New Zealand Cults, Sects, Religions, Christian Organisations, and other groups.

Religious Group News

Religious Group News, October 2025:

The NZ Herald reports that Wayne Dean, the overseer for the last three years of the "Two By Twos", aka Cooneyites, has announced he is leaving New Zealand, referring to "another tough year" and "constant pressure". The group has been investigated by the FBI for historical sexual abuse. The new overseer will be Tim Hamilton.
In a theologically and morally confused lecture series in September and October 2025 in San Francisco, California, billionaire Peter Thiel has stated "In the 21st century, the Antichrist is a Luddite who wants to stop all science" and "It's become quite difficult to hide one's money." He also warned that limiting AI technology development would bring about an era of global totalitarian rule. Further detail can be found in this NZ Herald article.

Non-biblically-supported billionaire would-be tax evader Peter Thiel has New Zealand citizenship, which has been criticised as being a case of New Zealand passports for sale; he spent just 12 days over five years in New Zealand, rather than the normal required 1350 days over five years, for example. It's not clear if Thiel is a card-carrying member of Donald Trump's personality cult, but is certainly a supporter of Trump's presidency, which is slightly ironic considering the lengths Donald Trump is going to defunding and trying to stop scientific research, and the lengths Donald Trump is going to in order to rule as an unquestionable totalitarian dictator – Editor.

Also examining Thiel's lecture series is this Stuff article, which hints at the consequences of recasting the role of technological oversight as a religious battle, as Thiel appears to be attempting. For example, the article refers to Thiel saying "that only a religious argument could inspire the proper response" to restrictive tech rules. It is not at all surprising that someone with a wealth extending to 11 digits would feel any rules at all could limit the wealth which could be generated from unrestricted AI systems, but the reaction against laws requiring responsible development of such systems (including safety testing) is quite concerning considering the extreme right wing brand of religion and autocracy which Trumpism willingly embraces. This is not responsible behaviour from an extremely wealthy man.
Update: The Guardian quotes longer sections of Peter Thiel's talks. He actually sounds a little unhinged.

Religious Group News, September 2025:

In 2023, Dunedin "massage healer" Sonny Hang Chin was convicted of ten charges of indecent assault, and was sentenced to three years and three months jail. While on parole for those charges, this month he has been found guilty of another count of indecent assault, after his victim came forward due to the attention from his first case. Mr Chin was sentenced to a further four months home detention. He has stated that due to his convictions he will retire from healing. More in this Stuff article.
RNZ reports a few thoughts from psychotherapist Beth St Claire, who points out that Tom Phillips may have presented a cult-like environment to his children, which may in turn make the children's reintegration more difficult. She says an important part of their reintegration will be how well they remember their life before they went on the run with their father.
The president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called Mormons), Russell M. Nelson, has died age 101. He was the oldest ever president of the group. He is likely to be succeeded in that position by Dallin H. Oaks (who is currently 93 years old).

Religious Group News, August 2025:

The far-right neo-fascist American group the Proud Boys which was declared a terrorist group by the New Zealand government in June 2022 is now a former terrorist group in New Zealand. The ruling was due to expire in June 2025, pending renewal. The renewal was all set to happen, but on the day before the deadline, National Security Board chair Ben King thought it would be better to not renew the declaration because it might not be in accordance with New Zealand legislation, and that the group should have a new assessment. For more information on how the decision was made, see this Stuff report.
Gloriavale leader Howard Temple has resigned from the position of Overseeing Shepherd following his conviction of sexual offending, with the position being filled by Shepherd Stephen Standfast. More on the story in this RNZ article.
An anti-vax, anti-medicine, anti-5G conspiracy theorist Kay "Kate" Shemirani in the UK has become a sad example of the way that embracing conspiracy theories can twist and damage a person's thinking, directly leading to the harming of a family. Kay Shemirani was a nurse but was struck off in 2021 after using her social media presence to promote disinformation about COVID-19 during the pandemic. Her daughter Paloma Shemirani was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, with an 80% chance of successful treatment. Instead of starting immediate chemotherapy treatment, Paloma's mother convinced her to start something called Gerson therapy, which involved, amongst other things, up to five coffee enemas a day. Seven months after diagnosis, Paloma died in July 2024, age 23. In the subsequent inquest many details have come out regarding the mother's beliefs and the mind control she used on her family, such as turning off the home's Wi-Fi while her oldest son was trying to submit GCSE school work. The BBC quotes Paloma's brothers:

Paloma's elder brother Sebastian says: "My sister has passed away as a direct consequence of my mum's actions and beliefs and I don't want anyone else to go through the same pain or loss that I have."

...

"I wasn't able to stop my sister from dying. But it would mean the world to me if I could make it that she wasn't just another in a long line of people that die in this way," says Gabriel.

Sebastian and Gabriel had started a legal case to have an assessment of the most appropriate treatment Paloma could be getting. The case was not resolved, but the brothers did not find out through family that Paloma had died. It was only several days later that their lawyer told Gabriel.

For more information brought up in the inquest, see this Stuff article or this BBC article, or this Daily Mail inquest report or this earlier Daily Mail inquest report.
The disgusting disingenuity of international politics when cults become involved...
- NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon: ... “unfolding genocide” was a “good description” of the situation. “I think Netanyahu has gone way too far. I think he has lost the plot. What we are seeing overnight, the attack on Gaza City, is utterly, utterly unacceptable.” He is “not listening to the international community”.
- Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sharren Haskel: “I guess when you don’t really need an army because your most deadly enemy is a possum or a cat you wouldn’t comprehend the challenges that come with facing Hamas - a jihadist death cult - only a few kms [sic] away from your country, that rape, execute, burn alive, and starve your people.”
- NZ Cult List: “Sharren Haskel, Israel is doing all of that to ordinary people who are your neighbours, you hypocrit.”
- Tanakh (Old Testament): “If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.”
  — Jeremiah 7:5-7 (NIV).
It seems the United States under Trump Cult is doing its best to cement itself as a rogue state. It has frozen the US assets of two judges and two prosecutors of the International Criminal Court because of their work (amongst other things) issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes. Earlier this month Trump welcomed to Alaska Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom the International Criminal Court has also issued an arrest warrant for. The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court. More details in this NZ Herald report.
More reports of starvation and rape and sexual abuse, including of males – war crimes – by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

Religious Group News, July 2025:

No news.

Religious Group News, June 2025:

Chantelle Baker is trying to sue Stuff for defamation in Stuff's documentary Fire and Fury, but a judge has ordered her to pay a $100,000 bond against costs to the defendent if she is unsuccessful. In explaining the judgement, Stuff quotes the judge as saying "... my assessment is that Ms Baker will face difficulties establishing her claims against the defendants." The judgement also says she now lives in Australia.

Religious Group News, May 2025:

No news.

Religious Group News, April 2025:

The New Zealand Herald reports the sad case of New Zealand parents who withdrew their consent for their daughter's chemotherapy treatment for leukemia, and several family members even tried to leave the country the day before a High Court hearing regarding the girl's guardianship. The father appealed to the Supreme Court (bypassing the Court of Appeal), and has just announced its decision. What's the problem? According to the article:

A Supreme Court judgement made public this afternoon revealed details of the case, in which the girl's parents reject "big pharma" treatments in favour of "natural and spiritual therapy".

...

At a meeting at the hospital in late February, the girl's mother explained that "she did not accept chemotherapy was required and it was her intention to treat [the girl] by natural and spiritual means", according to the decision.

The girl's father said he considered the motivation for using chemotherapy was driven by "big pharma" - a term used to describe collectively profit-motivated global pharmaceutical companies.

A doctor at the meeting explained that the medical team wanted to start treatment again three days later.

The mother said they would not agree to any more chemotherapy, and the family failed to make the appointment.

It seems that these (hopefully well-intentioned) parents are putting their daughter's life at serious risk because of conspiracy theories and paranoia about "big pharma".

The High Court judge acknowledged that there were genuine concerns about the risks of chemotherapy, and that the girl's health had outwardly improved since chemotherapy stopped.

However, the judge also said that she needed the ongoing medical treatment "to save her life".

If that were followed, her prognosis was good.
A fake Hindu nation has been trying to set up a sovereign country in Ecquador, Paraguay, and Bolivia, where it has been buying land, and leasing land from indigenous groups, as reported by The Guardian. The fake nation is led by a guru named Nithyananda (Wikipedia article), who fled India after being charged with child abduction and rape of a follower.
Jewish and Christian leaders in New Zealand have made statements rejecting claims by Paula White, Donald Trump's "Leader of the White House Faith Office", that Christians this month should celebrate Passover "in order to unlock seven supernatural blessings". This RNZ article quotes the leaders' responses. Christianity Today has a longer article going into more detail about why Paula White's theology is incorrect, and that giving to her ministry, as her website claims, will not help unlock blessings (except maybe for her). In other words, it's a sad Prosperity Gospel message soliciting donations. That she has made use of her White House platform to promote her misguided message is particularly disappointing.

Religious Group News, March 2025:

March has only just begun, but with the events of the last week, the world has changed. Marking the third anniversary of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly each voted on resolutions relating to Ukraine. In each of the votes, America voted with Russia and other authoritarian regimes. Even Cuba abstained from the General Assembly vote.

Also in the last week, Trump's first cabinet meeting had Elon Musk attending, who did not even have a seat, and remaining standing. The cabinet, consisting of Trump's hand-picked members, including conspiracy theorists, were asked with press cameras watching if they all supported Musk being there and the work he is doing in reducing government expenditure. Musk has been accused of using his position to try to force America's FAA to choose his company rather than the one they are doing business with.

Reinforcing America's new position firmly within the ranks of authoritarian regimes was a meeting between Ukraine President Zelenskyy and the American president and vice president. Reporters from Associated Press and Reuters were banned, but a reporter from Russion news agency TASS is reported to have attended. The two American leaders loudly berated President Zelenskyy for not showing more gratitude for America's help, and for having such a low opinion of Russian President Putin – well-earned as it unquestionably has been. The way the meeting played out, and its outcome, could have run from a script dictated by Putin himself. The vice president telling President Zelenskyy that he should resign is perfectly in line with one of Putin's main goals for the entrie three years of the war.

Why has America become one of the Bad Guys?
Update (updated since this updated was first posted, but still on the same day): The meeting (full video) had proceeded reasonably smoothly until about the last ten minutes, until the point that President Zelenskyy asked JD Vance a question he was completely unprepared for, and completely unable to answer. Taking an opportunity to take a dig at the immediate former US president, JD Vance had just suggested that diplomacy (emphasis in original) was the way to end the war. President Zelenskyy explained the nature of the person (Putin) that Vance was suggesting using diplomacy with – murders, lies, 25 breaches of cease fires since Zelenskyy had taken office – then asked Vance what this "diplomacy" thing was that he was talking about. It was quietly worded, and seemed an honest question. JD Vance could not answer it.

Indeed, Vance's reply was the least diplomatic thing Vance could have done. He was cornered, and went on the attack, basically repeating something he had said at an election rally in Pennsylvania five months previously. By going on the attack, Vance set off Donald Trump, and the meeting went rapidly downhill from there, with both of them shouting at and abusing President Zelenskyy.

It's not actually clear if JD Vance had planned to say exactly what he did, or if it was a snap decision. In each case (in Pennsylvania and in the Oval Office) he gained some amount of popularity in his easily-misled target market, but it is clear that he and Trump had planned to not fully support President Zelenskyy or Ukraine, and that they had planned to support Russia, and Putin specifically – the actual dictator who actually invaded a neighbouring country, starting the war.

In summary, JD Vance clearly chose a dog whistle to right-wing Americans instead of choosing to diplomatically do his job as vice-president, aiding and encouraging world peace. So much for him wanting to use diplomacy.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

— James 3:17.
Foreign billionaire trying to take over New Zealand Herald. It sounds like a tabloid headline, but RNZ reports that Canadian billionaire James Grenon has just bought 9.3% of shares of NZME, the media company which owns the NZ Herald, and straight away wrote to the company's board to try to get them to replace all the directors with new ones, one of which should be himself. He has claimed he has 37% backing, and has been approached by "far more than another 10%". According to the RNZ article Grenon helped found "alternative online news website The Centrist", which says the NZ Herald "lacks balance (on issues) including co-governance, climate science and the COVID response." And here we find motive for a takeover. All this certainly sounds like he is heading towards a takeover, and yet he says he has "no current plans" for that – simply not credible. James Grenon has supported conspiracy theorist Chantelle Baker, and registered as a political promoter before the New Zealand 2023 general election.
A noteable instance of gaslighting this month, this time from MP Winstone Peters in a "State of the Nation" speech (reported by RNZ) calling protesters fascists after one asked about what Mr Peters had done about the genocide in Gaza. After the speech Mr Peters said the protesters "just wanted to waste people's time" which he bizarrely called fascism. This gaslighting is disgusting coming from a New Zealand Member of Parliament, and stupidly hypocritical considering his speech's conclusion of "We together are going to take back control, take back our country, and Make New Zealand First Again" – clear right wing dog-whistling, thankfully well short of "a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalistic political ideology" such as fascism (from Wikipedia), but certainly heading in that direction. He has been accused of simply trying to drum up a bit of support for the 2026 election.

Religious Group News, February 2025:

RNZ reports that the FBI has requested the assistance of the New Zealand Police in investigating sexual abuse in the Two by Twos (Cooneyites) in New Zealand. In April 2024 (see below) RNZ reported that the FBI was investigating the group in the USA and globally.
Neuro-liguistic Programming is likened to a "commercial cult" in this article on RNZ, while the RNZ homepage refers to it as "pseudoscience from the 1970s". Australian Sara Isbister was working in New Zealand in 2017 when she attended an NLP course in Christchurch. She pulled out relatively early; she lost about A$12,000 but was able to pull out of a commitment to pay her "coach" tens of thousands of dollars a year. She's now warning others of the dangers.

(The article is republished from ABC, but not exactly. For example, the original "Alexandra Stein" became "Alexana Stein" in the RNZ version, which also changed "Dr Stein" to just "Stein". It looks like a "dr" was lost from "Alexandra" as well.)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka Mormons, are opening a new temple in South Auckland. More details on the interior in this article on RNZ.

Religious Group News, January 2025:

Scientology is having a big advertising push this month. Don't be misled: Scientology is a very dangerous cult with extreme mind control practices which in some cases have been seen to have very long lasting effects, screwing up the beliefs and thinking of some former members for years after they leave the cult. It's one of the worst cults for screwing up people's thinking. Its "free" personality tests have been called "quackery" and are simply a way to try to entice the unsuspecting into the cult.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has vowed in a video message to get rid of fact checkers, starting with the United States. He admitted filters would "catch less bad stuff".

Update: Quote from this RNZ article:

Zuckerberg said fact checking and content moderation got to the point that it "destroyed trust" in the platform.

Well, duh. It showed just how untrustworthy so much of the information on Facebook is. But what Mark Zuckerberg is doing about it – removing the fact checking – is taking specific targeted action to deliberately hide how untrustworthy Facebook is. This is willful deception. Mark Zuckerberg is deliberately making Facebook a platform where false claims, misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories will be widely spread without hindrance. This is harmful to Facebook users and to users' communities.

Update: This article from The Conversation (and reposted on RNZ) looks at how removing independent fact checking may affect the quality of information on social media sites such as Facebook and X ex Twitter, for example by making the platforms less able to resist manipulation by social media bots.

A 2018 study examined millions of messages over several months to explore how social bots and user interactions contribute to the spread of information, particularly low-credibility content.

The study found that social bots played a significant role in amplifying content from unreliable sources, especially during the early stages before an article went viral.
14 members of The Saints sect in Queensland, Australia, have been found guilty of the manslaughter of an 8 year old diabetic girl in early 2022. She died after her family withheld her insulin. Read more in this NZ Herald article. Note that Jesus commonly instructed lepers he healed to see a priest to get the all clear.

Religious Group News, December 2024:

A reader has pointed out Apollo Quiboloy's FBI wanted poster. It's quite a read:

Caution:

Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, the founder of a Philippines-based church, is wanted for his alleged participation in a labor trafficking scheme that brought church members to the United States, via fraudulently obtained visas, and forced the members to solicit donations for a bogus charity, donations that actually were used to finance church operations and the lavish lifestyles of its leaders. Members who proved successful at soliciting for the church allegedly were forced to enter into sham marriages or obtain fraudulent student visas to continue soliciting in the United States year-round.

Furthermore, it is alleged that females were recruited to work as personal assistants, or “pastorals,” for Quiboloy and that victims prepared his meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what the pastorals called “night duty.”

Quiboloy was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Santa Ana, California, for conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion and sex trafficking of children; sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; conspiracy; and bulk cash smuggling, and on November 10, 2021, a federal warrant was issued for his arrest.
Albania has banned TikTok for a year after a 14 year old boy was fatally stabbed in November 2024, and because of the influence TikTok has on Albanian children. The Guardian's article points out the difference between what TikTok's algorithm serves in China compared to the rest of the world (which is not a new observation):

Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according to domestic researchers.

There has been increasing concern from Albanian parents after reports of children taking knives and other objects to school to use in quarrels or cases of bullying promoted by stories they see on TikTok.

TikTok’s operations in China, where its parent company is based, are different, “promoting how to better study, how to preserve nature … and so on”, according to Rama.

Albania is too small a country to impose on TikTok a change of its algorithm so that it does not promote “the reproduction of the unending hell of the language of hatred, violence, bullying and so on”, [Prime Minister] Rama’s office said on Saturday. It said that in China, TikTok “prevents children from being sucked into this abyss”.

To summarise:
1. Chinese-owned TikTok is contributing to undesirable effects in Western nations that it is not doing in China.
2. Most of the Western world allows this.
RNZ has reposted an article from The Conversation, written by various researchers in social psychology and political psychology, about factors that fuel belief in conspiracy theories.

Using data from more than 55,000 people who participated in the longitudinal New Zealand attitudes and values study, we found certain core psychological needs attract people to conspiracy theories. When these needs go unmet over long periods of time, people are more likely to turn to conspiracy beliefs, possibly as a way to fulfil these needs.

...

However, there are clear negative consequences of conspiracy beliefs. They often foster distrust in authorities, encourage the spread of misinformation and, in some cases, make people take actions that harm society as a whole.

The article isn't long, but it expands on and explains the core needs, such as a need for social connection, and gives further detail on the negative consequences of conspiracy theories, including a vicious circle of belief that can result in further social isolation, thereby reinforcing the tendency to embrace conspiracy theories.

Religious Group News, November 2024:

The Forest and the Axe:

The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood he was one of them.

This political proverb is commonly claimed to be a Turkish proverb, but Bound By Honour points out there's no good evidence for that. The miscrediting should not detract from the proverb's application, but it is a reminder for us to confirm what we're being told.

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Acts 17:11 (NIV).

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV).

An actual Turkish proverb: Balik baştan kokar – the fish stinks from the head. (Paraphrased, the rot starts from the head and moves down the body.)
Brian Tamaki has appeared in court facing charges relating to his repeated refusal to follow COVID-19 rules in October and November 2021. RNZ has more information.
The movie Heretic about a pair of young Mormon women missionaries being challenged in their faith is gaining some interest due to Hugh Grant playing a horror role while poking holes in Mormonism and various other organised religions. RNZ website has an audio interview (skip the first 3 minutes 17 seconds to jump to the actual start of the review). Reviewer Dom Corry says Hugh Grant is "such a joy" in the role, and "just a delight" – playing his stereotypical self, apparently. This Guardian article quotes former devout Mormon Whitney Rose, who 'wishes anyone of any faith would see it, “for their own faith, and just for more understanding of why people leave”.' The movie comes out in New Zealand next week (the last week of November). Yes, it's a horror movie – not for everyone.
American far right commentator Candace Owens has been denied a New Zealand entertainer's work visa. This follows on from her being denied in October a similar visa into Australia. She has a history of making controversial claims, including downplaying and denying the Holocaust.

Religious Group News, October 2024:

The Art of Living Foundation New Age group/cult has been spotted advertising Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Auckland.
RNZ reports the testimony of Rachel Lees' experiences with the Institute in Basic Life Principles (aka the Advanced Training Institute) and its leader Bill Gothard.
Apollo Quiboloy, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ cult leader in the Philippines, is in the news again – this time for running in the senate election while in jail. Philippine law bars people from running if they have exhausted all appeals for various crimes, including "moral turpitude". The article says he "is facing charges of child abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking."
It seems that thanks to cults like Shincheonji we have have a greater risk of having someone drive into us on the roads. The cult is causing trouble in Australia, pretending to be university students while targeting actual students, and pushing their members so hard that one member has been blamed by her sister for at least two car crashes, as detailed in this Guardian report.

Bree says her sister wakes up at 6am and goes straight to church activities, often not returning home until after midnight, exhausted. She describes Anna as constantly on her phone, texting other church members, including members she says she has freshly recruited.

“Often she comes home so burnt-out,” Bree says. “She’s so tired that she’s doing stuff like burning food … She’s been in a collision with other vehicles in two incidents. She is so wiped out and exhausted.”

The article lists figures of the cult's claims of 2860 members in five main Australian cities. The cult has been causing problems in New Zealand for several years, also targeting university students.
A six part podcast about the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) is on iHeart. (Not all episodes have been posted at this time.) An article providing background information about the series is available on the NZ Herald website. Also, the NZ Herald podcast "contents page" has links to an article with further details for each episode.
Another podcast about a dangerous catfisher, Natalia Burgess, is also available on iHeart this month.
Stuff reports on New Zealander Susan Cutforth's comment about the US elecction, after living in the United States for the last 14 years: "As far as I'm concerned it's a cult. They've been brainwashed. Because they think Trump is absolutely wonderful and everything he says is wonderful."

Religious Group News, September 2024:

Nobel prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz's latest column, reposted at The Guardian, acknowledges "the Republican party has become Trump’s personal cult". Writing from his vast experience in economics, Joseph Stiglitz takes a very dim view of Donald Trump's financial acumen – Trump cultists may be triggered reading the column.
Apollo Quiboloy, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ cult leader in the Philippines, has been arrested on various charges. He is also wanted by the FBI is the United States on charges of child trafficking. The Guardian has more on the story (link fixed), which mentions that Quiboloy has claimed that various variants of SARS-CoV-2 were his punishment against those who persecute him.

Religious Group News, August 2024:

New Zealand woman Ellen Craig has been convicted in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Australia of the manslaughter of her two year old daughter in 1987, after joining a cult group known as the Ministry of God, also known as the Community of Eden, and The Family.

Justice Natalie Adams said that being under the influence of the cult may have partially explained what Craig did, but the whole incident could not be put down to simply brainwashing.

"Although Ms Craig assaulted Tillie in the context of discipline in the context of being a member of a cult, rather than gratuitous cruelty, it remains a serious case of manslaughter," she said.

"To say the circumstances are tragic would be a gross understatement.

"After killing her daughter she failed to summon any medical assistance, and then continued to conceal it for 35 years."

More on the story in this NZ Herald report.
The Guardian has a report about Barbara O'Neill, how Seventh-day Adventists are helping push her dodgy medical advice, and how an even bigger problem is the huge amount of AI generated content being used by scammers using her profile to sell dodgy medical products.

Five years ago, Barbara O’Neill was permanently banned from providing any health services in New South Wales or other Australian states.

O’Neill, whose website describes her as “an international speaker on natural healing”, was found by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) in 2019 to have given highly risky health advice to vulnerable people, including the use of bicarbonate soda as a cancer treatment.

Since then, her views have found a much larger audience overseas and online, supported by elements of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church and US media networks. So far this year, O’Neill has spoken in the US, the UK and Ireland and advertised retreats in Thailand for thousands of dollars. A Facebook page managed in her name is promoting plans for O’Neill to tour Australia later this year despite the commission’s ruling.

The 2019 ruling says she's not allowed to give lectures, either paid or free.

But O’Neill’s story reveals not only the limits of a state health regulator. Beyond her own promotional efforts, a vast scam economy has grown up that profits from her notoriety without her authorisation.

Clips of O’Neill’s health teachings, often dating as far back as 2012, now feed a voracious economy of unaffiliated Facebook pages and groups – more than 180 at one point – that are branded with her name and share lecture clips and recipes but are outside the control of O’Neill.

Religious Group News, July 2024:

With the attempted assassination of Donald Trump (by a Republican Party member, strangely enough), the Trump news item from June 2023 seems quite pointed. In the words of Joe Biden, "We can’t allow this violence to be normalized. The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down." (President Biden's speech was broadcast live on multiple news channels, and even by Fox News.) It's a pity that the violence at the Capitol building insurrection attempt in January 2021 and the resulting deaths wasn't enough warning of what heated rhetoric can do.

Update: Tim Watkin in this RNZ column puts it well:

However, that doesn't mean anyone closely following US politics in recent years will, in their heart of hearts, be surprised that the violent rhetoric and protest has been upgraded to what is being investigated as an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate.

We reap what we sow and the bitter division and cynicism apparent in America's public debate has been all too obvious for some time.

...

And it was only at the start of this presidential term that the US Capitol was attacked in an act of political violence.

So no, today's shooting is not surprising. History itself has been warning us. And, as horrible as it is to write, it only makes more violence this year more likely.

Update: After US President Joe Biden this month announced he would not contest the November election, Donald Trump unleashed vitriol. "Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was!" "Crooked Joe Biden is the Worst President, by far, in the History of our Nation." "Look at that old broken-down pile of crap." This is bizarre behaviour for a presidential candidate, especially considering Joe Biden is no longer competition in the election. One word explanation: cult.

Where are these two presidents actually placed? CBS News has the list prepared by Siena College Research Institute: Out of 45 presidents, Donald Trump comes in at 43, Joe Biden comes in at 19. (And Barack Obama is at 11.)

Adding to entertainment are many prominent Republicans who have jumped at the opportunity to appear to be supporting their cult leader, including Mike Johnson, Elise Stefanik, Steve Daines, Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley, Kevin Hern and others, who called on President Joe Biden to resign as president immediately. Do they really know what they're saying? This would mean Vice President Kamala Harris would become the 47th President of the USA. Seriously, how many millions of dollars worth of hats and T-shirts would become instantly outdated?

It seems someone had a chat to Donald Trump, who (after complaining about fraud) pivoted to unleashing on Kamala Harris, his actual competition now. Of course, this resulted in him being reminded that he thought Kamala Harris was so good at her job that he made two donations to Kamala Harris for her re-election campaign when she was attorney general of California – US$5,000 in 2011 and US$1,000 in 2013. His daughter Ivanka Trump also donated to Kamala Harris – US$2,000 in 2014.

The Trumps clearly thought she was good enough as attorney general of California to want her to continue (and many Republicans clearly thought she was good enough to take over the presidency now when they said Joe Biden should step aside). This is very embarrassing for the Trumps, but the cult's response would also be embarrassing if Republicans had any shame:

Trump 2024 campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told CBS News, "President Trump was a global businessman and knew how to play the game and win the game with corrupt politicians like Kamala Harris."

In the years of his donations to Kamala Harris, Donald Trump actually donated considerably more money to Republicans. (Reminder: the US Supreme Court just legalised bribery.) As for Kamala Harris, she was actually so uncorrupt that she donated the money to charity.

Trump's latest clanger on Kamala Harris: "She doesn't like Jewish people." Reality: She's married to one. Part of a cult mindset can involve rejection of truth, and Donald Trump is a weird cult leader.
Miguel Farias, Associate Professor in Experimental Psychology at Coventry University, has written on The Conversation about the adverse effects of meditation and mindfulness. He writes:

In the past eight years there has been a surge of scientific research in this area. These studies show that adverse effects are not rare. A 2022 study, using a sample of 953 people in the US who meditated regularly, showed that over 10% of participants experienced adverse effects which had a significant negative impact on their everyday life and lasted for at least one month.

According to a review of over 40 years of research that was published in 2020, the most common adverse effects are anxiety and depression. These are followed by psychotic or delusional symptoms, dissociation or depersonalisation, and fear or terror.

Research also found that adverse effects can happen to people without previous mental health problems, to those who have only had a moderate exposure to meditation and they can lead to long-lasting symptoms. The western world has also had evidence about these adverse affects for a long time.

In 1976, Arnold Lazarus, a key figure in the cognitive-behavioural science movement, said that meditation, when used indiscriminately, could induce “serious psychiatric problems such as depression, agitation, and even schizophrenic decompensation”.

...

But there was little media coverage in 2022 of the most expensive study in the history of meditation science (over US$8 million funded by research charity the Wellcome Trust). The study tested more than 8,000 children (aged 11-14) across 84 schools in the UK from 2016 to 2018. Its results showed that mindfulness failed to improve the mental wellbeing of children compared to a control group, and may even have had detrimental effects on those who were at risk of mental health problems.
BusinessDesk reports that an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs Charities Services into the activities of Arise Church in relation to the Charities Act 2005 has finished after 18 months. Insufficient evidence was unearthed in the investigation for charges of serious wrongdoing, but insufficient evidence was found for multiple claimed performance indicators in 2022 and 2023. This has resulted in a list of "extensive requirements" regarding governance and compliance with the Charities Act to be met by Arise Church by 23 August 2024. The church has updated its trust deed and has stated it will send it to Charities Services when all the trustees have signed the document.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has also closed its investigation, but had filed one outstanding problem with the Employment Relations Authority. No further updates on that were available.
From New Atlas is a report that researchers have figured out what happen in the brain when we have a placebo. A particular part of the brain gets very active when pain relief is anticipated, even if no pain relief is taken.

Religious Group News, June 2024:

With former President of the USA Donald Trump having been (unanimously) convicted of 34 charges by a jury of his peers, he is now officially a convicted felon. (In the USA a felony is a serious crime, as opposed to a misdemeanor which is a less serious crime.) As the New York Times says: The conviction, a humiliating defeat for a man who has dwelled in legal gray zones for decades, brings the nation’s highest office to a new low: Mr. Trump is the first president to lose, or even to face, a criminal trial.

Update: As is typical with cult leaders who are convicted of serious crimes (for example, Sun Myung Moon, Neville Cooper), Trump Cult members are defending their leader, and are downplaying and outright denying what he actually did to earn the 34 convictions. With the amount of blind devotion of Republicans toward Donald Trump and the incredible disinformation coming from the Republican party on such a large number of issues, the Republican party is looking like it's trying to take top spot as the world's biggest and most dangerous cult.

Update: A recently published book outlines how similar Donald Trump is to Adolf Hitler – uncomfortably similar – as outlined in this book review at The Guardian. It gives some idea about why Trump Cult is strengthening, and sadly not just in the USA.

... a new book says they resemble each other as political performance artists ...

One of the touchstone observations from the early Trump years came from the journalist Salena Zito. In September 2016 she wrote in a column for the Atlantic magazine that “the press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally”.

...

Trump made more than 30,000 false or misleading claims during his four years as president, according to a count by the Washington Post. Perhaps the most egregious is “the big lie” that he, not Joe Biden, won the 2020 presidential election, only for it to be stolen due to widespread fraud. De Berg writes in his book: “The idea behind the concept of the big lie is that if an untruth is sufficiently extreme, people are likely to accept it if only because they cannot bring themselves to believe that anyone could lie in such an outrageous manner.

“It was Hitler who came up with the concept, writing in Mein Kampf that ‘the great masses of the people … more easily fall victim to a big lie [große Lüge] than to a little one, since they themselves lie in little things, but would be ashamed of lies that were too big. Such a falsehood will never enter their heads, and they will not be able to believe in the possibility of such monstrous effrontery and infamous misrepresentation in others.’”

...

There is also something alarmingly familiar about the way in which the Republican party thought it could co-opt and control Trump, only to find itself capitulating and being recast in his image. One by one the party stalwarts have fallen into line, abandoning long-held principles, while dissenters have been purged.

De Berg continues: “Hitler goes from 2.6% of the vote in 1928, meaning more than 97% of the electorate don’t want him, to the Nazi party becoming the biggest party in 1932. Then these conservative politicians say, OK, we’ve got this political nincompoop here but he’s a populist and he’s popular, the people like him. If we try and make this guy vice-chancellor then he can do our bidding.

“Hitler says no, I’m not going to be vice-chancellor, I want to be chancellor, so eventually they give in but they still think that he is going to do what they want and push through their policies. One of these conservative politicians memorably said, ‘We’ve hired him.’ Hitler manipulated them and he becomes chancellor and from there on in it all goes disastrously wrong with German society.”

He adds: “One of the most worrying things for me about Trumpism is the way he has managed to transform what you thought were very rightwing but ultimately rational politicians into people who have become basically Trumpists.

“What happened was not that they manipulated Trump but Trump ended up manipulating them and then, in effect, just taking over the Republican party. All these people had to renounce all the things they used to believe in: international free trade agreements, a forward-leaning role for America in the world.”

There is, the academic warns, method in Trump’s madness: the buffoonery, chaos and word salad speeches may be more calculated than they appear. “I would like people to become more aware of how incredibly consciously Trump is going about doing what he’s doing, how incredibly cunning and devious he’s been. People should absolutely not underestimate this guy.”
Doomsday cult survivor Carli McConkey has spoken with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ about her experiences in the Universal Knowledge cult in Australia. She got involved after her interest in New Age philosophy and her young age at the time (21) made her susceptible to accept an invitation to take a course called Next Evolutionary Step. That course was followed by 17 others, the last of which she says included verbal abuse, restricted toilet visits, sleep deprivation, and separation from outside influences for eight days; "it was actually, calculatingly, a course that used all of the mind control techniques to fully indoctrinate us." By the end of the process she was well embedded, and spent a total 13 years in the cult working for nothing, and having to pay off a AU$70,000 debt to the leader.

Anyone can join a cult, as explained in the Cult FAQ, and as Carli McConkey explained "I was 21, but a lot of people are adults, a lot of people that get drawn into cults are doctors, lawyers, you name it; it can happen to anyone, unfortunately, if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Important Old News

Religious Group News, March 2020:

Abortion in New Zealand has been decriminalised. Stuff reports the Abortion Legislation Bill passed its third reading with 68 in favour and 51 votes opposing. The article highlights that there are still members of parliament who care for all human life:

National MP Simon O'Connor referenced Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's speech following the March 15 mosque terror attacks.

"They are us and we are them. I've said many, many times before that human rights apply to all humans.

"And I find it sadly sad ... that for people to say they are us and we are them but when it comes to the unborn child, according to those who will support the bill, unborn children are certainly not with us and we are not with them and I condemn this position."

He said he wouldn't support the bill as it gave no rights or dignity to the human child developing.

Also:

National MP Chris Penk said it was wrong to suggest the current law criminalised women who got procedures as it instead was the health practitioners who were subject to the Crimes Act.

"Much of the debate from those who have put forward this legislation as supposedly needed to this nation at this time has been founded on the argument that the unborn child deserves no protection under our law – that is wrong."

The NZ Herald reports "... Justice Minister Andrew Little ... said women should not be subjected to harassment when going to receive a medical procedure." It's rather disturbing that a New Zealand MP can confuse a medical procedure – which saves a life – with a capital procedure – which terminates a life.