Freedom of Religion or Belief · Spiritual Minorities · Global Advocacy
7 stories
Rosita Šorytė argues the Victorian Parliament's cult inquiry imported anti-cult vocabulary and leaned on uncorroborated apostate testimony, making it one node in a transnational campaign against Shincheonji.
24 July 2026
Massimo Introvigne reviews Be Scofield’s “The Savior Complex,” which brands Jesus a “cult leader,” and argues that anti-cult models of coercive control and trafficking ultimately target mainline Christianity, not only new religious movements.
16 July 2026
Massimo Introvigne traces three pathways — expanded coercive-control laws, the judicialization of “spiritual abuse,” and reinterpreted trafficking statutes — through which discredited brainwashing theories are re-entering courts and legislation worldwide.
6 July 2026
Freedom for Faith’s Mike Southon warns Victoria’s inquiry into “cults and organised fringe groups” cannot define a cult without sweeping in mainstream churches — and urges lawmakers to prosecute illegal acts, not legislate belief.
6 January 2026
Legal scholar Keith Thompson warns that Victoria's proposed inquiry into 'cults and organised fringe groups' threatens religious freedom and disregards legal precedent.
29 November 2025
Part 2 of Bernard Doherty's analysis: "cult" is used so loosely in Victoria's inquiry that most Australian churches and faith communities could be targeted — a threat to religious liberty far beyond the unpopular few.
15 November 2025
Part 1 of Bernard Doherty's analysis: Victoria's 2025 parliamentary inquiry into "cults and organised fringe groups" is far from unprecedented — Australian anti-cult inquiries since the 1963 Anderson Inquiry have nearly all failed.
14 November 2025