Cult Hackers

Bonus: Are Cults a Wicked Problem?

In organisational studies, "Wicked problems" are a type of problem that's hard to define and wickedly difficult to solve. In this month's Cults as Organisations Stephen asks whether cults can be described in this way and what can be done by governments to protect people while maintaining religious freedoms.

This is an audio version of Stephen's blog. You can read the blog here:

https://medium.com/@SteEvilSheep/what-should-we-do-about-cults-a-wicked-problem-ea062a99015c

 

Specialist Counsellor in Cult Recovery Gillie Jenkinson: 4 Phase Model

Gillie Jenkinson PhD is a leading accredited psychotherapist, specialising in cult recovery and recovery from spiritual abuse. She shares with us the four step framework she uses to help people recovering from cult experiences. We discuss the framework, the work done at each stage and the roles of the individual and the counsellor. We also ask about the special challenges of the born-in member and their sense of identity and self, as well as hear about Gillie's own experience inside a religious cult.

We really enjoyed talking to one of the most relevant and knowledgeable voices in this area.

Gillie Jenkinson Hope Valley Counselling Website

https://www.hopevalleycounselling.com/writing-media

 

Meerkats, Cleaner Fish and the Social Instinct with Producer Bob

Producer Bob and Stephen review the Voltaire lecture given by Nichola Raihani about how deeply embedded is the instinct to cooperate. We discuss questions like; why do human beings go through the menopause, how do Meerkats teach their young, how do cleaner fish police customer service and how are a store in the UK that cuts keys and mends shoes leading the way in prisoner rehabilitation. 

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Nichola Raihani's book is called, The Social Instinct: How Cooperation Shaped the World.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jonathan Cape (3 Jun. 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1787332047
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1787332041

 

Growing up in The Children of God Cult

Angela Lathwell was raised in the Children of God cult. She describes speaking out about the cult as the last taboo for ex members and we are honoured that she has decided to tell her story on the 'What should I think about..?' podcast. 

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Bonus: Remember Remember the 5th of November

In 1605 Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In 2005 the Wachowskis adapted V for Vendetta starring Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving and John Hurt. Today on November 5th 2021 we review the film inspired by the historical event and dig into its meaning and the actual history behind the event - plus some interesting little tidbits too.

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The Dancing Plague

Back in the 16th Century a woman began to dance - but couldn't stop. Others began to join her and a plague was declared and according to some reports, 15 people a day died of exhaustion. As weird as it seems it's not an isolated case, over the years similar phenomena have been observed. What causes this? What does it tell us about human behaviour? Is there anything that it might tell us about cultic groups? Plus a little spooky Tweet of the Week.

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Interview With The Prophets of Free Thought

Today we welcome John and Seamus from The Free Thought Prophet Podcast. Seamus talks about his 'Near Death Experience' and how it converted him to atheism. We also talk about John's journey out of the Catholic Church, reasons people leave religion behind, the hostile reaction in some places to atheism and why atheists don't always get along. It's a wide ranging and fascinating conversation with two of the podcast world's leading freethinkers.

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Learned Behavior in Cults

The psychology of learning. How cults shape what people think, what they do and when they do it. Stephen and Celine explore three ways of understanding learning within High Controls Groups, Coercive Relationships and Cults.

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Reference

Miell, D., Phoenix, A., & Thomas, K. (2002). Mapping psychology 1. The Open University.

 

They were teenage fundamentalists: Evangelicals and Pentecostals

We talk to the co-hosts of the podcast "I Was a Teenage Fundamentalist", B and T. What is evangelicalism? Is it a cult? What do Pentecostals believe? Why do they speak in tongues? Great guests and it was so interesting to talk about a movement we didn't know very much about. We also talk about the rise of the Mega Church and in particular Hilsong, its history, beliefs and methods of recruitment. 

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I Was a Teenage Fundamentalist podcast link

https://pod.link/1558606464

 

The Lies We Tell Our Kids (Or Don‘t)

Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, Hagrid! Is it okay to tell our children stories that aren't true but pretend they are, to create a magical childhood experience? As an ex Jehovah's Witness, Stephen was raised without these stories so how did he approach this question as Celine's dad when she was a child? Also Stephen floats a new feature for the podcast to Celine called "Things we used to do".

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