CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/23/2024
Patrick Ryan
Alleged texts sent by members of a cult-like religious group as a young girl lay dying from insulin withdrawal have been revealed.
"Texts sent by members of a cult-like religious circle on trial over the death of a young diabetic girl have been revealed in court, including one from her father to the group’s leader.
Elizabeth Rose Struhs, 8, allegedly suffered for days after members of the circle – which include her parents and older brother – withheld her lifesaving insulin for days in January 2022.
She spent days vomiting, struggling to use the toilet and eventually falling into unconsciousness before she died between January 6-7 that year.
Elizabeth’s father Jason Richard Struhs, 57 and 62-year-old Brendan Luke Stevens – the leader of the religious group known as The Saints – are both charged with her murder."
"The three brothers Yakov, 34, Shmiel, 28, and Yoil Weingarten, 36—all leaders of the Guatemala-based Lev Tahor cult—were sentenced to 14, 14 and a dozen years, respectively, on Tuesday for “child sexual exploitation and kidnapping offenses,” the U.S. Justice Department stated. Each will also have five subsequent years of supervised release.
“The sentencing of the Weingarten brothers holds them accountable for kidnapping children from their mother in the middle of the night, including for the purpose of coercing a child into a sexual relationship with an adult,” said Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York."
ABC Australia: These former conspiracy theory believers were deep down the rabbit hole. Here's what pulled them out
" ... When Joel Hill's friend and sister were both seriously ill, and needed medical intervention to stay alive, it threw his world of conspiracy theory beliefs into chaos.
Joel, who lives in Sydney, was born into conspiracy theories, in a family where alternative beliefs were shared. He grew up being congratulated by adults around him for his knowledge about conspiracies.
They included theories like the government is "trying to dumb us down with fluoride in the water … to make sure that you don't revolt and overthrow the government, because they're inherently evil" — and that modern medicine is "the enemy".
He believed vaccines were poison designed to make people more sick so they had to buy more medicine.
It wasn't always a very positive existence."
Hollywood and pulp fiction have unwittingly—and sometimes intentionally—spawned real-world conspiracy theories, from lizard people to the #Illuminati.
"In The Truth Hurts, a series of VICE documentaries, Bupé Bhima explored the roots and spread of modern conspiracy theories: why they’re dangerous and how they become violent. After conducting extensive research into where conspiracy theories come from, the results were surprisingly out in the open. In fact, they’re right in front of our very eyes.
“Here’s an unfortunate red pill for the conspiracy community: Whole sections of your worldview have been ripped off from random bits of pop culture trash. Hollywood blockbusters, daytime TV, pulp novels, and kids’ comic books,” Bhima said.
One of the most well-known conspiracy theorists is David Icke, a former professional soccer player who declared he was the son of God on a British talk show around 30 years ago. Since then, he’s developed countless theories, claiming a race of shapeshifting, pan-dimensional lizard men were set to take over the world. He publicly claimed the coronavirus was a hoax—a narrative that got Icke banned from traveling to much of Europe."
News, Education, Intervention, Recovery
Intervention101.com to help families and friends understand and effectively respond to the complexity of a loved one's cult involvement.
CultRecovery101.com assists group members and their families make the sometimes difficult transition from coercion to renewed individual choice.
CultNEWS101.com news, links, resources.
Cults101.org resources about cults, cultic groups, abusive relationships, movements, religions, political organizations and related topics.
Selection of articles for CultNEWS101 does not mean that Patrick Ryan or Joseph Kelly agree with the content. We provide information from many points of view in order to promote dialogue.
Please forward articles that you think we should add to cultinte...@gmail.com.
Thanks,
Ashlen Hilliard (ashlen.hilli...@gmail.com)
Joe Kelly (joeke...@gmail.com)
Patrick Ryan (pryan...@gmail.com)
If you do not wish to be subscribed to this list, or you think you are being maliciously subscribed to the list, or have any other questions, send them to: pryan...@gmail.com or send an email to: cultnews101...@googlegroups.com.