Perpetrating Cult Mentality
I was born and raised in WWCG. Everything that has ever been associated with WWCG has been nothing but pain and horrific emotional stress. I have lost family, friends and loved ones because of the cluster of a fuck that is WWCG and more specifically CULT MENTALITY.
*Disclaimer: I will be USING CAPS and other writing styles to give a TONE to how I grew up and the PSYCHOLOGICAL mind FUCK that this type of SHIT induces.
When you are born and raised into WWCG, a CULT, you take on cult mentality. Period. And you don’t even know you HAVE it. It takes YEARS and YEARS to overcome the mind fuck that is WWCG and HWA.
My personal experience is filled with rage and ANGER. Yes... go ahead and cast judgment on my ANGER. I’ve had people tell me to “get over it” or “move on, it wasn’t that bad.” Well, FUCK OFF. Those people are either in denial or have never experienced a childhood of mind games. It is EXTREMELY difficult to let it go. I spent 38 years of my life not realizing that I hadn’t let it go.
Just last week, I realized that I’m still around people with cult mentality. That is when I decided to “let it go” and with LOVE. When I thought some people were my friends have cut me off AGAIN and have made ultimatums such as “it’s us or them”... that’s when I realize that something needs to change.
At the same time, it tells me that CULT MENTALITY is ALIVE and well. There are a lot of people and groups that profess to help those escaping cults. While some are filled with people speaking from the heart, there are some that perpetuate the cult mentality and don’t mean to. Honestly, they don’t even realize they are speaking CULT LANGUAGE.
As someone who was looking for a safe place to share DEEP secrets, I found a world that I thought I could trust but ultimately was wrong. But even more IMPORTANT, is that I finally understood the importance of SPEAKING TRUTH and being UNAFRAID who would see the truth. THAT is the biggest challenge. To get those us of hurt and wounded to confront our SELF ESTEEM and STAND UP for ourselves ONCE AND FOR ALL. It’s about being HONEST, brutally honest. Why? BECAUSE WE WERE TOLD WE WEREN’T IMPORTANT - WE WERE TOLD TO KEEP QUIET. How much has not been told because it “doesn’t matter”?
WWCG and HWA hated those with authentic voices who QUESTIONED them.
QUESTION EVERYTHING.
Be careful out there in the world of the inter-web. Or rather, YELL to the internet TRUTH and OPINION. Free fucking speech. Never forget. And don’t let anyone else hold you the fuck back.
Me? I was born and raised in a cult. I grew up believing I was worthless. I was kept from anything I loved. I learned how to lie at the age of 5. And at the age of 18, I got the fuck out. My childhood was stolen. I was told NO everyday of my fucking life. Today - I say YES, I will share the truth. The PLAIN TRUTH. WWCG WAS A FUCKING CULT that still infects previous and current members.
I was born and raised in WWCG. Everything that has ever been associated with WWCG has been nothing but pain and horrific emotional stress. I have lost family, friends and loved ones because of the cluster of a fuck that is WWCG and more specifically CULT MENTALITY.
*Disclaimer: I will be USING CAPS and other writing styles to give a TONE to how I grew up and the PSYCHOLOGICAL mind FUCK that this type of SHIT induces.
When you are born and raised into WWCG, a CULT, you take on cult mentality. Period. And you don’t even know you HAVE it. It takes YEARS and YEARS to overcome the mind fuck that is WWCG and HWA.
My personal experience is filled with rage and ANGER. Yes... go ahead and cast judgment on my ANGER. I’ve had people tell me to “get over it” or “move on, it wasn’t that bad.” Well, FUCK OFF. Those people are either in denial or have never experienced a childhood of mind games. It is EXTREMELY difficult to let it go. I spent 38 years of my life not realizing that I hadn’t let it go.
Just last week, I realized that I’m still around people with cult mentality. That is when I decided to “let it go” and with LOVE. When I thought some people were my friends have cut me off AGAIN and have made ultimatums such as “it’s us or them”... that’s when I realize that something needs to change.
At the same time, it tells me that CULT MENTALITY is ALIVE and well. There are a lot of people and groups that profess to help those escaping cults. While some are filled with people speaking from the heart, there are some that perpetuate the cult mentality and don’t mean to. Honestly, they don’t even realize they are speaking CULT LANGUAGE.
As someone who was looking for a safe place to share DEEP secrets, I found a world that I thought I could trust but ultimately was wrong. But even more IMPORTANT, is that I finally understood the importance of SPEAKING TRUTH and being UNAFRAID who would see the truth. THAT is the biggest challenge. To get those us of hurt and wounded to confront our SELF ESTEEM and STAND UP for ourselves ONCE AND FOR ALL. It’s about being HONEST, brutally honest. Why? BECAUSE WE WERE TOLD WE WEREN’T IMPORTANT - WE WERE TOLD TO KEEP QUIET. How much has not been told because it “doesn’t matter”?
WWCG and HWA hated those with authentic voices who QUESTIONED them.
QUESTION EVERYTHING.
Be careful out there in the world of the inter-web. Or rather, YELL to the internet TRUTH and OPINION. Free fucking speech. Never forget. And don’t let anyone else hold you the fuck back.
Me? I was born and raised in a cult. I grew up believing I was worthless. I was kept from anything I loved. I learned how to lie at the age of 5. And at the age of 18, I got the fuck out. My childhood was stolen. I was told NO everyday of my fucking life. Today - I say YES, I will share the truth. The PLAIN TRUTH. WWCG WAS A FUCKING CULT that still infects previous and current members.
"Anne"
22 comments:
There is no doubt that Armstrongism causes or brings to life a phenomenon known as explosive temper disorder. The problem is that once this rage pattern is triggered, it becomes very difficult to get rid of it. You can remove yourself from situations that cause it, and you can learn to manage it, and to avoid inflicting damage because of it, but it is something that you have to live with every day of your life.
It is a bad cycle, it is completely unneccessary, and ministers and especially parents should be aware that it can be caused by irrationally severe punishment, and severe injustice and flagrant disregard for basic human rights. There are dangerous people sitting in prisons and jails who are there because someone close to them caused severe rage, in many cases because of over-punishment.
Unfortunately, Anne seems to have it. The post involving Michelle, below, gives us more insight as to causation. God help them! This is not at all uncommon in the world of Armstrongism.
BB
For the last week my Facebook page has been filled with glowing praises concerning the Feast of Tabernacles. A person would get the impression that the Church of God was a godly place to be this time of year. Sadly, many of the people who post this stuff know better because they have seen first hand the abuse yet it is more important to to look the other way in order to maintain the status-quo.
Over the years since leaving the church I have been on numerous ex-member groups. Everyone of them ends up being filled with chest thumping holier-than-thou types who deny any abuse ever went on. These kind of people are the very ones that perpetuate the legacy of abuse in the church. They do not hold their leaders accountable. They cover up abuse. And they will willfully lie in order to protect the facade of the church or their group.
People who have suffered abuse are right to lash out at these hypocrites. I wish more lashed out these days. I wish more spoke up too!
The internet has proven to be a dangerous place for Armstrongism. Everything the COG's say or write is in the public eye now. They are held accountable and it is pissing many of them off.
I say fight on Anne and all the rest of you who dare to speak out. The more people jolted awake by the complicity the better!
Anon 4:47 makes some interesting points.
My Facebook feed was also populated with posts about the Feast. Been there, done that, got old quick.
The comments about the legacy of abuse are spot-on. And Anne's missive shared the hurt of the mind-numbing, mind-control tactics employed by HWA and his lieutenants over the decades. I saw it first hand as a child growing up, and I experienced it later as an adult. I remember shaking my head all too often at some of the truly idiotic things ministers said, not only to me, but to friends and acquaintances of mine. I eventually learned to ignore their bullshit, but somehow I let myself think that it was still "God's church" and things would work out for the best.
The doctrinal upheaval of the 1990s opened the door for my departure. The mind-numbing stupidity with the way doctrinal changes were introduced, coupled with the silly and sinister way that so many ministers behaved when forming the UCG and other groups, were like a cold splash of water to the face. I realized it was time to go, and that it had been a mirage, a shell game.
I still have many friends and family members in Armstrongism, and I don't engage in arguments or debates about things. I understand where they're coming from, and I know how easy it is to be comfortable in it. They've learned over the years that I'm simply no longer interested. I sense that many of them are trying to employ a more genuine form of Christianity in their lives and worship, which is commendable. But as long as they hold on to the basic tenents of HWA's theology, we will have little to discuss.
Anne is angry. Who am I to judge her for that? Hopefully she will one day move past the bitterness, but when people feel as if large portions of their lives have been stolen, that can be difficult.
The fruits of Armstrongism are not good as a whole. That's it for me, in a nutshell. Snippets of good things don't add up to a whole. As for what the future holds for the belief system, I really don't know. History would indicate that stranger movements than HWA's have a way of hanging around and growing. I can't worry about that. I didn't leave Armstrongism to prove a point to anyone else. I left it to be true to myself. What others do is up to them.
I LOVE THIS PERSON!
I feel sorry that they had to go through hell and not get to think on their own or have a life.
HWA and all the hierarchy of all the many splinters got/get to think on their own and have a FANTABULOUS life, didn't/don't they???????
...PONDER THAT!
Can I suggest that the "glowing" comments about the Feast are a gross case of lack of context?
A painful memory: I OBEYED what I had come to believe was God's authority on earth, and I, just having started a college course, funded by my parents, insisted I had to go on this "vacation," the Feast, just because they said so.
And I was in college again, and living with my parents again (past age 30), because one of those in authority told me to give up a job. I forgive myself, but how stupid was it to accept my parents' charity and then insist I put it on hold for people who (clear to them but not to me yet) had ruined my life?
Ohmigosh, the anger I faced! The confusion and frustration I caused. And needlessly! And because I thought Herbert was specially sent by God.
Why is being angry bad? HWA did some pretty bad things. And he was a very angry man which people approved of.
I applaude "Anne" and her message. More people need to express their pain.
I think Anne was proving a point, which ya’ll all seem to have validated. Her point is that cult mentality is alive and well. As we can see of her writing and usage of all caps, she is showing that only her key words that were capped are being heard. Also, her use of profanity seems to have proven that the readers only see hostility which is their perceived perception of what profanity stands for. Needless to say, her one sentence “That is when I decided to ‘let it go’ and with LOVE.” wasn’t seen by some of the readers. I believe this article is to help us move past what we all learned through the brainwashing of Herbert’s letters and manipulation tactics. So, the question begs: Can we listen and validate? Or run away from perceived anger because that’s our history with Herbert?
One thing I have noticed over the years is how some who leave Armstrongism can't leave the control behind. They end up in Missori Synod churches (Tom Lapaka) or conservative Presbyterian churches where legalism still reigns supreme. Or they end up not being able to handle questions and gray areas of life so they lash out trying to silence people.
How can people have such radically different experiences in the COGs? I attended WCG and UCG for years and I know for a fact that many people in the various Sabbatarian Churches of God are perfectly happy to be there. Many who have grown up in the church remain there as members and are apparently very satisfied. Some may be unhappy and want out but I don't think that's true of all of them or even most of them. Nor do I think that most people in the COGs are poor, downtrodden folks who just can't cope with life. Some may be, but most are reasonably well-adjusted and some are quite affluent. So what gives? Why are some people happy in the COGs and others have had such miserable experiences?
The sad truth is that ALL human organizations end up being cults of some sort, dominated by hierarchy, and ran by sociopaths.
This whether the organization is religious, political, educational, business or corporate. Even fraternities, sports teams, or volunteer organizations are not exempt. Mankind is very hellish in its nature.
k-baradanikto said "Many who have grown up in the church remain there as members and are apparently very satisfied."
That statement overlooks the fact that over the history of the WCG, one half of all members eventually left the organization -- statistics monitored in Pasadena. This was the topic of more than one lunch conversation I was a part of during my time working for the church/college. Given HWA's claim that the WCG was the one and only true church, it is odd that every other member over the history of the church decided, "Nope, you're wrong," and headed out the door. Something was obviously amiss.
We're not talking here about whether a person can worship on a Saturday and enjoy it, or what have you. Clearly that's possible. But it's the rules and regulations that were arbitrarily imposed upon people (see Philadelphia Church of God for a current-day example) that were controlling and destructive, and those effects were very real, indeed, particularly as the WCG became highly controlling in the 1950s and 60s.
What Connie says is true. WCG just taught me about politics and the corruption in organizations. So many jobs I have had, had something weird going on, like instead of just getting along and working together and doing a good job there has to be power struggles and cruel people tormenting others and hidden agendas. And they want to own you on your time off too. Even when I found a job with a kind boss and friendly people, he had to retire and then the new boss was a total asshole who went around destroying everything. I figured the only solution was to put up with it or take over myself. But I just don't have the energy and the charisma to be a leader. I ended up changing jobs frequently as soon as I got to enmeshed in the corruption.
I think the sociopaths and psychopaths of the world become our leaders. They have the motivation and charm and leadership skills necessary. And they don't anguish over guilt or anxiety like the average person.
Look at what HWA did, he got that whole church organization collecting money, building beautiful buildings, meeting world leaders, telling thousand what to do, where to work, how to live. Quite an accomplishment in a way. Yes some people actually enjoyed it, being part of a group that believed a fantasy of ruling the world and throwing all the nonconformists into the lake of fire........ahhhh.....but all things must end, and it seems the current group of leaders are a sad mirage of the former.
For all the youth lost, the years lost, the advancement opportunities lost, what could have been education or science career or family life, or even life itself (with lost family members who did not receive medical care) - all I can say is move on. Don't look back and become a pillar of salt. Look straight ahead, and move on. Stand up from where we have fallen and move on. There is life out there ahead of us after turning our back on Armstrongism.
Anon wrote:
"I think the sociopaths and psychopaths of the world become our leaders. They have the motivation and charm and leadership skills necessary. And they don't anguish over guilt or anxiety like the average person."
You finally understand this very important point. Excellent!
Once someone reaches this point you can start to understand the world about you and take charge of your life as much as possible.
k-baradanikto wrote...
How can people have such radically different experiences in the COGs? I attended WCG and UCG for years and I know for a fact that many people in the various Sabbatarian Churches of God are perfectly happy to be there. Many who have grown up in the church remain there as members and are apparently very satisfied. Some may be, but most are reasonably well-adjusted and some are quite affluent. So what gives?
_________________________
The answer in a nut shell.
Some people wake up and look around themselves and use their power of observation.
They quit because they don't need a social club nor the need for being controlled.
They leave because the veil has been lifted as the religious scam has come into the light.
Some depart seeing one does not need these cults to have a personal relationship with Christ.
Others free themselves from the shackles of religion and embrace a higher order of thought and develop a spiritual side that does not depend on doctrine but the love that emulates from living a balanced life, showing goodness and kindness to all.
If this sounds foreign to you then you have not grown as a human being. You remain stagnate.
k-baradanikto said...
“How can people have such radically different experiences in the COGs? ... So what gives? Why are some people happy in the COGs and others have had such miserable experiences?”
It is obviously time for some GREAT QUESTIONS and some PLAIN ANSWERS
GREAT QUESTION: Why are some people so HAPPY in the cults?
PLAIN ANSWER: Some people are so HAPPY in the cults because they themselves are PERVERTS and PREDATORS and ABUSERS of the worst sort. The cults provide them with the perfect environment in which to do the evil that they love to do to others. Gerald Flurry's PCG is an excellent example of this since it is mostly black and white with very little “grey area.” In fact, it is mostly black as one might expect from the dark side. Totally unfit and unqualified perverts get to rule over other people and to do it all in the name of God. Each lying, slandering, local tyrant gets to pass off his own satanic abuse as the “government of God.” Old sex maniacs, sex perverts, and predators get to prey on younger members a fraction of their own age and pass it off as trying to “help” them.
GREAT QUESTION: Why are some people so UNHAPPY in the cults?
PLAIN ANSWER: Some people are so UNHAPPY in the cults because they are the PREY and the ABUSED VICTIMS of the happy perverts and predators and abusers in the cults. Again, Gerald Flurry's PCG is an excellent example of this, though the other groups all have similar problems. Sincere people who were suckered in by the cult's FALSE ADVERTISING expect to find true Christians with the Holy Spirit. Instead, they find happy perverts, predators, and abusers who quickly become very unhappy with them if they do not go along with every evil agenda of older sex maniacs, sex perverts, and predators. Having thought that they were supporting the truth of God leaves them thoroughly confused when they learn the long, hard, expensive way that the laws of God do not apply in the PCG and that outright lying and slandering are the way things are done there. Rather than finding the advertised true Christians with the Holy Spirit, they find false leaders and false members who were sent and directed by evil,lying spirits.
How old are you? Did you ever experience HWA himself? Did you ever live under the true weight of his deluded, controlling, narcissistic bullshit? Were you BORN into WCG or brought in as a small child? Were you beaten with Feast of Tabernacle paddles that the church happily sold to your parents? Were you forced to memorize bible verses, read terrifying "END TIME PROPHESY" as young as 5? Did you suffer horrible physical and mental abuse from your parents and other church members? Were you shunned by the only people you knew since you can't associate with worldly people, for asking questions and demanding answers about doctrine or why Herbie had a fucking JET??? Has your mother refused to acknowledge your existence because you are not "one of the chosen ones"? Do your children get shunned because they are interracial? THIS IS MY TRUTH.
So what gives?
You totally don't get it, that is what gives. You seem content so perhaps you attended at a later, more watered down time period or your parents may have only attended as a church and not LIVED it as a way to get into the WORLD TOMORROW. Whatever the reason, perhaps there is a forum more suited for your experience. Good luck in your journey.
Connie Schmidt said...
"The sad truth is that ALL human organizations end up being cults of some sort, dominated by hierarchy, and ran by sociopaths."
"This whether the organization is religious, political, educational, business or corporate. Even fraternities, sports teams, or volunteer organizations are not exempt. Mankind is very hellish in its nature."
That is a very good observation!!!
I recently read about the writings of some mystical Jews who were into Kabbalah (sometimes called Babble-ah). They talked about doing such supposedly "good deeds" as "to judge everyone as being upright." One even said that, "Within every person is a soul so pure that it cannot be tarnished." What a load of BS! This is not what I have seen at all either in schools, in workplaces, or even in churches. The Bible seems to support the view that God originally created mankind upright but that he has gone seriously astray. The Bible records that God saw “how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5, NIV). “Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence” (Genesis 6:11, NIV). It had to be cleaned up with a flood.
SAME GREAT QUESTION: Why are some people so HAPPY in the cults?
ANOTHER PLAIN ANSWER: Some people are so HAPPY in the cults because they get to make all the rules to suit themselves, get to collect all the money from everyone else for themselves, get to do as they please, get to pass themselves off as God's representatives on planet Earth, get to do whatever they want to other people, etc. Like some Nazi war criminals, they can have a real zest for life that enables them to live to ripe old ages.
Can't you just imagine nepotists like Teddy the Dink, with his good paycheck and 200 sluts, thinking that life is pretty good at the college? Or Gerald Flurry singing, “If you're happy and you know it, drink some beer”? “That Runt” gets to bully bigger people who could and should knock him over. People finally have to look up to him (metaphorically speaking, that is; physically, they still have to look down).
SAME GREAT QUESTION: Why are some people so UNHAPPY in the cults?
ANOTHER PLAIN ANSWER: Some people are so UNHAPPY in the cults because they have to obey all the rules that others come up with for them to obey, have to hand over their money to someone else in whatever amount the other person demands, have to do whatever someone else wants them to do, have to play the role of dumb sheep led to the slaughter, have to put up with whatever other people want to dump on them, etc. Like some concentration camp victims, they can end up feeling really beat up and all tuckered out. This can waste what should have been some of the best years of their lives, while knocking some years off the end of their lives.
Can't you just imagine the impoverished masses held back by anti-educational teachings, financially drained of what little they do have by greedy con-artists, dying of curable diseases as the result of anti-doctor teachings, always waiting for some end of the age that just keeps on getting delayed, being threatened with great tribulations and heck fires that the people threatening them with do not seem to believe in, etc.?
Hello
For Anonymous and your willingness to let us know your truth...I am truly sorry about what happened to you. I don't know why these things..as in your life experiences...as well as HWAs or COG happen. My hope for you is that you..find...life again. I was exposed to WCG at around age 16 from my father..he read the PT and..golly gee..I got to read it too and learn about my bright future. I don't think he ever dove in but the negative influence was there...for..decades. From your description, my exposure was no near as tramatic as yours...but..l get it. And..because of you and other brave writers here..I am...rethinking...things.
For what its worth...thank you and I truly wish you peace. I am tired.
The Wanderer
Perhaps some are happy in a cult because they feel security. They may be dependent personalities who need someone else to tell them what to eat, what to wear, what to believe, etc. In return for their security they give up their freedom. And there are narcissistic personalities who are willing to rule over them. Everybody gets something out of the deal, for a while at least. For some, the price gets too high.
Good site. Well done.
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