The Rudnev Case and the Fragility of Journalistic Standards
Massimo Introvigne examines how major outlets answered requests to correct their Konstantin Rudnev coverage: some removed or edited their articles, others stayed silent.
28 September 2026
Republished Stories
10 stories
OneTaste: A Warning in Geneva Against the Misuse of Trafficking Laws
At the UN Human Rights Council, CAP-LC warned that the OneTaste convictions of Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, resting on psychological influence alone, stretch trafficking law into a threat to spiritual communities.
25 September 2026
Cults, Moral Panic, and the Press: How to Construct a Perfect Enemy
Argentine journalist Alejandro Agostinelli revisits his own 1991 anti-cult article and the Valentina de Andrade affair to show how the press manufactures a moral panic, and how the Konstantin Rudnev case repeats the pattern.
19 September 2026
Shincheonji and the Victoria, Australia Inquiry on “Cults”: Apostates, Moral Panics, and Campus Fears
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
Now They Come for Jesus: Anti-Cultist Admits She Aims to Destroy Christianity
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
Global Anti-Cultism and the Return of “Brainwashing” Theories
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
The Victoria, Australia, Inquiry into "Cults": Why Christians Are Concerned
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
The Victoria, Australia, Anti-Cult Inquiry: Interview with Professor Keith Thompson
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
The Victoria, Australia, Inquiry on "Cults." 2. Dangerous for All Religions
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
The Victoria, Australia, Inquiry on "Cults." 1. The Australian Context
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