Were You Raised in a Cult or High-Demand Religion? A Self-Assessment - Mormon Stories 1442 

Yes, I read it too. Steven Hassan's B.I.T.E. model that defines the characteristics of a cult.

General conference good time to go on a bike ride especially in Bountiful the streets are bare

Thank you Kathy!!!!

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

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 RU-vid, 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

Yep 😅

I felt like giving them a 3 or 4

Yep

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

Or they did, realized they're in a cult, and didn't like it.

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.

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 ❤️

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

I'm your twin! 97% for me too and I resigned from Mormon church nearly 5 years ago in my 60s!

Ok.

Don't forget the MLMs.

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.

Which relationship?

@@djk5v Mainstream mormon (SLC)

I rated FOX News and got a 74.5%. Not tryin’ to be judgy, either. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I posted Jehovah's Witnesses: Total score 68 / 100% / F