John and Liv unpack what it feels like to realize your spouse’s faith is not just “a little different,” but shaped by William Branham’s prophet-claims, tape-preaching culture, and the social rules that come with it. Liv shares the moment she learned Branham was treated as a prophet, why that discovery changed everything, and what it was like facing rejection tied to second-marriage stigma and ethnicity.
They also talk through the lived impact: racism that presents as “sweet gestures,” women-policing women, rigid gender roles at home, fear-based spirituality, and the anxiety that can follow someone long after they leave. The conversation closes with practical wisdom for spouses: don’t force the process, be patient, and let truth be discovered without pressure.
Introduction
John Introduces Liv Phillips And Her Connection To The Story
Early Marriage And The First Signs Something Was Wrong
Discovering Tape Culture And William Branham’s Authority
Realizing The Message Operates Differently From Normal Church Life
When Research Turns Suspicion Into Certainty
“This Is Blasphemy” — The Shock Of Seeing Branham Treated Above Scripture
Family Pressure, Isolation, And The Difficulty Of Waking Up
Marriage, Deconstruction, And Learning How To Support Someone Leaving
Doctrinal Errors, Fear, And The Control Mechanisms Inside The Message
Bible Contradictions, Invented Verses, And Ongoing Recovery
Advice For Families Helping Loved Ones Leave High-Control Religion
Is white evangelicalism fueling Christian nationalism, political control, and cult-like influence worldwide? In this episode of Cults, Culture, and Coercion, Dr. Steven Hassan interviews historian and author Holly Berkley Fletcher, PhD on Christian missionary kids, high-control religion, belief systems, and how authoritarian culture shapes identity and politics.
Holly Berkley Fletcher, PhD is a historian, author of Missionary Kids: Unmasking the Myths of White Evangelicalism, and former CIA analyst who spent 19 years studying global dynamics. Raised in Kenya by evangelical missionary parents, Dr. Fletcher brings both lived experience and scholarly insight to examining white evangelical culture, its global reach, and its influence on modern political movements.
In this conversation, Dr. Hassan and Dr. Fletcher examine:
How white evangelicalism can function as a high-control religion with cult-like dynamics
Why Christian nationalism is rooted in ideas of American exceptionalism and religious authority
How the “inerrancy doctrine” reinforces conformity and suppresses critical thinking
The connection between white evangelical culture and the Trump MAGA movement
How belief systems filter information and make it difficult to admit error
The psychological impact of growing up as a missionary kid, including separation, fear, and identity disruption
The role of fear, hell, and phobia indoctrination in maintaining control
The difference between community vs. conformity and why high-control groups often confuse the two
How authoritarian cultures—religious and political—rely on “us vs. them” thinking
Why empathy, democracy, and critical thinking are essential to resisting authoritarian influence
Together, they explore how high-control religions can extend beyond faith circles and into broader society, shaping political movements, reinforcing authoritarian systems, and influencing how individuals think, feel, and behave.
Chapters:
White Evangelicals, MAGA & Cult-Like Control
What Is White Evangelicalism? Culture, Power & Influence
Missionary Kids & Hidden Impacts of Evangelical Culture
0Growing Up in Kenya: Faith, Family & Control
Christian Nationalism & “Holy War” Rhetoric Today
American History, Religion & Authoritarian Roots
Psychological Warfare & Religious Influence Networks
Authoritarian Culture vs. Leadership in Evangelicalism
Biblical Inerrancy Explained: Control Through Doctrine
Cult abuse, mind control, brainwashing, child exploitation, Children of God survivors, religious trauma, coercive control, trafficking, second-generation cult survivors; In this powerful episode of Cults, Culture, and Coercion, Steven Hassan speaks with psychologist and survivor Maria Esguerra about growing up inside one of the most extreme high-control cult groups.
Dr. Hassan welcomes Maria Esguerra, a registered psychologist from Australia who was born and raised in the Children of God (also known as The Family). As a second-generation cult survivor of one of the most oppressive cults, Children of God, Maria brings both lived experience and clinical expertise to a deeply important conversation about cult abuse, trauma, and holding cults accountable for the damage they've caused.
Together, they explore the realities of being raised in a high-control, authoritarian cult environment, including systemic child abuse, lack of medical care, exploitation, and the long-term psychological consequences for survivors. Maria shares how her work with support groups and advocacy aids cult survivors, including helping cult victims pursue justice and speaking before government inquiries into cults.
This episode examines:
The distinction between adult coercion and child victimization in cults
Why minimizing abuse or “both sides” framing can retraumatize survivors
The role of governments, institutions, and mental health systems in failing survivors
The concept of trafficking, exploitation, and coercive control within cult environments
The importance of centering victims—especially second-generation survivors
Accountability, justice, and the ethics of healing in the aftermath of abuse
Maria also discusses her work in mental health and trauma-informed care, highlighting how systemic failures continue to impact survivors who were denied basic rights like education, legal identity documentation, and medical treatment.
The testy confrontation by the White House over Pope Leo XIV’s stating the obvious about unjustified war on Iran has apparently branched out into outright nastiness.
Last night, Pope Leo’s brother John Prevost was forced to evacuate his Illinois home south of Chicago due to a bomb threat. The New Lenox (Illinois) Police Department issued a statement confirming the bomb threat. They carried out an extensive search and determined the threat had been made without a bomb actually having been placed. They allowed people in the neighborhood to return to their homes and stated: “The incident remains under investigation as authorities work to determine the origin of the report. Making false reports of this nature is a serious offense and may result in criminal charges.”
Also on April 15, as reported by the Miami Herald, the Trump administration ended the funding for a Catholic Church-based charity that shelters immigrant children. The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami said the White House had pulled a longstanding $11 million contract from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for a program that provides specialized services for unaccompanied and undocumented minors who have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Miami’s Archbishop Thomas Wensky told the Herald: “The U.S. government has abruptly decided to end more than 60 years of relationship … and [the services] will be forced to shut down within three months…. [The] services for unaccompanied minors have been recognized for their excellence and have served as a model for other agencies throughout the country. Our track record in serving this vulnerable population is unmatched.”
Washington’s Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Emily Hilliard attributed the closing to downsizing, saying that the average daily population of unaccompanied migrant children was down to 1,900, so ORR’s previous services are being cut back. (more...)
For years, Handala has silently and invisibly been right inside the system of General Herzi Halevi, the former Chief of Staff of the Zionist Army, a place no one ever imagined possible.
During all this time, more than 19,000 confidential images and videos from the most secret meetings of the Zionist military’s Chief of Staff have been extracted and archived—material your top generals never dreamed would see the light of day.
An army that now nervously pixelates every public image never realized that its own Chief of Staff’s files and photos have been fully accessible and uncensored to Handala, every moment, for years.
Every face, every commander, every criminal pilot, clear and unblurred, are in our hands, and will be revealed one by one when the time is right.
All your top-secret facilities, crisis rooms, maps, and even the tiniest details of your command centers have long been like an open book to us.
Even now, Handala has access to all your senior commanders. Every moment, every decision, every conversation is being watched, only the time to expose them has not yet arrived.
And for the sake of irony: as one of our videos shows, this very so-called “general” was once caught hiding under a table, trying to scare his wife—and failed even at that!
Are these the same criminal commanders who think they can intimidate the lion cubs of Haidar al-Karrar or the warriors of Hezbollah?
What a delusion!
Remember:
We are the shadow in the heart of your command;
And everything you have will one day be exposed for all the world to see. (more...)
💢 Iran-linked hackers claim breach of former Israeli army chief’s phone, leak 19,000+ files
The group ‘Handala’ says it has accessed more than 19,000 files from former IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi’s phone, including images and videos from sensitive meetings.
John and Charles examine how William Branham’s apocalyptic teachings shaped everyday life inside the Message movement, from fear of the end times to broken family decisions, financial instability, and long-term emotional damage. They explore how doomsday expectations affected marriage, parenting, education, retirement planning, and the ability of many people to function outside the group.
The discussion also looks at how later Branhamist interpretations of the so-called seventh vision fostered paranoia, survivalism, and distrust of public institutions. Along the way, John and Charles connect these themes to wider patterns found in doomsday religion, authoritarian control, failed prophecy, and the lasting personal cost of growing up under constant end-of-the-world pressure.
During the winter of 1969, young boys started to disappear from the streets of Belfast, never to be seen again. By 1974, as the Troubles were reaching a bloody and vicious peak, five boys in total had vanished within a five-mile radius. Fifty years later, as the disappearances remain unsolved and families continue to search for answers, filmmaker Des Henderson (How to Defuse a Bomb) reopens these largely forgotten cold-cases, unearthing disturbing revelations in secret state documents to reveal an extraordinary tale of abuse, murder and potential cover up.
Set in Gaza, The Voice of Hind Rajab follows the tragic story of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old girl who died while trying to flee Israeli attacks with her family.
Hiding inside her uncle's own car, she was trapped after the vehicle started to catch fire, and despite spending three hours on the phone with Red Crescent volunteers, she was found dead, alongside paramedics, 12 days after the desperate call.
The film dramatizes the events, using the original audios of Hind asking for help and reporting the attempts of humanitarian aid to reach her in the midst of the chaos and attacks.
In a series of complaints, the film addresses the topic that shocked the world, mainly due to the lack of access to ambulances that could have saved these lives.
JD Vance once called Trump “America’s Hitler” so why did he join MAGA? In this episode of Cults, Culture, & Coercion, Dr. Steven Hassan interviews JD Vance's relative, Nikki McCarty on Christian nationalism, Pentecostal indoctrination, and authoritarian extremism.
Nikki McCarty, JD Vance's relative and the “childless cat lady” he often refers to, shares her firsthand experience growing up in a high-control Christian nationalist environment shaped by purity culture, rapture theology, emotional manipulation, and media control.
They also explore Nikki’s relationship to JD Vance’s family and her shock at watching his public political evolution from condemning Trump and warning of fascism, to embracing the MAGA movement. Nikki reflects on how hopeful she once felt that Vance might become a bridge between divided family members and how her hope collapsed as his rhetoric became increasingly extreme.
This episode also discusses Nikki’s late autism diagnosis, her experience coming out as a member of the LGBT community after growing up in homophobic religious culture, and the painful reality of family estrangement in an era of political polarization. Together, they explore how mind control dynamics don’t just exist in “cults,” but can operate inside religious movements, political ecosystems, and modern media environments.
In this conversation, Dr. Hassan and Nikki McCarty examine:
Nikki’s upbringing in Christian nationalism and Pentecostal-style high control religion
How rapture theology and the "Left Behind" worldview shape fear-based thinking
Seven Mountain Dominionism and the belief in taking over government, media, and society
How behavioral control shaped education, friendships, and identity
Purity culture, sexual repression, and religious control of women’s bodies
Thought stopping techniques, fear conditioning, and “God is good” indoctrination
Speaking in tongues, prophecy, and falling “under the Spirit” as a form of group influence
MLM/pyramid scheme exploitation inside church communities
Autism diagnosis later in life and the power of understanding neurodivergence
Family estrangement and the emotional toll of political polarization
JD Vance’s transformation from “Never Trump” to Trump’s political ally
🔔 Subscribe for expert interviews and analysis on cults, coercive control, authoritarianism, propaganda, and psychological manipulation.
Nikki asked us to clarify that while she believes in the possibility of redemption, she believes there is no “redemption arc” for J.D. Vance without full justice for the Epstein survivors. She emphasized that the only way he can begin to mitigate the harm he has enabled is by supporting accountability for traffickers and abusers, regardless of power or party, and ending the protection of pedophiles and the silencing of victims.
Chapters:
JD Vance, Trump, and “America’s Hitler”
Nikki McCarty’s background and connection to JD Vance
The killing of Renee Good and ICE authoritarianism
JD Vance’s family history and early estrangement
Christian nationalism and Seven Mountain Dominionism
Rapture theology, Left Behind ideology, and fear-based indoctrination
Steven Hassan’s Moonies experience and cult identity
Using the BITE Model to analyze religious upbringing
Purity culture, education control, and restricting friendships
MLM exploitation and pyramid schemes inside church culture
Constant services, immersion, and behavioral control
Generational curses, shame, and withholding forgiveness
Medical neglect, MS diagnosis, and “pray it away” control
Thought stopping, guilt, and blaming the victim
Speaking in tongues and falling “under the Spirit”
Autism diagnosis later in life
Coming out while raised in homophobic religious culture
Hillbilly Elegy, JD Vance’s shift, and political extremism
St. Patrick, a Romano-British Bishop landed in Skerries, Ireland in 432 AD when he returned to bring Christianity to the pagans. I visited the town on Thanksgiving Day 2025. It was green and lush. Its stones were wet from the passing rain, and, to my surprise, there was a segment of a rainbow above St. Patrick Island. I contemplated the consequences and the difference between St. Patrick, a single man, spiritually impregnating the island with Catholicism for centuries to come, and the Puritans without names or faces (as they have been represented to us Americans) spiritually and physically impregnating North America with Protestantism in 1621. On this anniversary of the event, I carried under my arm Paul Blanshard’s book, The Irish and Catholic Power. As Dr. E. Michael Jones has pointed out in many of his articles, Paul Blanshard was a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) hell-bent on dealing with the Catholic Question, particularly, as this book reveals, by breaking Catholic Church-State relations.
As the light began to fade, and darkness descended, a gale passed by and almost blew away the few people and dogs enjoying the walk. I took refuge along the rock wall surrounding the sea trying to protect the book, the cellphone in my leather purse with the broken zipper, and whatever warmth I held inside my jacket. When the sharp wind and rain passed, I walked on towards the bus stop near St. Patrick’s church. And on the way I met an old man named Joseph, called Joe, as he sat on the bench looking straight out to St. Patrick’s Island, where the Saint first set foot. There was a glorious white dog that looked like a mixture of a white Labrador with a Golden Retriever’s wavy mane standing on the green, wind-combed hill as if he were the spirit of St. Patrick himself or a dog representing the presence of an angel, like the little dog in the story of Tobit. That’s why I stopped to ask the man if it were his dog. Joseph said no and went on to testify what a horrible thing St. Patrick did to bring Catholicism to the island, ‘It has been catastrophic.’ I was not surprised to hear him speak this way. Not only were the Irish starved during the Potato Famine, their towns were purposely dismantled, and they themselves sent to the United States as cheap labor to advance America’s industrial revolution, but Ireland’s propaganda continues to be anti-Catholic. The Guiness family recently, as an example, allowed the release of a series documenting the homosexual nature of their family history in Netflix’s House of Guinness, which also explains how the family built its empire on the foundation of Irish drinkers. And then there’s the Magdalene Laundries documentaries repeated ad nauseum to the Irish to help them hate Catholic nuns. As a sign that the propaganda works, the most common costume during this year’s Halloween was the horrifying, bloody nun costume. Even the young were wearing it.
I let Joseph talk. When he asked me where I was from, I told him that I was a Mexican, with some Irish roots, born in Florida. I told him my father taught me that the Mexicans would always love the Irish because they switched sides during the Mexican-American War to defend fellow Catholics and the Church from sacrilege (and perhaps to obtain the property the Mexican government offered the soldiers, as well). I told him my great-grandfather was a ginger with pale skin and blue eyes and from my mother’s side, I had uncles with eyes as blue as his because they were from the Gaelic area of Galicia. Joseph looked at me with astonishment and he seemed pleased. I usually add that my paternal family is from the same region as the white-redheaded Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez, but I didn’t this time. I wanted the story to sink in, and I looked at Joseph: the same person who can curse Catholicism (which I blame on years of heavy social engineering) can still feel pleasure at the idea that Catholics of different races and languages can join to fight against a common enemy. And I watched as the idea dawned on his lovely, weathered face, as he gazed out towards St Patrick’s island, that an act of heroic and sacrificial love can go down in history to his credit as if Joseph himself had been hung for treason on behalf of a Mexican. As I fancied he was thinking. (more...)
A historian of the Nazi occupation of France was being sued Wednesday by her own relatives for alleged libel after she promoted her first novel as inspired by her family's history.
Cecile Desprairies, 68, says her debut novel "The Propagandist" -- published in English last year -- is inspired by her own childhood, but family members have accused her of lying and want the title removed from bookstores.
"It's a fact: I grew up in a collaborationist family. They all were -- to varying degrees," Desprairies said after the book came out in French in 2023.
She was not present in court on Wednesday, but a lawyer represented her.
In the novel, the narrator's family all have different names to those of the author's real-life relatives, but the plaintiffs -- the author's brother and another relative -- say they are clearly identifiable.
In a legal complaint against Desprairies and her publisher seen by AFP, they accuse her of libel against her mother, great-uncle and half-brother of her grandmother. (more...)
Michael Matt's first Underground of the New Year tackles the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and the over 600 military strikes the Trump Administration ordered against seven countries in 2025 alone. Tell me, is this what you voted for?
Meanwhile, why did the Trump Administration tell Josh Hawley to pound sand?
Good news from the USCCB. Unbelievably, they got it right this time! This is huge!
Plus, the Holy Year is over, so moving forward into the New Year, Pope Leo owns everything that happens. And with the January consistory looming, Vatican watchers are looking to see if Leo is going to be Francis 2.0 when it comes to the Latin Mass. Michael says it might be a bit more subtle than that and we may be looking at the resurrection of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's "reform of the reform." What is that? Watch and see!
Finally, for the first time in U.S. history, Catholics outnumber Protestants. Way to go, Gen Z!
Laith meets with Dr Edward Alam, Benedict XVI Endowed Chair of Religious, Cultural and Philosophical Studies at Notre Dame University in Lebanon. The two discuss Dr Alam’s upbringing in Utah as a second generation American Lebanese, his return to Lebanon in the late 80s during the “Civil War,” his efforts to educate about the history of Christian Arabic resistance to Zionism, the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Lebanon, and more.
Pope Leo, climate change, and the synodal Church of Accompaniment. Where do I stand, and has The Remnant’s editorial policy softened?
EWTN and the ADL? Are you serious? Dr. Scott Hahn and Ben Shapiro correct the record.
Lila Rose is "a feminist nag who has no business telling men anything about pornography." Hating on women... is the Nick Fuentes effect driving the Neo-Trad movement into the ground?
And, finally, a massive movement is rebuilding Christian Europe one province at a time, and you won’t believe what’s driving it!
Source video:
In this week’s Remnant Underground, Michael Matt goes where the actual (as opposed to the false flag) Deep State doesn’t want anybody to go -- back to Rome 1965, the Second Vatican Council, where something extraordinary happened that impacted the lives of every person on earth, Christian or not.
Using Jewish sources, Michael demonstrates how Jewish organizations lobbied the pope and powerful Council Fathers at Vatican II to radically “reform” Catholic teaching on the Divine Commission of Jesus Christ to "go out and convert all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and Holy Ghost." (Matthew 28:18-20)
This "reform" was to be carried out under the guise of improving the Church’s relations with non-Christan religions. The result? Well, watch and see, but here’s a hint – it has everything to do with global apostacy, Christian persecution, the Vatican crackdown on traditional Catholics, even the recent FBI infiltration of Latin Mass parishes.
This week's Underground will blow your mind because it explains not only the fall of the Catholic Church over the past century but also the rise of Zionism and the war in the Mideast. It’s all connected. So, prepare to have your blindfold removed.
Speaking of which, this week Cardinal Dolan calls us to "unite with our Islamic brothers" in prayer and fasting during Lent, and President ‘Mr. Green T’ Zelenskyy finally exposes himself for the angry little fraud he’s always been. (You’re on deck, Bibi)
Chapters:
Intro/Leader
Cardinal Dolan on Lent
Trump/Zelensky fallout
Vatican II direct connection to Zionism
Michael Matt's father fought the Nazis in WWII
Michael Matt's grandfather was awarded for his fight against Nazis
Our guest this week is Tammy Oliver McCurdie, sister of the late Jolene Oliver, who was killed along with her partner and daughter in the Portapique, Nova Scotia mass shooting. Tammy is also a member of the Progress Review Committee, tracking the progress on recommendations from the Mass Casualty Commission. She describes the terrible hours of uncertainty while she and her family awaited word from someone as to what was taking place, her doubts about the official narrative, and her thoughts on the upcoming book by Lisa Banfield.
Before hearing from our guest, we discuss the Ontario Provincial Police report on the RCMP's handling of the four officers involved in the Robert Dziekanski death at the Vancouver Airport, as well as the arrest of the lawyer for former Canadian Olympic snowboarder, Ryan Wedding.
John and Matthew revisit the deep and often overlooked history of the Global Missions movement and its ties to Sharon Orphanage and the 1948 Latter-Rain Revival. Matthew, a former member, shares firsthand insights about growing up under the group’s culture of “prophetic history” and its fixation on ongoing revelation. Together they examine the roots of this theology in Branhamism, the hidden influence of early founders like Eric Holt, George Houghton, and Percy Hunt, and how editing and distributing recorded sermons shaped the movement’s beliefs. They also discuss the broader restorationist mindset that underpins much of the New Apostolic Reformation and why it continues to attract followers today. This candid conversation sheds light on the long-term dangers of replacing the sufficiency of Scripture with leaders who claim to reveal divine mysteries.
Introduction
Cult overlap between Branham, IHOPKC & Global Missions
Why everyone wants the “prophetic history”
Leaving a cult without knowing what questions to ask
Early Global Missions leaders and myth-making
Secret origins: funding, influence & hidden power structures
Founders’ behavior becoming church policy
Telekinesis, metaphysics & spiritualist practices
The “Judas narrative” and endless fragmentation
Gnostic foundations and pursuit of hidden knowledge
The danger of ongoing revelation vs. biblical sufficiency
Restorationism and replacing the Holy Spirit with apostles
Why “special revelation” isolates people from mission
When “revival” becomes generational disappointment
