CultNEWS101 Articles: 3/26/2026

[Patrick Ryan]

Psychedelics, Meditation, legal, Brethren Christian Church, Author Interview

Ecstatic Integration: Comparing psychedelic and meditation-related adverse events

"...[P]eople sometimes experience similar sorts of symptoms after both psychedelics and meditation - increased anxiety, derealisation and depersonalisation, somatic issues, sleep issues, PTSD, ontological shock (HPPD is apparently more confined to psychedelic users). There seems to be a similar prevalence - maybe as much as 40% of people experience some adverse event after both psychedelics and meditation, but it’s usually mild and transient, while around 8% may experience more disruptive and enduring difficulties."

Technology & Marketing Law Blog: A Religious Organization is Suing its Critics, and the Weapon of Choice is Copyright—RRT v. Cheryl Bawtinheimer

"Rapid Relief Team (RRT), the charitable arm of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC), has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in the Northern District of California against Cheryl Bawtinheimer, a former church member turned vocal critic. The alleged offense: her YouTube channels “Get a Life Podcast – Ex-Cult Conversations” and “Rapid Relief Team – Exposed” showed footage of RRT’s own website and marketing materials, which happened to include the charity’s “Cookie Kookaburra Bird” logo.

Bawtinheimer wasn’t selling the logo on t-shirts or reproducing it for sale. She was using it as a backdrop while she and other ex-PBCC members talked about their experiences with the church. The logo was simply… there, as she and her guests criticized the text around it."

"...Bawtinheimer is a former member and prominent critic of PBCC (f/k/a Exclusive Brethren). PBCC’s global headquarter is in Australia, but its multibillion-dollar empire claims over 55,000 members across the world. It has been the subject of intense media scrutiny for its alleged cult-like operations, psychological manipulation, illegal surveillance, and shunning practices of former members. It has also been accused of burying claims against church elders for sexual abuse of minors—including sexual abuse accusations made by Bawtinheimer herself. According to RRT’s Complaint, RRT was founded by PBCC as a “global charitable relief organization offering compassionate support to communities impacted by natural disasters and humanitarian crises.”

After exiting the church, Bawtinheimer established her YouTube channels featuring “conversations with former members of the PBCC” to “peel back the hidden layers within these cults and reveal trauma that occurs behind closed doors,” and to “compile and analyze videos, events, and public campaigns run by the RRT, exposing how they function as a tool . . . for the PBCC.”  It is within these videos that Bawtinheimer featured RRT’s website and stylized logo for which she is now being sued. This was after RRT filed DMCA takedown notices to have those videos removed from YouTube, and Bawtinheimer filed counter notifications to have them reinstated.

So, what is going on here? Does RRT and PBCC, a $22 billion organization, really care that their logo is in the background of videos on a YouTube channel with fewer than 2,000 subscribers? Or is this about something else?"

News Meter: Crackdown against MLM fraud: CCS raids 25 locations linked to QNet in Telangana, Andhra, Karnataka

A total of 25 police teams were deployed for the operation, indicating the scale and seriousness of the investigation.

"...According to investigators, the [QNet-related] allegedly collected hundreds of crores of rupees from unsuspecting individuals under the guise of multi-level marketing schemes. Authorities suspect a wide network operating across multiple cities"

ICSA: Meet the Author! Interview With Alexandra Stein - "Terror, Love, & Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems"

Interview with Alexandra Stein by Joseph Szimhart

"Written by a cult survivor and renowned expert on cults and totalitarianism, Terror, Love and Brainwashing draws on the author’s 25 years of study and research to explain how almost anyone, given the right set of circumstances, can be radically manipulated to engage in otherwise incomprehensible and often dangerous acts.

Illustrated with compelling stories from a range of cults and totalitarian systems, from religious to political to commercial, the book defines and analyses the common and identifiable traits that underlie almost all these groups. It focuses on how charismatic, authoritarian leaders control their followers’ attachment relationships via manipulative social structures and ideologies so that, emotionally and cognitively isolated, they become unable to act in their own survival interests. Using the evolutionary theory of attachment to demonstrate the psychological impact of these environments, and incorporating the latest neuroscientific findings, Stein illustrates how the combined dynamic of terror and ‘love’ works to break down people’s ability to think and behave rationally. From small local cults to global players like ISIS and North Korea, the impact of these movements is widespread and growing.

This important book offers clarity and a unique perspective on the dynamics of these systems of control, and concludes with guidance to foster greater awareness and prevention. It will be essential reading for mental health professionals, policymakers, legal professionals, cult survivors, their families, and anyone interested in these disturbing groups. Students of social and developmental psychology will also find it fascinating."

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