This week I am joined once again by Dr. Clint Heacock, a former evangelical minister, who has a great deal of personal and professional experience in and out of the evangelical world. He and I discuss in detail the topic of dominionism, a movement within the US Christian world to gain political and social power exclusively for Christians so as to take over government, law, education, art, etc. We go over what this movement is about, who is involved and why we as citizens should know and care about this. Enjoy!

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This week it was my privilege to interview Christian Szurko, a man who assists people out of destructive cult or high control groups through nothing but conversation and life assistance. We discuss many aspects of how he does his work and some surprising outcomes over the years. This podcast is one I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time and I hope it has come out as good as I think it is. Enjoy!

Christian’s website: dialogcentre.org.uk

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This week, we have a real tour de force. I am joined by former Landmark staffer Dale Dickins from Melbourne, Australia, to discuss in detail the ins and outs of Landmark Forum and the whole array of classes and training they offer, including her experiences volunteering and then working for the Landmark organization. Throughout our discussion I offer comparisons to Scientology, since some of the material in the Landmark classes was cribbed from Hubbard’s works and Scientology even has a special “handling” for former members of Landmark and EST. Enjoy!

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Today I went live to talk about what happened in 2019, a year in review, especially in the world of Scientology (where things were not so great) and in my own personal life (where things are a lot better). Enjoy! 

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This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amber Scorah, a former Jehovah’s Witness who has an amazing story of actually working as an underground missionary in China to spread the faith before realizing she was herself living under an authoritarian control system. She’s since been on The Daily Show and has done a TED Talk on cultic influences. We talk about her experiences but also found a lot of shared experiences between our two cult experiences. Enjoy!

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Merry Christmas everyone – this is a Special Bonus Podcast for Christmas featuring Seth Andrews, one of my favorite guests and host of the Thinking Atheist podcast. In this episode, we discuss humanism, kindness and compassion and how we have hit and missed on achieving these in the past years and what our goals are for this new year coming to spread a message of humanism. Enjoy!

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This week I am joined once again by Jon Atack, author and historian, to discuss the topic of brainwashing. We dive deep into the various ways academics and cult leaders have tried to “debunk” that brainwashing or mind control are even legitimate topics of discussion and we discuss how brainwashing has been used effectively by many governments and cult groups to control their members. And while this topic alone is fascinating, we also spend a good chunk of the middle of the podcast talking Scientology specifically and Jon sets me straight on some very interesting Church history and the role L. Ron Hubbard’s wife and son played in the church’s development. I am quite sure you are not going to want to miss any of this podcast. Enjoy!

Links:

Jon’s YouTube channel

Open Minds Foundation

Jesuit Training Manual

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This week I have guest Louis Martin, author of True Believers, to discuss his experiences with a West Coast martial arts cult he spent several years in before realizing what was going on. In this extensive talk, we cover all the details and do a bit of compare and contrast with Scientology beliefs and practices along the way. Enjoy!

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This week it is the return of the Three Apostates, this time taking on the subject of religious indoctrination of children. As you can imagine, we have quite a bit to say about this and wax hot and cold as we reflect on the difficulties of reporting on this kind of thing and why it is so important for people to know about.

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This week I am joined by Andey Fellowes for a very in-depth and detailed discussion of his journey into, through and out of the cult of Teal Swan, a New Age spiritual guru who claims to be in direct touch with God and speaks for Him, among many other wild claims. Andey and I do a bit of compare/contrast between what he learned under Swan and what I learned in Scientology. If you have been wondering if Teal Swan’s “Teal Tribe” was some kind of cult, we answer that here. Enjoy!

Andey’s Channel

BITE Model Analysis

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