The experience of two young members of the group demonstrates that deprogrammers are still very much active.
by Massimo Introvigne and María Vardé
Article 10 of 10. Read article 1, article 2, article 3, article 4, article 5, article 6, article 7, article 8, and article 9.
In recent years, the Jesus Christians faced new challenges when the parents of two new members joined anti-cult groups and planned “kidnapping” attempts with the aim of deprogramming their children. Both cases, of Ariel and Tara, have been narrated in detail by their protagonists on the YouTube channel “A Voice in the Desert.”
According to her account, Tara, a young American woman, decided to join the Jesus Christians in Mississippi at the age of 21 after seeing the community’s videos on YouTube and making contact with them. Shortly afterwards, her father, with whom Tara had several violent experiences in her childhood, contacted McKay and offered him money to send her back, without success. As her parents insisted, Tara decided to limit her contact with them to a couple of emails a month. In 2020, when that relationship seemed to improve, Tara agreed to visit her family in Val Verde County, Texas. In her testimony, she relates that the trip lasted 35 hours and that she arrived at night, exhausted. However, her mother, father, and brother kept her awake all night with the excuse of showing her some improvements they had made to the house.
To her surprise, deprogrammer Rick Alan Ross showed up first thing in the morning to begin what would be a long family intervention against her will, by way of deprogramming, aimed at convincing her not to return to the community. After Ross had started the deprogramming attempt, bombarding her with his usual tirades about “cults” and “brainwashing,” she managed to escape barefoot but her father ran after her in his truck, “grabbed my arm and the back of my neck, and forced me to get into his truck,” and compelled her to meet Ross again.
Eventually, she escaped a second time and reported to the border police (Val Verde County is near the Mexican border). She did inform the Sheriffs Office that in correspondence with Jesus Christians’ founder Dave McKay, Ross insisted that she was not “abducted” or “‘forced’ to do anything.” However, Tara testified that she told Ross that “he was kidnapping me, holding me against my will, and I wanted to leave. Rick Alan Ross ignored me and kept talking.” She further alleged that her parents deprived her of sleep and confiscated her shoes and heavier clothing to compel her to meet Ross. Additionally, she claimed that her parents admitted they “had paid Ross thousands of dollars to deprogram her.”
Deprogramming, a practice that emerged in the United States in the 1970s, involves the forced extraction of individuals from NRMs, followed by their confinement and subjection to coercive resocialization to force them to leave the group. This technique can include criminal practices such as using drugs and physical violence. It has been outlawed in most democratic countries.
Rick Alan Ross is a self-proclaimed “cult expert” with no academic credentials or professional training in religion or psychology, known for his criminal record and violent methods of deprogramming. Despite his background, Ross has continued to present himself as a consultant and expert on “cults.” He even traveled to China to support the crackdown on Falun Gong, and in 2010, he visited former deprogrammed members of the movement in Beijing, sharing deprogramming experiences with Chinese authorities. Ross is also the founder of the Cult Education Center. Notably, the website of this institution includes Margaret Singer as a former member of the Advisory Board and lists documents from her. Criticism of her theories as pseudo‑scientific by professional associations, scholars, and courts of law is not mentioned.
Ariel’s case bears similarities to Tara’s. To better understand the events and their consequences, one of us (Vardé) conducted separate interviews with Ariel and Jack, a fellow Jesus Christian who was also involved in the situation. According to his testimony on YouTube and the personal interview, Ariel left his parents’ home at age 18 without warning, fearing a hostile reaction to his decision to join the Jesus Christians. However, he kept in frequent contact via emails and, shortly afterwards, sent them a video expressing his well-being and his decision to live in a Christian community.
To his surprise, after several confrontational exchanges with his parents, he received a threatening email from a group calling themselves “God’s Warriors,” warning of his imminent “rescue” and a “punishment” for the community. Faced with his family’s evident lack of acceptance, Ariel chose to cut off all communication for a year and a half. Contact was re-established in 2022. As the relationship seemed to improve, Ariel decided to visit his parents in 2024 after his grandmother’s death. As he told Vardé, he didn’t want to leave his family alone at a time of grief.
However, after the funeral, the visit to his parents’ house took a dark turn. Ariel and Jack, the co-religionist who had accompanied him, were separated by Ariel’s father under the excuse of showing him his grandmother’s house on the next floor. It was then that Jack was approached by three burly, armed, and violent men who identified themselves as former Bosnian soldiers belonging to “God’s Warriors.” They confiscated his documents, slapped him repeatedly, shook him violently, and threatened to kill him and another colleague if he didn’t leave immediately and abandon Ariel.
Jack reported that he initially tried to wait for Ariel, fearing an attempt at violent deprogramming, but faced with the intensification of the beatings and threats, he decided to flee in fear for his life. According to his account, he ran away as fast as he could, as the armed men insisted on putting him in a car and taking him to the airport, suspecting that they might continue to assault him to persuade him not to return.
Meanwhile, Ariel was confined by his father and a priest who was a friend of the family, who insisted that the Jesus Christians were criminals and tried to convince him to leave the community. Shortly afterwards, the same men who had threatened Jack entered the room, although this time without weapons. Ariel recounted that he felt trapped and surprised when his father hugged him to restrain him, and even more so when he tried to break free, and his father called the police, claiming that Ariel was attempting suicide and had assaulted him.
Ariel explained to the officers that he was being detained against his will and expressed his desire to leave. The police assessed that there were no indications of psychological issues and escorted him to a safe location, ensuring his freedom to depart. Ariel then contacted his community and arranged to meet Jack at the train station. Upon arrival, they discovered that the “Bosnians” had stolen their funds intended for the return trip. Subsequently, both Ariel and Jack filed a police report alleging theft and threats.
In late 2024, Czech journalist Kristina Ciroková, well-known for her anti-cult campaigns, reported on Ariel’s father and the private investigators he hired, who worked for a company called “Wolf Security.” The report replicated sensationalist stories about accusations of organ trafficking against the Jesus Christians, as well as the whipping trials and other controversies, reinforcing the image of a perverse “cult.”
Ariel had prepared a video responding to the reporter’s questions and providing additional context about the community and his account of events. However, the video was edited, and only a small portion of its content was included in the final report. The full video is available on the YouTube channel “A Voice in the Desert.”
Despite this, and the mention by Ciroková that Ariel and Jack had created another video, including some of its images in her report, the perspective of the young Jesus Christians was not adequately represented. Instead, the narrative focused primarily on the parents’ claims and those of private investigators, resulting in a sensationalized portrayal focused on the parents’ loss.
Ariel remains outraged by the events and the subsequent media coverage, while Jack continues to be concerned about threats from “God’s Warriors.” Notably, both Ariel and Jack identified the “Wolf Security” men featured in Ciroková’s report as the same individuals who had assaulted Jack. In a striking display of audacity, the “God’s Warriors” were shown in their office with a stack of photographs on the table that included prints of video calls between Ariel and his parents, as well as a particularly provocative image of Jack surrounded by two of them on the day of the assault.
Visiting the Facebook profile of “Wolf Security,” it can be seen that, as of June 27, 2022, the company began to publish statements against the Jesus Christians and to offer new services: “WOLF SECURITY offers comprehensive assistance for cult-related problems, including supervision by a family member and the subsequent implementation of solutions and consultations on how to help in the process of leaving the cult.” In that profile, there is also a reference to the human trafficking complaint filed against the Jesus Christians by Pablo Salum, expressing regret that it did not succeed. Additionally, they claim to have collaborated with Rick Ross on a case in the United States. Apparently, the “God’s Warriors” have discovered a new vocation.
Deprogrammers often claim that they now practice “exit counseling,” which is voluntary and does not include confinement or violence. While this may be true for others, Rick Ross and his friends still style themselves as “deprogrammers,” and their victims claim that they continue to resort to violence.
Vardé asked Ariel what he would like to say to his parents if he thought they would really listen to him. He replied, “I would like to tell them that I want my beliefs and my rights as an adult to be respected, and that they should not treat me like a child. That would be more positive.
Unlike the image of a hermetic “cult” often projected by the media, the Jesus Christians are characterized by their openness and transparency. On their website, they compile both criticisms and praise, adopting a policy of “all cards on the table” and providing detailed responses to questions about their beliefs and practices. This openness is evident in their social media, where they address even difficult questions with respect and dialogue. Furthermore, in their interactions with researchers, such as Geraldine Smith and the authors of this text, it has been found that there are no taboo subjects and that the Jesus Christians are willing to support their claims with documentation. In short, far from being a closed group, the Jesus Christians demonstrate a willingness to engage in dialogue that challenges the negative stereotypes.
Currently, “exposing cults” is a commercial niche that several television channels have occupied, with Netflix at the forefront, followed by HBO and other networks. Without the participation of scholars specializing in new religious movements, these minorities are portrayed as manipulative, sinister groups dedicated to committing crimes and aberrations.
McKay described this situation, of which he was becoming a victim, already in the past century, in his jargon critical of “religious masses”: “The religious masses are controlled by a universal fear of something called ‘cults.’ Few dare to openly discuss what the word actually means, but they all fear it. The dictionary says the word ‘cult’ has no objective meaning; it’s an emotional term used to put down anyone who does not conform with mainstream society. A religious cult could be anything from a group of Satan worshippers to a Baptist Church that worships on Saturdays instead of Sundays. The masses can’t tell the difference: but then they don’t need to tell the difference. They just run from anyone whom their masters say is a ‘cult.’”
An example is the 2024 special on the Jesus Christians of the TV program “7News”, on Australia’s Spotlight channel. Full of media clichés and featuring Rick Alan Ross as an “expert,” it is no different from other sensationalist specials made by the same program about religious minorities. Prejudice against religious and spiritual groups, especially those that deviate from the mainstream, can lead to a biased interpretation of their practices and beliefs. In this case, the accusations of exploitation and human trafficking were based mainly on the understanding of the group’s activities from a hostile and prejudiced perspective.
The lack of concrete evidence and the contradiction in the testimonies show how prejudice can distort reality and affect the construction of legal cases. Why do media denounce “cultic manipulations” when young adults leave home to join a religious group and not when they go backpacking or volunteering in a secular environment, even when the latter can also involve young people cutting off contact with their parents, who try to convince them to return and give up their aspirations? What is the difference with those who decide to join a cloistered male or female Catholic religious order? They also leave their families, jobs, and aspirations behind. They also renounce all their possessions.
The cases of Kyri, Bobby, Betty, Joseph, Micaela, Tara, and Ariel illustrate the persistent challenges faced by members of the Jesus Christians and other NRMs when making decisions that differ from family and social expectations. The intervention of anti-cult activists, media manipulation, and the persistence of prejudices about “brainwashing” contribute to creating a climate of hostility and mistrust towards these groups. Ultimately, as Ariel expressed, these individuals seek respect for their decisions and beliefs.
Irrespective of whether the world will understand them, after forty-five years of challenges, the Jesus Christians continue their struggles, as expressed in a pop song written in 1927 by Harry M. Woods (1896-1970), which they included in their “Songbook”:
“Oh we ain’t got a barrel of money.
Maybe we’re ragged and funny,
But we’ll travel along, singing our song, side by side.
Don’t know what’s coming tomorrow.
Maybe it’s trouble and sorrow,
But we’ll travel the road, sharing our load, side by side.
Through all kinds of weather… what if the sky should fall?
Just as long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter at all.
When they’ve all had their quarrels and parted,
We’ll be the same as we started,
Just a travelling along, singing our song,
side by side.”
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.
