RUSSIAN CITY BANS YOGA, CALLING IT A CULT:

Is yoga a spiritual practice or physical exercise? Depends on who you ask. But some Russians believe it's a cult and, taking the lead of Vladimir Putin’s revanchist movement, have outlawed it.

DID YOU KNOW F.A.C.T. HAS A YOUTUBE CHANNEL?

The F.A.C.T. Youtube channel is all about creating original content and republishing videos about destructive groups, for the purpose of public education and awareness.

Check out our channel at: http://ow.ly/CYiK300MoP0

NEW DOCUMENTARY BEING RELEASED CALLED -- HOLY HELL:

A new film called "Holy Hell", executive produced by Jared Leto, documents a spiritual community named Buddhafield, that was formed in California in the 1980s. Many of its members left feeling abused and exploited in various ways.

Shot over a period of 22 years, the documentary has been put together by Will Allen, a former member of the group, who was the informal house videographer.

A CULT IS ONLY AS STRONG AS ITS FOLLOWING

"The Path", the latest TV show on the subject of cults, deals with a family at the center of a controversial cult struggling with relationships, faith and power.

The show stars Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Michelle Monaghan (True Detective), Emma Greenwell, Rockmond Dunbar. Are you watching it? Let us know your thoughts.

DAVID MISCAVIGE'S FATHER EXPOSES SCIENTOLOGY'S CRUELEST POLICY

"In Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me (St. Martin's Press), Ron Miscavige paints his son — the leader of the Church of Scientology and the successor to founder L. Ron Hubbard — as an abusive tyrant who has transformed a once-useful religion into a cult devoted to worshipping him, squeezing every possible cent out of church members and treating those who devote their lives to the church like sharecroppers whose measly wages will never get them out of debt at the company store — or off the church’s palatial plantation.

And if they do try to leave, the elder Miscavige says, they are typically tracked down and brought back by a combination of force, coercion and psychological intimidation.
For the very few who do manage to escape and forge a new life outside the church, there awaits a special form of punishment: disconnection. That’s the church’s policy of requiring its members to shun family members who dare to leave the church or even criticize it."