CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/24/2024
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Patrick Ryan
Jul 24, 2024, 3:01:12 AM (3 days ago) Jul 24
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Awards, Folie à Deux, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Terrorism, Centrepoint Restoration Project, John Samuel Barker
ICSA: Board Leadership Award
"ICSA's Board of Directors voted to give a special award to Board President Debby Schriver. Although it may not be immediately evident to many or even most ICSA members, Debby has been an extraordinary leader during a time of great challenge and transition. From dealing with an international pandemic, to the transition from founding Executive Director Michael Langone to our new ED Jackie Johnson, to overhauls to our website and our conferences, and revising our By-Laws, Debbie has invigorated ICSA with renewed energy and a solid path toward continued growth. We salute you, Debby Schriver!"
" ... One danger of a highly codependent relationship is the possibility of a psychological disorder called folie à deux. Translated directly, folie à deux means “madness of two” and it involves the transmission of delusional beliefs within a close relationship. Codependent relationships and this type of shared psychosis are interrelated and co-occurring phenomena.
Folie à Deux—A Descent Into Shared Delusions
One of the most famous cases of suspected folie à deux was the Burari deaths in India where a family of 11 members committed mass suicide due to “shared psychotic beliefs” led by the youngest son of the matriarch. The shocking event spawned the Netflix documentary House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths in 2021.
The term folie à deux was first described by French psychiatrists Charles Lasègue Jules and Falret in 1877. It refers to a rare psychiatric syndrome in which a symptom of psychosis, particularly a delusion, is transmitted from one individual to another.
In 1979, the book Uncommon Psychiatric Syndromes explained that the disorder typically occurs in close relationships where one partner, often considered dominant, influences the beliefs and perceptions of the other. This can prove dangerous when the dominant partner shows signs of mental illness and the secondary person lacks critical thinking to go against them. This can lead to the secondary partner participating in irrational behavior."
Science Direct: Adverse childhood experiences, education, and involvement in terrorist violence: Examining mediation and moderation
"Most perpetrators of terrorist violence have had some level of post-secondary school education, with many enrolled in education at the time of their attacks. Exploring this premise in the context of prevention, this article draws from data gathered on a purposive sample (N = 206) of radicalized individuals from Europe and North America, half of whom became involved in terrorist violence at the end of their radicalization trajectories. Through a lens of educational participation, we propose novel, non-linear frameworks for understanding radicalization outcomes. To do so, two factors are explored that uniquely intersect when an individual enters a school setting: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and the human capital provided by education. As hypothesized, exposure to ACE was found to be associated with radicalization trajectories culminating in terrorist violence at the bivariate level (OR = 2.08). Consistent with the developmental-assets framework, it was further hypothesized that this relationship would be mediated by enrollment in education; however, results did not support this hypothesis. Instead, consistent with resiliency-based models, it was found that the relationship between ACE and involvement in terrorist violence was significant for those who abandoned education during radicalization (OR = 2.07). As well as contributing to theoretical models of radicalization to terrorist violence, identifying the furtherance of education as a moderator of risk may signal an important preventative strategy for violent extremism. Keeping enrolled students engaged in their programs, even if only nominally, may also forego the need for educators to engage in potentially controversial practices such as alerting the authorities to students who display signs of radicalization."
Website: Centrepoint Restoration Project
"Centrepoint was an intentional spiritual community, active in the 1980s and 1990s in Auckland, and lead by Bert Potter. The story of Centrepoint is one surrounded by complexity, controversy and shame. Many former residents of the community have felt that there is no space for the stories of their difficult experiences to be voiced, and to be heard.
The Centrepoint Restoration Project is about integrating these difficult experiences, through finding connections and sharing stories with safe people, in safe ways. It is about claiming the narrative back. It is about witnessing the truth. It is about acknowledging action taken in the past to address the wrongs, being thankful for those steps, but recognising that what has gone before is not enough. For those who feel that the history is not yet finished, this project is about finding ways to bring about resolution."
"By 1912, John Samuel Barker had convinced more than 70 people living in rural areas along the Lauderdale-Limestone County line that he was Christ. Calling himself the Rev. Barker, the tall, broad-shouldered man who had until then worked mostly as a store clerk began holding religious meetings in brush arbors when the weather was good and in Jim Moody’s general store when it wasn’t.
Before his reign as leader of the “Barkerites” was over, Barker would strong-arm his followers to give their belongings as “tithes,” preach violence against non-believers, and be accused of kidnapping and involvement in the murder of his two-year-old great-nephew.
This is the story of one of Alabama’s earliest known cults and its charismatic and terrifying leader.
John Samuel Barker was born to John and Nancy Shoemaker Barker in western Limestone County in November of 1861, just seven months after the start of the Civil War. He grew to be known as an “eccentric.” Still, it wasn’t until he went to Oklahoma in 1900 and began preaching to Native Americans that he realized his words had impact. In fact, he learned he could use the words of the Bible to manipulate people to his own benefit.
A descendant of Barker’s who was interviewed in 2010 said the family passed down tales of their notorious family member. “He knew the Bible from over to cover and could quote any part of it, but he used it for his purpose and not the purpose of God,” said Sally Hess, whose father was one of Barker’s nephews, in the book “Forgotten Tales of Alabama.”
Barker returned to western Limestone County, Alabama in about 1908 and put that knowledge to work. He grew his flock and began isolating them, first by decreeing that it was a sin to bathe and to change their clothing and then that “it is a virtue to assault all who are not believers in his doctrine,” according to a July 1912 article in The Decatur Daily. It was enough to keep even the most curious outsiders away.
But Barker wasn’t satisfied with that. He also taught his followers that the devil would possess one person in each family and that sometimes that “devil” was one of the children. Those who were possessed, he said, should be killed."
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