#ex-cult

[dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night]

Why are all ex-cult conversations dominated by either "I joined a cult as an adult and escaped" or "I grew up Catholic/Mormon and have guilt"?

Obviously those conversations are important. But what about those of us who were born into actual Christian and Pagan cults, not huge mainstream Christian and Christian-adjacent groups?

I grew up in the fucking woods. I wasn't allowed off our property without supervision 95% of the time. My mother trained me in literal spiritual warfare. I was exorcized repeatedly as a teenager. All my health problems were blamed on sin. That isn't normal Christianity. Not at all.

It's not equivalent of "Uh my parents were Catholics such a cult lol". Catholic guilt is its own conversation, that has very little to do with actual cults. No, all religions aren't cults.

It's also not equivalent to people who joined cults as adults. They had their choice and they made it. I was fucking born into this and never had a fucking chance. Totally different.

And maybe I'm just an outlier. Maybe my experiences are just painfully unique. Maybe it was just my luck to be born to the leader of a cult that focused on breeding like rabbits instead of indoctrinating large numbers of outsiders.

But isolation and not being listened to hurts. Religion can be traumatic for anyone, but ex-cult conversations shouldn't be handled by people who weren't in actual cults to begin with.

You can ignore this. I'm just in a bitter mood because it's Christmas.

#Abraham original: Hot off the press #Ex-cult #Cults #Cults tw #Christian cults #Vent tw #Religious trauma #Vent

[fandom-hoarder]

This is part of a longer post that I've been composing in my head for months, but I've been watching a lot of anti-multilevel marketing (MLM) videos and it had started making me think about how, just like my mom has used religion to cope with her (previously undiagnosed) ptsd, she used MLMs also.

She sold Tupperware and got the Sea World convention trip. She sold Mary Kay and got the car. She sold other things I can't remember-- vitamin stuff, and was super into it.

And the way some people break down the MLMs in the videos I'm watching, really made me think about how that structure of having to constantly recruit new people is so much like evangelism in general, but particularly Jehovah's Witnesses. They are constantly trying to recruit you -- not just to save you, or teach you something they say will enrich your life, but because they have to make their quotas!

And now I'm watching these ex-JW vids, from Elders who have left the Jehovah's Witnesses, and it's bringing up a lot of memories, but also I'm getting even more of a peek behind the curtain of what goes on in the upper levels... it really is set up like an MLM corporation.

And if you're good at making those quotas, you'll probably thrive. My mom was always good at making her quotas -- both in MLM sales AND her monthly field service (proselytizing) hours. All aspects considered, she was a "better" JW than my father. She was always a joy to the congregation and everyone wanted her involved in things, she sewed the dresses for so many weddings, she sang out in meetings, and she was a zealous Pioneer who always made her quotas and brought new people in. She learned ASL to minister to one person in her territory, and ASL became a passion that led to her going to college once she was out of the JWs.

It's kinda hilarious to me that they lost a truly devoted JW when they disfellowshipped her because she wanted a divorce. 👀 (She had to break a religious law for her divorce to be recognized by the congregation, because dad being abusive wasn't enough-- because of their "two witness" rule about proving guilt. So she had an affair with a coworker, and let people find out about it, and then refused reconciliation in the prescribed Elder marriage counseling.)

When someone is disfellowshipped, they are fully shunned. Baptized people and full members of the congregation aren't allowed to speak to them or even acknowledge them. But my mom at first wanted to earn her way back in!! For which, she needed to stay devout and keep going to meetings, even though she wasn't allowed to sing or do service anymore or talk to any of her friends. And every 6 months or so, she could write a letter to the Elders and the Organization about why she should be reinstated. I overheard these things laid out to her when I snuck downstairs to listen in on their counsel. It was such a scary feeling, compared to the excitement of weeks earlier when my brother and I sat in my room listening to my parents fight about her affair, both of us crossing our fingers and whispering, "Please get a divorce."

Idk if this is where I lost my faith exactly, because even though I was raised in it I had ALWAYS questioned things that didn't make sense and got in trouble for it. But I also DID believe in the religion still-- I was 9/10 and didn't yet realize how that religion had actually been CREATED by men just the same way as Mormonism and all the other sects JWs decry. I just really started labeling them all as hypocrites at that point. The way everyone abandoned my mom, and acted like my dad was so betrayed and perfect; the way they TALKED about my mom and compared me to her all the time to keep my behavior in line. The way they would still talk to me, but not my mom. When she was right there.

...I intended this to just be short and get my thoughts out but I just kept going. Lol I'm stopping here.

But this is the video I was watching when I had to pause and type this lol.

#anti JW #ex JW #anti mlm #(as in multilevel marketing) #cults #religious trauma #my memoir #ish #podcasts #ex-cult

[millioncat]

ex-cult vibes 🫶

Ex-cult vibes 🫶

#ex-cult #ex cult #don't which one you are talking about but hey king/queen #exmormon #ex catholic #crime cult

[centi-pedve]

There’s an uncomfortable trend of people acting like cult survivors aren’t real. It can easily come from just how dehumanized cult members are in absolutely any forms of media, making it hard for people to imagine them having lives outside of the cult. But cult survivors absolutely are real, and they should be talked about more. 

Cults are not just stories to squirm over.

Cults are not an aesthetic.

Cults are not made to be the punchline of a joke.

When all of these aspects drastically outnumber actual resources for cult survivors and anecdotes being told from cult survivors, then there’s a problem. Stop warping the image of what cults are. Start recognizing that cults have traumatized real people in the real world, and will continue to do so.

(To followers not caught up - yes, we’re a cult survivor. Yes, we see your shit cult jokes. Yes, we’re judging you.)

#cult tw #ex-cult #cult survivor

[gnczhanna]

when Tyler Glenn said “My further light and knowledge gave me second sight, I think I lost the spirit maybe it’s a sign, Let’s say I gave up God and Jesus all in the same night, what do I believe in and what do I believe?” BOOHOO 🤧

#excommunication (2016) #mormon blogging #exmo #ex-cult #jas.txt

[bluebeesknees]

Welcome to my little✨Convince-Suguru-Challenge!✨

Help Gojo make some compelling moral arguments!!

#aka get your cult leader ex to come back please oh god #jujutsu kaisen #satosugu #jjk #satoru gojo #gojo #geto suguru #geto #my art #bluebeesart #art #fanart #jjk fanart #geto is not dealing with this sober that’s for sure #convince geto challenge

[the-jesus-pill]

You’ve got to forgive yourself for being traumatized and needing to learn how to function again. 

Recovery isn’t always nightmares and depression, it’s forgetting to eat, being scared of what others might see as completely normal things, it’s getting random panic attacks, not knowing how to take care of yourself, not knowing how to live like an adult, even if you’re twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, of feeling like you’re failing to function in a world where everyone seems to have their shit together. 

If you need help, ask for it. Go to forums and ask for advice. Take advantage of community resources. Buy pre-sliced veggies and fruits, eat instant meals if you can’t cook for yourself today. Hire someone. Ask a neighbor for a favor. Buy any item you think might make life easier, even if you feel like you aren’t ‘disabled’ enough to have it. 

Some of the depression posts (ie open your windows, take a shower, go outside, call a friend) are really helpful but they’re not always enough. I’ve found advice for spoonies, people with chronic pain or other disabilities have the best tips because they know what it’s like to be bedridden, out of energy, stuck in a brain fog. 

You may never return back to the energy you had when you were younger and you might always need to use crutches to help you through life. It’s the same with medication. 

Trauma is a real thing that happens to you, it physically alters your brain and it’s alright to have lasting scars. 

You’re not broken, your life is not over and you can still be happy. 

It’s not your fault.

#felix speaks #trauma #recovery #deconversion #ex cult #ex religious #ptsd #cptsd #healing #disabled #actually traumatized #spoonies #things i need to remind myself with too #it sucks to have to come to terms with the fact #but youll be so much better off once you stop denying yourself the help you need #also re: buying items meant for the disabled #do it! #you are not taking resources away #if you need it you need it #and the more in demand these items are the better theyll be made in the future

[asavt]

Once upon a time a small rat walked into my web...

#cotl #cult of the lamb #shamura cotl #cotl shamura #cotl ratau #ratau cotl #fan art #digital art #my art #I think of the idea that Ratau went into Silkcradle and tried to battle Shamura and lost. #I think like ''take out their leader so they are all helpless'' #it didn't work #lost an eye #was constantly chased by the other bishop's followers for attempting to #and now years later in his extended lifespan #a certain spider walks into his hut #mind not quite there #quite lost #and they play a game #and maybe they recognize him maybe not #maybe the anxiety of having a ex-god-now-demigod is overreacted and overthought #but for now he'll just roll his dice #and see why they were once called the god of wisdom and war

[the-rad1o-demon]

[Image ID (sorta, basically just the text from it):

GET KOSA TRENDING.

STOP SCROLLING NOW!

AS OF FEBRUARY 21ST, 2024, WE GOT FIVE DAYS UNTIL THE DAY OF DECISION OF THE KOSA BILL, WHICH WILL CAUSE MASS CENSORSHIP ROUND THE INTERNET IF PASSED. OR DOOMSDAY. WE NEED EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT THIS AND CONTRIBUTE. I'M NOT GIVING UP ON YOU ALL.

WE'RE DOWN TO THE WIRE BUT WE CAN'T GIVE UP YET. IF WE GIVE UP, EVERYTHING IS OVER. IF WE DON'T, AT LEAST WE HAVE A CHANCE.

I'M THE ONE WHO SOUNDED THE ALARM, AND I'M NOT GOING TO CURL UP AND DIE YET.

Reblog this post in every LEGAL way you can under the Tumblr guidelines with the appropriate tags. TELL AND TAG EVERYONE YOU KNOW, then add the tags to see below... and more if you can think of any complying.

Visit badinternetbills.com if you want to find a way to defeat KOSA. It WILL NOT take much of your time. Reblog with any other information or sources, too-- but make sure to reblog if you can.

Reblog if you support lgbtq+ content.

Reblog if you support questioning queer youth and/or abused youth getting the information they need.

Reblog if you support Ao3 and/or other sites that wholeheartedly preserve talentedly made media.

Reblog if you're going to repost this on other sites than Tumblr and spread the word across Twitter, Tik Tok, Pinterest, or elsewhere, alongside the link to badinternetbills.com.

END image ID]

Hey, everyone. So yeah, this is happening. We're still fighting this battle. And we can't give up now. We can't. We can't stand idly by while one of the most important resources that helped us all wake up, or at least start to question things, is being threatened by the government.

We can't stand idly by when kids, teens, and adults just like us still trapped inside might lose access to the resource that could help them wake up. We can't stand idly by when they might lose access to their non JW friends and family. We CAN'T stand idly by when we can do something to stop this bill from passing.

I am sick and tired of this same old song, where conservative fuckers higher up think they can oppress everyone. I am FUCKING SICK of it.

Please, reblog both this post and the original post linked above what I've written, and do what you can to stop KOSA, please. We are running out of time.

I suggest that if it is within your power to do so, that you do more than simply reblog and assume someone else will do something. DON'T assume that. Please do more than just reblogging if you are able to, because that's not really enough at this point.

Call/email representatives in the House and tell them to oppose KOSA (you may want to list different reasons depending on who you're calling, some House representatives are anti-LGBTQ+, so it may be best to tell them to oppose because it violates people's privacy, safety, and anonymity online). Print posters and put them up where legal if you can.

Sharing all this information to other social media sites (Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, the bird app) to reach more people can really help too. The wider the reach, the better.

Thank you. Now let's fucking rip that bill apart like we rip apart Watchtower magazines and eat it for fucking breakfast. (In a "we're eating it and the politicians who are sponsoring it are looking on in horror" kind of way)

#kids online safety act #internet censorship #stop kosa #exjw #ex jw #ex jehovah's witness #ex jehovah's witnesses #not necessarily ex jw related tags but still relevant bc this bill also affects these communities: #queer #lgbtqia #lgbt #lgbtqplus #lgbtq community #ex catholic #ex mormon #ex christian #ex evangelical #ex cult

[seraphimfall]

i’ve read so much tradcath bullshit the last two years. i can confidently say tradcath men fit into one of two categories:

“protestant-raised and converted to catholicism because of his crippling porn addiction and racist tendencies. reposts crusader and conquistador memes. is hated in his local parish.” tradcath

“catholic-raised band kid who ate his lunches with the religion teacher. smells like mildew. cut off all his friends that came out as gay after high school. now larps as an aquinian scholar and cries after jerking off.” tradcath

#|| the disciple || #ex catholic #ex christian #religious trauma #exvangelical #deconversion #apostate #apostasy #ex fundie #extian #deconstructing christianity #ex religious #ex cult #ex cath #religious deconstruction #deconstruction #catholic guilt #progressive politics #leaving the church #losing my religion

[dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night]

I agree with most of your cult post, but it's kind of hurtful that you implied adults just make a fully informed choice to join a cult. When I was in a cult (Shincheonji), all the adults I saw (most were like 18/19 when joining) didn't "make their choice" to join, they were manipulated, harrassed and abused for months and months in order to coerce them into joining. People weren't even allowed to know the name of the church until they were sufficiently docile.

While I agree it's totally different to be born into a cult, I'm really sick of people (especially those without any cult experiences) implying that adults just walk into a cult and happily join. At least, I've never seen that happen, and I also think it's harmful to imply because it feeds into the common misconception that only stupid people join cults (which in turn makes everyone think they're immune, in direct contrast to the actual facts)

Regarding the rest though it's SO true. I can't count how many times I've tried to talk about cults and LITERAL ATHEISTS with ZERO knowledge in religion will dismiss it with "All religion is a cult", and a lot of others say "Me too! My Mom wouldn't let me swear and I had to go to church every Sunday" (or sometimes people think "My Catholic parents were abusive" is the same as cult abuse... like damn I'm super sorry you experienced that but it's so not what I'm talking about right now...)

I assume there's not as much for people born in cults because there's just less of you (and probably less of you who make it out), but it does suck :(

Right out of the gate, I'm going to say that you're right. However, my post really wasn't supposed to be a comprehensive look at cult psychology. It was just me venting out some of my frustrations. I could have phrased it better. My experiences don't apply to a majority of cults. I know that rationally.

I know that most people who join cults aren't stupid, but rather vulnerable. But the one I grew up in one of the only way to join was by marriage or adoption. Which makes everyone this fucked up extended family.

In my experience, people do happily join cults. Then they proceed to breed like mother fucking rabbits to build up a spiritual child army to fight satan. Yeah, not a great way to grow up. Most kids are just stressed about homework.

But most cults don't work like this. So my experiences are quite different than a majority of people's. All the adults around me did "make their choice". And it's hard to remember that most cults don't function that way.

The cult I was in didn't really have a name. It still exists and technically isn't up to anything illegal. Being told for as long as I can remember that I'm supposed to be The Mouthpiece of God to the Nations of the Earth (my mother's exact language) definitely fucked my brain up.

I think there needs to be more acceptance for the wide range of experience cult escapees have. Unfortunately, we have a unique kind of trauma that makes our brains very prone to trying to block other people out instead of listening to them.

Ex-Catholics and Ex-Mormons and whoever aren't ever going to understand. And that's probably a good thing. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. They may be traumatized, but it's just not comparible. So they really get on my nerves.

-Abraham ♡♡♡

#Ask #Cult #Ex-cult #Cult trauma #Religious trauma #Tw cults

[takofuus]

we talking about some sex update?

#cult of the lamb #cotl narinder #narinder #narilamb #true devotion #narinder x lamb #sins of the flesh #save yourself some dignity o god of death #i mean ex god sorry #haha ex god sex god #//tako art

[edscuntyeyeshadow]

I saw a comment somewhere that basically said aziraphale and crowley are like two different reactions you can have to religious trauma.

so crowley is the self proclaimed “sinner”, has accepted that he’s “going to hell”, and hates the church/cult he left. for him going back means going back to that box of repression.

but aziraphale’s trauma seems to be much harder for people to understand, he’s the person who was slowly cast out because of the cracks showing in their facade, they want to be loved by the church/cult still. they crave belonging and want to be welcomed back.

I’m definitely more of a crowley but I like to talk more about aziraphale because I also relate to him in certain ways, plus people misunderstand him a lot.

#good omens #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #religious trauma #good omens 2 #ex evangelical #ex cult #ex religious #gomens #aziracrow #crowley

[maquina-semiotica]

Ex-Cult, "Attention Ritual"

#Ex-Cult #Spotify

[xxcherrycherixx]

cupid's gals meet

#monster high #ever after high #c.a cupid #abbey bominable #blondie lockes #heartlockes #c.a cupid x abbey bominable #abbey x cupid #theyre both my proud poly queens #cupid is dating blondie but abbey is her ex who she still gets on great with- #-if you know what i mean 👀 #blondie is fine with it #in fact blondie encourages it- she encourages Recording it and sending it to her too- she just wants to make sure there's no funny business #thats totally the only reason! #also fuck it blondie is a monster fucker shes a big ol monster fucker with a big fat crush on her monster gf #and maybe a lil one on her monster gf's monster fwb- shh #abbey is happy to have open relationship. why waste time on relationship drama when you can communicate with your partner and agree to kiss #-whoever you want? she's dating heath and he definitely doesn't mind that way of thinking. long live the polycule! #im in a polyamory mood bby gonna blast the orion experience-cult of dionysus and chrissy chlapecka-affection brb #add space age bachelor man to that list because fuck yeah thats a polyamory song i forgot #my art

[howlsnteeth]

and are you really okay? are you really okay?

#cw for sh mention in song ! i removed that part in this ! #narilamb #cotl #cult of the lamb #cotl narinder #eye strain #blood cw #not 100% happy but couldn't keep picking lmao #song is #are you really okay by sleep token #anyway there is some story to this. but first and foremost i think lamb probably breaks down often over the fact they're the Last sheep and #their whole race was killed. it's fucked up #anyway the small detail is that in ~my version~ narinder is very passive aggressive where he can be. like wearing white robes so #his bleeding (he has lacerations that appear even as an ex god) is always staining them. as a fuck you to lamb because he refuses to #wear red/darker colours like the rest of the cult #but over time his robes do get slightly darker. until say there's a night where he does find lamb fixating on blood/their species being #completely culled. and he silently makes the choice to wear much darker robes And stuff underneath so his Ooze doesn't show as much #:3 #cotl fanart #cult of the lamb fanart #cotl toww