The Mormon Church Is Not Just the Fundamentalists Are

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The Mormon Church doesn't strike me like this at all. It's just like a regular Protestant or Baptist who says, you know, I think Jesus died for my sins and after I die, I'm going to have the hope. The issue is, is it an authoritarian cult that undermines your ability to think for yourself? So there are Jewish cults, Christian cults, Muslim extremist cults for me. And so I don't walk around judging people immediately. But I think as going back to your suggestion, everyone should get educated about these fundamental things,. How to protect themselves, how to reality test.

In this conversation, based on a leading cult expert Steven Hassan’s books (Combatting Cult Mind Control, Freedom of Mind, and The Cult of Trump) you will acquire the tools you need to develop, use, and trust your critical thinking skills; your intuition; your bodily and emotional awareness; your ability to ask the right questions; and your skill at doing quick, useful research. You will also learn to create a healthy balance of openness and skepticism.

Shermer and Hassan discuss: types of cults, their characteristics • cult leader profiles • the influence continuum • mind control • brainwashing • Project MK-ULTRA • Scientology • NXIVM • strip search hoax • social media mind control • neuroscience of mind control • authoritarian mindset • Trump’s mind-control techniques • breaking free of cults.

Steven Hassan is a mental health professional who specializes in helping people to recover from mind control as well as helping loved ones to exit without coercion. He has been helping people leave destructive relationships and organizations since 1976 after he was rescued from the infamous cult, the Moonies. Hassan directs the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, a counseling and publishing organization outside of Boston, and has taught at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is the author of Combating Cult Mind Control; Releasing the Bonds; Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs; and The Cult of Trump.