In a searing interview, the well-known Russian scholar and former church insider calls Kirill’s organization “a cheap para-religious cult” serving Putin.
From the World
Argentina and The Architecture of Suspicion. 1. The Ghost in the Machine: “Coercive Persuasion” and the Displacement of Evidence
Old, discredited “brainwashing” theories and anti-cult rhetoric are still used against spiritual minorities.
When Faith Goes on Trial: France Accuses the Famille Missionnaire de Notre-Dame of “Brainwashing”
The trial of a Catholic community under flexible ideas of “abuse of weakness” reveals how French anti-cult laws may target almost anyone.
Shinangchon: The Proposed Korean Anti-Cult Law and the Sudden Targeting of a Peaceful Community
The new policy offers the anti-cultists an opportunity for a vendetta against one of the remnants of the Olive Tree, one of their main enemies in the 20th century.
The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light in Egypt: 14 Arrested, Some Tortured
They have been detained since March under dire conditions and subjected to abuses. Amnesty International is campaigning to secure their release.
A New Book on the Jehovah’s Witnesses from Cambridge University Press
Jolene Chu and Ollimatti Peltonen, both researchers and members of the organization themselves, offer a short but well-crafted introduction.
Mother Han’s Case: The Persecution, the Lions, and the Little Man
Even worse than those who persecute churches and jail their innocent leaders in Korea are those who applaud the persecution.
CAP‑LC Brings the Christian Gospel Mission Case to the UN
When a streaming series becomes a tribunal, it is time for the international human rights community to take notice.
South Africa: The Return of the Would-Be Religious Police
The CRL Rights Commission, once rebuked for overreach, now stumbles into a new scandal as its “self‑regulation” project unravels.
How to Kill a Religion: South Korea’s Proposed “Church Dissolution Act”
The proposed legislation is a direct challenge to the ICCPR. It would allow the government to destroy the religions it perceived as politically hostile.