It's rare that I read a book that causes very strong effects, both while reading it and afterward. I am not only recommending these books, I am strongly advising everyone to read them. First, though, to address the subject of cults in general. If you want the most comprehensive descriptions of cults, I also advise you to read one or more books by Steven Hassan.
For the longest time, my only knowledge of cults was “The Moonies.” When I was a teenager and a young adult, they were occasionally in the news. I watched a televised special which, to anyone who was unaware of what they were and what they were all about, would have sounded quite impressive: “God! Country! Family!” Young people who looked happy and convincing talking about the values average Americans believed in and considered priorities. In September, 1977, I had an in-person encounter with Moonies. While visiting some out-of-state relatives, one relative suggested we hop a train and go to Chicago. In an area known as “the Loop,” individuals were marching around carrying signs with various slogans; one sign had a picture of “Reverend Moon.” The leader of the group was a blonde teenage boy. As my relative and I left the Loop and walked around the corner, one of the Moonies approached her on the sidewalk and tried to hand her a leaflet. When we went into a little restaurant for lunch, I asked her if she knew about the Moonies; she said she did not. I explained it to her while eating lunch and listening to Abba's “Dancing Queen” on the tabletop jukebox.
Later, I heard vague references to Jim Jones, Heaven's Gate, etc., in the news, but heard nothing of the cult described in these two particular books until recent years. If reading these books does not break your heart, you do not have one.
The first book: I FIRED GOD: MY LIFE INSIDE- AND ESCAPE FROM- THE SECRET WORLD OF THE INDEPENDENT FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST CULT. It was written by a courageous woman named Jocelyn Zichterman. In the book, the Independent Fundamental Baptist- or IFB- is described as “the most dangerous mind-control cult in America” due to its size and influence. The author adds that the Department of Homeland Security has deemed these extremist 'Christian' fundamentalists as “a legitimate terror threat to our country.”
The abuse the author- and her siblings, and other children- suffered is beyond words. She states that it was a regular daily occurrence for her and the siblings to be beaten so savagely that their bodies were covered with blood and welts. As only one example, she described an incident in which one of her brothers was so blood-covered, motionless, and silent that she thought he was dead.
The youngsters could not count on outsiders for help, either. As everyone they knew belonged to this cult, even licensed physicians overlooked it. The doctor simply patched up the kids and sent them back home. Mrs. Zichterman also relates sexual abuse. She was molested by her father and both of her brothers. She talked to her sister, and learned the sister had had similar experiences.
The author decided she had to leave the cult after she learned one of her children had been beaten and her daughters told her they too had been molested. It took careful planning, and sneaking away in the middle of the night, for the author, her husband, and their children to get away. They were threatened and taunted by the 'church' leaders, threatening to destroy her and her family.
The author provides background information on this cult. It is not the good 'old-time religion' that members want outsiders to believe. Unlike genuine Baptists, who have been around 'almost forever,' the IFB was the 'brainchild' (so to speak) of Bob Jones, Sr. in the 1950's.
For a long time, I wondered how a cult could get away with using the name of a genuine Christian denomination. After all, genuine Baptist leaders have stated that there is no connection, and they in no way approve of the IFB. I presented this question on a religion forum, and was told all an individual or group needs to do is take on a few characteristics of a specific religion and they can claim to be or represent that religion- even when there is no connection at all. Examples of how these cultists get away with it: baptism by immersion, and “believers' baptism.” It's like putting on a football uniform and standing out in the field- it doesn't make you one of the team.
The second book provided more new information: BANISHED: A MEMOIR. SURVIVING MY YEARS IN THE WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH. Its author is Lauren Drain. As I did not know much about the IFB, I was initially not aware that the Westboro 'Baptist Church' was part of it. This one individual church was started in the 1950s. Formerly headed by Fred Phelps, with only a few exceptions the 'congregation' consisted of his family and extended family.
Although Miss Drain's book is not as gut-wrenchingly descriptive as Mrs. Zichterman's, it's informative enough. Unlike Jocelyn, Lauren did not have to run for her life- she was kicked out. The details say a lot about the WBC and its members. Although Lauren was a college graduate, a medical professional, and legally an adult, she was forced to remain in her parents' home because she was “unmarried.” She was also forced to hand over her paychecks to her father. When she was caught communicating with a young man, she was kicked out of the church and disowned by her parents. She relates a phone call she made to her mother; the individual who brought her into the world said to her: “I don't love you anymore.”
This was the over-the-top heartbreaking conclusion to Miss Drain's involvement with the WBC, but she also relates incidents in which other members were kicked out of the 'church': an elderly man was thrown out because he refused to give up his snowplow; a middle-aged father was kicked out because he refused to beat his child with 'a rod.'