Cults, Culture & Coercion with Dr. Steve Hassan

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

An international researcher and author, Chloe Combi, is a leading authority on Generation Z (those born between 1999 and 2009). Having interviewed over 10,000 members of Gen Z, she provides invaluable insights into what the next decade and beyond will bring. The digital age has brought about a massive change in the way we think, feel, communicate, and behave. For young people born and raised in a digital world, being online for an average of eleven hours a day affects not only their brain development, such as shortened attention span, ability to concentrate, social skills, and mental well-being. As well as this, young people’s need for connection and belonging is being exploited by unhealthy ‘influencers’ online, who are using the internet to indoctrinate and radicalize them.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to know more about the Moonies? This week, we talk with Elgen Strait, who was not only born into the Moonies but participated in an arranged mass marriage ceremony (the so-called “blessing”). His parents were active members when I was in the cult in the 1970s. He’s a fellow survivor. Strait hosts Falling Out with Elgen Strait, a podcast focused on the experiences of second-generation survivors of the Moonies. This episode goes into not only the abuse of children but also the trafficking of people. There are many “second generation” cult members now exiting and speaking up. This is a valuable 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

Wish to learn more about the psychology of Elon Musk and Aspergers Syndrome? In this episode, I am honored to interview Dr. Tony Attwood, one of the world’s foremost experts on Autism Spectrum Disorder. His first book, Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals, is widely considered the foundational book on the subject. In past decades, I have had many clients who were on the spectrum and I long ago realized they are particularly vulnerable to authoritarian cults, as well as being radicalized online to do acts of terrorism. Years ago I taught an online webinar to warm folks and their families about their vulnerability to undue influence. Folks on the spectrum can be absolute geniuses and over the centuries have made major contributions. That said, these gifts can be manipulated and abused to harm or help others. Join me in this incredible learning experience.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever heard of the Council for National Policy? Wish to understand this alliance of far-right wealthy donors and operators (which includes my former cult, the Moonies)? For everyone who cares about America and democracy worldwide, this interview is vitally important. Anne Nelson talks to us about this and more, including her book Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right. Nelson is a prize-winning writer, contributing to the New Republic, the Washington Spectator, and the Times Literary Supplement. She is also a research scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whistleblowers often suffer consequences for speaking out, and our guest Dr. John Dehlin knows that first-hand. A 6th generation member, he was excommunicated from the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) for speaking up about gay rights and the suicide problem within the LDS church. They didn't like him raising those issues, but he persevered and is now helping others find their way out of religious faith crises and transition to a free life. Dr. Dehlin holds a master's degree in instructional technology and a Ph.D. in Clinical and Counseling Psychology. His interests revolve around the nexus of religion and mental health, emphasizing navigating religious faith crises and LGBTQ religious identity conflict. He is the CEO of the Open Stories Foundation. Yes, The BITE Model fits the LDS Church. The FLDS is much more destructive and extreme on the Influence Continuum. This is a blockbuster interview!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 January 20th, 2023, Larry Ray was sentenced to 60 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering, extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, tax evasion, and money laundering offenses. Daniel Barban Levin escaped the cult and used writing to process his mind control experience. He also wanted to do something to help his friends, who were still psychologically imprisoned. His memoir, Slonim Woods 9, published in 2021, was a revealing and poetic description of his time in a mind control cult. Hulu releases its docuseries this week–Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence. Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that current American law looks at children as property? Even though we know corporal punishment has been banned by most civilized countries, it is legal in the USA due to the religious lobby. Hamilton is a law professor as well as the Founder and CEO of CHILD USA, www.childusa.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit academic think tank dedicated to interdisciplinary, evidence-based research to improve laws and public policy to end child abuse and neglect. She is the author of God vs. the Gavel: The Perils of Extreme Religious Liberty, (2009, Cambridge University Press), Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (2012, Cambridge University Press), and co-author of Children and the Law (2017, Carolina Academic Press). This is one of the most important interviews that I have ever done with one of the great activists of our day. Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices