their colourful robes. But in one particular Australian offshoot, a young woman named Lina told me about her not-so-harmless experiences.

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:

• About ISKCON — background at Krishna.com, accessed November 2019
• What You Need to Know About Hare Krishnas — by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, NPR, 22 May 2008
• Wollumbin — Geographical Names Extract, Geographical Names Board, accessed November 2019
• Wollumbin (Mount Warning) summit track — NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service listing, accessed November 2019
• Hardly Krishna — by Sushi Das, The Age, 2 June 2003
• Judge Rejects Charges of ‘Brainwashing’ Against Hare Krishna Aides — by Murray Schumach, The New York Times, 18 March 1977
• Krishna Expels Leader of Group Under U.S. Probe — UPI, Los Angeles Times, 18 March 1987

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WANTED: families to volunteer to live for six months in the Australian outback “to advance the frontiers of social science.” Be part of a cutting edge research project to test the ideal human environment.

In a country known for a population that loves to travel, the write-ups appealed to plenty of adventurous spirits. Little did they know the reality of what they would be getting themselves into.

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:

• A snake in the grass — by Andrew Burrell, The Weekend Australian Magazine, 24 August 2019
• The Utopia Project — by Andrew Burrell, The Weekend Australian Magazine, 8 August 2015
• Cult friction — by Frank Robson, Good Weekend, 6 November 1999
• Cult leader James 'Taipan' Salerno jailed for repeated sexual abuse of teenage girl — by Rebecca Opie, ABC News, 29 July 2019
• Leader of Adelaide Cult the ‘Ideal Human Environment’ Has Been Jailed for Sexual Abuse — by Gavin Butler, VICE, 30 July 2019
• Salute to Adelaide Hills cult leader inspired by Gladiator movie, court told — by Rebecca Opie, ABC News, 19 October 2018

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Followers of The Move rejected mainstream society and headed into the wilderness in the 1970s, building isolated communities that were to set them up for the coming Apocalypse. Many ex-members would later tell stories of physical hardship, beatings, and worse, experienced in these communities. Move leader Sam Fife told devotees that should he ever die, they could consider it proof that he was a false prophet.

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:

• Swindled by Faith: A Time For Reconciliation — by Richard A Kiers, Tellwell Talent, 2019
• Practices of Cults Receiving New Scrutiny — The New York Times, 21 January 1979
• From Survivor to Thriver — by Angela “Vennie” Kocsis, ICSA Today, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2014
• Vennie Kocsis’ website — includes various collected materials about The Move
• Brother Sam Prepares His Flock For The ‘End Days’ — by Adon Taft, Charleston Daily, 10 April 1975
• Awaiting apocalypse in the Peace River Valley — by Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, 27 October 2016
• Peace River commune awaits imminent apocalypse: Christian community of 250 shuns TV and requires year-long courtship void of physical contact — by Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, 22 September 2003

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Australian esoteric healing organisation Universal Medicine teaches that entities known as The Four Lords of Form rule over 9-foot-tall spirits that are all around us, and that most people have lived at least 2,300 lives before.

Former student Matt Sutherland told Sunday Night journalist Matt Doran that he would describe Universal Medicine’s founder Serge Benhayon as “a human wrecking ball.”

CORRECTION: The 'groping' allegations were found to be conveyed by the publication but the court did not find that Esther Rockett had proven them true. Defences of honest opinion and qualified privilege were upheld for these allegations. This episode has been updated to remove these points. Also, Esther Rockett named herself "Darkly Venus" and "Pranic Princess", it was not Serge Benhayon who did so.

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 Cult: International investigation into Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine — by Matt Doran, Sunday Night, Channel 7, 17 February 2019
• Australian cult leader Serge Benhayon targeted in international investigation — by Matt Doran, Sunday Night, Channel 7, 15 May 2019
• The Da Vinci Mode — by David Leser, Good Weekend, 25 August 2012
• Universal Medicine cult founder exposed as ‘charlatan’ — by Rhian Deutrom, news.com.au, 18 February 2019
• Universal Medicine 'cult' received hundreds of thousands in charity donations from prominent donors — by Josh Robertson, ABC News, 14 September 2019

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