Reading Time: 6 minutes Following is an interview with Cult Trip author Anke Richter about her ongoing investigation into sex cults. How do you define a cult? A less controversial word for cults is “high-demand groups.” According to experts like Dr Janja Lalich who’ve studied them, they have an all-encompassing belief system. So in a tantric yoga cult like […]
Taboo
Posted inViolence
Guns and religion: The nexus of the AR-15’s obscene popularity
Reading Time: 5 minutes Turns out Barack Obama was right about guns and religion. During his successful 2008 presidential campaign, he alluded to white, blue-collar manufacturing workers in America who were terribly incensed that their well-paying jobs and comfortable lives had vaporized in globalization during the previous quarter century: “And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling […]
Posted inViolence
The terrible ‘blast effect’ of AR-15s
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s about time. Finally, a major news outlet—The Washington Post—had the temerity to show, in 3D, the obscene damage inflicted by high-velocity, needle-nosed bullets from AR-15-type long guns as they blast into and tumble through bodies, leaving “gaping holes” where they exit. In a special report Tuesday, unflinchingly titled “The Blast Effect: This is how […]
Posted inViolence
‘Guns don’t kill…transgender terrorists do’—the latest in culture war opportunism
Reading Time: 5 minutes The news has sent waves across America: A former pupil returned to their Nashville elementary school to gun down three children and three adults. What happened was horrific. As we discuss the terrible ordeal, no discussion should take away from this reality. What the shooter did was disgusting, and when we seek understanding of what […]
Posted inLGBTQ
Uganda’s ‘kill the gays’ bill and (particularly American) Christianity’s enduring power to compel evil
Reading Time: 4 minutes In some ways, the malign influence of Christianity makes the entire planet unsafe—the alliance between US fundamentalists seeking to bring on the Second Coming and Jewish fanatics in Israel and Palestine is just one example, and it nicely demonstrates that the outsize power of America gives its many fundamentalists global reach, too. This is why […]
Posted inTaboo
Treating PTSD with psychedelics
Reading Time: 4 minutes The documentary From Shock to Awe takes an intimate and raw look at the transformational journey of two combat veterans suffering from severe trauma as they abandon pharmaceuticals to seek relief through the mind-expanding world of psychedelics. In an online conversation with documentary co-creator Janine Sagert, we explored how the transformative power of psychedelics and meditation helped […]
Posted inViolence
When is killing justified?
Reading Time: 5 minutes I watched uncomfortably as a municipal employee expertly slit the terrified little goat’s throat in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It was 1985. The tiny, skittish beast made not a sound during the quick execution, except for the hyper-nervous skittering of its hoofs slip-sliding on the concrete floor as it was dragged into the blood-smeared killing room. […]
Posted inDrugs
The present potential of psychedelics
Reading Time: 4 minutes OnlySky · The present potential of psychedelics | Becky Garrison Psychedelic-assisted therapy might just be the evolution of medicine. Here are some highlights from a recent Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Global Summit. The Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Global Summit, held virtually from October 11-17, 2022, featured a range of experts, from internationally known doctors to grassroots practitioners […]
Posted inTaboo
Questioning a shamanic ‘Love Camp’ at Auschwitz
Reading Time: 5 minutes OnlySky · Questioning a Shamanic Love Camp at Auschwitz | Becky Garrison In an email exchange with Eran Yoels, International School of Temple Arts (ISTA)‘s spokesperson for Israel, I inquired about ISTA’s connection to a shamanic “love camp” at Auschwitz that was posted on their website. He sent me the following response. “We, in ISTA, […]
Posted inReligious News
Disestablish it for its own good: The Church of England and gay marriage
Reading Time: 5 minutes OnlySky · Disestablish It For Its Own Good – The Church Of England And Gay Marriage | Daniel James Sharp I followed with amusement the recent fracas over same-sex marriage in the Church of England. For half a decade, the Church has been debating its doctrines relating to sexuality, and the thought of gentle Anglicans […]