Italian immigrants used to be accused of clinging too tightly to the Old World. Today, millions gather in Little Italy to celebrate the food, faith and traditions they brought with them.
Articles on Cults
Displaying 1 - 20 of 31 articles
I read the books that helped shape The Family, the cult founded by an Australian yoga teacher in the 1960s – when Western societies were newly fascinated by the East.
The cult of Michaela Kell might seem funny but it involves dark psychological manipulation, like any other.
When Georgia Rose Phillips’ inner poet takes centre stage, The Bearcat rises to great heights. But the novel contains some anachronisms.
Since 2019, fans of the TV series ‘Supernatural’ have flocked to Austin, where their encounters with 1967 Impalas customized to mimic the one used in the show arouse elation, astonishment and tears.
The story of Anne Hamilton-Byrne’s cult The Family has been told in a non-fiction book and documentary, a novel, In the Clearing, and now a Disney+ series. What can stories like this teach us?
Both cults and violent extremist movements have similar push and pull factors at the individual level.
Through their mastery of the environment and target selection, the Badoo cult gang was able to unleash terror among residents.
Daniella Mestyanek Young grew up in the Children of God cult, also known as The Family. She escaped aged 15, then joined the US army after college – and recognised similar systems of toxic control.
What is the appeal of cults? How do they work? And what is the damage they do? A new book, by the creator of the podcast Let’s Talk About Sects, answers these questions and more.
Romana Didulo has declared herself the Queen of Canada. Thousands of people follow her and her outlandish conspiracy theories, and here’s why that’s so dangerous.
A professor of religious studies argues that describing QAnon followers as brainwashed overlooks their role in accepting and spreading potentially dangerous beliefs.
The idea of organized satanic witchcraft was invented in 15th-century Europe by church and state authorities, who at first had a hard time convincing regular folks it was real.
Brazil’s Valley of the Dawn faith is often dismissed as a cult. But many of the group’s fantastical rituals are a recognizable reaction to this harsh world of inequality, loneliness and pandemics.
Mubarak held power for three decades, on the foundation of a personality cult.
After a bribery scandal that took down four presidents and led Congress to dissolve, some Peruvians are putting their faith in an austere religion called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact.
There are many legitimate ways to critique Donald Trump, but demonizing his voters as cult followers doesn’t help us understand why they are attracted to him and how their world view has developed.
Some have started to frame Thunberg’s activism in messianistic terms – and this can serve as fodder for climate deniers.
Prosperity gospel in South Africa is in the news for all the wrong reasons. But for its followers, it’s not a con, just a different approach to God.
From a sarin attack on a city subway to the rebirth of Buddha to protest marches against indecent magazines, Japan’s religious movements have covered a lot of ground.
Top contributors
-
Sessional Academic, Literature and Culture; Professional & Creative Writing Teacher, The University of Queensland
-
Professor in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University
-
Lecturer, Language and Culture, Keele University
-
Professor, School of History and International Relations, Flinders University
-
Founder of the Australian Health Care Reform Alliance & Emeritus Professor, UNSW
-
Associate Professor in Australian History, Flinders University
-
Associate Professor of Religion, Lake Forest College
-
Affiliate, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University
-
Researcher, Université Paris Nanterre
-
Psychologist and Programme Leader, University of Salford
-
Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State University
-
Professor, Director of the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research, Birkbeck, University of London, Birkbeck, University of London
-
Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Cognitive and Parapsychology, Manchester Metropolitan University
-
Psychologist and Programme Leader, University of Salford
-
Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Religious Studies, Texas State University