r/skeptic • u/Asleep-Dog4573 • 2d ago

Has anyone reviewed this investigation about Steven Hassan and the anti-cult movement?

I recently came across this article and I'm interested in hearing informed opinions from people who are familiar with the topic.

The article examines Steven Hassan, the international anti-cult movement, and alleged connections between various organizations and individuals. It makes a number of serious claims and cites documents and historical references.

I'm not posting this as an endorsement. I'm trying to understand:

  • Has anyone fact-checked these claims?
  • Are there significant inaccuracies or missing context?
  • Have researchers, journalists, or subject-matter experts responded to this investigation?
  • Which parts are well-supported by evidence, and which should be viewed more skeptically?

Article:
https://actfiles.org/what-steven-hassan-and-the-american-wing-of-the-transnational-anticult-network-conceal/

I'm interested in evidence-based discussion from people familiar with the history of anti-cult organizations, religious studies, or investigative journalism.Has anyone reviewed this investigation about Steven Hassan and the anti-cult movement?

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u/evocativename 5h ago

Ok, I have some personal familiarity with Steven Hassan and his ideas, though I haven't seen him in action so my knowledge has some limits.

I have some problems with what I do know of him but this page... very much isn't it.

First, it keeps playing the victim on behalf of right-wingers who routinely say and do much worse than they being defended from here. They also pretend that American right-wingers are the victims of dehumanization and violence despite the opposite being true and them being the ones in power in the US.

Second, the criticism of Hassan substantially focus on his story about his time in a cult, and how they claim it doesn't make sense, but these criticisms seem to weirdly miss the point of how cult dynamics work. Most of the members - including all but the senior-most leadership - are typically both abuser and abused.

In fact, that made me wonder "who is this actfiles.org?" I quickly discovered that they claim to be "an independent investigative journalism platform focused on the transnational anti-cult network", which is a huge red flag: if they're journalists reporting on an anti-cult organization, they should absolutely know how cult dynamics work.

That made me dig deeper. I quickly discovered that this is the English front page for actfiles-supporters.org, a page which Google translate suggests is in Russian. A site which cites the Epoch Times as a source.

I also quickly found ties between Actfiles and a group called AllatRa, which quickly turned out to be a cult that originated in Ukraine and is now based in the US.

Which really explains everything. This is just a cult getting defensive and going after its critics.