A woman who was in captivity of a sect: They obsess over your whole life, how you dress, what food you eat
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The case of “Petrohan“ in recent weeks has caused a wave of comments, political skirmishes and numerous plots that sound like conspiracy theories.
From an illegal channel, pedophilia, dubious spiritual teachings and even accusations of being a sect. These are some of the doubts and accusations surrounding the “Petrohan“ mystery.
How a woman spent years in a religious community and needed decades to break away from it…
She stands in front of the BTV camera, albeit anonymously – out of fear, but also in the hope of warning other people. How are followers attracted, how is control maintained, and what could the consequences be?
Ivana, this is not her real name, but she stands before us without showing her face. She says she is afraid, but also that silence is not a solution. Her story begins in the 1990s with a seemingly innocuous invitation to an event left in the mailbox.
„I was 30 years old at the time and I had no idea that this would lead me to where many people enter waters they cannot swim in“, the woman shares.
She begins to attend the meetings regularly. They are presented as educational and spiritual courses.
„Like basic teachings of the Bible – that’s what this course was called, there was a lot of attendance, we took notes“, Ivana explained.
Gradually her commitments increase. She receives specific tasks and begins to actively participate in the group’s activities.
„I am an evangelist, I spread the good news. That’s how they presented it to me, that this was the most important task, that God had chosen me to carry out this activity and for that I would receive a reward. Then I ended up where they were gathering people from all over the country – everything was presented as a saving action of Jesus Christ for the population of Bulgaria and that we would receive a reward – eternal life in Paradise“, the woman’s story continues.
At that time she was still a student, but gradually the organization began to displace other aspects of her life.
“They constantly drilled into our brains that God was seeking to save people and that this was the mission of their lives and that I was chosen to be such an instrument in the hands of God. “That was my recruitment, I couldn’t understand that I was falling into the clutches of religious crime,” Ivana explained.
According to her, participants are encouraged to make financial donations and dedicate a large part of their time to the activities. She loses property and money: “They want one tenth of your income immediately, every month, from which they also ask for donations, for their books and lessons. They gave you materials to read so that they could occupy your time, your thoughts, your life. They constantly thought that something had to be given for God’s people. If we don’t give – we will be cursed by God. I know other members of the group there whose homes were transferred to the sect.“
After years in the trap – Ivana now claims that the main mechanism of influence is strong emotional pressure.
„The feelings that they pumped us with and with which the human mind is most easily manipulated, these are the strongest feelings for suggestion. These are love and fear. Love for God and fear of Him. However, behind the word God stands the leader of the organization“, she says.
The only truth was what they were taught.
„The truth about this and above all that the end of the world is coming, the second coming is coming, before that there will be the coming of the antichrist. That is, they started to scare us with this and that this would happen soon“, says Ivana.
The only way to recruit people for the organization is through courses:
The other is the family way, everyone is obliged to recruit their family circle, friends, acquaintances and tell how much God loved them. The red buttons of life are being pressed, related to the needs of the human soul.
Read more https://fakti.bg/en/bulgaria/1036470-jena-bila-v-plen-na-sekta-obsebvat-celia-ti-jivot-kak-da-si-oblechen-kakva-hrana-da-adesh#goog_rewarded
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