Were You Raised in a Cult or High-Demand Religion? A Self-Assessment - Mormon Stories 1442
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- In cooperation with author Luna Lindsey Corbden (Recovering Agency) and RUclipsr Johnathan Streeter (Thoughts on Things and Stuff), I have developed a short self assessment to help people:
1) Determine if they were raised in a cult or high-demand religion, and/or
2) Learn to more quickly identify the techniques used by unhealthy people and organizations to wield undue influence over family, friends, employees, or members.
This self assessment should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete. We also highly encourage you to learn and study these principles to avoid being taken advantage of by unhealthy individuals and organization (including family members, businesses, corporations, governments, etc).
A PDF of the assessment can be found here: www.mormonstori...
Finally, if you enjoyed this episode, please check out our in-depth, 17+ hour exploration of the book "Recovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind Control" with author Luna Lindsey Corbden on Mormon Stories Podcast. These episodes will be released starting Monday, June 28th.
Show Notes:
Recovering Agency - recoveringagen...
Thoughts on Things and Stuff - thoughtsonthin...
Thank you for saying it can take 5, 10, 20 years or a lifetime to process leaving a cult. I keep hearing people say they're totally fine after a year or two. It's nice to hear I may not be the only one struggling after 10+ years.
I'm a lot better than the first 2 years but I definitely have things that still trigger me frequently. But before it was like all the time and everything that triggered me.
But I'm sure it will be a long time before I no longer care about it at all. It's hard to ignore with so many family members and friends are still there and I have trauma that I'm recovering from
I absolutely can relate to that. I stopped going to church in 2000 but struggled for years wondering if I had made the right decision. With not too much information out there at the time I.E RUclips, Reddit, etc. I had to do a lot of the researching for myself and it wasn’t until a few years ago that I had gathered enough information to feel 100% sure that I was doing the right thing by leaving this cult. I still have very bad days when I can’t shake the indoctrination. I think it will always be a part of us when we grew up in the church. It’s more serious then people realize. When you’re in the LDS church it’s completely normal. It’s not until you’re out that your eyes are open and can see what a trap it is. I am now a born again Christian and believe completely in the word of God. The Bible. Jesus is all we need. We don’t need secret Masonic handshakes and temple rituals to get us into heaven.
@Redwood Rebelgirl you are absolutely RIGHT! God made it so easy for us all. Religions are so complicated, and God made it so easy for us. We don’t need all of these “steps” to get us to heaven. We just have to open our eyes and accept Jesus’s love and his sacrifice for us as it is most definitely enough!
Thank you for your kindness. It means such a great deal to me. I love how we can create this community together. We can all try to navigate this mess together and work as a team to heal and grow. God bless you and so much love to you! 😊❤️🙏
You probably never leave it completely behind... especially if raised in a super mormon family
100% for 14 years of Mormonism. Gives me chills to this day
I got a 66 out of 68 or 94%, I left the Mormon church last year. Still working out 45 years of mind controls. I think General Conference puts people in a trance like state with their long meeting- boredom, slow soft rolling speech, puts you into a trance.
General conference good time to go on a bike ride especially in Bountiful the streets are bare
“Recovering agency” was one of the first ( of many) books I read after falling down the rabbit hole 2 yrs ago. It was Extremely helpful in helping me to begin finding myself in the midst of the rubble of my crushed and crumbled shelf.
Yes, I read it too. Steven Hassan's B.I.T.E. model that defines the characteristics of a cult.
Wow, very eye-opening. I scored 92% for Mormonism. Growing up as a Mormon I just took it for granted that life was that way. Actually, it wasn't until Covid where we were at home more that I started to realize there was more out there than my limited view of life as a Mormon.
Me too. COVID was the first time I did not go to church and I felt more and more free!
Hi Lu Ann, Covid has certainly had a negative affect on the LDS church. Not only did the ward buildings close, but so did the temple. Which is the main focus of the LDS church, and what separates the LDS church from the "Body of Christ".
But Covid has actually strengthen the Christian Church. There are so many more online type Bible studies than ever. Even before Covid churches were already live streaming their services. Point being, it's not about doing rituals in a special building to exalted yourself. The sole focus is on Jesus and his spilt blood. And Christians don't need a certain building to do that. We are not lost without a physical structure to go to.
Just one of the few “silver linings” of COVID
94% from my upbringing as a Mormon. I just wish I could get some of my family to take this test. It would would be really eye opening for them, but that will never happen.
All 2's being raised in the Mormon church.
Yep 😅
I felt like giving them a 3 or 4
A good friend of mine was part of classical music chorus that was cult like. People who left the chorus were shunned by the chorus' director and his wife. The group also offered support to my friend in trouble times as she didn't have that support system in her family, so the chorus was like her family and the chorus director and his wife were like parents. At a certain time she decided the chorus was too demanding and she needed to leave the chorus, so she got shunned even after invested money in the chorus director business, a private music school. Not all cult are religious. There are all kinds of cults.
OMG!!! Just took and did the assessment!!! All but 5 (1's) were ABSOLUTELY #2!!! Some of them I wanted to rate100!!! Thank you Dr Dehlin, for all that you do for us, who are deconstructing our beliefs!!! I am Soooo Thankful for what you do on Mormon Stories and anywhere else!!! You give us a community beyond the church which is full of deception and lies. I was born into the church. Believed, lived, gave it my all!!! Now I am 64, and finally have the truth about it, because of my "Super Smart and Truth Seeking Sons, who all served honorable missions).
I love all the work that you do and I am an Avid Listener and Financial supporter (a mere $10 a month is all), but hey I am not wealthy. Please keep up the marvelous work that you do!!! I love you and your family ❤️
Thank you Kathy!!!!
98.5%
Being a gay dude it was bound to be high. But also being undiagnosed untreated neuro-diverse made things a living hell.
Someone really should look into how cults take advantage of neuro-diverse people.
I heard it was high for ND also. I think being ND helped me join to.
Im pansexual and autistic too! Yeet
But also rip because the church is homophobic and ableist
Sending love 💕
I'm on the autism spectrum and the thing I felt the most guilt about was that "the gospel" is supposed to be the "center of your life" but it never was for me. I was always way more interested in my latest obsession and always found myself bored at church. It was suffocating to have to sit still and wear uncomfortable clothes and be reverent. But I became very good at masking my autistic traits AND hiding a lot of my true self in order to conform because I feared judgement from others. It became even worse when I started going to the YSA ward. I did really enjoy activities like YW camp, Trek, and ward parties because I felt like I could be myself a little more and I enjoyed being outside and feeling connected to other people. But the perfectionism mixed with the guilt and shame culture was really taking a toll on my mental health. I'm about to turn 23 and I haven't even been away from the church for a year yet. I still have some guilt and shame and often doubt if I'm doing the right thing, but overall I've been much happier since I left. Most of my family and friends don't know that I'm agnostic now so I'm worried about some of their reactions
There was only one question that I gave a 1 on, so I scored 98.5%. However, I wanted to give question 28 a score of 5 because of how much fear the church sells us.
It seems this would vary quite a bit between Mormons, just by the family dynamics involved. I was the youngest in my family and I would bet money if my oldest sibling took this test he would score a lot different than I did. My parents, who were moderate Mormons during the 60s and 70s, decided to become very active in the 80s after I was born. My Dad was in the bishopric when I was like 7 and then the bishop when I was 12 and then in the stake presidency when I was 17. The gospel and church teachings were taken VERY seriously when I was growing up because we had to be the model family and be the example. My older siblings all have a different degree of that due to being raised differently than I was. My older siblings are 16 years older than I am, then 13 years and then 5 years.
I love the name of Luna's book, "Recovering Agency". The contradiction of agency in the church has always astounded me. We were taught that God gave us our agency, but as parents we are taught that we have to force our beliefs on our own children. It's so messed up.
91% Grew up attending Tongan ward, left at 16 due to Institutionalized bigotry (I'm half Haitian). Went to English speaking ward, served a mission, married in the temple. 2020 snapped me out of compliance, it had been building up for years question 1,10,18,20,25,32,33...all of it resonates with my experiences as a Mormon.
At the beginning, I was dutifully writing down my numbers. It didn’t take to long to realize that growing up Mormon all my numbers were going to be “2.”
Yep
I scored 83%. I was born and raised in the church left 4 years ago and never looked back. Last year I found out the true colors of the church's teachings by my boyfriend who by the way has never been a Mormon 😂. Since then, everlasting, I have been falling down the rabbit hole. This podcast has taught me so much about myself, and mormonism. Its like therapy 😊Thank you so much for providing this podcast to those who have been victims to this cult!
Just to illustrate that there ARE healthy organizations...
My religion (JW) gets an F , I gave it my life, gave it money, went out and preached for thousands of hours, worked at their factories without pay, and got nothing tangible except for conditional friendship with threats if I leave (which I plan on doing this year). I once expressed a doubt to a family member and they assured me they would make my life miserable if I spoke out.
The company I work for gets an A. I work hard but get paid well and good benefits. The "corporate" leadership is down-to-earth and open to suggestions, they have implemented many of my ideas and thanked me. The people I work with are totally fine with me being my weird self and don't judge me. If I choose to leave and find another job, they like to do an exit interview to see how they can improve. No, it's not a perfect company but it's a pretty damn good one.
My assessment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (AKA Mormon Church) was 92%. So they got an F from me. I've been calling it a cult since I've left. (I try not to when in the presence of members to avoid the back-fire effect.)
I got an 82% - FAIL!! I guess my fears were right - I was in a cult!! I left Mormonism about 7 months ago. Thanks again for all you do, John!!
Raised Mormon, all 2’s… all I could think of while doing this was comparing/contrast to other cults… Moonies, Nexium, Jonestown… scary!!
95% raised Mormon. It makes me sick. I recently left, but haven't yet removed my records.
Same with my mom. Baptized in 1981, left in 17', but is still on the records
I actually never was a very active mormon but I want to resign so bad but I want my family to have friends we live in bountiful Utah, I feel like all our neighbors will avoid us and stop communicating and being friendly to us
That's a 98.5% for my 30 years in Mormonism.
Great video. I'm 30 years out and the hardest thing I have ever needed to do is forgive my parents for the indoctrination, and it's still an ongoing process. They are completely unaware of this because I'm "not allowed" to discuss anything they see as critical with them. It's worse because I see one set of nieces/nephews being indoctrinated and can see the damage its doing especially now that they are youth/young adults. If I ever hear the term we believe I run, I have no respect for people who don't say I believe, what do you believe. My children are allowed their own beliefs and I don't care that they differ from my beliefs.
Relatable. Sending love 💕
97% from 25 years of being a Latter-Day Saint. Massive F! Thanks for all your work in helping educate us about the toxicity in Mormonism!
I feel sick... Learning how I as a parent used "undue influence." My whole life feels unraveled, and now a feeling of shame is at the helm. Feeling lost...
Don’t worry, you know better now so you can do better. I have forgiven my parents for the hell they put me through as a Mormon young woman. Thankfully they are out now. ❤️ I promise it gets better, and life is so beautiful out of the church.
💕😡 Don't give them any more of your life; they've taken enough. You were doing what you knew best. Now that you know better, you can do your best with that. Of course, it's easier said than done, but I wish you the best of possible outcomes.
Cindi, you did what you thought was right. And you're still doing what you believe to be right now that you know better. You're allowed to forgive yourself. Peace and love to you.
Sending love💕you got this.
You are not alone Cindi Hunter. The LDS cult took at lot from us. Now, you can take control of your mind, believes, feelings and life.
91%. Born and raised in Utah, served a mission, graduated from BYU, married in the temple faithful well into my 40s. I checked all the Mormon boxes
Theramintrees is my go to on RUclips. He gives me a number of reasons to reflect on why the notion of God (a Christian God) is 'no bueno'.
My formative years were spent in the Roman Catholic Church, immediately before and after the somewhat liberalizing Second Vatican Council. My score for the R.C.C., obviously reflecting the period I grew up in, was: 60%/D. (I would guess that the other R.C. commenters here, with their much less cult-y assessments, are quite a bit younger than I.) Later on in life, I had interactions with members of Opus Dei, a separate, quasi-autonomous organization within the Catholic Church (cf. Dan Brown et al.). My score for Opus Dei was 86%/F. They specialized in love bombing as a recruitment tool. Also, it was very much a cult of personality.
I’m quite surprised that there aren’t many 100% here from Mormonism, it seems my experience with the church is worse than others
Im a spiritist and it got 15 :)
I guess it’s pretty safe not a cult. But it was really interesting to assess and realize the unhealthy aspects of it!
I love the content and thank you for sharing.
On the other hand feminism (as in an organization) got close to 80… so time to review it!
In the mormon cult, Bishops violate the sanctity of the confessional, rule of confidentiality, recording confessions, share them with bishoprics, leaders, family, friends. I’ve lived it, Still am.
Clearly any quiz like this is going to contain biased identifiers; however it's interesting to note that the classification "cult" does not rely on merely one or two items or even one very strong item. Many organizations and religions will have individual identifiers, but it is the combination of many identifiers that make a "cult". Mormonism has too many to not be identified as a cult. Yes, it's a friendly cult, but it's a cult.
Well yes but it is still eye opening. I am very open to listen to people pointing the flaws of my religion. I am a spiritist and I got a 15… I still got shocked with some of the unhealthy things, and I should watch it carefully. I think for anyone that is not in a “cult” would be able to look at it in order to make it a better place for everyone.
Love, Love, Luna Lindsey Corbden!! Brilliant Podcast, Dr. Dehlin! Jonathan Streeter, as well!! Good people!! Thank-You all for your work!! 😻
My husband is Jewish, and we have had a lot of issues with subtle racism (I’m black and not Jewish) elitism, enmeshment, social and familial pressure, and coercion from his family and childhood community. And outright brainwashing. I have never been treated as a valuable individual, just as someone who is essentially polluting the gene pool and leading my husband off a good and righteous path and an existential threat. He often expresses that he never really get positive reinforcement for being his true self, only performing Judaism. I’m watching this while comparing observations I’ve made over the past few years and so much of this fits. I don’t really ever see people talking about very religious or zionistic Judaism as a cult or high demand religion(probably for obvious reasons considering current events and recent history), but a lot of these points fit perfectly, and I believe it is a shame that it isn’t talked about or confronted. I always feel like I am crazy, and the control tactics have caused so much strain on our relationship and made it near impossible for my husband to protect and prioritize our relationship. I feel lost and like there’s no real support
I have to get my LDS friend to take this assessment. This is so important. Thank you for sharing this information.
90%.
Well, guess I'm taking that to therapy this week.
Thanks John, this is an invaluable tool and I hope this helps open some people's eyes.
Straight up 2s on everything. Funny thing is when I left the church I don't think I would have scored them all 2s. Now that I've been out for a while and have had time to reflect it only makes sense that it would be all 2s.
Hi,
I read this book some time ago, it opened my mind to accessing my experience in the Mormon religion. I highly recommend it to everyone.
I tried to be objective taking your test, as honest as I could. I was a Mormon missionary 1982-83, the start of the 18 month missions for men. The MTC experience was total pressure and time control, so there was little time to question or think. I prepared myself before entering the MTC with a lot of prayer and meditation. I felt spiritual before entering, but that was squeezed out of me and I hated the experience. It was drilled into us that we had to perform a 2 year mission in 18 months. The mission experience under pressure in a low convert mission was like your test on steroids. I lived that test for 18 months but began fighting against it my last 4 months, refusing to knock on a door my last two months. Not because I was lazy, but because the LDS church didn't assist converts who were thrown out of their homes by their parents for converting. There were many problem I observed with the religion and decided to leave upon returning. I shared that with a former comp.who informed the mission president. I agreed to stay in a while upon returning to give it a second chance. I left 18 months after returning.
My score having experienced the heated crucible mission was leaning heavy on 100%, maybe a 1 on one item instead of a 2. I served it in Nietzsche's format, at first as a camel... Put a load upon me, then as a lion...charging forward and finally as an old man looking back at what I had done, questioning, regretting and unable to finish in good conscious.
In fairness, I prayed for the most difficult mission I could endure before receiving it, not out of ego, but out of an annoying unrelenting thought. I was 24 years old when I left and felt I could handle more being more mature... The camel! I got what I prayed for! So who's to say whether my nightmare was the mission norm, or a result of my prayer! I wouldn't return nor serve another mission for all the wealth in the world. Accessing it as the old man, having been the camel and lion first,... I found it wanting!
This was really interesting, I can't wait to see the series. I'm a former mormon, I scored 87% and I really tried to be fair!
I felt like I was trying to be "fair" or gentle in rating my LDS experience as well...still came out with 83%. It's just too accurate.
26 rocked my bones. I wondered where my dissociation in mental health symptoms came from... Very clear looking back
Love you John your a brave man helping a lot of people.
Yes I was, I am one of the lucky ones, I rebelled right from the start, I ask questions. Their answers gave me more questions.
Their answers were not acceptable.
Thank you for what you do.
Information is key to getting away from them.
Born and raised LDS. 100% a cult. So glad I left 10 years ago.
My orthodox Provo upbringing: 93. Would have been a higher score had I stayed in longer.
I got 60 so 88% for being a Mormon for 40 years-2% for being an MS listener for 10. All of a sudden it's clear to me why I'm obsessed with cult documentaries. Thanks for this content I've always wondered where on the cult scale the LDS church finds itself.
95.58% I grew up believing it would have been better if I died before I was an 8 year old than live old enough to leave.
I only (only...) got an 86% BUT the only reason it isn't higher is because I got out pretty young and distanced myself as much as I could while I was in it
22. Loading the language. TSCC loads the word MORALITY. I grew up thinking it meant sexual purity. How about those who make millions or BILLIONS and manage to not pay a cent of tax? Legal? I guess? Moral? Hell, no.
I’m scoring with my LDS upbringing in mind and the results are:
•When I score the entire thing I get a 91.
• When I stop at question 30 and score it, I get 93.
Raised LDS- mormon church scored a 100% cult.
Already knew that from the Steven Hassen episode as well as watching documentaries on other cults and seeing the huge similarities.
LDS church, 75%
Quakerism, 30%
I tried to be lenient on the LDS since that’s the religion I’ve left, and therefore might be a bit biased against. I tried to be really hard in Quakerism since that’s where I’ve been heading the last couple of years and I so want to be careful. Also, I think the longer you are in a religion or community, the more exposure you might have to these things. In other words, a newbie might be ignorant of all the red flags
I was trying to be completely fair and thoughtful in my assessment of the LDS church, but it still managed to scored an 81%, or F. Goodness!
My guess is that the down voters didn't even listen to the podcast.
Or they did, realized they're in a cult, and didn't like it.
"Turn that frown upside down!" Thought stopping 101. ggrrrgggg
If you have to ask the question was I raised in a cult, I think the answer is most likely - yes. Yes you were.
Former Southern Baptist here. Score was 1.2. Yep, that’s why I’m not there anymore.
93% for growing up Mormon. It'd be over 100% if I had put a score of 16 Million for the "Guilt and Shame" and "Proselytizing" ones as was my gut reaction.
52 for previous church I attended as a child, 6 for current church.
Based on the weighting granularity my score (mormonism offshoot) honestly came in between 85 % and 95 %; this because I'm not sure in every case whether the gut feel is really 1 or 2. My idea would be to rate each question on a weight of 1 - 5; add total, then divide by 170 and convert to a percentage.
If the questions are answered honestly my gut feel is that 'any' mormon (or mormon offshoot) is going to come in above 80 %. The trouble with the assessment is that cult members may not be fully able to 'assess' their organization while they are still a part of it... in fact, most mormons would probably not even be willing to take the assessment.
Thought provoking. A cult is a group that uses undue influence to create obedience and dependency, and given it's based on lies, shame and threats Mormonism is a cult. Whether it's as "big" or "successful" in its cultic mission is another question. You can make a strong case the JWs (with, for example, their strict shunning policy, prohibition on blood transfusions even to prevent death etc) and Scientology (oh, let me count the ways....) are worse, or more successful if you're one of their leaders. That can't blind us to the cultic aspects of Mormonism (missions anyone?) and the damage they do.
90%, and that was with me erring in favor of the church on tricky questions.
I scored 95% after spending nearly 45 years in this religion. I also tried this test based on both political parties and they too both scored very high!
Hi John, Jason from Australia, ex LDS score 65, percentage 95.5.
My wife Dallis also ex LDS score 67, 98.5% percentage
I got a B scored 39.. Not Mormon, but have a lot of Mormon friends; was raised a Christian Scientist, though, believe it or not, I had resentment I've worked through, due to lack of acknowledging the body's health and to just pray about it. 🙄
Yikes, just shy of 90% with 61/68. Kinda depressing to not really have connected these dots sooner than watching this. Not sure if I necessarily consider the La Luz del Mundo church a cult (though I had moments that gave me pause) but this doesn’t make me feel good about what else to think about it even though there was some good and helpful influences/experiences in LLDM. But also explains why I felt so liberated and relieved after leaving, even if some guilt and shame persisted for a while. Thanks for this.
68/68 = 100% Cult experience in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's mind blowing, and disappointing. Hard to accept but it is what it is. Grateful to realize it now.
This still helps me years after Mormonism. Love this thing so much
I’m super curious to know what your self assessment was for Mormonism in your personal life, John. Did the church score high for you? Did it get an F or would you be willing to share the percentage you rated it? I’m a never religious except at my dads and it never stuck because it wasn’t reinforced so I have nothing to score.
As an ex Jehovahs Witness, i got 67 points. 98.5% JWs dont demand donations, but its very much expected if you want to be considered "in good standing"
Questioning mormon, got 85%.
69% = D. I tried to base my answers strictly on my lived experience as a TBM (birth through, and including, the year that I left) and not what I’ve learned since leaving. I loved growing up Mormon but I wonder about what I might have lost by wasting time and mental energy living the Mormon dream.
68 out of 68... F
Raised in the Mormon church. Wish I could share this with my ultra-conservative mormon family
Fundamentalist Christian church - born and raised until left 26 years ago at 19; scored 80% - still recovering and unpacking its effects.
60% = D from being raised as a mormon in Finland in a not too conservative family. Altough did try to be as gentle with the scoring as I could since I didn't want an exaggerated score.
97% F yay I left a cult. Go me!
I'm your twin! 97% for me too and I resigned from Mormon church nearly 5 years ago in my 60s!
Evangelical Southern Baptist: 80.8
Some of the questions were hard for me to rate. For example, I personally never really felt euphoria from induced states, but it was definitely a thing I witnessed/ heard about and it was clearly expected of me 😬
Stuff like that made me feel as though something was wrong with me and that I must deep down be an evil person as a little kid. Where was the holy spirit moving me to tears or to lift my hands up in exaltation? I accepted Jesus into my heart, but didn't feel this euphoric sense of love or change that others described. I felt like i was an imposter despite having the pure and genuine desire of childhood innocence to be a faithful Christian.
There were a couple 0s, but also some strong 2s. Gotta love fire and brimstone flavored Christianity
I'm rambling, but tldr: 80% makes sense. It wasnt as extreme as other examples I've heard, but it's definitely an F.
D. I am over 30 years ex LDS . I was convert in a mission area.
38% 33 years Latter-Day Saint, 10 years Post Mormon. I had four 2's, questions 24., 25., 29., 31.
Grew up in California, served a 2-year mission, 2 years at BYU-I, UVU graduate, and lived 10 years in Utah.
I knew I would have a lower score than average, so maybe with a confirmation bias, I could go with a "C" instead of a "B".
I am curious about what percentage of respondents have a C or better, and why they think that is?
I was incredibly generous, and only gave points to things I personally experienced, even if I know others (some in my family) have experienced it. Still got a D.
Wow! Great information. I would love a copy of the questions as a pdf. I tried to take notes but out of time today. I assessed my experience as a Mormon. Got a 91% due to not understanding some questions and giving a 1. I assume that all questions should get a 2. Lived as a Jack Mormon for the last 40 years.
All 2’s, raised Mormon
Mine over 40 years was 84 percent and spouse was 76 percent
Less then 1% for me. I am a non religious Christian meaning I do believe in god and Christianity but not a full on religion. I have gone through the bible a number of times and could not see how god wanted anyone to be religious. Its a one on one thing. As far as faith it says to question the bible i do it often and yet still believe. Thank you for the video i enjoyed it!
My score was a 63%. I was raised in a family of four, started going to private institutes with my sister by the time we were in preschool, and had a private education till I was in 12th grade. My mother came from a poorer, biracial family; and my father came from a well off white family. After 6 months they were married and began having a family. My mother had received several negative remarks due to her skin color, and to this day she does everything in her power to not become tan. I am from a Christian family which still has deep roots in racism that continues to be covered up. My family has been responsible for enslaving black men and women, as well as American Indians. I am disgusted, whereas they are in denial. I have not had a relationship with my family because of all of this. Sorry for the word vomit, but could anyone give me advice to where I can direct my anger to make a difference?
What a journey. It's good you want to help out. The best type of activism is the kind that speaks to you. I suggest making a list of causes that interest you, then investigate what kinds of organizations or other outlets are doing work in that area. Figure out which one seems to be doing the most good, by your estimation, or that has volunteer positions that call to you. (Or you can invent your own projects, though that is more work.) Then join and try it out. Be aware of the cult dynamics listed here and in our full series, so you don't wind up in a culty activism group. The best way I've found to do activism is to follow my heart and do what comes easily to me and makes me feel fulfilled.
I scored an 84% raised in the Mormon church. I feel sick. I haven’t attended church for 5-6 years, and had my records removed last year. However, there is still a massive lingering doubt and fear that consumes me. Any pointers?
Watch this space. This week we're releasing a 5-part series that deconstructs all of these control techniques in detail, with some pointers on how to change your thinking and heal towards a freer, more self-directed life. Sending you peace and love.
@@LunaCorbden thank you ❤️
99% = F here for my Mormon (LDS) religion. I have to say that some questiones deserve more than 2 points, very heavy indoctrination in this church.
82 % for 30 years of mormonism. I think I'm still in denial about certain things. I just recently - a few months - started to find out about church history and I know I'll never go back, but still miss the fellowship and the good things. I'm struggling. Any recommendations to what to start to read for the healing process? I don't have a soul that understands what I'm going through. It's been tough.
So, you've basically described literally every political party, almost every religion, and every timeshare company.
Ok.
Don't forget the MLMs.
In trying to be nice to the CoJCoLDS, I ended up with 81% (F). Some of them were such a bold 2, I almost wanted an option of giving it a 3.
I was harsh with Community of Christ and it got an 18% (A).
A 76% for my Mormon upbringing. Most of these items rang true, but it's hard to determine whether a factor is 'significant' or 'moderate', especially when I think of higher-demand groups like Heaven's Gate or the Sea Org.
It's not meant to be comparative to other organizations. If you felt it was a significant factor to yours it'd be a 2. The severity of the 2 is going to vary between organizations.
@@EquestrianAltercationsLLC I appreciate what you're saying, but I think I'll decide how to make my own assessments, and for me it's important to consider degrees across the spectrum.
@@cday31 I understand that, but it's along the same lines of comparing trauma.
@@EquestrianAltercationsLLC yeah interesting thought, lots for me to think about
97% for my personal experience in mormonism
Thanks John you’re making it happen we are the resistance it’s the end of Mormonism as we know it
This was great! I’m so very glad there is an alternative to the B. I. T. E. model. Not only will this far easier for the vast majority of people in a cult to grasp, use & understand, the BITE guy has been behaving poorly lately.
His inability to look at the science of a matter he has little to no experience with is disappointing, bordering on hateful. So unfortunate. So I’m super glad about this & am looking forward to next week’s episodes. Thanks for this!!
He wrote a book a couple of years ago about how Trump used cult tactics. 🙄 I mean, cool if you don't like Trump. Whatevs. But trying to label politics as "cult tactics" just watered down everything he said about actual cults, IMHO.
His descriptions of trans people & support of a super rich & famous transphobe from the UK has been upsetting to me. I’m not throwing out the baby with the bath water. There’s always a chance he could see past the propaganda he was shown & look at the science. I’m disappointed is all.
@@trevanon7450 Exactly. Many Americans know someone whose family has disowned them because they don’t think Trump is awesome & the answer to all that ills them. In 2016, only 27% of American voters were registered Republican. That % has fallen, and it fell precipitously after the 1/6 seditious riots. So it’s not “half of America”. Our congress is gerrymandered & the vote is so suppressed that it creates an illusion of a 50/50 country.
About half of the remaining Republican voters are what Hassan is describing when he used his model. Unfortunately for about 70% of America, it fits. It’s a cult.
And mind you, this cult was not created 4 years ago. They’ve been fed propaganda for decades. Their fears have been weaponized. When trump is gone some other leader will take his place; when he dies we’ll see North Korean-type public wailing. It’s totally a cult.
I got an A , the 6 areas I had a 1 in was related to an ex spouse, that is ex! He still tries to mess with my head but it’s from afar
I can't wait until this is an online test for us all to take!
You can download the PDF from the web site!!!
Conservative Judaism gets an A. I think it would be different for ultra-Orthodox Judaism. But progressive Judaism has been good to me personally. The other day, I told my cantor why I don’t practice certain things, and she told me she understood why I didn’t.
It’s always been progressive. At least in the last few decades. Women rabbis, rabbis will officiate same sex marriage, women have roles in services.
@@FrenchFriesTasteGood not some forms, no. It’s when they’re in insular communities and don’t have access to outside world ideas.
I’m catholic and I t got a 25%
I came in at 85% for my involvement with Mormonism.
Raised Roman Catholic. Scored a 34% percent. Will say though, the problematic parts of the Catholic Church are still EXTREMELY problematic
My number for LDS experience is 75%.
American 'patriotism' gets a 73.5%.
I rated FOX News and got a 74.5%. Not tryin’ to be judgy, either. 🤷🏻♀️
94 after 39 years of membership in LDS.