The anti-cult movement needed a “legal precedent” to reintroduce the discredited idea that “cults” use “mental manipulation.”
Brainwashing
“Brainwashing,” Steven Hassan,and the OneTaste Case. 1. Weaponizing Anti-Trafficking Laws
Anti-cultists persuaded prosecutors to reintroduce discredited mental manipulation theories by interpreting anti-prostitution and forced labor statutes.
France, Famille Missionnaire de Notre-Dame: When Ninety Percent Is Not Enough
Despite broad acquittals, the lone conviction for “psychological subjection” risks turning France’s justice system into an arbiter of acceptable spirituality.
The Tokyo High Court Unification Church Decision. 2. The Ghost of “Brainwashing”
A key theme of the decision is the discredited pseudo-scientific theory that “cults” victimize their members through “mental manipulation.”
Twisted TV: How a Documentary Bent the Facts Out of Shape. 4. Either “Victims” of “Brainwashed”
Not even one of the women “liberated” by the French police in 2023 admitted she was a “victim.” The Apple TV series ignored them.
The Truth, Please, About Steven Hassan. 4. The “Cult” of “Hassanology”
Leading anti-cultist Dr. Cathleen A. Mann expressed her doubts that Hassan was an “expert on cults” and indeed “an expert in anything,” except “Hassanology.”
The Truth, Please, About Steven Hassan. 3. Is He Really an “Expert”?
Hassan’s “authority” does not come from academia but from his past as a “cult” member and a deprogrammer.
The Truth, Please, About Steven Hassan. 2. “Cults,” “Cults” Everywhere!
From members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to supporters of Donald Trump, all groups Hassan dislikes are identified as “cults.”
The Truth, Please, About Steven Hassan. 1. The “BITE Model” as Pseudoscience
The American anti-cultist’s ideology is just the old, discredited “brainwashing” ideology under a new name.
Argentina y la arquitectura de la sospecha. 3. La traducción penal de lo cotidiano.
Cómo actividades normales y religiosas se traducen al lenguaje del delito cuando se activa el guion antisectas.