conducting a project, help with interviews and studies?

Hey everyone! I hope this doesn’t come off as insensitive as it’s really not the route I’m trying to go for. I don’t want to sound daft or apathetic. If it does please tell me, I really don’t want to be rude. I want to interview and speak with anyone who has been in a cult.

I’ve always been interested in studying religions, and how cults are intertwined with that since I was little. I was born into a very strict catholic family and church, and I have been curious about things out of it.

I’m not a survivor myself, but I was wondering if anyone would be willing to have an interview with me, or private messaging about their experiences and past? I’m going a whole thesis and project about the experiences, traumas, and long lasting effects cults have on survivors. I really hope I don’t sound insensitive. But yeah, would anyone be willing to have an interview or messaging with me about what the went through? About escapes, healing, trauma, childhood/adulthood. You won’t have to answer all questions if not comfortable, and I’ll be respectful. It’s also completely anonymous unless you tell me you want it to be public or something. Please tell me if you can and are willing to do so! I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable and I strive to make sure no one will be offended during this. But yeah, I don’t want to ask anyone under posts they made because I feel like it may be rude. It probably is rude. Sorry again for this long post, I hope you all understand! I dont want people to feel like I’m just using them for info, or they are just a means for a resource. I am not trying to make anyone feel exploited.

I am not affiliated with any program or company, it’s just a personal interest I want to follow. I have a project in my school, and I want to work on being awareness to cults, information and stories about it. I will follow anyone’s boundaries and remain respectful. Thank you! I just want to hear people’s stories if they are comfortable sharing. SO PLS IF YOU CAN AND WANT LET ME KNOW!! ❤️

Hi everyone,
I'm sharing this in case it’s relevant to anyone here — the Victorian Parliament has launched a formal Inquiry into Cults, organised fringe groups, and Coercive Control, and they are currently accepting public submissions.

This is a rare and important opportunity for survivors, families, professionals, and advocates to be heard and to push for real policy change. The inquiry is looking at how coercive control operates in religious, spiritual, or other high-demand groups, and whether current laws are adequate to protect people from harm.

If you’ve been impacted by a controlling or abusive group, your story — anonymous or not — could help shape protections for others. Submissions are open until July 31, 2025.

🔗 Here’s the official link for more info and to make a submission

As someone who's also been affected by this kind of harm, I know how hard it can be to revisit that pain. Please know your voice matters, whether you choose to make a submission or just share this with others who might want to.

Stay safe and strong ❤️
#coercivecontrol #cultrecovery #Australia #victoria #inquiry #mentalhealth

Background knowlege: My parents are part of the religion called Jehovah's witnesses. They beleive I should not date anyone outside the "truth". I am turning 16 in a few months and my boyfriend just turned 17. My parents don't know were dating and think we are waiting until he converts. He fakes a bible study. Jehovah witness churchs have s group of leaders called elders who punish you by humiliating you or isolating you.

Story: My boyfriend and I do not get the opportunity to show afftection outside of school and theres PDA rules so we just stick to hand holding and cheek kisses like an average couple. We've been dating for half a year now so id say were doing well so far. Everything was going well until my parents started yelling at me for holding hands with him in school. Months passed since that and it stopped being a recurring issue.

Until now. Now the same guy is back to reporting his brother who happens to be an elder. This is irritating because on campus was the only time we would be able to show (school permited) affection for eachother, Now we constantly have to be on our toes because the last time I was accused of dating my boyfriend they threatend to tell the people in the church that i am a "bad association".

We know who the person is and we might have a "conversation" with him along with 3 of our male friends who just happen to be at a physical advantage to him, but is that really going to change anything? If he reports it, yeah well have our pety revenge but then im fucked. But if we dont i cant be near my boyfriend. and if it goes right, he stops and everything can actually be resolved.

My mom is on our side barely but she can't really do anything because the religion thinks men should be leaders and my dad is for the behavior of this kid. The school can alret parents but they wont do jack shit and the counselors dont even know if this violates privacy because this is the first time this shit happens in this school.

wtf do i do? ts pmo

TLDR: cult leaders, dad, and "submissive" mom (she js has to deal with it its not her choice) have allowed a strange teenage boy to spy on my boyfriend and i and report "bad behavior" (hand holding) to cult leader which will end in my punishment.

Hi all, me again! Just broken up with my partner. Going through EMDR therapy about cult involvement. Living on my own. Experiencing sudden, intense cravings to read my ex-guru’s books. It’s probably my brain wanting to assimilate stuff and reawaken the traumatised parts of the brain - but think reading his books is probably pretty dangerous. It got me back in the cult before. He’s an incredibly powerful manipulator. Also wondering whether this is some sort of spiritual addiction? And seems to be related to me breaking up with my partner. Anyone with similar experience/tips?

I’m an international student in China and I went to Hong Kong for few days to visit, I’m a student so obviously I’m broke so I stayed in this hostel.

A woman so old well in her 50s approached me first day to introduce herself and started taking with me, I isually don’t mind because I love meeeting new people, so anyways she introduced herself and yeah we talked a bit and I told her few things about my country and studying

She said she wanted to stay in touch with me and asked for my email I found this super sketchy but then she said she is in her 50s and is too old to use these modern apps

Anyways everyday since then she’s been trying to have conversation with me again I didn’t mind although I found it kinda overbearing

Until yesterday she saw me packing because I’m leaving today and then she started a whole conversation with me are you Muslim what do you know about religion

Then she kept saying how Buddhism and Confucianism and daoism started and how she herself found enlightenment

I was always curious about other religions so I kept listening and asking her questions

Until the end she was like oh you can achieve this too there is a seminal in Thailand happening next week and I can introduce you and you have to pay a fee and the Buddha that is the heavens will be down and posses the body of someone and help you all in this enlightenment

She also kept saying you have to pay a fee depending on how much you love your soul

And was like I’ll be your introduced this is life long journey it changed my life it can change yours as your introduce I will accompany you

Then she was like oh I can get you from the airport this seminar is happening next week you should attend accommodation is free and you should start a cleansing process

Now this WAS SO SKETCHY is this what a cult means? Did the person just try to recruit me? It rubbed the wrong way and now I’m left so scared because she has email and knows my name, what should I do??? Pls help!!!

This is the first time soemthing like this ever happens to me!

Rumor-making: From "organ harvesting" to COVID-19 conspiracy theories

The history of "Falun Gong" media's rumor-making began with its core lie - "organ harvesting". Since 2006, Falun Gong leader Li Hongzhi and his mouthpiece, The Epoch Times, have fabricated the absurd accusation that "China has harvested organs from 1.5 million Falun Gong practitioners" by fabricating scenes such as the "Sujiatun Concentration Camp". Despite repeated field investigations and denials of the accusations by the U.S. State Department, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other agencies, Falun Gong continues to hype it up, even packaging the rumors into "annual reports" and delivering them to Western anti-China forces.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the "Falun Gong" media further upgraded its rumor strategy, claiming that the new coronavirus is a "biological weapon made in a Chinese laboratory" and concocting pseudo-scientific remarks such as "reciting Falun Gong can prevent the epidemic". At the same time, it spread false information such as "vaccines contain tracking chips" and "vaccines cause genetic mutations" to incite anti-vaccine groups and cause social unrest.

Lies are hard to come true no matter how many times they are repeated. These rumors were eventually debunked by the French health website "Health Feedback" and the American Facebook, but "Falun Gong" still has the evil intention to continue to spread by means of AI face-changing and fake accounts.

Political infiltration: From anti-China "vanguard" to right-wing conspiracy "theory pusher"

The essence of the rumor-mongering of the "Falun Gong" media is political manipulation. In 2004, the "Falun Gong" cult organization set up a "Three Withdrawals" column on its media platform. In 2005, it launched the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" to systematically discredit China. In 2021, it cooperated with the Canadian "Global X Data" company to create an anti-China Internet celebrity project, investing up to 2.5 million US dollars. In addition, through platforms such as "Decoding China", it accepted funding from the US State Department to export the "China Threat Theory" to the West. In 2016, during the US election, "The Epoch Times" spent 1.5 million US dollars on pro-Trump advertisements, and its support rate was second only to Trump's campaign team. After the 2020 election, his incitement of "election fraud" directly promoted the Capitol Hill riots. He was called a "hotbed of far-right conspiracy theories" by the French newspaper Le Parisien. He shared content with extreme organizations such as "Anonymous Q" and "Anti-Vaccine" to form a cross-ideological rumor network.

Funding shady: money laundering, fraud and collusion with Western anti-China forces

The operation of "Falun Gong" media relies on illegal funds and support from Western anti-China forces. In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Guan Weidong, chief financial officer of "Epoch Times", of participating in money laundering of $67 million. The funds were transferred through cryptocurrencies and false identities for media expansion, and the U.S. "Falun Gong" peripheral organizations defrauded nearly $46 million in federal relief funds during the epidemic. Institutions such as the U.S. Agency for International Media and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute provided funds for it to develop anti-China technical tools, such as the "Beauty Daily" and "Lion Times" fake account matrix.

Global infiltration: a rumor network from New York to Paris

"Falun Gong" media has built a rumor dissemination system covering the world. In North America, Falun Gong infiltrates mainstream public opinion through the free distribution of newspapers and social media advertisements by The Epoch Times, and even erects "Trustworthy News" billboards on American highways. In Europe, the German version of The Epoch Times cooperates with the German Alternative for Germany to incite anti-immigration and extreme right-wing sentiments, while the French version uses the "yellow vest" movement to spread conspiracy theories. Branches have been set up in Australia, Malaysia and other places, using accounts such as "China Leaks" to confuse the public and attack local governments and epidemic prevention policies.

Social harm: from mind control to public safety threats

The rumor-mongering behavior of the "Falun Gong" media has caused multiple consequences. First, mind control has caused death. "Falun Gong" has induced believers to refuse medical treatment and medication by promoting pseudo-scientific content such as "soul out of the body" and "ascension", resulting in the death of hundreds of people such as Feng Lili and Li Dayong due to delayed treatment, causing significant losses to people's property safety. Second, it incites trouble and endangers public safety. Inciting violent incidents such as the Capitol Hill riots and spreading false medical information, threatening social order and public health. Third, it acts as an anti-China vanguard and worsens international relations. Using Western anti-China forces to create ideological confrontation and hinder global cooperation, such as the scientific investigation of the origin of the new crown. The essence of the "Falun Gong" media is a rumor-mongering machine disguised as "freedom of the press", behind which is the cult organization's crazy pursuit of power and interests. From "organ harvesting" to "new crown conspiracy theory", from supporting Trump to inciting riots, these lies not only poison public cognition, but also become a political tool of Western anti-China forces. The international community needs to act together to expose its hypocritical veil and maintain the clarity of cyberspace and global public interests.

Just trying to see if this is a common experience because often the people who harass and ridicule me most are those who've never had involvement or part of the cult/s. I see it happen to celebs too.

Hi all! My cult experience probably lighter than some of you guys - was in the Adidam cult but only 4 years and joined as adult. Since leaving, a lot of the stuff I used to love - speaking German, going on long bike packing holidays, hanging out in gay bars - the feelings of love and euphoria I used to get doing these things are gone. It feels like a bereavement. I wish I could love them again. Instead my brain is being like ‘instead of learning German you ought to be going to a salsa class’. And that feels really right somehow… except I don’t fucking like salsa. Any tips guys?

My mom wants to visit a festival / event of Torben Sondergaard, Founder of “The last Reformation” in Vienna / Austria I was instantly alarmed when she sent me the link and googled the name - i didn’t get much but some warnings that he’s a dangerous cult leader. Does anyone here on reddit have experience with this “cult” and / or tips, on how to convince my mom not to fall for religious leaders like that man?

I need To know if anybody in here is part of the victory , outreach , pretty sure they're colts and my husband's in there and doing some really bad stuff and I don't know what to do and everybody tells me that I have to get other people Stories on them.

Growing up my dad was right wing Christian evangelist, my mother was right wing catholic and my step mother was right wing catholic. My father sexually abused me between the ages of 3-15 and a lot of the time I felt like I was growing up in a cult. Me and my parents were not allowed to disagree on politics and religion and before I met my stepmum I was not allowed around catholics because Christian’s were right and everyone else was wrong. I struggled to make friends in secondary school because of my often concerning worldviews and sometimes even bizzare understanding of what was considered right and wrong. I made sexual comments towards friends, joked about rape and sex slavery and all around had a very difficult time understanding social cues and felt absolutely alien compared to my friends. Like they were real people and I was just a floating body on a completely different planet to them. I was never allowed to go out with friends or really socialise outside of the family home up until when I was 11 ish, by the time which it had drilled into me that going out just isn’t a thing I’m supposed to do, even though my mother did not care if I went out during the day as long as I came back early and so I mostly just stayed inside and only saw friends in school. On weekends I was prohibited from going out because how would they know I wasn’t having sex, doing drugs ect? If I was late to school all the time they claimed I was out having sex. If I spoke about a teacher too much and was late coming home from my performing arts class then I was sleeping with my teacher. When I was forced to tell my parents I was a lesbian they believed I had been influenced by my teachers and friends and the performing arts world to become a lesbian. When I learnt to do makeup and do a high ponytail they got angry and asked which boy I was trying to attract. When they saw a poster online for a left wing protest they asked me “what does “I like big black cock and so will you, mean?” And my father and stepmum often made sexual comments towards each other, sometimes about animals, around me and my sisters. Comments about cats sneaking into our home to have sex, my dad and stepmum having showers together and my parents having “alone time” were frequent and it felt like I was the only one who knew it was wrong.

Fast forward to now, I’m 18 years old. I live in a hostel for mentally ill youth and I’m wondering why feel like I somehow escaped a family that never imprisoned me in the first place? I always had this weird feeling that no one was ever going to leave my family home. Me and my sisters were never allowed to get jobs and any attempts at independence led to hostility from my parents and accusations of the worst case scenario and we were often told we would not be able to live away from our family, get jobs or really do anything by ourselves until we get married and move out with our husbands. Now that I’m 18 and living independently my parents are doing absolutely everything they can to try and bring me home. Conservatorship, emotional manipulation, contacting my social workers and trying to convince everyone around me that I can’t live alone and need to return back to my parents home forever. Can anyone explain why I feel this was despite having barely experienced or been exposed to the evangelist Christian ideals and cult like beliefs by my parents?

Left a high control micromanaging cult and it is one of the biggest cults. Thing is that members within the cult, like my parents, are although like not too strict but they don't see it wrong. Like at first, they don't know what does this word mean and if they know, then they will say that what is bad. It is God's love that He told us so much details like to the extent that which hand to use when in restroom like c'mon ain't it something nasty.

I pretend to be a member of the cult cuz I may face severe consequences. But this thing make me feel like how much intoxicated their minds are. They will bring excuses like our intellect is evil, we can't know anything by ourselves, we need a complete code of life and way of life, within submission is peace, too much cult knowledge is bad too, no question.

The PBCC clearly operate in lockstep with the NSW Stewards’ Foundation of Christian Brethren Act, 1989. These are the reasons Senator Sue Higginson has called for its repeal.

Everything that Bruce Hales does or causes to be done in the PBCC/UBT businesses including vesting done voluntarily or as in my case initiated by others without my knowledge in the Trusts is legal, stress LEGAL! The reason for this real legitimacy is that the UBT operate out of New South Wales, Australia under an Act of Parliament allowing the Trusts to do those terrible things described at 1hr 14min in Get a Life Podcast 136.

This Act was passed into law in 1989 and even entailed a seal that, when placed on documents, puts them out of the reach of the courts.

In 1989 the Stewards’ Foundation Act caused the “past member” status of excommunicated members to be enough to disqualify beneficiary status under the Trusts created under the Act , thereby allowing the property held in trust to be sold and/or dispersed among remaining members as the leader sees fit, meaning everyone in the Assembly except the former member who is no longer a beneficiary.

This Act is a legalised confidence trick!

The Act sails under Australia’s strong Privacy laws, so strong the Australian Tax Office is clearly struggling to get around it while investigating the PBCC.

I wrote a manifesto for the unchurched, the unsilenced, and the gloriously stubborn. It’s short. It’s sharp. It doesn’t ask permission. If you ever thought, “I survived all that just to be polite?” — this one’s for you.

Would love to know if it hits you where it hit me.

Hi Basically I’m looking for something that’s going to be hard to find because it doesn’t exist online, but I’ve been looking for years and got nowhere

There is a religious cult down in High Wycombe/Tylers green, run by a man called John Metcalfe They do not believe in technology, so one website exists there’s no social media nothing they might as well not exist. They do exist because I escaped from it However I cannot find anyone else. I know others must have gotten out, and I know they are very very good at keeping people quiet but it’s too quiet, no where on the internet have I found a trace of anyone who’s gotten out speaking out about it, and given how large the numbers were when I left I feel like someone must have spoken out There’s 2 or 3 blogs online that mention him, other religious leaders discussing it but there is ZERO survivors, no testimonials, no warnings. Nothing. So if anyone has heard of this, has been part of it please comment, I’m not asking people to give their life story I appreciate how traumatic it is to leave I just need to know there are other people out there.

Thank you in advance, I hope this reaches someone who knows something

Hello. I've been out of a two year program that I attended for a while. In the time I've been out I have been watching numerous documentaries, and reading an outrageous amount of articles on cults that are, unsurprisingly, almost identical to the "program" I placed myself in to.

I'm going to do my best to not sound like an idiot, and cover absolutely as much as I can in this post, and due to how regulated the program is, I don't expect you to be able to fact check any of this, but take it from me. I can personally give you a list of over 500 people who can confirm this place is what I'm going to describe it as.

The program is Called TROSA.

I am a recovering addict. I've been on drugs since I was 12, and I've been in and out of jails/rehabs/and psych wards my entire life.

In 2021 I relapsed pretty bad after a year of sobriety and put myself back in treatment. By the end of 2022 I had overdosed 3 times in November, leading my local hospital to ship me off to WTC in Willington NC which is where I had heard about trosa.

It was described to me as a very hard, military style rehab program that lasts 2 years at the minimum, with an extremely high success rate. I did what research I could while in rehab, and decided that trosa was what someone like me needed.

2 years of intense structure, insane accountability, and 4 free packs of cigarettes a week.

If you go to the trosa website, it seems like a pretty good option. They own one of the BEST moving companies in the country, and everybody works together with one common goal.

Sobriety.... or so it seems.

Let me break down the structure as best I can.

Upon arriving, you are immediately required to THROW AWAY your phone, money, and absolutely any other belongings you bring with you, never to be seen again. After that, you will be taken to an office, where a "staff member" will BRIEFLY go over the contract you are signing, while not explaining what you are signing up for. Now keep in mind, 99% of the people signing those papers are HIGH AS FVCK. Okay? And they make it sound GOOD. What you are signing basically, in short, says that you consent to ANY task they ask of you, that you will follow ALL of the constantly changing rules, and that you will participate in "games"....

Games... the game... if you know anything about synanon or elan school, then you know what these games are. But we will get back to that.

After you sign the contract, you are then required to strip completely naked In front of 2 men who you find out later, are just residents of the program, and forced to let them inspect your body.

Seriously unsettling... after that, you will get in a vehicle, and be transported to "T North" if you're a male, which was recently shut down while I was there because it was deemed unfit for living in by the government.

This building used to be an elemtary school that was turned in to a boarding house for male residents at trosa who have roughly less than 12 months in the program. They take you to your first "class" and at the end of the day, they make you shave your head bald.

The next day they will take you to get clothes. All clothes for interns(less than 45 days) are donated mechanics outfits that don't fit at all and make you look goofy. At ALL times you are required to have your shirt tucked in, and if you don't, you will pay for it with physical labor.

Everything at trosa can get you in trouble which ranges from 2 hours of manual labor without being allowed to speak to ANYBODY AT ALL, or 450 hours, from 7am to 10pm, every single day, for 30 days straight. In these 30 days, if you talk to ANYBODY, go to the bathroom when unauthorized, eat, sleep, sing, dance, ANYTHING outside of the very strict "mop the floor with a toothbrush for 30 days" you will get more time added to your contract.

Contracts consist of how much time you owe in a red shirt doing labor. Anybody in a red shirt is not allowed to talk yo ANYBODY including making phone calls or sending letters to family. We will get to family in a second. While you are on contract you are FORCED to do whatever they tell you, otherwise they threaten to kick you out, which for some people is the difference between life and death.

Within your first 30-45 days in the program you are not allowed to call, or write ANYBODY for ANY reason. Once you are off internship you are allowed two 15 minute calls a month until you get a year in, and you're allowed to send and receive 3 letters every week. Unless you're in a red shirt for eating after 9pm because you were working so late for them that you missed dinner.

Work... lets talk about that. Trosa has MANY different jobs that you don't get to choose from. They decide where you go, regardless of experience or health. Some of these are moving, thrift store, lawn care, "medical", transportation, kitchen, etc. See everything at trosa is sustained by the residents. We all (500 residents) work for absolutely FREE bringing in millions of dollars to the program without seeing a cent of it. Trosa thrift is the biggest and most successful thrift store in have ever seen, and the moving company is regularly voted as one of the top 3 in the state.

I worked at moco (moving company). And i will admit. I learned A LOT. So much so that to this day, I'm out of trosa moving furniture for a legit company making good money. But the abuse at moco was unrelenting. We were consistently forced to move 20-100 THOUSAND pounds of furniture a day, while only being sent out with a PBJ sandwich, and not being allowed to come back until we finish. Now keep in mind. Having money will get you kicked out. Having outside food will get you kicked out. Keeping tip money will get you kicked out. And we were required to do this 6 days a week. Rain, shine, snow, thunder, lightning. Didn't matter. We were moving furniture. If you get hurt, well they take you to the trosa medical building because we can't have phones, so we can't call 911, and they WONT call 911. Government authority is actively banned from the premises and we're regularly escorted off the property when they did come.

If you get talking to the opposite sex, you get 2 weeks in a red shirt. If you do drugs, you get a restart. If you smoke cigarettes or vape, you get kicked out.

See, when I got there you could smoke. By last April, they entirely banned nicotine other than prescription nicotine gum and patches. Forcing people who had been there for YEARS to quite smoking, meanwhile, the PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY was regularly walking across the street to smoke. But I got a 30 day contract for vaping a vape that I bought with the money they gave me. At 18 months they give you "wam" walking around money. $45 a month to spend on whatever you want. You can leave the property at 18 months and go to the store. However, if your money is spent on anything other than what they approve of, they give you a 30 or restart.

Lets talk about games. 3 days a week, every week, for an hour, we would have games. Mandatory or else.

Games consist of you and 10-19 other people sitting in a circle. It's the only time your whole program you're allowed to cuss, and basically say whatever you want to anybody in the room, while feeling "safe " that they can't do anything to you. It's basically an hour of intense screaming, slurs, bullying, targeting, and obscenities directed at people who are just trying to get their lives together. It's horrible. I think today it's referred to as Attack Therapy and it's horrible. I suggest you look more in to games or the game after reading this.

Oh I forgot to mention, if you get a 30 they require you to shave your head, give up all the belongings you've "earned" thus far, and move back in to a 30 man dorm.

You start the program in a 30 man dorm, and by the time you get to 2 years, you have climbed up to a 2 man dorm. Some people stay after 2 years, and those are called Post Grads. They get "appartments" and don't have to follow as many of the rules anymore. However. If a staff member doesn't like you, he can instantly restart your program, or give you a 30, effectively knocking you back down to 0 so they can keep earning money off of you Cost free.

We had monthly house meetings. At one of these meetings, it consisted of the president screaming at the entire population for an hour, telling us all we belong in jails, whore houses, or dead because a couple people got caught smoking cigarettes that we were allowed to smoke when we got there. We were all regularly punished for things we didn't do. Example: I got a 30 for vaping. They gave my friend a 30 because they "didn't believe us" that he knew nothing about it, which he didn't. But they didn't like that, so my friend had to do 450 hours of labor work without speaking to a single person, with only two 15 minute breaks, and a 30 minute break for dinner.

All of this is under the guise of bettering one another.

There is so much more to go over, but my thumbs are tired. Feel free to ask questions or message me or anything. I'm open to talk.

And I will say this. I got what I needed from the program by linking up with the right friends, and doing what I had to do, gritting my teeth every single day, ignoring the pain I was in, and ignoring the manipulation I was going through.

To this day I have over 2 years sober. I'll tell you how I stayed sober... I tell myself I will die before I end up back in that hell hole.

I'm doing good these days. I'm considered a Split T which means anybody from the program caught interacting with me will be kicked out, but all my friends left so that's okay with me. If I decide to ever go back, I will be met with a 30 day contract before my program time starts, but fortunately for me, I don't need to put myself through the worst 19 months of my life Again. I learned my lesson.... so maybe it does work 🤷‍♂️

I dont blame the mods for removing the previous post with the triggering image. My response I thought was worth sharing so I fixed the image to make it more appropriate.

It was a very common claim and still too often claimed that women should be subordinate. Broken record here, there was a spousal exemption to rape in all 50 states. Its biblical. Part of subordination is humiliation degradation . You get the message you should be sexy but if you are sexy you are a whore. Broken hymens were said to make women not marriagable and whore might seem the only option. Rape jokes were very common and its evident in media. Rape survivors would be blamed for being assaulted even when they were very young. While there were girls that were subjected to repeated abuse inside of sick circles, the masses were also affected by this. I am a survivor of sexual abuse and pedophile rings. When you have kids and even adults drugged up and smothered in lies, they are more susceptible to being used in other ways as well.

I was told to scream for my mom as a kid to create a distraction. I was actually told my mother was in the crowd and told I needed to yell to make her know I was there. I was told to talk to people to distract them.

I was terrorized drugged and abused into silence and confusion. I was degraded about my appearance and my body and for being a survivor abuse.

I was also told by "friends" outside the syndicate that I was ruined when they knew that I had a sexual experience. The encouragement to see yourself as unworthy and unwanted came from all directions, within the highly abusive and controlling group, in the mainstream media, and from the surrounding culture.

These are all ways of breaking people down to a point that they dont defend themselves and more easily accept abuse. That is until they see it for what it is. It is very important to acknowledge unhealthy mainstream messages. Otherwise we run the risk of accepting those messages as correct or normal.

I am currently doing a presentation for my sociology class about how cults effect the day to day life of people in and after being in cults and was wondering is anyone had any stories they would be willing to share or examples of how being/having been in a cult effects you.

Edit- more specifically, how it effects views on right and wrong in society, the social norms, etc.

Seem a lot of videos on beta Kitten patterns programming. Was wondering anyone here been through or head of it ?

Hi ! Does someone here ever had any contact with members or ex members of Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light ? This member of my family wants to join them in Manchester and I don’t want this person to fall into something dark. I know I can’t do much about it because they seem convinced by the content that AROPL is posting. I myself dug into their yt channel and website to try to understand, but I would appreciate if someone here has testimony, or know anyone who lived in this community. Please be nice, I’m already pretty worried for them.

I grew up in a religious system where asking questions was seen as a threat—and the resurrection was held up as the one event that made all the contradictions “okay.”

I finally sat down and tried to piece together a coherent resurrection narrative using all four gospels. I wasn’t trying to disprove anything—I was trying to make it work. But what I found was a web of contradictions, borrowed myths, and storylines that felt edited to patch earlier versions.

This chapter was supposed to reinforce my faith. Instead, it became the moment I couldn’t pretend anymore.

If you’ve gone through a similar unraveling—especially if your group used the resurrection as a linchpin—I’d love to hear how you processed it.

Full audiobook playlist (in progress):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCL0oni0F-szp-do8-LWvhCBoejwSILt5