The film begins with an interview of Brent Jeffs, a former Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints (FLDS) member. He tells of how his uncle and the cult prophet, Warren Jeffs, sexually abused him as a young child and how he felt he had no where to turn. Warren had instilled in him the fear that he would burn in hell if he ever spoke a word of the abuse to anyone. His overwhelming fear of God prevented him from saying anything for a long time, but today he has a book out, Lost Boy, describing his life in the cult with more detail.
The second story is told by Maura Shmierer and her daughter, both of whom were part of the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps (ACMTC) cult. The ACMTC was "God's army" and the leaders, Lila and James Green, believed strongly in physical abuse to create obedient followers. The sad thing is, the members abused their own children because the leaders said so because God spoke through them and wanted this.
Both of these cults relied on their member's fear of God to establish control over them. It's crazy to think how controlling an individual's fear can be, but these stories are proof that fear is a great controlling mechanism and the leaders of these cults knew that.
What do you think? Could the fear of God force you to abuse your own children or keep you from confiding in anyone the hell that you are going through internally as well as physically?
I think it's crazy how people are influenced by their faith and their beliefs. For instance, how the implementation of abuse and physical punishment was used to "strengthen faith" within the cult. But, the question is, do immoral actions such as that, even if towards a greater cause, really strengthen anything?
ReplyDeleteHoly wow, the things that people do really throw me sometimes. The very idea that someone could be punished physically so that they could strengthen the faith of their members is horrifying. Not many people see that Cult's are not always Devil's worship or waiting for the Mothership to come and take them away. Christianity is known to have many sublevels to its worship, some of it being taken to drastic lengths that create what you described above.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that people hide behind the mask of using God as a way to satisfy their wrong doing. Obviously all those things they told the kids are false. True Christianity is about love others and believing that your sin was taken away on the cross. It's truly sad that people would do that to children though.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that people hide behind the mask of using God as a way to satisfy their wrong doing. Obviously all those things they told the kids are false. True Christianity is about love others and believing that your sin was taken away on the cross. It's truly sad that people would do that to children though.
ReplyDeleteZac, I definitely do not believe that actions such as those described in this film help anyone get closer to God. I think it is simply a way for sick individuals to justify their actions against humanity.
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