fact
Pythagoras of The Pythagoras Theorem was a cult leader who claimed he could speak with animals, time travel and had an extreme hatred for Fava Beans.
The post Pythagoras of The Pythagoras Theorem… appeared first on Crazy Facts.
I know my answer! And it probably won’t be a huge revelation to a lot of folks out there…
But I think that SOME people who are really into the Insane Clown Posse are basically a cult.
Come to think of it, they’d probably even agree with me!
People on AskReddit spoke up and admitted what fanbases they think act like cults.
Check out the responses below.
“I absolutely love Taylor Swifts music, been listening to it for years. But I only recently started seeing the fans on my social media feed and my goodness, it’s absurd.
Besides what you said, they care way too much about streaming/buying numbers and awards. They attack other fans, Taylor’s team, other fandoms and sometimes even Taylor herself when songs don’t rise to the top of the charts or she doesn’t win a fan voted award.
It’s so weird to me because what I’ve seen of Taylor Swift, she is quite humble and just focuses on music and putting on a good show. Also, she has really handled a lot of scandels that weren’t her fault with grace and kindness. Totally opposite of what her fand are like online LOL.”
“Literally anything involving theatre.
Seriously. If you walk into a rehearsal 15 minutes late, you’re gonna see some weird s**t.”
“Star Wars fans.
I personally dont like star wars because I just dont but I dont really try bash on people who actually do
But whenever I watch Star Wars (insert that silver boba fett guy and baby yoda) and then i talk about why it didn’t make sense (silver guy was on ground and those droids just looked at him like there was nothing there instead of blasting him right away).
I get so much h**e and half a**ed bs excuses.”
“Jordan Peterson fans.
To give an unbiased answer, he’s a conservative political philosopher who became really popular after publicly criticising a Canadian law on misgendering people & giving an infamous interview on Channel 4 News in 2018.
He’s a highly divisive figure because of certain views he has shared regarding women and transgender people. A lot of people like him for his self-improvement works and because they think he’s right in his criticisms of society, whereas others don’t like him because they think he’s transphobic and m**ogynist.”
“Fans of the Broadway show Hamilton.
I used to be a huge fan and suffered through the weird fandom. While Hamilton did great things for POC on Broadway, it opened the doors for teenagers to romanticize and s**ualize slaveowners.
I tried to criticize it one time online (and it wasn’t even that bad of a criticism.) and I literally got chased off of tumblr. Oh and, don’t get me started on Thomas Jefferson’s Hatsune Miku binder…”
“Rick and Morty
Sherlock
Supernatural
Steven Universe
Doctor Who.”
“Zodiac signs.
People will literally divorce it break up or just ignore people because their signs are”incompatible”.”
“As someone who tried to go vegan, vegans.
As is the case with all groups, not all vegans are had. I’ve met some very nice and not annoying vegans, but so many of them have to tell you every 5 seconds that they’re vegan. And the ones that will spent hours trying to convince you to go vegans are the worst.
This is coming from someone who was that annoying vegan that tried to convert everyone. I’m just vegetarian now and I’m way more sufferable.”
“Fans of Zack Snyder. I saw Army of the Dead yesterday and I just gotta say, that movie is like, objectively bad… but his fans honestly cannot see it.
Like, I’m sure they’re thinking stuff like, “Oh, his directing, writing, and cinematography was so stunning and brave! The h**ers are just jealous of all the wrinkles his brain has! I wonder what the robot zombies and UFOs mean! He must have had a reason to randomly start talking about time loops in a zombie movie! Tee-hee, who cares about stuff like plot, acting, and continuity errors, just turn your brain off you snob!”
Like, I’m not saying he’s a terrible director or something; he’s done some great stuff. But this movie was absolute dog s**t, and I just find it kinda weird how his fans, and major film critics for that matter, will defend it when it is just so blatantly terrible.”
“As a K-Pop fan…..K-pop fans. Now it’s not all of them, but there are definitely ones that get laughed at for how they fetishize/infantilize the idols and stuff.
It’s insane how they will defend and protect the problematic idols against those who rightfully call them out. Some of them have forums talking about personal not public business of the idols. They make up stories about them, and some of them gatekeep to know end.
Some also stalk and poison idols and so on, though the last point used to happen like in earlier years, it’s still freaking crazy. I just try not to associate with those ones, but the chill ones instead.”
“People who buy apple computers.
Tell them that another company with windows OS has a better performing computer for 1/2 the price and they’ll say things like
“Macs have better display” or “the programs I use work better in apple” and I want to hit those people because usually the programs they refer to are the adobe suite, which a lot of my classmates in uni ran on windows machines.
Source:: Works in IT and studied Digital Art.”
“America First people.
Anything reusing a WWII American fascist/N**i sympathizer slogan in 21st century is not thinking their position all the way through.
Or, they’re terrible. One of those…”
“Radiohead fans.
sSeriously, if you’ve ever been cornered by a radiohead fan in the wild, you know how annoying the hardcore fans can be. But the fact that I had one assume because i liked “real alternative music” (i was wearing my Slint t-shirt at the time) that I must like Radiohead.
And he went on for a good 30 mins (not letting me get a word in) and telling me all his wild theories about how all the albums are connected and if you add the barcode for the japanese release of ok computer with PI then divide by 3, you get a prize where tom york comes down from the heavens and gives you a gentle pat on the b**t (not really what he said but he was talking about symbols and s**t).
My major takeaway with Radiohead fans is they think they’re smarter than everyone else because they listen to them and if Radiohead are considered a smart band, then they, as fans, must also be smart.”
Do you think there are some fanbases out there that act like cults?
If so, tell us about it in the comments.
Please and thank you!
The post People Share the Fanbases They Think Act Like Cults appeared first on UberFacts.
Have you ever been to a concert where you weren’t that into the band and you thought to yourself, “wow, these people are fanatical about this group?”
I have…and the band shall remain nameless…for now…
But the fact is that there are a lot of fanbases for bands and other things out there that are INCREDIBLY devoted.
What fanbase do you think acts like a cult?
Here’s what AskReddit users had to say about this…
“As a long time fan of Tool, Tool.
I mean… yeah, the music is good (kind of disappointed in their last album, though) but the number of people spending forever dissecting every last word of every Tool album and je**ing off over the random time signatures is a bit over the top.”
“Crossfit.
My brother in law is a big time Crossfitter. His whole personality is literally his Wife, kids and Crossfit. Which I’m cool with. He’s really good people.
But he gets all frustrated when they come out to work cows with me and by 4 o clock he’s dragging a** and us out of shape looking cowboys are still rolling along strong. Granted at 4 o’clock we’ve been going for 11 hours.
And to be honest it’s a really good workout program. The BIL talked me into it, and I did it for 2-3 years. I also payed more attention to my diet. I got to where I had a 6 pack and looked ripped. It was cooler n hell.
I’ve kinda fallen off that wagon though. I’m doing traditional weights at home and a 20 minute yoga routine every day. I’m convinced with how I work, coupled with a bit of yoga to stay flexible is what will keep me in the best shape for the longest.”
“Cryptocurrency investors. Absolutely cult-like behaviour.
Well… not all of the crypto investors, but the ones who rave about it online are certainly pretty cult-like.”
“Yandere Dev.
He’s the Chris Chan of game devs, and no sane person wants to associate with him.
Yet he still has an entourage of underaged fans that still believe that he will one day finish the c**ppy game (which btw is infamous for s**ualising teenagers) that’s been in development for 7 years now.”
“The Harry Potter fandom.
I’m prepared to get lots of h**e but I’m sure I’ll get agreement too because it’s so true.”
“Beyonce and her cancerous fanbase that treat her like this otherworldly being.
She’s got a nice voice but everyone acts like she’s an angel sent from heaven or something.”
“Jojo’s bizarre adventure.
As a Jojo fan I can confirm it is at least somewhat like a cult. Once you’re in, you can never leave.
Not that I really want to, but my point still stands.”
“Jared Leto and 30 Seconds to Mars…I’m pretty sure they think he’s the second coming.
Take a look at the pictures of his extremely expensive trip to a private island with his most devout fans.
Pretty sure it is an openly acknowledged cult.”
“Rick and Morty fans were my first thought.
The show might be funny, but the people who act like liking it is signs of a high IQ or s**t like that make me not want to get into it.”
“Most sports teams.
There is always someone who is more passionate/knows more and will make themselves known about it. Alternatively they say you can’t be a real fan because you don’t know x or y.
I enjoy a few sports. I have teams that I support. But I don’t know the ins and outs of everything they do. Doesn’t stop me being a fan but it feels like to some fans you are worse than fans of other clubs.”
“People on keto diets.
I’ve eaten a ketogenic diet before and looking back I was so annoying. I needed to tell everyone 24/7 that I didn’t eat carbs and how great keto was. And soooo many people are like that about keto. Keto is life, love, and the answer to our eternal questions!!!
Gosh I was so annoying, I’m grateful for every friend who didn’t slap me.”
“Taylor Swift Fans AKA Swifties.
I am going to admit that I do post on the sub and do like her music, but god d**n, they want her to constantly drop music all the time.
I’ve been a Brand New fan (and still am even through all the s**t that came out) for years and I know what it’s like to be waiting for new music, but man, these people don’t understand that they just got three album in nine month span.
Also, I don’t get why their so eager to meet their idol. Don’t they understand that you should never meet your heroes?”
What fanbases do you think act like cults?
Talk to us in the comments and let us know.
Please and thank you!
The post What Fanbase Acts Like a Cult? People Shared Their Thoughts. appeared first on UberFacts.
There are quite a few things out there that really do seem…well…culty, for lack of a better word.
And I’m talking about things that are definitely not considered cults…at least not yet…but hey, there’s always time!
What’s not a cult but really seems like one?
AskReddit users shared their thoughts on this subject.
“In the Boy Scouts of America, there’s an honor society called the Order of the Arrow.
Just the name even sounds like one.”
“Sales.
Anyone who’s been in sales knows there’s the weird sports/military vibe and it’s all about being all in on a product you barely understand. Also you’ll find weird acolytes of Grant Cardone, Tony Robbins, and all sorts of cheap self-help gurus that spew irresponsible levels of optimism that are supposed to hypnotize you into success.
In the end it just serves your corporate overlord because they exploit your optimism, then throw an endless supply of these bright-eyed (and often under trained) applicants through the grinder.
So yeah. Not a cult. But lots of cult elements.”
“Primerica.
Everything about it is “Does this improve your business?” I mean, it is to the point of “Who cares if the Earth revolves around the sun? Does that knowledge improve your business?” Your family, friends, S.O., if they aren’t a member, you shouldn’t spend your time with them.
Don’t have hobbies because they only distract you from your business. Having to watch what you say around them. Is there some big thing going on? Buy tickets for it, make sure you show up to it, buy as many tickets as you can, sell them to your downline, your friends, your family, go back and buy more tickets from your upline and keep selling them.
Big event out of state? Do all you can to make sure you are there. Don’t have the money? Sell your television, your video games, your collectibles, your family heirlooms, everything you have because it’s only a distraction and not as important as showing up to these events.
These events are only you sitting down in a room listening to company millionaires tell you how great the company is.
Leaving the company? Shunned. I have a friendship with a couple of former Primerica people. Those still in it refuse to admit that I exist.
Working on a book about my time there. Names are changed to avoid trouble.”
“Kids sports in general.
I’ve seen parents curse out umpires in tee ball games. Parents rig teams in city run leagues so their kids are on better teams.
Every parent thinks they have the next LeBron James, Peyton Manning, or Bryce Harper. It’s ridiculous.”
“Gwyneth Paltrow and her goop psychopaths. B**ch is an absolute loon.
Now you could say she’s a genius for what she’s done but in a documentary about her and her “work” it’s like she’s oblivious to what she’s created and thinks it’s because she’s actually smart and a credited scientist. Idk how to explain it really but she hired someone to follow her around and throw fake compliments to her that are totally back handed.
It’s funny when you watch this thing. I cringed the whole time and said what the f**k a million times.”
“Herbalife.
Somebody tried to convince me at gym to try it and I explicitly said no.
Those people are crazy.
Won’t leave you alone and get their entire families involved in it.”
“My girlfriend is in a sorority and its insanely cult-like.
They have secret handshakes and songs that she refuses to show me, claiming “we all swore an oath” or something.
I tell her that I promise you some of your sisters have definitely told their boyfriends/other friends whatever secrets y’all have going on and it’s not that serious, but she is undeterred.”
“The American obsession with political parties.
As a non-American, idolizing your politicians and voting based on party and not policy is just weird to me.”
“Al**holics Anonymous.
Essentially encourages you to cut drinkers out of your life and members tell newcomers “we’re your new friends now”.
You hand over control of your life to a “higher power” but in truth you hand it over to the group and your sponsor.”
“Marathon runners.
The obsession, the way it governs your life — getting enough sleep, early nights on the weekend for long training runs, talking about it incessantly, etc.
Ex-marathon runner. I escaped the cult!”
“Joe Rogan listeners.
I’ve expressed this out loud to groups of folks, some of which listen to Rogan.
The cultish vibe of it put me off to listening to his show a while back….and apparently now he’s irritating folks with Covid related stuff so I just don’t see myself ever listening to it.
The cult makes me feel like if I don’t want to try DMT I haven’t lived a full life. Like….what the f**k? Really?”
“Fox News.
They keep dropping bits into sentences like “you’re not one of THEM are you?”
Very culty behavior.”
“Disney worship.
As much as I like some of their stuff, I can’t fathom why people get so rabid defending them. To me they’re just a corporation that makes entertainment but others… it’s a way of life and it blows my mind when you run across someone that’ll start cursing you out for criticizing anything the company does.
The same goes for their work culture in the theme parks. Never worked there myself, but from the friends I have that did, they talk about the whole experience as some bizarre fever dream of constantly having to smile, forced to sing songs during meetings, never allowed to break character, all so as not to shatter the illusion that it’s the happiest place in earth.”
Do you think some things seem like cults even though they officially aren’t?
Talk to us in the comments.
Please and thank you!
The post What’s Not a Cult but Seems Like One? People Spoke Up. appeared first on UberFacts.
Religious extremism has always kind of scared me.
I’m all for people having their beliefs and worshipping the way they want to, but when those beliefs become extreme and it starts to affect the folks around you, that’s when there’s a problem.
And it seems like more people than you probably think actually grew up this way.
Let’s take a look at some interesting stories from folks on AskReddit.
“Let the beatings commence.
Spanked, paddled, whipped, and beaten for minor offenses.
That’s why I joined the military to get away from that nonsense.”
“Terrifying in retrospect, but I didn’t realize it at the time.
You just start to think that all the bullsh*t that’s going on around you is normal, and then when you start meeting people in the real world outside of the religious bubble you slowly start realizing how f*cked up everything was.”
“Grew up in a non-denominational Christian Church. The resemblance it had to a cult didn’t really dawn on me til I was older, probably 14-16.
My parents were the stereotypical helicopter parents- watched our every move, put screen mirroring apps on the very first cell phone we were ever given at age 16, shaming the hell out of us for what they would find on our phones talking to our secret girlfriends, etc.
Our church was full of families with 7+ children, the largest family having 12 kids and single mom (the dad was in jail for molesting some of the eldest girls). Out of a population of about 5-600, me and my sister were the only kids enrolled in public school, because mom was a school teacher. As a teenager, life was absolutely miserable.
Around the age of 14 I decided I hated Christianity and the absolute perversion and abuse of power this church was capable of inflicting upon me. One suicide attempt and psych ward trip later, around the age of 16, I decided I was done with the church punishing me, I decided if I couldn’t escape my parents house physically, then I would escape it mentally.
This led me to start using drugs of any sort. I started drinking cough medicine and smoking weed. Fast forward a few months, I started chemistry and synthesized multiple plant-derived psychedelics in my room. This led me to overdose and panic and have a second psych ward trip. After the church hears of this, they expelled me from the congregation. (They also expelled multiple people for being gay and all sorts of other lovely things)
Long term, I’m now almost 21 and I’m not gonna lie I have a substance problem. I think there’s some very deep emotional scarring I’ll never be able to completely deal with. I’m trying to stop my substance abuse issue and turn my life around for the better, but after being so bright in high school I feel like a retard now from all of the oxys.
My goal now is to go to trade school and get certified in welding, hopefully make a pretty ok life for myself. I wanted to go to college, but I have a few drug charges on my record, so I’ve pretty much abandoned hope of an easy future. I know I’ve f*cked up my life a lot, I’ll be honest it’s hard.
I think about suicide often, but I want to give life one last clean try for I abandon all hope. If it doesn’t work out and I wind up homeless, I do plan to kill myself. I’d rather be dead than homeless.”
“Grew up hardcore Mormon. I’d like to stress that my childhood isnt as common for other Mormon kids.
Most of the time Mormons are fairly understanding and loving to their kids. BUT, the mormon culture does promote the mentality my parents had.
When I was growing up I wasnt punished like some others here. I was spanked, and experienced the belt but that isnt why I have some psychological problems now. The real punishment was shame. From the earliest age I can remember (around six) I was told that I was lazy and I was pissing my life away (This was the strongest language my father would use).
When I first heard the word s*x, around eleven, I looked it up on the family computer. I was a pervert from then on, and had to talk to the bishop every month for a checkup. Hell, in every school I went to my parents told school counselors that I wasnt allowed on computers because I might look up pictures of naked women. (I never did this)
This is just the sparknotes version but I internalized the shame. Being so young I just accepted that I was what my father called me and hated myself for it. I was a lazy faliure at six, I was a pervert at eleven. It didnt stop me from doing any of the things I was doing before, I just learned to fear my fathers footsteps as if it was the devil himself walking down the hallway.
I lived my life in the brief intervals between punishments. I am still not beyond this at 24 years old.”
“Oh, where to start?
Spankings that were borderline beatings for every offense. I wasn’t allowed to “talk back” at all. Asking “why?” Was talking back. I spent my entire childhood believing that all my problems were because I didn’t love god enough.
When I was 9, I was convinced that if I didn’t shape up, God was going to kill me. So I spent six months being a perfect angel but also living in constant terror. Just completely convinced that if I did one thing wrong, lightning would blow me off the planet.
Last thing I’ll mention is how my parents wouldn’t feed me as a child if I talked back. Many many nights I was sent home with no food for the most minor of infractions. (Finishing a chore a minute or two late)
They have largely turned things around. And even apologized for some of these actions. But I still have no interest in talking to them.”
“Very religious parents, we have to abstain from eating onions, meat and garlic for nine days twice a year.
My parents always think that their religion is the best they sometimes criticize other religions.
The think homos*xuality is a sin.
My mother wants me to stop eating non-vegetarian food after I get married
I’m only allowed to eat Non- veg on Sunday, Friday and Saturday
My mother frowns when I tell her that I dont believe in god.
Yes, I’m Hindu.”
“Was forced to attend a Christian cult for years. I told my parents every single time that I’m an atheist. Didn’t matter, had to go.
Couldn’t sleep, couldn’t study, they burned my books, couldn’t go out, so I was literally confined in my room with absolutely nothing. I had a bed and a wardrobe and clothes. No music, no drawing, no reading, no PC because only my little brother could use the computer.
I was studying programming in high school ffs. Had to hand-in my homework written on a paper instead of programmed in various languages.
Shamed me for being a woman. Shamed my body. Made me think I’m stupid. The “Pastor” kept saying how he sees god’s light on my face and how I’m clearly a devout Christian. I was thinking how to…uhm… evil stuff evil stuff… anyway not so nice thoughts about him during these conversations so yeah I don’t think he saw what was really in my mind.
Almost snapped. That would have ended in a sad, messy way. Thankfully I was banned, most likely because in the end I let my true thoughts show on my face. Claimed it was because they saw me walking with a boy or some other bullsh*t. I think they realised I’m not a sheep like the rest but a bloody angry wolf. Don’t try to indoctrinate the psychopath.
I left my family, moved a few thousand kilometers away, I have a great job, a great husband (he knows all my past), travelling constantly with my BOOKS. Yeah I love my books. Noone will ever take them again. I’m planning on building my own tiny library with a mahogany desk and heavy drapery on the windows.
Also I learnt I’m not stupid (quite the opposite) and I’m not that ashamed if my body anymore. My brain still have some trauma to work through. But I might even be a completely normal human in time!”
“I wasn’t in a true cult but I was homeschooled for religious reasons.
Mom replaced the word “millions” with “thousands” in our history/science books. Words like “liberal” and “democrat” and “secular” and “muslim” were insults, deserving mockery and shame. Went to church 3-4 times a week, mission trips every year.
Didn’t do Halloween (but always had “fall festivals”) or Easter Bunny or Santa. We weren’t allowed to say “holy cow” or “holy smokes” because only God is holy. Couldn’t watch Disney movies because of the “follow your heart” messaging, since the human heart is evil, it’s God’s heart we should follow (and also cuz Eisner supported equal rights).
No Pokemon because of “evolution” and a Satanic Panic fear that they were based on Japanese demons.
I’m 30 now and ashamed of the person I was, but I try not to be too hard on myself… It wasn’t all my fault. I was a Bible thumping Republican until late in college, and even though I’m an entirely different person, I still encounter chunks of bullsh*t in my psyche that I try to pluck out.
Therapy and reading and introspection and travel and empathy will do a lot! But we’re all on a journey…”
“All non-Christian gospel music was considered demonic. All fantasy was demonic.
I couldn’t watch how to train your dragon because it might as well be how to train your demon. Any time I acted up, it was because of the demons either influencing me or in me.
Church every day gets a little old after a while too.”
“My mom is a devout mormon. I was forced to pretend to believe in their church for 18 years.
I moved out a few months ago, she knows I don’t attend but she doesn’t know how far away I have distanced myself from that church.
She still calls me every week saying she’s trying to find out who my bishop is so they can send people to bring me to church with them. It’s like leading a double life but she’s micromanaging my religious beliefs from 4 hours away.
I love my mom but Jesus Christ does the Mormon lifestyle irritate me.”
“It was Hell, and now I’m an athiest. We were raised in the Satanic Panic era in a Full Gospel Pentacostal church where people spoke in tongues, slithered on the floor like a snake, and fainted ( I guess thats what you call it).
We were only allowed stay overnight with friends whos family were from the same church. Only permitted to watch Rated G and PG movies. Not allowed to watch The Smurfs because they were satanic. We and other members of the church would stand on the side of the road in town and preach over a sound system to the teenagers cruising on Friday and Saturday nights.
We were forced to go to church every Wednesday night and morning and evening service on Sunday. Our stepdad was a deacon and later was “called to preach”. He beat the hell out of us on a regular basis and molested my sister. Beatings were so bad we were told no to dress out at PE in school because he didnt want anyone to see the bruises.
We were basically his slaves. We were forced to work our entire childhood. If we were caught with Rock and Roll music, it was burned. He later left my mom for another deacon’s wife which is why im not in prison because I had future plans to kill him once i got older.
There were four of us kids, one has since commited suicide, one is a crack head, my sister and her husband are very wealthy and i am a police officer. Hitler is still alive but he is paying for all of the abuse he put us through.”
“Having religious extremist parents is having a family that looks good from the outside, but is completely broken on the inside.
Having religious extremist parents is having your mother “obey” your father because that’s the only advice their pastor gave for marriage counseling. Having religious extremist parents is being told from an early age that all you’re going to do as a woman is graduate high school, get married, have a bunch of children for god and obey your husband.
Having religious extremist parents is being pulled out of school so they can “instill the proper values and beliefs”. Having religious extremist parents is being gaslit CONSTANTLY. Brain washed CONSTANTLY. Not being allowed your own views.
Having religious extremist parents is being told to not be “vain” so you spend every minute telling yourself not to feel pretty, not to feel confident, not to feel proud of yourself for your accomplishments. Having religious parents is using the bible verse “obey your elders” against your younger sister to play what you wanted to play, and realizing how much you hurt her all those years because of some stupid bible verse taken out of context (just to clarify, our relationship is the strongest out of my family).
Having religious extremist parents is being lectured for hours that “you aren’t helping your mother out around the house enough” while neglecting our education.
Having religious extremist parents is spending hours in a church service where the preacher tells you how you can’t be like the rest of the world, that the rest of the world is wrong, that other theologies are wrong, and woe is the church for having so many young people leave christianity, and don’t ever be like them.
Having religious extremist parents is realizing years later that you gave money EVERY GODD*MN WEEK to some grown man that could’ve gotten a real job to pay his bills, because if you weren’t tithing, you weren’t “christian enough”.
Having religious extremist parents is having a father who thinks the world is awful, and a mother who is so disillusioned that she can only see the rosy world in her head.
Having religious extremist parents is watching your family fall apart when you grow up. Having religious extremist parents is watching the abuse between your parents, but knowing they’ll never divorce because “it’s not god’s will”, and “divorce is wrong”.
Having religious extremist parents is knowing that there are some things, some beliefs that they will never accept you for. Having religious extremist parents is finding yourself much later in life that you should’ve.
It’s growing up and realizing the isolation, the trauma, the depression, and the brokenness in your own family and wondering why you never realized it before.”
How about you?
Were you raised in an overly religious household? Maybe even bordering on extremism?
If so, please tell us about it in the comments.
The post People Who Grew up With Very Religious Parents Talk About Their Experiences appeared first on UberFacts.
I can’t even begin to imagine what people who get involved in cults or were even raised in cults have gone through.
And the ones who have managed to escape definitely have some very interesting stories to tell. So let’s take a peek into a world that most of us will never experience in our entire lives.
Take a look at these disturbing stories from AskReddit users who escaped cults.
“I was in a doomsday cult for 23 years from my age 13 to 36 (1995-2018). Based on its “knowledge” , this world should have “transformed” by now, into the so called “heaven”, and only a bunch of the cult followers should have remained in harmony.
I totally believed everything I heard without questioning ( probably because I was young and naive) and followed their ” Rules and regulations ” to the dot. Like celibacy, food habits, keeping a distance from everyone outside the cult ( even close family members) .. etc.
Finally, when some obvious questions started arising in my mind I felt like fool, and totally lost and betrayed. It took a lot to break free and am still in the process.”
“I think the funniest thing about living in a cult isn’t what you notice living in it. It’s what you notice once you’re out.
There were some pretty strange things that when you’re long removed from it all you’re like, “Holy sh*t that IS messed up.” When you’re in it it just seems normal. That’s the weirdest part. When you ask what it was like, my first response is to go, “Like any other childhood really…”
And then I think about it and go…hmmmm okay, not quite. It’s funny how accepting minds can be when it’s all you know.”
“I broke away from a cult. I had gotten sucked in during college.
They prey on college kids who are away from home, searching for an identity and desperate for a sense of belonging. At first it was fun. Nonstop activities. People who genuinely wanted me around. Help. Support. It felt good. But it quickly took over. Then the pressure started. Subtle at first.
Give up all other people and activities because they weren’t good for me. Spend all my time and energy with the church. They assigned someone to watch me. To report to. To confess to. At the same time I befriended the cult leader’s wife and spent a lot of time with her. I felt privileged. But I started to see things.
I went to catholic school 13 years and I think that was the best inoculation! Then the whole women’s role thing really got me steamed. I started arguing with the cult leader’s wife about women being equal and I suspect something I said got to her.
Because the cult leader hauled me in to a meeting and talked to me for an hour and by the end he could see I wasn’t going to fall in line and I could finally see him for what he was – a fraud. So he kicked me out. I was banned hard! He was afraid I would infect others.
My good friend had to flee in the dead of night and hide in another state. They hunted him. But me- they never even spoke to me again!”
“It was difficult. 25 years of not knowing how to think for yourself and suddenly having to, is hard to process. Everything was very routine and once I got out of that routine, I didn’t know what to do.
Forced myself to meet new people and figure out what “truth” is. Very happy with who I am now after three years but still learning more about being independent and being open to new ideas and beliefs.
Plus, holidays are AMAZING! I love Halloween and Christmas.”
“Leaving was one of the hardest things I have done in my life. It took me years to realize the pain I caused my family was actually not my fault.
Also, I felt so alien in the world. I missed the general background that people have, because the world I had lived in was so different. I was trying to fit in, without knowing how to set boundaries to protect myself.”
“I left AA in 2011, after ten years of lies, coercive deception, and being intimidated by extreme fear.
Although many may laugh at AA being considered a cult, It has all ten of the ‘Sam & Tanner’ indicators, that would describe it as such. As Scientology hides behind it being a religion, AA hides behind its structure of anonymity (at all levels).
I was pursued and threatened if I didn’t go back, and other members visited my family, at home, and at their places of work, to tell them I was going to drink, and soon die if I didn’t resume meetings. As AA promotes the image of an ‘altruistic fellowship’ the Police are very wary of getting involved.
It took me over six years to de-program, and even today, I have troubling thoughts from the incidents I witnessed while a member.”
“Having to re-learn basic words, definitions, and thought processes.
Oh, Practical Prayer doesn’t take up hours of your time? Circular logic is bullsh*t? Idle hands are NOT the Devil’s playground?
Being a passive-minded, obsessively-clean, hardworking, frugal SHEEP that gives your blood, sweat, tears, time, and MONEY all to the Church DOESN’T make you a contributing member of society?”
“Ex-Mennonite here, from a rather extreme branch of it.
I hate how people idolize Amish and Mennonites and have no idea how f*cked up it all is. The physical, s*xual, and spiritual abuse that is carried out behind walls. The sickening way they treat animals. How they force victims to forgive, and cover up the crimes of their own.
People were so surprised and admiring when those Amish whose school had been shot up “forgave” the sicko who did it. Missing from the commentary was that we are told from when we are very young that the only way to enter heaven is to forgive everyone everything.
And to be doormats for all the violent men in our lives. Whether in or outside the community.”
“Being so completely ignorant of how the world really works was the worst for me.
I lived in a bubble just thinking everything outside the religion didn’t matter, because soon everything will be destroyed and almost everyone would be dead because they were not Jehova’s Witnesses. I had to educate myself when I finally woke up. I read more than 20 books in one year.
Trying to comprehend how the outside world really works. But my life has been full of failures because is not the same in theory than in practice. Maybe one day I’ll get the hang of it and start succeeding.”
“It was pretty bad. I was 7 when we left, and my childhood was filled with terror, daily beatings, hunger and exhaustion.
When we re-entered the real world, I was like a fish out of water. Straight from a cult into the projects, that was an eye opener.”
“I was in multiple different cults growing up. Evangelical brand, doomsday cults, all extorting money from their members.
One kept me socially isolated for years, exorcised me, designated me to be a surrogate mother to carry the children of everyone in the church who was infertile, despite the fact that pregnancy would kill me, said I was unfit to be married because I’d been r*ped as a child but I still had to give birth as that’s what God demands of women to free them of their sin.
The town I lived in was controlled by the main cult I was in- I couldn’t escape it. Everyone everywhere knew that I wasn’t a good enough believer. They were always feeding information back to my parents and the cult leaders to use against me. Everyone knew everything about me at all times.
In another, I was psychologically tortured, forced to consume rotten food and if I threw up I had to eat the vomit, forced to commit racist acts, and allow the leaders of the cult to s*xually harass me, a child. In the last one, I thought, finally this one is normal, until they tried to kill me.
I’ve been “out” for a year and moved hours away, but one of them managed to find me again. Periodically, they’ll send people I used to know to my town who are just “happening to run into me” when they’re “on outreach”, just so they know I know they’ve still got an iron grip on me.
My older brother used to be being groomed to be a leader in one of them and responsible for facilitating a lot of the abuse because he didn’t have a choice, and me and him are struggling to reconcile and be civil due to this fact.
The trauma is intense and I can barely leave my house a lot of the time, and my memories of my entire life are fragmented because I can’t handle them. The worst part is trying to function.”
“I accepted a job as a traveling salesman once upon a time when I was desperate for income. Had no idea that it was a front for a cult.
We sold waterbeds. But anytime someone would tried to leave the company, management would gaslight you, become mentally abusive and manipulative, and try to use your personal life against you. All the other coworkers were honestly like creepy as f*ck. They all behaved like subservient loyal robots literally.
The cult itself, was centered around the owner. They had subtle wording in their company core values and policies that basically referenced that they were a God, if not the God of humanity. It was weird as f*ck. I was subjected to some really sh*tty situations, and trying to tell my family and friends about it they wouldn’t believe me.
Thought I was a lunatic, it was just a sh*tty job etc. But no, there were death threats, other forms of threats, all sorts of just mind-blowing crap from management, including attempted blackmailing, framing etc. Company meetings consisted of people getting hazed, but they called it “trust building exercises”.
There was also some kind of weird double love triangle going on between some of the coworkers and management. Im pretty sure the coworkers all f*cked each other too. Like you know the movie, whats it called…West World or something, where all the cyborg robot humans were obviously preprogrammed to act and behave a certain way without fault? Thats exactly how my coworkers were.
In the end I realized I had to move across country without warning to get away from them.”
“Long long ago when I was a preteen I had to stay with some relatives for a while. These relatives were in a ‘church’ that was run by an openly admitted, formerly imprisoned con man.
I was told I had to go to this ‘church’ too, 3 times a week, or be thrown out of the house with nowhere else to go. Things started off more or less normal-ish and only gradually did it become a fanatical cult.
For the time I was there, I was as sucked in as everyone else and couldn’t see that things were messed up. One Wednesday evening I had a bad tummy flu and was left with the neighbors while everyone else went to the church. Friday night rolls around and I’m still too sick and weak to go.
Sunday morning comes and I’m perfectly healthy, but no longer want to go. Once again I was left at the house, but with instructions to be gone before they returned. I left and have never regretted it.
What made this ‘church’ a cult:
I know of at least one young woman in the congregation that had quietly asked around for help because the ‘leader’ was hitting on her and not taking no for an answer. She soon disappeared and was never heard from or mentioned again. I have no idea if something happened to her, or she just ran but either way it was bad.
At any given time in the last year I was there, at least 3 of the most attractive mid-teen girls lived with the ‘leader’, an unmarried man, with no supervision, and their parents seemed to think this was wonderful.
The ‘leader’ would frequently say one thing and then contradict himself in the next sentence, and no one ever noticed or commented on it.
The ‘leader’ put a great deal of effort into separating his ‘flock’ from friends, family and the community at large. All holidays became ‘satanic’ and the congregation was forbidden to practice anything considered normal for holidays.
Years later when I was grown and married, a friend from childhood contacted me to tell me the cult was being investigated by, I don’t remember now which alphabet agency. I immediately called the number for that agency that was in the phone book, and told them everything I knew. I never heard anything after that, and have no idea what happened.”
How about you?
Have you ever had any experiences with a cult or any kind of extreme religious organization?
If so, please share your stories with us in the comments.
The post People Who Broke Free From Cults Share Their Stories appeared first on UberFacts.
I’ve never met someone who was ever part of a cult, but I have to say that I find the whole concept extremely fascinating and I’ve read a lot about it over the years.
How does a person end up in a cult?
And what do they do when it’s time to get the hell out?
People opened up to shed some light on this very interesting subject.
Here are some frightening true stories from folks on AskReddit.
“This is actually something I was just thinking about the other day. I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, and I think it was less one big “aha!” moment and more a bunch of little “what the fuck”s.
For those unfamiliar with the group, witnesses believe that Armageddon is coming any day now, and the only way to survive is be a baptized JW. They also refuse to accept blood transfusions, celebrate holidays, toast, date without supervision, and practice yoga, just to name a few things.
A big one for me was watching a leader from the very top of the group describe unbelievers as “vessels fit for destruction” (wtf?) and pull out a malformed piece of glassware to illustrate, he then smashed it on the floor to illustrate what will happen to us. Another prominent leader of the group was recorded warning that tight pants are designed by perverted homosexuals.
On a more personal level, the last year I was a witness I left a large religious gathering and was met with protestors. I realized something questionable is likely happening if people are taking time to protest. The picket signs weren’t even aggressive, they said things like “there is support! You can leave!”
The reason this even needs to be said is because witnesses shun people who leave the religion. I hadn’t seen either of my 2 older siblings in about 10 years.
I hung out with school friends outside of school for the first time when I was in grade 12 and my mom cried because she was afraid she was a bad parent. I got out at 17 and haven’t looked back.”
“My realization that I needed to get out came when I found it was easier to tell my parents that my girlfriend was pregnant rather than tell them I didn’t want to go on a Mormon mission as a 17 year old.
It’s been 10 years and looking back it makes no sense, but it lead me to a beautiful life and I’m immensely grateful. Now I’m the father of the two most incredible children and I haven’t looked back.
Fuck the Mormon cult.”
“I was in Amway/LTD for a year and a half. I realized I needed to get out when:
I found out about the killings of gays in Chechnya and began to suspect that I was unwittingly funding that or similar activities through my involvement in Amway due to the extreme conservatism of the environment (and how our top leader mentioned that Russia has more morality than us (USA) and we need to catch up).
(Out of curiosity, I later found out that one of the DeVos foundations donated to NOM which worked toward enacting severe legal punishments for homosexuality in Uganda.)
I couldn’t get out of my seat while a speaker was talking and couldn’t not donate $236 to Here Be Lions during Sunday morning service at conference because of expectations that had been subtly drilled into my head.”
“Cult may be a dramatic word for me, but I was part of an aggressive church/youth group, meaning they wanted to be the biggest and best in the area.
My city had a ton of churches but my ex church could only hear its own voice, so then would plant a church in an area with a lot of other churches and run the smaller churches out of money. Even made a smaller church change it’s name because it was too similar.
I made excuses for years for my church and the way people acted so shallow and abuse of funds- I was 17 and wasn’t willing to believe that maybe these aren’t the good people I think they are.
Anyway, I didn’t need the “I need to get out moment”. I volunteered with them for a year and helped run camps and then not one leader tried to keep in touch with me, and I even shortly later got a divorce at 20.
I had so many leaders and people I looked up to, and no one ever reached out. Instead a few kicked me out of their bible study and removed me on social media because of some of my marital issues. I realized what it felt like to be on the other side of the white door.
It broke my heart. That marriage broke my spirit. I’ve been putting myself back together and like myself a lot more now.”
“My church tried to convince me the voices I was hearing telling me to kill other people were from God and not the beginning of a psychotic breakdown.
Needless to say, they were in fact the beginning of a psychotic breakdown.”
“I grew up in a sort of fringe protestant religion and went to boarding school for high school.
One Wednesday night they herded all of us students into the chapel where they showed us a very long documentary on the evils of music like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, etc.
You know the drill, playing everything backwards, sacrifices to Satan, etc. I was kind used to eyerolling this tbh, since I had always loved rock music and my mom kinda programmed to me to be skeptical of the church anyways.
I just remember my friend Jake sitting in front of me starting to look around at all the other students who seemed to be kind of hypnotized by the whole thing.
He caught my eye and said something like, “Whitewolf! What is this? Isn’t this weird? This is wrong!” – and just for that something we had accepted as normal behavior became the launching point for seeing everything else they did from another perspective.
Just to have another person in there with me that confirmed my eye-rolling and even alerted me that we actually were sitting in a Wednesday night brainwashing session.”
“My church decided to fully disown and evict a young girl that got pregnant before marriage. I grab her hand and left along with her.
Fuck those cultish bitches. This is an innocent child of god like everyone else. Just cause you disapprove of her sin more than other sins gives you no right to say she no longer has christ.”
“I was born into a cult.
In the ’70s my parents met a guy named Ross who is apparently the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Through the power of LSD my parents especially my mum were completely convinced of this.
My mum to this day still thinks she legitimately floated off the ground and met god who is a female mind like a literal brain. Throughout my childhood I was told that religion is bullshit and that I should always follow my mind.
This led me to the conclusion in my teens that well this cult is a religion and what they spew sounds an awful lot like bullshit so through their own teachings I learned that science is right there is no god and drugs are bad.”
“I honestly wanted out of my cult when other members made fun of my friend for “always acting gay” (he was actually in the closet) and he killed himself because he couldn’t take the pressure anymore.
At his funeral, everyone blamed the kid for ruining/traumatizing his parents and overall acted like they wasted their time mourning him. I was 16/17 at the time, also depressed and suicidal, and having my own realizations that I wasn’t totally straight. I also realized how people would treat my death if I committed suicide.
I didn’t leave until 9 years later, but that was when I knew I had to get out for my own survival.”
“Raised as a part of the “Church of God” side of Christianity.
Nothing really stood out to make me leave until I was about 12ish? I lived with my grandparents and my mom. My dad was in prison at the time. Now that I look back at it, the church itself was weird enough. Children’s plays with holiday people who we weren’t supposed to believe in.
I personally played Mother Nature in one of them. The moment I realized I needed to get out and leave was the moment I realized I wasn’t straight.
My mother acted like she accepted me but has since proven otherwise. My grandmother still doesn’t know and I don’t plan on telling her.”
“I got in deep into That Religion Tom Cruise is Part Of But I Can’t Name It For Fear Of Death, mostly because I wanted to see how far the rabbit hole goes. So technically like being brainwashed of your own free will. But I had to flee the state I was living in at the time.
I got so far in I paid them about $500,000, a painful amount of money, but I managed to get into the inner circle of the leader of my region’s branch. And I was also very good with a gun, so they entrusted me to drive a car filled with about 3 duffle bags of money.
I asked out of curiosity how much was in it, and it was to the tune of $6 million (how they managed to fit $2 million in each I’ll never know). Of course, I had to deliver it all to a helicopter 100 miles away in the middle of bumfuck nowhere to be taken to the Cayman Islands for some reason.
I then decided “Alright, enough is enough, I gotta get out”. Part of the route, about 52 miles in, was a twisty road in a forested area, where there was a large drop with nobody around for miles.
So I thought “Alright, do I run off with the cash and get the fuck out of the country or should I deliver the cash and run?” I chose the former option. Checked for tracking devices, planted the ones I found in the bags all over the car, took two of the duffel bags, left the third opened in the also opened trunk, put my phone in the car, tossed everything but my driver’s license and some other personal info in my wallet all through the car, found a heavy rock, turned the car on, dropped the rock on the gas and got out of the way before running the hell away.
Managed to find some guy who was going the same way I was who was going to go fishing, and asked if he could give me a ride to the nearest city,
I think it was Montpelier, where I caught a flight up to Winnipeg. Found some guys who could launder the cash for me in exchange for $670,000. Accepted and got to work canceling my old bank account and cutting off my ties to them.
A week later I called up and told my friends that I won a month long getaway to Canada, and said that I ended up losing my phone and had to get a new one, and that I intended to tell them sooner, but I forgot about the trip at the last minute and had to run fast.
He told me that he heard the news of the incident, but while the authorities had no idea who did it (I gave the fisherman $5,000 to lie and say he offered a ride, but was rebuffed and went on his merry way), the cult knew, and that I was marked kill on sight for them.
Thank god he said that it would last for a couple more months, because they would make back the losses and more in a couple weeks, and my experiences never pointed to the contrary being an option, and that this was a couple decades ago.”
“My friend was in a satanic cult and I remembered running into her at the store and she was..different, she didn’t have anything of her own to say, it looked like she was a kidnapped girl asking for help in front of a kidnapper.
I immediately called the police and so she was taken out of the group and placed in the protective whiteness program. Everything she had was delete showing no trace of her and she stayed for about maybe a year. The cult was broken up as there leader was killed in attempt murder of a three year old boy to “bring the lords down to us”
It was fucking crazy man, I think my friend got into because her younger brother got caught in a pyramid scheme and she suffered the consequences.”
“I was involved in a niche community group that stayed fairly small (around 30 women) and we all met through a woman who organized retreats.
This woman was famous in the niche community. This was all very based around social justice/feminism and ‘finding our true selves.’ The retreats ran in the thousands for normal locations where nothing special was happening. We literally shared beds to make more money for the organizer.
My GTFO moment was when I was in a group chat with the entire group and the ‘leader’ started being honest that she didn’t really believe in the social justice agenda she was preaching constantly. The rest of the group was so far gone that they told her it was okay. There were also one-on-one exchanges where her personality and beliefs would change constantly. Something was very off.
I started to distance myself. About five months later, the niche community as a whole (not just the small group of 30-ish women) decided to call her out for not only scamming, theft, lies, but even grooming and sexual assault of people who attended the retreats. I’d witnessed some of this but was told to brush it off and that it was normal at the time.
The ‘cult’ banded together and refused to believe the hundred or so women who came forward. I was the ONLY one who noped out of it. They disowned me lol. It was very hard. They were very close to me at this point and it had been years. They were the reason that I became strong enough to leave my abusive marriage. I considered some my sisters.
They don’t talk to me now and the cult continues the sermons and retreats and general scamming and lying.”
I grew up in a sort of fringe protestant religion and went to boarding school for high school. One Wednesday night they herded all of us students into the chapel where they showed us a very long documentary on the evils of music like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, etc. You know the drill, playing everything backwards, sacrifices to Satan, etc. I was kind used to eyerolling this tbh, since I had always loved rock music and my mom kinda programmed to me to be skeptical of the church anyways.I just remember my friend Jake sitting in front of me starting to look around at all the other students who seemed to be kind of hypnotized by the whole thing. He caught my eye and said something like, “Whitewolf! What is this? Isn’t this weird? This is wrong!” – and just for that something we had accepted as normal behavior became the launching point for seeing everything else they did from another perspective. Just to have another person in there with me that confirmed my eye-rolling and even alerted me that we actually were sitting in a Wednesday night brainwashing session.
Wow, that stuff is truly creepy…
How about you?
Do you know anyone who was in a cult? Or maybe you were?
If so, please tell us about it in the comments.
The post Former Cult Members Share Stories About How They Escaped appeared first on UberFacts.
Sixto Rodriguez, a US-based ’70s musician, became a construction worker after commercial failure in the US. However, unbeknown to him, he achieved cult-like status in South Africa, where both his albums went platinum. His daughter found out after discovering a website dedicated to him, in 1997.
In 1994, a student at MIT bought a carton of milk but forgot to use it, and rediscovered it 10 months later. Instead of binning it he threw a ‘birthday’ for it. A cult following developed for this legendary expired dairy product. In 2015 it celebrated its 21st birthday.
Pythagoras had a weird cult that lasted for centuries after his death. They worshiped numbers, invented the first robot (a steam-powered pigeon) and were afraid of beans because they cause excessive flatulence. He was murdered when he was chased to a bean field and refused to cross it.