Cults to Consciousness

The Institute in Basic Life Principles, run by the predatory Bill Gothard, would turn thousands of families into their own isolated cults. Matthew Castle was trapped in his own family until his mid twenties. Shielded from the outside world and musically stifled, his talent on the violin was so impressive, multiple colleges including Juilliard tried recruiting him as a young teen. However, without choice in the matter, thos...

Louise Roberts grew up in a strict LDS (Mormon) household where the messages of apostles’ quotes would echo throughout. One of them being “if you are ever in a position to be r*ped, ask to be k*lled.” Her mother was not aware that she had already been h*rmed as a chiId. This led to feelings of worthlessness and shame which had her seeking love and acceptance from boys in her school. When she found herself pregnant at 15, w...

After 25 years of being a devout Mormon, when Lexi started questioning her faith, she had no support other than the online content made by ex-Mormon creators.  When her father saw that she responded to and agreed with an ex-Mormon social media post, he snapped at her to keep her mouth shut about her opinions.  This was the moment that fueled her to start her own ex-Mormon YouTube channel, and so Exmo Lex was born...

In a church that requires confessions from ages as early as 8, to an untrained, inexperienced, randomly appointed man, it leaves a lot of room for a potential ab*se situation. In Taylor’s case, she developed scrupulously (religious OCD) and felt compelled to repent of every single thing that would be seen as a sin by the LDS church. Her bishop further took advantage of her, asking for explicit details of her intimate life ...

Join us with the amazing husband and wife team, Sam and Melissa from   @GrowingUpinPolygamy   as they blind react to plot points of the Handmaid’s Tale and tell us all the ways some of these exact things were and ARE still happening in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

Click here to watch on YouTube

YouTube:  @GrowingUpinPolygamy  

Website: https://www.growingu...

Learn about the shocking similarities between the “Shiny Happy People” documentary cult which is the Institute in Basic Life Principles and the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)! Joining the conversation is husband and wife team Sam and Melissa from Growing Up in Polygamy. 

Click here to watch on YouTube

YouTube:  @GrowingUpinPolygamy  

Website: https://www.growingupinpolygamy.co...

An expert witness for Amish and Mennonite court cases, Lizzie explains the rules of her intense settlement before taking us through her unbelievable story of disaster, lethal betrayal, tragedy, abandonment and perseverance. She even gives us a glimpse of the strange dating practice which takes place in the woman’s bedroom. Decades later she seeks justice against the Bishop who groomed and ab*sed her as a young girl. She up...

Former Amish, Eli Yoder, broke the news that several Amish men contacted him after being outed by the Emergency Test Alert. Some Amish communities allow cell phones, while other more strict communities still forbid them. 

Eli, is known for helping smuggle phones into these communities to better connect them with resources and help. He stated, "Some Amish men got shunned by the Amish Church for having smartphones in the...

Having left the Old Order Amish 27 years ago, Eli Yoder, has helped 200+ people flee the Amish community.  In today's episode, we discuss the consequences of leaving the Amish, how his mother demanded he never return, and ultimately how his fan base helped soften his mother, and the discussion they recently had when he paid her a visit.  

Click here to watch on YouTube

Eli’s 1st interview:  When Depressio...

Rachel Clinesmith found herself in Los Angeles in the middle of an entire scene dedicated to Vampyres; a lifestyle she would come to love. Head of the Vampyres is a man who named himself Father Sebastiaan, making custom fangs for his followers. Sebastiaan established a Vampyre religion, with him as prophet who claims to syphon energy from his Vampyre Balls and offer it up to an entity. Becoming part of his inner circle, Ra...

Growing up in what she would describe a misfit lifestyle, Rachel found comfort in the goth scene. Her makeup artistry took her to Los Angeles where she found an entire scene dedicated to Vampyres; a lifestyle she would come to love. Head of the Vampyres is a man who named himself Father Sebastian, making custom fangs for his followers. He established a Vampyre religion, with him as prophet who claims to syphon energy from ...

As a child, Michelle Dowd grew up on a mountain in the Angeles National Forest. She was born into an ultra-religious cult—or the Field as they called it—started in the 1930s by her grandfather, a mercurial, domineering, and charismatic man who convinced generations of young male followers that he would live 500 years and ascend to the heavens when doomsday came. Comfort and care are sins, Michelle is told. As a result, she...

After an incredible interview with former gang member, Sosa Henkoma, we are going LIVE today with him to further discuss his time in prison.  We're diving into how he was repping the gang who betrayed him while in prison, how he navigated the system as a gang member, and how he found out through therapy that he was groomed. Further discussing the ways he had to deconstruct his past and see it in a new perspective...

Sosa Henkoma was 8 when he ran away from v*olence at home.  At 9 he was groomed by a gang in the UK, drawn into dr*g traff*cking while feeling abandoned in foster care.  He recounts the moment he had a shotg*n pointed to his head at 11 during a raid.  On this 12th birthday, just released from the hospital after being st*bbed, we has given his own shotg*n, and a bulletproof vest.  Trapped in a life of cr...

CW:  Incestuous CSA, CA, DV- As a child, Aziza Kibibi was isolated at home with her siblings by her abusive father, who would viciously SA and impregnate them to create what he called “blue blood” children.  Aziza would endure years and years of horrendous ab*se at the hands of her father, who impregnated her 5 times.  CPS got involved and took her other children away.  Things came to a head when Aziza’...

CW:  Incestuous CSA, CA- Aziza Kibibi was isolated at home with her siblings, homeschooled, yet with impeccable education compared to her cousins. Her father began to introduce ways of life that would cause chaos, ab*se and pain. He declared modern medicine and doctors would not be used, even for his wife who would go on to have 11 children. He implemented polygamy and brought girlfriends around the house, even having...

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to break through as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to break through as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her acting career was set to soar, but her personal life was beginning to unravel in ways her...

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to break through as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her acting career was set to soar, but her personal life was beginning to unravel in ways her fans could never imagine. Unknown to the millions of viewers and even her costars, Lenz led a secret double life within a cult.

As an only chiId seeking ...

Joined again today in studio with Amanda Rae ( @TheAmandaRaeGrant  ) we compare and contrast what it was like growing up in The Order Vs Mormon.

Click here to watch on YouTube

Watch our last live streams here:

https://www.youtube.com/live/zxeJbi0B76Q?si=uMsA6iXifjvnYx-a

https://www.youtube.com/live/Wc3DK44vP38?si=XvElYTPZxGvYQ4jy

Find Amanda!

YouTube:   @TheAmandaRaeGrant    

IG: @aman...