Christ Church Rampant: How I survived the grooming & abuse of Doug Wilson's cult - Lorena Hieronymus

Today I spoke with Lorena Hieronymus, who grew up in the Christ Church cult in Moscow, Idaho, under Doug Wilson, but ultimately escaped from that group, as well as the broader cult of Christianity.
We touched on many topics including:
• How the Christ Church cult aims to take over Moscow, Idaho, and beyond, for their particular brand of Christianity.
• Seeing racism woven into the Christ Church culture through being taught that blackness is the "mark of Cain," that slavery was a good thing for many slaves, and that white men are in charge.
• The dynamic that once you join Christ Church, it's almost impossible to get out of the cult.
• The stigma against anyone who is not part of the Christ Church, even if you are a Christian.
• How women in this ultra-misogynistic patriarchal cult are groomed to believe that they should be silent, disempowered domestic servants who are subservient to male leadership.
• How Christ Church, and especially Doug Wilson, uses fear as a tactic to brainwash the congregation, especially women.
• Being taught as a woman that you should never turn down your husband sexually and that there is no such thing as marital rape because your body belongs to him.
• How the Christ Church cult takes away autonomy of body and thought.
• How people in Christ Church don't seem to seriously question Doug Wilson, despite endless red flags.
• The danger of having structures of leadership and submission that protect the power of men at the expense of women, especially in cases of abuse.
• Being taught that a woman's body is inherently a stumbling block that causes men to sin.
• Being brainwashed to believe that you are worthless and worthy of shame.
• How women are treated as property in the Christ Church community, and how a woman gets passed from her father to her husband when she gets married, always remaining under the authority of the head of the household.
• Being taught that what matters is not your happiness, but your obedience -- to the Yahweh and Jesus characters, to the church elders, and to your father or husband.
• How Doug Wilson intentionally uses nasty, hateful language to trigger those who disagree with him, in order to instill shame and fear in people, especially liberal Christians, feminists, and the LGBTQ community.
• How people in Christ Church are shunned and excommunicated if they go against the church authority or culture.
• How men strongly benefit from the ultra-patriarchal system of a cult like Christ Church.
• Dealing with trauma from growing up in the Christ Church cult, and Christianity in general, but eventually reclaiming her identity, healing, and becoming an advocate for abuse victims.
• After deconversion, getting over the fear of hell, moving past the feelings of worthlessness, learning to be truly happy, and choosing the path that she wanted, not one that was dictated to her.
• Realizing, during deconstruction, that the New Testament heavily copies from the book of Enoch, many other intertestamental books, and the works of Homer.
• Admitting that the Yahweh character is portrayed in the Bible as a severely abusive narcissist.
• Choosing the path of courageously speaking up against abuse.
• Giving the next generation the gift of autonomy, of both their body and of their thought life and worldview.
• Forgiving Christians for the trauma they have inflicted on us, and thriving despite how much they and their mythology have hurt and continue to hurt us and our society.
Thanks to Lorena for sharing her story and helping others escape and heal from the abuse of the Christ Church cult and from Christianity.
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Dig deeper:
Examining Doug Wilson and Moscow, Idaho FB group & IG page:
/ examiningmoscow
/ examiningmoscow
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Check out Lorena's interview on MythVision:
• I Escaped Doug Wilson'...
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A recent Vice article that is worth reading:
www.vice.com/e...
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Ending music by Eyal Raz, "Friends"
• Friends
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