Let's Talk About Sects

Danny Rensch grew up in the Church of Immortal Consciousness, a cult he usually refers to as ‘the Collective’. Started by Steven and Trina Kamp, the group followed the teachings of a Dr Pahlvon Duran…

From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate, to the Octopus Murders and the Waco Siege, the world is full of deception, manipulation, and destruction. Listen to Conspiracy Theories, Cults, and Crimes every Wedne…

The Logos Foundation was often described as ‘mysterious’ in media coverage, but became a part of the religious right that published full page newspaper advertisements encouraging the electorate to vo…

Clare Heath-McIvor is the daughter of the leader of the City Builders Church, an organisation that she and others who know it feel confident fits the definition of a cult. Her marriage was arranged w…

In 2011, an 18-year-old Liz Cameron joined a Bible study group she only knew as ‘Sarang Church’. Over the coming months, she lost more and more of her life and identity to the group that eventually r…

The Parliament of Victoria has launched an Inquiry into the recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups, which is open for submissions until 31 July 2025. If you or anyone yo…

Falun Gong is familiar to many as a spiritual exercise movement, and a sect that has been persecuted by the People’s Republic of China. In Sydney you'll often see practitioners demonstrating by Town …

In the wake of updates to Child Safety Standards emerging from Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Mirriam Francis wrote to Victoria’s Commission for Chil…

Maria Esguerra escaped the Children of God at the age of 22 with her two children who have disabilities. Maria’s firsthand experience drives her passion to support fellow survivors of cults and insti…

Gerette Buglion holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Education, and earned her ‘Master's Degree’ in cult awareness education from the school of life. She emerged from her 18-year cult ody…

Ewan Whyte's feature essay, ‘The Cult That Raised Me’ – about the United States based Community of Jesus and Grenville Christian College – includes the introduction, “When I was 11, my parents sent m…

When asked about the Hare Krishnas, most people will conjure images of dancing, chanting people with colourful robes and joyful dispositions. Members of the general public, whom Hare Krishnas refer t…

When asked about the Hare Krishnas, most people will conjure images of dancing, chanting people with colourful robes and joyful dispositions. Members of the general public, whom Hare Krishnas refer t…

Let’s Talk About Sects did a deep dive episode about the Two by Twos, also known as The Truth, in October 2020. In the years since we recorded, huge numbers of followers in the USA in particular have…

Richard Baker's Pray Harder podcast for LiSTNR's Secrets We Keep series delves into the world of the Geelong Revival Centre, which Richard describes as “one of Australia’s most extreme” Pentecostal c…

In Melbourne you might have picked up a book or a comic from a Jesus Christian outside Flinders Street Station, or you could have seen their religious graffiti messages along Sydney’s railway lines. …

The media coverage of the Jesus Christians tends to outweigh their size. Most people who have heard of them recognise the name ‘The Kidney Cult’, derived from an initiative where numerous members hav…

Sarah moderated a panel discussion at the recent Decult conference in Christchurch, New Zealand, entitled 'A new media narrative: Survivor-focussed cult reporting'. The panel featured MISA survivor B…

The Revival Fellowship is a Pentecostal Australian sect that believes in Bible Numerics, a thoroughly debunked theory about numerical patterns found within the Bible. It also teaches British Israelis…

AJ was sent to the Running River school in around 2007, to attend kindergarten when she was five or six years old. The school was headed up by longtime Divine Madness community member Nancy Monson, a…