Download or read book The Cult Next Door written by Judith L. Carlone and published by Two Poles Press, LLC. This book was released on 2017-03-18 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During Thanksgiving vacation of her freshman year at Swarthmore College (1977), Elizabeth, at her mother's insistence, attended a "stress-reduction" session with a biofeedback technician on staff at a Manhattan psychologist's office. During that first visit, this man filled her ears with prophetic visions of a glorious future--the inheritance of those fortunate few who might choose to accompany him. His confidence and charisma entranced her, and she soon recruited two of her college roommates. When the psychologist fired his assistant two years later, Elizabeth and her mother followed. Over the next decade, this man, a malevolent genius and master of manipulating metaphysical concepts to benefit a self-serving agenda, organized a small, dedicated band of followers. "The Group" evolved into an incestuous family--a cult. Their brainwashed minds became fused with a distinctive, New Age doctrine. A coterie of spiritual "Navy Seals", they scrambled in terror, training to survive the inevitable cataclysm--one man's divine vision of Armageddon. Subsequent to a momentous event in August 1994, with the guru as high priest, "The Black Dog Religion" was born. Elizabeth sank into a pit of despair, darker than she ever could have imagined was possible. From the adolescent gullibility which seduced her astray, to the enlightenment which led her to freedom, you will travel an incredible journey. For anyone who has ever been trapped by a person who would not let them go, within this book lies a message of hope.
Download or read book The Church Next Door written by Jesse Walters and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-04-14 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seventeen year-old Jesse Walters made a decision that was going to change his life forever. It began as some of the happiest days of his life with love, romance, peace, faith and a true sense of fulfillment in life. But as time passed it led to guilt, anxiety, stress, distancing himself from family and friends, and losing all sense of satisfaction in his daily life. During this time he joined a local church, found his way to God, and developed a close relationship with a group of Christians to such an extent that he could call them "family." Dedicating one's life to Jesus Christ and experiencing an extreme state of depression? Those two statements shouldn't go together. Jesse joined a cult without realizing it. The dramatic and heartbreaking events that took place led him to push his family and friends out of his life. His family had to go to the extreme of locking him in a building for five days with a cult expert for an intervention that proved he had been living a lie. This book is the start of his mission to 1. Shine light on the massive, unrecognized issue of Christianity and other troubling organizations. 2. Prove that anyone can have a healthy relationship with God without having to make extreme sacrifices, and 3. Help people get themselves or loved ones out of cults.
Download or read book The Cult Next Door written by Nathan Cooper and published by . This book was released on 2024-05-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In "The Cult Next Door," a seemingly idyllic move to Briar Creek turns into a harrowing nightmare for the Carlson family when they uncover the town's dark secret: a pervasive and sinister cult that has ensnared the community in its grasp for decades. Sarah, a determined journalist, Tom, her husband grappling with guilt and denial, and their daughter Mia, find themselves embroiled in a fight for survival against an ancient evil that demands loyalty-and sacrifices. Their discovery of the cult's presence begins with innocuous, if overly friendly, interactions with their neighbors and subtle, unsettling signs that all is not as it seems in Briar Creek. The Carlsons' skepticism turns to terror as they peel back layers of deceit, uncovering rituals, disappearances, and a chilling reverence for the cult's charismatic leader, Edward. The family's attempt to flee and expose the cult leads to a perilous confrontation, thrusting them into a hidden war against a network of similar cults. Struggling with the trauma of their experiences and the relentless pursuit of Edward's followers, the Carlsons are drawn into a larger battle against the shadowy forces that operate within the veneer of everyday life. Their fight leads them to join a network of survivors and warriors, facing the grim reality that the cult's influence is far-reaching, and their battle is only just beginning. "The Cult Next Door" weaves a tale of suspense, resilience, and the unyielding bond of family faced with unimaginable horror. It's a story of the fight against darkness that lurks in the most unexpected places and the lengths to which people will go to protect those they love.
Download or read book The Cult of Smart written by Fredrik deBoer and published by All Points Books. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named one of Vulture’s Top 10 Best Books of 2020! Leftist firebrand Fredrik deBoer exposes the lie at the heart of our educational system and demands top-to-bottom reform. Everyone agrees that education is the key to creating a more just and equal world, and that our schools are broken and failing. Proposed reforms variously target incompetent teachers, corrupt union practices, or outdated curricula, but no one acknowledges a scientifically-proven fact that we all understand intuitively: Academic potential varies between individuals, and cannot be dramatically improved. In The Cult of Smart, educator and outspoken leftist Fredrik deBoer exposes this omission as the central flaw of our entire society, which has created and perpetuated an unjust class structure based on intellectual ability. Since cognitive talent varies from person to person, our education system can never create equal opportunity for all. Instead, it teaches our children that hierarchy and competition are natural, and that human value should be based on intelligence. These ideas are counter to everything that the left believes, but until they acknowledge the existence of individual cognitive differences, progressives remain complicit in keeping the status quo in place. This passionate, voice-driven manifesto demands that we embrace a new goal for education: equality of outcomes. We must create a world that has a place for everyone, not just the academically talented. But we’ll never achieve this dream until the Cult of Smart is destroyed.
Download or read book Deliver Us From Evil written by M. David Eckel and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evil is a problem that will not go away. For some it is an inescapable fact of the human condition. For others "evil" is a term that should only be used to name the most horrible of crimes. Still others think that the worst problem lies with the abuse of the term: using it to vilify a misunderstood enemy. No matter how we approach it, "evil" is a concept that continues to call out for critical reflection. This volume collects the results of a two-year deliberation within the Boston University Institute for Philosophy of Religion lecture series, bringing together scholars of religion, literature, and philosophy. Its essays provide a thoughtful, sensitive, and wide-ranging consideration of this challenging problem-and of ways that we might be delivered from it.
Download or read book The Disaster Artist written by Greg Sestero and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In 2003, an independent film called The room ... made its disastrous debut in Los Angeles. Described by one reviewer as 'like getting stabbed in the head,' the six-million-dollar film earned a grand total of $1800 at the box office and closed after two weeks. Ten years later, The room is an international cult phenomenon ... In [this book], actor Greg Sestero, Tommy's costar and longtime best friend, recounts the film's long, strange journey to infamy, unraveling mysteries for fans ... as well as the question that plagues the uninitiated: how the hell did a movie this awful ever get made?"--
Download or read book Disobedient Women written by Sarah Stankorb and published by Worthy Books. This book was released on 2023-08-08 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A NATIONAL BESTSELLER! Journalist Sarah Stankorb outlines how access to the internet—its networks, freedom of expression, and resources for deeply researching and reporting on powerful church figures—allowed women to begin dismantling the false authority of evangelical communities that had long demanded their submission. A generation of American Christian girls was taught submitting to men is God’s will. They were taught not to question the men in their families or their pastors. They were told to remain sexually pure and trained to feel shame if a man was tempted. Some of these girls were abused and assaulted. Some made to shrink down so small they became a shadow of themselves. To question their leaders was to question God. All the while, their male leaders built fiefdoms from megachurches and sprawling ministries. They influenced politics and policy. To protect their church’s influence, these men covered up and hid abuse. American Christian patriarchy, as it rose in political power and cultural sway over the past four decades, hurt many faithful believers. Millions of Americans abandoned churches they once loved. Yet among those who stayed (and a few who still loved the church they fled), a brave group of women spoke up. They built online megaphones, using the democratizing power of technology to create long-overdue change. In Disobedient Women, journalist Sarah Stankorb gives long-overdue recognition for these everyday women as leaders and as voices for a different sort of faith. Their work has driven journalists to help bring abuse stories to national attention. Stankorb weaves together the efforts of these courageous voices in order to present a full, layered portrait of the treatment of women and the fight for change within the modern American church. Disobedient Women is not just a look at the women who have used the internet to bring down the religious power structures that were meant to keep them quiet, but also a picture of the large-scale changes that are happening within evangelical culture regarding women’s roles, ultimately underscoring the ways technology has created a place for women to challenge traditional institutions from within.
Download or read book Becoming Free Indeed written by Jinger Vuolo and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2023-01-31 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller Jinger Vuolo, the sixth child in the famous Duggar family of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting and Counting On, recounts how she began to question the unhealthy ideology of her youth and learned to embrace true freedom in Christ. When Jinger Duggar Vuolo was growing up, she was convinced that obeying the rules was the key to success and God's favor. She zealously promoted the Basic Life Principles of Bill Gothard, fastidiously obeying the modesty guidelines (no shorts or jeans, only dresses), eagerly submitting to the umbrella of authority (any disobedience of parents would place her outside God's protection), promoting the relationship standard of courtship, and avoiding any music with a worldly beat, among others. Jinger, along with three of her sisters, wrote a New York Times bestseller about their religious convictions. She believed this level of commitment would guarantee God's blessing, even though in private she felt constant fear that she wasn't measuring up to the high standards demanded of her. In Becoming Free Indeed, Jinger shares how in her early twenties, a new family member—a brother-in-law who didn't grow up in the same tight-knit conservative circle as Jinger—caused her to examine her beliefs. He was committed to the Bible, but he didn't believe many of the things Jinger had always assumed were true. His influence, along with the help of a pastor named Jeremy Vuolo, caused Jinger to see that her life was built on rules, not God's Word. Jinger committed to studying the Bible—truly understanding it—for the first time. What resulted was an earth-shaking realization: much of what she'd always believed about God, obedience to His Word, and personal holiness wasn't in-line with what the Bible teaches. Now with a renewed faith of personal conviction, Becoming Free Indeed shares what it was like living under the tenants of Bill Gothard, the Biblical truth that changed her perspective, and how she disentangled her faith with her belief in Jesus intact.
Download or read book Divine Horror written by Cynthia J. Miller and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Rosemary's Baby (1968) to The Witch (2015), horror films use religious entities to both inspire and combat fear and to call into question or affirm the moral order. Churches provide sanctuary, clergy cast out evil, religious icons become weapons, holy ground becomes battleground--but all of these may be turned from their original purpose. This collection of new essays explores fifty years of genre horror in which manifestations of the sacred or profane play a material role. The contributors explore portrayals of the war between good and evil and their archetypes in such classics as The Omen (1976), The Exorcist (1973) and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), as well as in popular franchises like Hellraiser and Hellboy and cult films such as God Told Me To (1976), Thirst (2009) and Frailty (2001).
Download or read book Cult Following written by J. W. Ocker and published by Quirk Books. This book was released on 2024-09-10 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A must-read for those with a taste for cult narratives.”—Publishers Weekly From the author of Cursed Objects and The United States of Cryptids, an eye-popping compendium of the 30 most infamous, audacious, and dangerous cults in history Have you ever wondered how ordinary people end up enmeshed in extreme cults? Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about history’s most notorious cults—and the psychology of the people who join them—is packed into this accessible, engaging volume. Walk in the footsteps of those who were lured into such sinister groups as: Branch Davidians: This cult was waiting out the apocalypse when the FBI infamously raided their compound in Waco, Texas. Los Narcosatánicos: This group of drug traffickers in 1980s Mexico committed human sacrifice and believed their leader had magic powers. Breatharianism: Breatharians believe that humans can live on air alone, and their founder claimed to have gone without food for seventeen years. NXIVM: This twenty-first-century cult attracted Hollywood actresses and engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, and racketeering under the guise of personal development seminars. Heaven’s Gate: The Heaven’s Gate UFO cult ended in the suicide of thirty-nine members who believed they would ascent to a spaceship after death. In this fascinating collection, weird history expert J. W. Ocker sheds light on the terrifying attraction of cults, demonstrating the elasticity of belief, the desperateness of belonging, and the tragedy of trust.
Download or read book Breaking Their Will written by Janet Heimlich and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2011-06-14 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This revealing, disturbing, and thoroughly researched book exposes a dark side of faith that most Americans do not know exists or have ignored for a long time—religious child maltreatment. After speaking with dozens of victims, perpetrators, and experts, and reviewing a myriad of court cases and studies, the author explains how religious child maltreatment happens. She then takes an in-depth look at the many forms of child maltreatment found in religious contexts, including biblically-prescribed corporal punishment and beliefs about the necessity of "breaking the wills" of children; scaring kids into faith and other types of emotional maltreatment such as spurning, isolating, and withholding love; pedophilic abuse by religious authorities and the failure of religious organizations to support the victims and punish the perpetrators; and religiously-motivated medical neglect in cases of serious health problems. In a concluding chapter, Heimlich raises questions about children’s rights and proposes changes in societal attitudes and improved legislation to protect children from harm. While fully acknowledging that religion can be a source of great comfort, strength, and inspiration to many young people, Heimlich makes a compelling case that, regardless of one’s religious or secular orientation, maltreatment of children under the cloak of religion can never be justified and should not be tolerated.
Download or read book Perceptual Intelligence written by Brian Boxer Wachler, MD and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2017-09-15 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Secret Behind Our Perceptions Finally Revealed! Why do we gravitate to products endorsed by celebrities? Why does time seem to go by faster as we get older? Why are some athletes perpetual winners and others losers? Exploring the brain’s ability to interpret and make sense of the world, Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler describes how your perception can be reality or fantasy and how to separate the two, which is the basis of improving your Perceptual Intelligence (PI). With concrete examples and case studies, Dr. Brian (as he’s known to his patients) explains why our senses do not always match reality and how we can influence the world around us through perceptions, inward and outward. By fine-tuning your PI, you can better understand what’s really going on and make more insightful decisions in your life.
Download or read book The Plymouth Brethren written by Massimo Introvigne and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-21 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first history of the Plymouth Brethren, a conservative, nonconformist evangelical Christian movement whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland in the late 1820s. The teachings of John Nelson Darby, an influential figure among the early Plymouth Brethren, have had a huge impact on modern evangelicalism. However, the credit for Darby's work went to some of the first generation of his students, and as evangelicalism has grown it has completely ignored its origins in Darby and the Brethren. In this book, Massimo Introvigne restores credit to John Nelson Darby and his movement, and places them in a contemporary sociological framework based on Introvigne's participant observation in Brethren communities. The modern-day Plymouth Brethren emphasize sola scriptura, the belief that the Bible is the supreme authority for church doctrine and practice. Brethren see themselves as a network of like-minded independent assemblies rather than as a church or a denomination. The movement has also refused to take any formal denominational name; the title "the Brethren" comes from the Biblical passage "one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8). The Plymouth Brethren offers a typology of differing branches of this reclusive movement, including a case study of the "exclusive" branch known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, and reveals the various ways in which Brethren ideas have permeated the modern Christian world.
Download or read book The Status of Religion and the Public Benefit in Charity Law written by Barry W. Bussey and published by Anthem Press. This book was released on 2020-02-29 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The Status of Religion and the Public Benefit in Charity Law' is an apologetic for maintaining the presumption of public benefit for the charitable category ‘advancement of religion’ in democratic countries within the English common law tradition. In response to growing academic and political pressure to reform charity law – including recurring calls to remove tax exemptions granted to religious charities – the scholars in this volume analyse the implications of legislative and legal developments in Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In the process, they also confront more fundamental, sociological or philosophical questions on the very nature and role of religion in a secular society that would deny any space for religious communities outside their houses of worship. In other words, this book is concerned with the place of religion – and religious institutions – in contemporary society. It represents a series of concerns about the proper role of the state in relation to the differing beliefs of citizens – some of which will quite rightly manifest in actions to benefit the wider society. This debate, then, naturally engages with broader issues related to secularism, civic engagement and liberal democratic freedoms.
Download or read book Reading My Mother Back written by Timothy C. Baker and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2023-12-12 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An innovative memoir connecting ideas of grief, memory, and animals to illustrate the importance of storytelling. When his mother died, Timothy C. Baker discovered that there was almost no record of her existence, and no stories that were his to tell: the only way to bring her back was through reading. Reading My Mother Back is a genre-bending memoir that explores a life marked by trauma, illness, religion, and abuse through a focus on the books Baker and his mother shared. The book combines accounts of rereading childhood classics with true and apocryphal stories of a quiet life, marked by great sorrow and great joy. The book is about grief and memory and how our childhood reading shapes the way we see the world; it’s about loneliness and the search for belonging; it’s about how ordinary lives are transfigured by storytelling. Moving from accounts of American evangelical communities to kidney failure, from literary criticism to psychoanalysis, and from guilt to love, Baker shows how literature provides a framework for understanding our experiences, and offers a way of connecting with everything we have lost. The book illustrates how children’s animal stories bring us into a love of the world, and how acts of rereading become a way not of assuaging grief, but of bringing the past and present together. Reading My Mother Back offers a bold and personal view of why the stories we read and share matter so much. And there are bunnies.
Download or read book Destroying the World to Save It written by Robert Jay Lifton and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2000-09-01 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Book Award winner and renowned psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton reveals a world at risk from millennial cults intent on ending it all. Since the earliest moments of recorded history, prophets and gurus have foretold the world's end, but only in the nuclear age has it been possible for a megalomaniac guru with a world-ending vision to bring his prophecy to pass. Now Robert Jay Lifton offers a vivid and disturbing case in point in this chilling exploration of Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult that released sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subways. With unprecedented access to former Aum members, Lifton has produced a pathbreaking study of the inner life of a modern millennial cult. He shows how Aum's guru Shoko Asahara (charismatic spiritual leader, con man, madman) created a religion from a global stew of New Age thinking, ancient rituals, and apocalyptic science fiction, then recruited scientists as disciples and set them to producing weapons of mass destruction. Taking stock as well of Charles Manson, Heaven's Gate, and the Oklahoma City bombers, Lifton confronts the frightening possibility of a twenty-first century in which cults and terrorists may be able to bring about their own holocausts. Bold and compelling, Destroying the World to Save It charts the emergence of a new global threat of urgent concern to us all.
Download or read book Across the Border written by Gary Provost and published by Crossroad Press. This book was released on 1989 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
