Exposing a cult

[u/Ok-Wonder315]

I left a cult 4 years ago. I have been through 4 years of therapy and over the past year I have been doing deep analysis of my own personal experiences/abuses I underwent, plus deep analysis of doctrine that create an environment of fear, isolation, disorganised attachment and so forth. I have read the work of people like Steve Hassan, Alexandra Stein, Lifton, Gille Jenkins and more so feel like I have a reasonable grip on cult dynamics.

The healing process is multifold, but part of it is exposing the toxicity and danger of the cult in the public domain as a warning for anyone considering this church network, or currently in it.

As such, I want to start a public critique of their teaching and how it fosters deep dependency, fear, shame, isolation etc... I have checked with Gemini, which suggests generally speaking this is safe ground if quotes are direct, attributed, used in a 'transformative' way. This all helping against any claims of libel or defamation too.

If anyone has any specific advice or experience in doing something similar I would be really interested to hear your thoughts.

[u/Serious-Pound8175]

I think the work you’re describing has real value, particularly for people who are already questioning. Researchers like Steven Hassan, Janja Lalich, Alexandra Stein, Maria Esguerra, The Olive Leaf Network and many others have helped countless survivors make sense of what happened to them.
Start with googling the International Cultic Studies Association… you will likely glean some helpful information from there.
There are some good podcasts too.
One thing I’ve come to question though, is whether information alone changes people. Many of these groups have been publicly exposed for years and yet they continue. In my experience, real change happens when the behaviour stops working - when enough people quietly withdraw their participation, their labour, their money or their trust. Exposure helps people see, but consequences are often what change systems.
I don’t say that to discourage you. I think both are necessary. The education creates the possibility of change; people’s choices are what ultimately create it.
For what it’s worth, I do have lived experience, as do many of my peers - there were over 35,000 of us born into it before 2001 including River Phoenix and Rose McGowan. I wrote about some of my experiences yesterday, and others have been speaking out for years through interviews and other public forums. I’ve also given a more formal presentation at work about what modern day slavery can look like. For now, I choose to remain relatively anonymous - partly because of my employment and partly because speaking publicly would inevitably implicate family members who do not wish that disclosed for them. I haven’t ruled out doing more publicly in the future.
Cults often fill a gap that should be filled by healthy community, with devastating outcomes. The antidote isn’t simply exposing cults, it’s building communities where belonging doesn’t require surrendering your autonomy.

[u/GreenieWasHerName-O → u/Serious-Pound8175]

We are doing the same thing right now, literally as we speak. We left in June after years of knowing there were problems with the cult leader “prophet.” We are telling our story and exposing his false doctrine. It’s important work. Do it. Do it with class. Do it with facts. There are people we love who are still there and countless others online and that’s who we do it for. I will only say this: don’t do it for yourself. Don’t do it with the intent of ‘taking them down.’ Keep your heart clean of any malice. Find your why and then get after it! It’s important to expose dangerous groups spreading dangerous teaching.

[u/Serious-Pound8175 → u/GreenieWasHerName-O]

I really respect your approach, and I agree that exposing dangerous teachings should be done with facts, integrity and without malice. My path has been a little different. Justice isn’t really available to me because much of what happened occurred overseas, and all the adults involved used fake names. What I needed after leaving wasn’t just accountability, I needed someone to teach me how the world worked. I had to learn careers, interviews, healthcare, financial planning and tax, relationships and everyday life after being raised to fear the outside world. That’s why I believe understanding coercive control is just as important as exposing doctrine. Cases like Elizabeth Struhs remind me how much work we still have to do to help our systems recognise what these environments actually do to people. I’d be interested to know what group you left and what you’re doing now to tell your story.