22 People Who Woke Up One Day And Said, “Oh My God, I Think I’m In A Cult” Are Sharing Their Stories
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Warning: Some stories in this post mention mental health struggles, trauma, suicide ideation, child abuse, and abortion.
1.”I was at a band rehearsal and dropped to the floor, all but screaming in pain from what turned out to be gallstones, and instead of calling an ambulance for me, they started praying over me, some in tongues. They were physically restraining me to stop me as I struggled to get up to leave because one person suggested that wanting to leave meant I was possessed, so they had to pray harder for me.”
—wwaxwork
2.”When, in a public sermon, one of the leaders rhetorically asked those leaving where they would go and what they would do with their lives if they didn’t have the true church in it. It made me realize how much of my life had been shaped around serving an organization that only cared about keeping me there so I could continue giving it money. That, and my recent discovery of some unsettling history the leadership had kept very quiet about. Where did I go and what did I do after leaving? Whatever I wanted to.”
3.”When the main pastor died, his son-in-law took over. He was not a pastor. He was a businessman. It later came out that he was very crooked. He’d already been in prison, which all the adults in the church claimed was a setup by the government. He used the church to set up more MLMs, selling everything from vitamins to green tea to his shitty photography. My brother and I pretty much stopped being a part of it after college, but we couldn’t convince our parents to leave. Even after the head of the church was found dead under really strange circumstances, and his kids went to prison (one went into hiding), our parents stayed. Their whole social life was with other members.”
“As much as I tried, my mom just said they would all face judgment before God, and she continued to do her mission work until her dying day. It really makes me sad that my parents were very smart people, yet really naive, and sacrificed their entire lives for these crooks.”
—nyutnyut
4.”I had been asking a lot of questions. I ended up being pulled aside by several deacons who wanted to talk to me about my questions. They were kind and nice, but eventually, I had a one-on-one with one of the church elders. We had a really interesting conversation on theology, frameworks of thought, and ideology. Even philosophy. At one point, when we started addressing the questions I had, he asked me if I knew what the first sin was. I gave the usual catechism answer of disobedience. He praised my answer and corrected me. He said the first sin was when they questioned God, as it led to the notion that they might know better. That led to disobedience.”
“Interesting answer, I suppose. But alarms started going off in my head. ‘Are you saying it is a sin to ask questions?’ I asked. ‘It can be, yes.’ He said. That was the first real crack in the dam. It was destroyed not long after.”
—VagusNC
Content retrieved from: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/22-people-who-woke-up-one-day-and-said-oh-my-god-i-think-im-in-a-cult-are-sharing-their-stories/ar-AA1FDWtd.
