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Most people have heard of the Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints (FLDS), an offshoot of the mainstream LDS Church that practices polygamy and was led by Warren Jeffs.[2] Fewer are familiar with the Samuelites, a more recent splinter group founded in 2019 by Samuel Bateman and featured in the Netflix docuseries Trust Me: The False Prophet.[3]

Warning: This post contains triggers, and I encourage you to tread lightly, especially if you are a religious abuse survivor. I write extensively about Bethel in this blog. I grew up in a charismatic home, and while I don’t necessarily identify as charismatic these days (I’m non-denominational), I do believe in spiritual gifts and the supernatural. Over the years, I’ve taken hard looks at people in the charismatic movement, especially those who proclaim that they are prophets

Have you ever watched a YouTube video or read an article and wondered, “How did that YouTuber/author find out all of that information, and how do I know if what they are saying is true?” If so, you’re not alone, and I’m here to help. One of my favorite things in life is research. I’m truly not kidding. I’m fairly certain I’ve always been like this, especially when it comes to religions, cults, and secret societies.

Once upon a time, before anything big, bad, or very confusing had happened in my life, I was a college student walking along a beach with some friends. There was nothing particularly special about the day, or the beach, or the season of life. But in the middle of it God gave me an object lesson that has been one of the most enduring and impactful I’ve learned.

Let me be honest from the outset—I don’t like making covenants or pledges of loyalty, and outside of my wedding vows, I think I’ve only entered legally binding contracts like the ones I signed to buy my house and accept employment. So, when the topic of church covenants comes up, I get a little tense. This isn’t to say that I object to church covenants wholesale; rather, I think they should only be entered into prayerfully and after a potential church member has discussed the

For example, consider old man’s beard lichen. It looks like a plant but it actually consists of two organisms; fungus and algae living in a mutualistic relationship. They need each other to thrive and survive. The fungus protects the algae from the environment and is a moisture source while algae produce food for both. They are at their best and most healthy when they work together. This is known as a mutual symbiosis. While ecologists debate the nuances of these relationshi

The holiday season can be the best of times and the worst of times, to steal a phrase from novelist Charles Dickens in his classic, A Tale of Two Cities. We are pulled in all sorts of directions, and the expectation seems to be that we’ll be full of merriment throughout it. The truth is, though, that if you’ve experienced loss, whether through death of a loved one or by way of spiritual abuse, the holidays can be exceedingly difficult,