From 1985 to 2007, Will Allen was part of the Buddhafield—an initially Los Angeles-based “spiritual community” led by one Jaime Gomez aka James Gomez aka Michel Rostand aka Andreas aka Reyji (aka Dirk, the name he used in the porn he shot for Falcon in the ‘70s). Mostly, though, he was referred to as “the Teacher.”…
Those yellow clothing-collection bins behind your local gas station or convenience store aren’t actually particularly charitable, according to a Reveal investigation. Not only will your donations likely not be helping hungry kids in Africa, they may be directly supporting a Danish international fugitive named Mogens…
A few years ago, as Ashley Cantley will tell you plainly, she was in a pretty bad place. She was unemployed, her relationship with her boyfriend was strained, and she had no one to turn to for advice.
John Humphrey Noyes so fervently believed sleeping around could lead to immortality that he convinced 300 people to join him in a utopian socialist community built on that very principle, in upstate New York. As he saw it, promiscuous “interlocked contact” between men and women—in the form of a polyamory scheme he…
There have been a lot of End-of-Days-to-be over the years. Y2K. Wayne Bent’s Day of Judgement. The Mayan Apocalypse. The Blood Moon Prophecy. All of which have come and gone without leaving Earth the smoldering pile of rubble we’re so often promised. But now, finally, eBible Fellowship is here to tell us why with a…
For whatever reason, Bill Gothard, the 80-year-old life-long bachelor who founded the Duggars’ fundamentalist homeschool curriculum, decided that now would be a great time to put up his first Facebook post in almost two years. And since the post went live Wednesday evening, his page has been deleting allegation after…
I think Rob Rhinehart is trying to turn himself into some sort of creepy nerd messiah. Today he posted a giant essay to promote the release of Soylent 2.0, the next version of his sperm-esque food replacement drink. It was all about how he’s given up alternating current so he can get ready for his life as a space…
At 5:30 a.m., I decided to leave the prayer hall early and go back to bed.
Pinterest—the mason jar lobby’s most effective propaganda apparatus—is an aggressively wholesome social platform. It’s The Container Store of social networks, but past the arrangements of DIY barn-wedding souvenirs, there’s another Pinterest, one focused on surviving doom.
Bill Gothard, the 80-year-old perpetual bachelor, alleged sexual abuser of at least 34 women, and founder of the Duggars’ warped fundamentalist homeschool cult, has some thoughts to share in the form of a fancy new website with a “new statement.” Or at least, he did for the few hours it was live. Now, the new site and…
Why were evangelical reality star and conservative political activist Josh Duggar’s parents Jim Bob and Michelle so slow to act on the revelation that their eldest son had molested his younger sisters—and, ultimately, so lenient? Documents about sexual abuse from the cult-like homeschooling program the family…
Following the premiere of the damning Scientology documentary Going Clear last night, you may have more questions about the bizarre cult and its recent history. Compiled below are the most insane reports about Scientology from the past ten years.
Tony Robbins is a fabulously wealthy self-help guru who recently wrote a book containing bad financial advice. Andrew Ross Sorkin is a business reporter for America's most influential newspaper. What happens when you put them together?
Glenn Close, legendary actress whose roles needn't be listed for reference (Damages), spoke in a new issue of The Hollywood Reporter about her childhood spent in what the magazine calls a "violently anti-intellectual and possibly homophobic" cult. Ah!
Every month, the bills get paid on time. The emails get answered, and any orders filled. Which, for HeavensGate.com, is positively extraordinary. Because as far as the public is aware, every last member of the suicide cult died 17 years ago from a cocktail of arsenic and apple sauce. A few stayed behind, though.…
Three days ago in New York City, dozens of bared breasts and half as many women marched from Columbus Circle to Bryant Park, accompanied by a coterie of similarly topless men. The occasion—International Go Topless Day—was marked by eager press coverage in the New York Post and elsewhere. Very little of it mentioned…
Facebook employees love their boyish boss. Glassdoor ranked Mark Zuckerberg the most liked CEO last spring, with 99% of Facebookers approving of his leadership. But with relatively low consumer approval ratings, a diversity of opinions on campus might make business better.
When I first told friends I was going to a meeting of the New York Ordo Templi Orientis branch, called Tahuti Lodge, the general consensus was that I should try not to die, and I should avoid sexual contact.
I thought I'd never see my cult leader again.
Crossfit is an exercise program with pluses and minuses. On the plus side, it really will get you in good shape. On the minus side, its adherents sometimes resemble intolerably intense cultists, and also, it turns out, it's run by extreme libertarians who enjoy sharing pro-capitalist philosophies, to go with your…
