Religious Cults

In 1981, ambitious young Ma Anand Sheela transported the Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to the United States to fulfill his dream of creating a utopia for his thousands of disciples. Four years later, the incendiary Rajneeshpuram commune in Oregon collapsed under the weight of audacious criminal conspiracies hatched in its inner sanctum, including the largest bioterrorism attack in US history, an unprecedented election fraud scheme, and multiple attempted murders. Rajneeshpuram explores how this extraordinary spiritual community went so wrong.

In 1979, a fiery preacher named Jane Whaley attracted a small group of followers with a promise that she could turn their lives around. In the years since, Whaley’s following has expanded to include thousands of congregants across three continents. Based on hundreds of interviews, secretly recorded conversations, and thousands of pages of documents, Pulitzer Prize winner Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr’s Broken Faith is a terrifying portrait life inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, and the harrowing account of one family who escaped after two decades.

“You want to read this book. It is chilling and compelling at the same time.” – Dr. Phil McGraw. “I can think of no more important book at this moment in our history than Profiling Evil: An Investigative Memoir of the Zion Society Cult. Mike King has made a superb and vitally important contribution by exposing the abuse of women and children in that heinous cult. And this still happens far too often in the multitude of harmful groups around the world. If you want to understand coercive influence and control, then read this book.” -Janja Lalich, Ph.D., Professor “This book has it...

Locked in pulls back the thick curtain holding many of the secrets inside Word of Faith Fellowship. This small mountain church in Spindale, NC first came to the national stage in 1995 when Inside Edition aired video which included their signature practice of blasting deliverance prayer. As the first published survivor memoir of this group, Locked in follows John’s journey of hope to live in “God’s ways” by moving his family to Spindale, only to discover the cult’s unique doctrines and practices destroy the family he loves and cherishes. Locked in examines these group practices ...

Cults prey on the very attributes that make us human: our desire to belong, to find a deeper meaning in life, to live everyday with divine purpose. Their existence creates a sense that any one of us, at any time, could step off the cliff’s edge and fall into that daunting abyss of manipulation and unhinged dedication to a misplaced cause. Perhaps it’s this mindset that keeps us so utterly obsessed and desperate to learn more, or it’s that the stories are so bizarre and unsettling that we are simply in awe of the mechanics that make these infamous groups tick.

Wondering what it takes to be a Wiccan? This plain-English guide introduces you to the vibrant world of Wicca and the practices of Witchcraft, describing its ancient origins, dispelling stereotypes, and explaining Wiccan beliefs, ethics, rituals, and holidays. You'll see what it means to live as a contemporary Wiccan - and how to worship alone or with a group.

When Misty was six years old, her family started to live and dress like the Amish. Misty and her sister were kept as slaves on a mountain ranch where they were subjected to almost complete isolation, sexual abuse, and extreme physical violence. When Misty reached her teens, her parents feared she and her sister would escape and took them to an Amish community where they were adopted and became baptized members. Misty was devastated to once again find herself in a world of fear, animal cruelty, and sexual abuse.

As the adopted son of two cult leaders, Benjamin Risha was raised to someday assume a place of leadership in the Tony and Susan Alamo Christian Foundation with the Bible, and his parents’ interpretation of it, as his guide. He believed the prophecies of his adoptive mother and father. However, when none of it happened, and the foundation slid from bucolic communal lifestyle to insufferable criminality that included absolute obedience to the Alamos, Benjamin knew he had to escape.

Despite considerable press coverage and a lengthy trial, the full story of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints has remained largely untold. Only one man can reveal the whole, astounding truth: Sam Brower, the private investigator who devoted years of his life to breaking open the secret practices of the FLDS and bringing Warren Jeffs and his inner circle to justice.

Four years after his father died a hero's death fighting a fire, Tim Ginocchetti was behind bars for killing his mother. How one tragedy led to another is a true story that puts a horrifying twist on the familiar one of bullied gay teens. In this case, the bully was the teen's own mother, and instead of harming himself he killed her in a momentary but irreversible explosion of rage.

An innocent child named Brock Talon longs for the Jehovah's Witness paradise, but in time finds it isn't all it's cracked up to be. With Armageddon ever looming, his life becomes an endless stream of restrictions and mandated works, harsh discipline and conditional relationships. Join Brock's struggle with apostasy and persecution, sanctioned abuse and God-like elders. Learn with him about his faith's built-in sexual dysfunction and an eerily business-like design, as well as its dubious origin, repeated failed prophecy, fixation on demons, and the curious "anointed ones." Will Brock ignore ...

Cyrus Teed was a charismatic and controversial guru who at the age of thirty had been "illuminated" by an angel in his electro-alchemical laboratory. At the turn of the 20th century, surrounded by the marvels of the Second Industrial Revolution, he proclaimed himself a prophet and led 200 people out of Chicago and into a new age. Or so he promised.

In this searing memoir of survival in the spirit of Stolen Innocence, the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS Church, takes you deep inside the secretive polygamist Mormon fundamentalist cult run by her family and how she escaped it. Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Rachel Jeffs was raised in a strict patriarchal culture defined by subordinate sister wives and men they must obey.

In 2003, Carolyn Jessop, a lifelong member of the extremist Mormon sect the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), gathered up her eight children, including her profoundly disabled four-year-old son, and escaped in the middle of the night to freedom. After detailing the shocking conditions of FLDS and her harrowing flight in her memoir, Escape, Carolyn reveled in her newfound identity as a bestselling author, a devoted mom, and a loving companion to the wonderful man in her life. She thought she had put her past firmly behind her.

Human sacrifice still goes on uncomfortably close to home - cases have been found in the U.S., Europe, and the United Kingdom. In other parts of the world, such as South America, ritual killing is almost commonplace. Human Sacrifice investigates the terrifying current spate of human sacrifices and ritual killings. Jimmy Lee Shreeve draws on police reports and interviews with the victims' families to paint a horrifying picture of ritual sacrifice at home and abroad.

In this personal account, Lilia Tarawa exposes the shocking secrets of the cult, with its rigid rules and oppressive control of women. She describes her fear when her family questioned Gloriavale's beliefs and practices. When her parents fled with their children, Lilia was forced to make a desperate choice: to stay or to leave. No matter what she chose, she would lose people she loved.

If anyone still has any doubt why Charles Manson was convicted of the crimes as a conspirator and whether or not he controlled his followers, this book should dispel those doubts. Manson, ironically, was his own worst enemy as can clearly be seen in the pages of this book.

Explore the hidden and often shocking history of cults in the United States in Cults in America: A Deep Dive into the Dark History of U.S. Cults and Their Lasting Impact. From 19th-century utopian experiments to the devastating events at Jonestown and Waco, this comprehensive guide reveals how cults have shaped American society, politics, and culture across the centuries. Discover the psychological tactics that cults use to control followers, the warning signs of recruitment, and the rise of digital-age movements like QAnon and NXIVM. This compelling and informative book balances historical...

In this book, The Queering of the American Child, Logan Lancing and James Lindsay explain what Queer Theory is, where it comes from, how it got into schools, and what it's doing to children nationwide. The cult of Queer Theory preys on children, and it must be understood if we are ever to stop the madness.

Douglas Murray, #1 international bestselling author and renowned cultural commentator, confronts arguably the most pressing question of our time: Why are Western supporters of Palestine unwittingly aligning with an evil empire? The campus left frames the violent hostilities as white colonialists committing genocide. Yet only a third of Israelis are Ashkenazi Jews of European ancestry. Murray argues that the conflict is not a simple tale of oppressor versus oppressed, but a clash between a thriving multi-racial democracy and a death cult bent on its destruction.