CultNEWS101 Articles: 3/17/2026
Patrick Ryan
"Ten years before his election to Parliament, Sam Carling was starting to question almost everything he knew.
Britain's youngest MP was raised a Jehovah's Witness, and as a child was a "regular participant" in what he now describes as a "high-control religious group."
But at 11, his strict religious upbringing began to clash with an intrinsic part of his identity when he realised he was gay.
Carling, Labour MP for North West Cambridgeshire, was highly critical of the organisation when he spoke last week in the House of Commons, where Parliamentary privilege allows MPs to discuss issues without the risk of legal action.
He claimed Jehovah's Witnesses' teachings regularly equated homosexuality with paedophilia.
He said there was a "culture of non-reporting and forgiveness for child abusers" within the organisation and that it had covered up child abuse "on a catastrophic level."
Carling, 23, also claimed Jehovah's Witnesses were ordered to shun family and friends considered to have committed a "serious sin in the eyes of the religion."
He called for the group to be stripped of its charitable status and is campaigning to improve safeguards against child sexual abuse.
A Jehovah's Witnesses spokesperson told the BBC that "we totally disagree with all of Mr. Carling's allegations," describing them as "demonstrably false.""
"Many of the women featured in Twisted Yoga were searching for spiritual enlightenment and belonging. Instead they faced trauma that unfolded within a cult-like environment under the teachings of a tantric yoga guru named Gregorian Bivolaru. The three-part Apple TV documentary series explores what drew followers to the movement across the globe, as well as the dark underbelly and criminal activities associated with it.
This community has been shrouded in controversy with women speaking about their accounts of sexual exploitation and trafficking. Among those at the center of the project include Ashleigh “Ash” Freckleton, who has opened up about her harrowing experiences. A past cast member of The Bachelor Australia, she recounted living in London when first being part of a school in 2018. What followed in Romania and Paris going through the initiation process gave her PTSD. She was able to escape before being formally indoctrinated into the group."
"This article examines the ideological convergence between Rational Choice Theory (RCT) and “paleolibertarian” thinking in the prejudicial defense of high-demand religious groups. It argues that the Theory of Religious Economy (TRE) incorporates “libertarian” assumptions that presuppose rational choice by adherents and obscure the dynamics of manipulation and coercion in controversial religious settings. The critical analysis presented here draws on contributions from cognitive psychology, political theory, and the sociology of religion to show how RCT and TRE contribute to an ecosystem of “cult apologetics” that resists regulation under the banner of religious freedom and leads to a genuine exercise of soft power. Particular attention is paid to the network of transnational contacts and collaborations linking academic defenders of cults, libertarian think tanks, NGOs committed to the defense of religious freedom, anarcho-capitalist foundations, and non-governmental platforms, such as the International Religious Freedom Roundtable (IRF). They are thought to be working together to delegitimize criticism of high-demand religious groups and somehow redefine the hierarchy of rights. The analysis suggests that this alliance is not merely motivated by philosophical or ideological affinity but represents a deliberate political strategy to shield authoritarian religious groups from scrutiny. It thus raises urgent questions about the limits of religious freedom and the instrumentalization of human rights discourse for the purposes of deregulation."
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