Do you watch Sister Wives? The hit reality show chronicles a polygamous family in a fundamentalist LDS cult.

One of its stars recently left the marriage, and her daughter is spilling beans about life in the Apostolic United Brethren—the extreme sect of over 10,000 members in states like Arizona who follow Adam-God doctrine, banning Black people from priesthood, and the infallibility of “prophet” leaders.

One reveal in particular just made waves: most family members in the show realize they are in a cult.

AUB has previously been called out by ex-members who exposed that its teachings lead to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and that most women practicing polygamy are victims of sex trafficking. So far, all the Sister Wives’ children have all have left the faith.

If these sort of truths are so obvious to victims of cults like this, what keeps them from leaving? And what can concerned people do to help?

These are questions we’ll be tackling at next week’s virtual Secular Summit.  

Guests include a conspiracy theorist expert; ex-Evangelicals; an anti-Q-Anon journalist; and a therapist that works with traumatized children.

We’ll also celebrate newly-elected school board members who will be working to keep cult ideologies out of classrooms.

The free event happens next Saturday at December 10th 11am. Don't miss it!

 

Federal report: human rights abuses flourish where freedom of belief isn't protected

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom just issued a report revealing that when governments don't rigorously protect freedom of belief, they create conditions leading to a slew of human rights abuses.
 
The document, entitled A Global Overview of Official and Favored Religions and Legal Implications for Religious Freedom, concluded there is a direct correlation between state-favored religion and violations of human rights. According to the report, governments that favor one religion over another are more likely discriminate against religious minorities, dissenters, non-religious people, women, and LGBTQ+.
 
Moreover, it revealed that if governments don't have a robust network of laws protecting freedom of belief, they lose it.

WATCH: "What Comes Next" with Christian nationalism?

Dr. Bradley B. Onishi, professor at University of San Francisco, author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next, co-author of Christian Mysticism: An Introduction to Contemporary Theoretical Approaches, author of The Sacrality of the Secular, and co-host of the Straight White American Jesus podcast joined us to talk about the threat of white Christian nationalism.

If you missed it, the full talk is now available on our Youtube here.

The webinar was part of our weekly Friday Updates. Don't miss another one by subscribing to the series here!

 

 
 
 
 
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Secular AZ
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