Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

For anyone interested in understanding why religious extremism has such a large influence in America, this fascinating interview focuses on an elite group of Catholic Bishops who oppose the current Pope and his policies of wishing to move the Church away from its abusive authoritarian past. Want to understand more about our current Supreme Court and why they demonstrated that they lied during their confirmation hearings when they said that Roe v. Wade was established law after fifty years. As soon as they had the majority, they showed their true allegiance, and it wasn't to the law and the majority of the American people. Mary Jo McConahay is a Catholic journalist who takes the position of supporting the changes in Vatican 2, which included allowing the mass to be given in languages other than Latin. Vatican 2 stated categorically that Jews were not Christ-killers but affirmed God is Almighty and that His promise to Abraham was eternal. We discuss the Manhattan Declaration which was signed by Catholics and Protestants to work together to undermine gay rights, and women’s right to choose and to promote the freedom to religious impose their version of religion on all others.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The term ‘gaslight effect’ was introduced by Dr. Robin Stern in her 2007 book to describe the long-term consequences of persistent gaslighting, a subtle and often hidden form of emotional abuse. Gaslighting is a devastating form of undue influence. It occurs when an individual manipulates another person by distorting, twisting, and dismissing their experiences, making them question their memories, perceptions, and reality. Gaslighting can occur in a romantic relationship, among family members, in the workplace, within mind control cults as well as by politicians. Robin Stern, Ph.D., has been a practicing psychoanalyst for over thirty years and is the co-founder and associate director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. She’s the author of The Gaslight Effect and the newly released The Gaslight Effect Recovery Guide. Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) is a widely recognized Christian organization with around 20 million members worldwide. However, many of its beliefs and practices fall under my BITE Model of Authoritarian Control, which I developed to evaluate control of Behavior, Information, Thoughts, and Emotions. To gain more insight into this organization, I invited Dr. Steve Daily, a former pastor of the SDA, to share his valuable personal and professional experiences. Dr. Steve Daily is a licensed psychologist, church historian, and accomplished author who has written 28 books, including 11 on Seventh-day Adventism and its founder Ellen G. White. He grew up in an Adventist home and received his education from Adventist institutions. In 2010, Dr. Daily left Adventism and went on to work as a psychologist at UCLA. Since then, he has become an outspoken critic of founder Ellen G. White and the Adventist Church, authoring Ellen G. White A Psychobiography. The book explores whether the accusations of fraud and pathology leveled against her over the years stand up to historical and psychological scrutiny.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know most people need 7-9 hours of quality sleep to function optimally? Sleep deprivation is one of the most common and powerful techniques for weakening psychological defenses. It is one of the most significant policies in the Behavior Control criteria of the BITE Model of Authoritarian Control. I recently had the opportunity to interview sleep expert Dr. Lauren Broch to gain a deeper insight into prevalent sleep issues that individuals face and to explore effective sleep hygiene habits that can help to overcome these obstacles. Dr. Lauren Broch is a clinical psychologist, nutritionist, and sleep disorders specialist who takes a holistic approach to address various sleep, mood, and health issues.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

International corporate attorney and strategic business advisor Faith Jones is a phenomenon. She authored two books: Sex Cult Nun and I Own Me. She explains her model for utilizing the law regarding undue influence in a great TEDx talk: I Own Me: Understanding Our Property Rights to Our Own Bodies. Faith Jones is an inspiration to all women and especially to those born and raised in authoritarian cults. Join us for a fascinating discussion.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shepherding/discipling Bible cults like the International Churches of Christ have an authoritarian structure with the “apostle” or “prophet” being the person closest to God and everyone else having a human to disciple over them all the way down. It is patently abusive by its nature as it is based on submission of one’s own conscience and following directions of a person who is in the “role of Jesus” over them. Lawsuits are being filed on behalf of those victimized in the cult, some of whom were sexually assaulted in the group and no responsible action was taken. Over one million people have been involved with this group, most of whom have exited. Most have never spoken out about the abuses they experienced- including breaking sessions, excessive pressure to donate money, or the loss of their personal autonomy and sense of self. If you are interested in legal issues or have been in a controlling Christian group of any kind, you will want to listen to this fascinating episode.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Jehovah's Witnesses have millions of members and are well-known for their door-to-door solicitation and distribution of materials, such as their Watchtower and Awake! magazines. However, most people do not realize the authoritarian BITE Model policies that affect their believers. Former elder Isaac Carmignani, a friend and colleague, shares the critically important facts about the Jehovah's Witnesses. Did you know they have prophesied at least 4 times that Armageddon would occur in a particular year? Or that Bible scholars say their version is wrong? Or that they practice corporal punishment? Prohibit blood transfusions? Shun former members? Or that they have had a huge pedophile problem for many decades? They are very nice, hard-working people, but involvement in this group has caused much suffering and harm worldwide.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the ethical side of the Influence Continuum, we invite an expert to discuss preparing how to do ethical parenting. Julie Hartman is a Certified Birth Doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, and New Parent Educator. She supports families in the perinatal period through support groups and teaching classes on living with a newborn. Most importantly, she is the mom of three adult children and can connect with the people she works with through shared experiences. We discuss what a doula and lactation counselor is, as many people are unaware. Julie tells us a birth doula is often confused with a midwife, but they are different. Whereas the role of a midwife requires formal medical training, birth doulas support the family before, during, and after birth. They assist the family in empowering and speaking up for themselves so that they can advocate for their needs in the birthing process. Birth Doulas also help educate families on the decisions that could need to be made during a hospital birth so there are no surprises and families can think those options through before they are in the heat of the moment. Julie shares her expertise in ethical, positive parenting techniques.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working with people in cults or who have escaped them requires much empathy, compassion, and knowledge. Rachel Bernstein has all those and more, which she’s used for the last 30 years in her work in cult intervention and re-acclimation. I have known and worked with Rachel for many decades now. Bernstein is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) from Los Angeles, California. She is the host of IndoctriNATION: A weekly podcast covering cults, manipulators, and protecting yourself from systems of control, where she has interviewed hundreds of cult survivors, journalists, and experts. Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rachel Maddow’s podcast, Ultra, is about Nazism in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. She based her podcast on the scholarly work of a Jesuit historian Professor Charles R. Gallagher, and his award-winning book. I was fascinated to learn more and discovered that he teaches at nearby Boston College. So we met for lunch, and he kindly consented to this fascinating interview. I learned that the Nazis sent agents such as Charles Scholtz to Boston to recruit and radicalize Americans. These agents wanted to prevent the United States from coming to the defense of the United Kingdom and other European countries. The Nazis did not want America to help Jews who were persecuted and exterminated. Father Charles Coughlin was a Roman Catholic priest and radio personality with a listenership of 30 million people. He was a vocal supporter of the Christian Front. He praised Hitler’s efforts to combat communism and advocated for a similar approach in the United States. Coughlin also used his radio broadcasts to spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and to attack Jewish people and Jewish-owned businesses. Coughlin also supported fascist regimes in Europe. In the 1940s, Coughlin and some of his followers began to plot a violent coup to overthrow the US government. The Nazis are still actively promoting violent fascism.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices