Newsletter: Has "Cancel Culture" gone too far?
Defending all human rights, democracy, and helping survivors
Dear friends,
This week, Forbes cited my expertise regarding problems ex-members have pursuing a career. Today, I attended a virtual meeting for the Canadian think tank, DemocracyXChange Summit I am attending in person on April 12th. Also, I did a short video regarding JK Rowling, cancel culture, and attacks of being a transphobe. I’d love to hear what you think on this topic. In addition, this week’s Influence Continuum offers a Protestant Scholar’s take on the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and other extreme right-wing Christian groups that are seeking to establish a theocracy in America.
Yesterday, Forbes published an article about the survivors of a polygamist cult; I was interviewed for the article and quoted about the challenges facing survivors who leave, giving some constructive advice on how to find one’s authentic self and create a new, post-cult life and identity.
As you know, I’m a fervent supporter of democracy, and today, I have been attending a Zoom Workshop for DemocracyXChange, a Canadian organization dedicated to combating misinformation that endangers democracy. I will also attend their summit April 11-12th in Toronto, so watch this space!
I recently made a video in support of J.K. Rowling’s new book, The Running Grave—a masterfully written novel about a destructive cult and how it was infiltrated and shut down. Chapter Nine references my book Combating Cult Mind Control, and when I read the novel, it was clear Rowling had done extensive research.
Then some folks tried to cancel me (I lost over 1K followers on social media) because I said that this was a great book about cults- simply because Rowling had written it, and they have been brainwashed to believe she or I am transphobic. But as you probably already know, I am a human rights advocate for all. Therefore, I am a women's rights, gay rights, trans rights, Indigenous rights, and minority rights activist. However, I am critical of “cancel culture” when done by the right or the left.
I decided to clarify my position in this video. What do you think?
As a Protestant, Matthew D. Taylor, Ph.D., is a Senior Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS), where he specializes in Muslim-Christian dialogue, Evangelical and Pentecostal movements, religious politics in the U.S., and American Islam. ICJS produced a 30-minute documentary, Spiritual Warriors: Decoding Christian Nationalism at the Capitol Riot, featuring Dr. Taylor. His new forthcoming book, The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement that is Threatening Our Democracy, tracks the role those Christian leaders played, particularly those from the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) networks, in instigating Christians to participate in the January 6th Capitol Riot.
As always, feel free to let us know what you think about these pieces, or what you’d like to see us talk about in the future. Thanks so much!
Spring has almost sprung, and our crop of Freedom of Mind T-shirts are the perfect way to show your support while stepping out into the warm weather!
Our Facebook group is growing and YOU are invited! Join us for insightful, respectful dialogue on cults, mind control, undue influence, authoritarianism, and much more. Together we can discuss what needs to be done to make a better world for all of us. We hope to see you there!
I can understand being skeptical of cancel culture, especially as it doesn't leave room for people doing real harm to ever turn around and make amends. Calls to violence and shunning are never the answer. However, it is not "brainwashed" to call JK Rowling a transphobe. She openly says a lot of transphobic things and supports self-professed transphobic people and transphobic policies. She spreads transphobic conspiracy theories, even about cisgendered women (like Imane Khelif and Barbra Branda) - the very people she claims to advocate for. Also, I get that she has trans friends, but you do not have to purposefully be transphobic to repeat and support transphobic rhetoric. You merely have to be ignorant. So maybe instead of brushing people off as brainwashed, you actually recognize valid concern. I love your books, but I'm actually pretty disappointed in you on this one. Your inability to receive criticism and concern is antithetical to your own message. Your inability to receive criticism on this topic makes people think you're a hypocrite, and that alone has made it difficult for me to get people to take your points seriously. When people kept telling me you've doubled down on supporting an openly transphobic person, I had hoped they were wrong.