Tune in Tonight: ‘Let Us Prey’: A Sect’s Secrets
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Want a break from Christmas movies and holiday sentiment? The ID Network, a place seemingly dedicated to “women-in-peril” documentaries, dedicates four hours and two nights to “Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals” (9 p.m., ID, TV-14, concluding Saturday), a harrowing expose and a rousing tale of wronged women turning on their abusers.
Many viewers may be unfamiliar with the independent fundamental Baptist (IFB) church organization. But according to investigators and hundreds of women who have gone to police and authorities, this religious group, representing some 6,000 churches and 8 million members, is a nightmare of cruelty and control, an incubator for predators — serious allegations.
Playing on the popular nostrum of “spare the rod and spoil the child” as well as Bronze Age edicts about submissive women, the church has practiced rituals intent on “breaking a child’s will” that some say lean toward mind control, if not depravity.
Women interviewed here relate tales of sadistic control practiced by their ministers, who forced them to drink their own vomit as a sign of obedience. And many tell of manipulation, sexual abuse, rape and a culture of grooming.
Survivors of the IFB culture also recall being threatened with violence and even death should they reveal their secrets. Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Sarah Smith discusses her pioneering work uncovering abusive behavior at churches as well as its network of unregulated teen boarding schools.
Content retrieved from: https://www.therepublic.com/2023/11/24/tune-in-tonight-let-us-prey-a-sects-secrets/.
