Synanon widely relied on members’ unpaid labor, while rehabilitation fees remain unproven.
Claim:
Synanon charged its members for rehabilitation while also using them as unpaid labor.
SOME BS
History
What really happened — historical claims measured against the sources.
Synanon’s “Game” was abusive social control that sometimes undermined trust.
Claim:
Synanon's use of "The Game" caused Synanon members to distrust each other.
SOME BS
Synanon organized intimidation and violence, including the Paul Morantz rattlesnake attack.
Claim:
Synanon used violence or intimidation tactics against critics or perceived enemies.
NOT BS
Early third-century writers, especially Tertullian, describe Pentecost as a Christian festival season.
Claim:
Around 200 AD, Church Fathers including Irenaeus and Tertullian documented that Pentecost continued to be celebrated by Christians.
HARDLY BS
The Jerusalem council exempted Gentile converts from full Mosaic Law observance.
Claim:
The Council of Jerusalem (c. 49–50 AD) confirmed that Gentile converts to Christianity were not required to follow Jewish Law.
HARDLY BS
Early Christian sources place Peter and Paul’s martyrdoms in Rome under Nero.
Claim:
Paul the Apostle was imprisoned in Rome around AD 60–68, and during Emperor Nero’s persecution of Christians, Paul the Apostle and Saint Peter were martyred.
HARDLY BS
Paul made three major missionary journeys around AD 47–58, founding churches and writing New Testament epistles.
Claim:
Paul the Apostle undertook three missionary journeys (circa AD 47–58) across Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Greece, establishing churches and writing epistles that became foundational Christian texts.
NOT BS
Paul’s Damascus-road experience launched his mission as apostle to the Gentiles.
Claim:
Saul of Tarsus (Paul the Apostle) converted to Christianity after an experience on the Road to Damascus around 34 AD and became known as the "Apostle to the Gentiles."
HARDLY BS
Chinese CPR workers earned about $1 daily and often did hazardous blasting work.
Claim:
Chinese workers building the Canadian Pacific Railway were paid about one dollar per day and were assigned dangerous work such as explosives and demolition.
NOT BS
Hitler ordered Germany’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.
Claim:
Adolf Hitler started World War II.
NOT BS
Synanon imposed strict controls that subordinated family and intimate relationships to its recovery program.
Claim:
Residents of Synanon were instructed to focus on themselves and to avoid caring for personal relationships that were viewed as hindering sobriety or self-improvement.
HARDLY BS
Synanon stockpiled weapons and became increasingly isolated amid mounting scrutiny.
Claim:
Synanon stockpiled weapons and became increasingly isolated due to lawsuits.
HARDLY BS
Synanon leader Charles Dederich coerced vasectomies, broke up marriages, and reassigned partners.
Claim:
The leadership of Synanon required some members to undergo vasectomies, broke up marriages, and reassigned partners.
NOT BS
Charles Dederich founded Synanon in California in 1958 for addiction rehabilitation.
Claim:
Synanon was founded by Charles Dederich in California in 1958 as a rehabilitation program.
NOT BS
Jean Piaget was a foundational figure in modern cognitive developmental psychology.
Claim:
Jean Piaget shifted psychology away from behaviorism and helped found modern cognitive developmental psychology.
HARDLY BS
Balzac writes that clothing helps social climbers turn seeming wealth into real wealth.
Claim:
In Honoré de Balzac’s novel "Lost Illusions," Balzac argues that costume is important for people who want to appear to possess what they lack because appearing to have it can be a first step toward obtaining it.
NOT BS
In 1973, AAMR set intellectual disability at about two standard deviations below average IQ.
Claim:
In 1973, the American Association on Mental Retardation changed the IQ cutoff for diagnosing mental retardation from below 85 to below 70 because more than half of African Americans scored below 85.
MOSTLY BS
The first postwar Summer Olympic Games were held in London in 1948.
Claim:
The first Summer Olympic Games held after World War II took place in the 1940s.
NOT BS
Viking longhouses were long, narrow timber buildings with turf or stone, heated by a central hearth.
Claim:
Viking longhouses were long, narrow, and typically windowless structures built from timber, stone, and turf, with a central fire trench used for heat.
HARDLY BS
Norse explorers reached North America, with L’Anse aux Meadows dated to AD 1021.
Claim:
Norse Vikings reached North America by trans-Atlantic travel.
NOT BS
No checks match that verdict.