Tag: former members

New UCF organization provides support for former members of high-control religious groups

Published September 14, 2024 By admin with Comments 0

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged cults, Florida, former members, high control groups, support group

After breaking away from high-control religious groups, some UCF students formed an on-campus support group, After the Sect, for students going through similar experiences. Kassandra Faylun, junior English literature and sociology major and After the Sect co-founder, said that the…[Continue Reading...]

Former member of religious sect reveals truth about their looks

Published April 16, 2024 By admin with Comments 0

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged beliefs, former members, gene pool, LDS, Mormon Church, Mormons

Alyssa Grenfell, 31, grew up within the confines of an ultra-strict household but escaped the uptight lifestyle and began to focus on reclaiming her body when she was in her late 20s after moving from Utah to New York in…[Continue Reading...]

Ex-Members of This Maoist Clique Say It Was a ‘Cult’

Published October 22, 2023 By admin with Comments 0

Categorized as Cult Crimes Tagged cult, cult leader, former members, Jared Roark, Red Guards, warning

The mysterious group found its way to Austin D. while he was working a dead-end job at a Pittsburgh Starbucks. “I was feeling a little depressed and hopeless,” Austin told The Daily Beast. “I’d got out of undergrad with a…[Continue Reading...]

How Scientology tore apart two Jewish brothers from San Jose

Published August 20, 2023 By admin with Comments 0

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged documentary, former members, Jews, Scientologists, Scientology

When Geoff Levin and Robbie Levin discovered the Church of Scientology in the 1960s, the brothers felt immediately comfortable, in part, because so many Jews were already involved. “I noticed it right away,” Robbie said in an interview. Geoff added,…[Continue Reading...]

EXCLUSIVE: My family and friends rejected me when I fled the Jehovah’s Witnesses: After Rebekah Vardy’s documentary on the religious group, mother-of-four reveals how she rebuilt her life after 48 years as a member

Published May 20, 2023 By admin with Comments 0

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged abuse, former members, isolation, Jehovah's Witnesses, shunning

A former Jehovah's Witness has spoken of the heartbreak at being rejected by family and friends after walking away from the group - and reveals her own mother went to her grave while still refusing to speak to her. Mother-of-four…[Continue Reading...]

She Escaped Scientology in the Trunk of a Car. Her Nightmare Is Far From Over

Published March 27, 2023 By admin with Comments 0

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged former members, personal story, Scientologists, Scientology

“I’M LITERALLY SHAKING right now as I’m talking to you,” Valerie Haney says, speaking by phone from Florida. Her 22 years in Scientology’s hardcore elite unit, the Sea Organization, has left her with what her therapist has diagnosed as PTSD,…[Continue Reading...]

Growing up in a cult: ‘We kept our pain silent’

Published December 18, 2022 By admin with Comments 1

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged Australia, child abuse, cults, former members, personal story

From the end of the spanking line, I could see the paddle in Uncle Zephaniah’s hand. The oldest kids, the 12- and 13-year-olds, stood at the front. At five, I was the youngest and would take my punishment last. This…[Continue Reading...]

Former TLC Reality Star Writes, Sings About Surviving Abuse in Fundamentalist Family of 14

Published December 6, 2022 By admin with Comments 1

Categorized as Uncategorized Tagged former members, polygamist groups, Polygamists

In a new book, singer-songwriter Jessica Willis Fisher reveals what viewers of TLC’s wholesome “The Willis Family” reality show didn’t see: a household run by a strict and abusive father. Her memoir, “Unspeakable: Surviving My Childhood and Finding My Voice,”…[Continue Reading...]