CultNEWS101 Articles: 11/19/2025
Patrick Ryan
" ... According to the 2023 study “Why some people are willing to believe conspiracy theories” in the journal “The Conspiratorial Mind: A Meta-Analytic Review of Motivational and Personological Correlates” published by the American Psychological Association, researchers analyzed data from 170 studies involving over 158,000 participants found that overall, people were motivated to believe in conspiracy theories “by a need to understand and feel safe in their environment … Even though many conspiracy theories seem to provide clarity or a supposed secret truth about confusing events, a need for closure or a sense of control were not the strongest motivators to endorse conspiracy theories. Instead, the researchers found some evidence that people were more likely to believe specific conspiracy theories when they were motivated by social relationships.”
Conspiracy theories are so prevalent because they seem to explain confusing or ambiguous events that are hard for many to understand without looking at the science, math, politics or social structures that produce them. They provide easy narratives reinforcing how people process or understand information, defend the ego by creating a sense of understanding of hard-to-comprehend material, rationalize existing beliefs, rely on innate intuition rather than outside research, provide instant gratification and add the excitement of 'discovery” of a “conspiracy.'"
WKYC: 'Bloodline and Blind Faith: Untold Stories of the Kirtland Cult Killings
"In 1989, Northeast Ohio cult leader Jeff Lundgren killed the Avery family: Dennis, Cheryl, and their three young daughters. A dozen men and women followed the self-proclaimed prophet through fanaticism, into the wilderness, and ultimately to prison.
Thirty-five years after justice was served, Damon Lundgren — Jeff’s oldest son — and Danny Kraft — Jeff’s most loyal follower — are speaking to the media for the first time."
Roys Report: Oklahoma Pastor Accused of Trafficking and Abusing Church Members
"An Oklahoma pastor has been accused of trafficking members of a church that he ran from his home. He abused the members under the guise of ministry, authorities report.
Elmer Baca Flores, the pastor of Ministerio Levantando Adoradores Para Cristo in Del City, Oklahoma, had five counts of human trafficking for labor and one count of sexual battery filed against him on October 31.
Flores allegedly victimized the church members in his Oklahoma City-area church by forcing them to quit their jobs and move into his home, according to a press release from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN).
He also isolated church members and forced them to work for him without pay, OBN spokesman Mark Woodward said.
“He would threaten them with physical harm if they attempted to leave, claiming he was a member of the violent gang, MS-13,” Woodward added. 'Flores used his influence as a pastor to spiritually coerce the victims by targeting their religious convictions.'"
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