What ways was the Bible twisted in the occult that turned you away from reading and studying the Bible?

DinaM2, not all cults are Christian cults, so your question may not be applicable to all of us here.

DinaM2:

Please don't become a preacher here.

Some people that were abused through religion and/or the bible in a destructive group, become disillusioned with religion and/or the bible generally. Most do not.

DinaM2:

I would advise any text or practise that was part of the control mechanism used by a cult over a person should be avoided until the person is well over the experience. (Ex cult members have usually so immersed themselves, that they have had several lifetimes worth of normal reading or practice anyway.)

I don't know if it is very common, but after my cult experience I would have flashbacks for some time, where my cult mindset would reassert itself. I would literally mentally freeze. There was a real sense of depression as I felt I needed to be my cult self but could not go back. There is a real temptation that in such episodes people would rejoin the cult. Over my time in my cult and I think it is normal, that being a returning member is a most horrible personal experience. They are usually made an example of and humilated. They are at the bottom of the group heirachy and are generaly torment themselves for having backslidden.

In my case, a bible based cult, reading the bible would bring this on. After a period of recovery, I learnt greek and hermenutics mainly as a defence to future groups I came across.

The way the bible is twisted is as numerous as the groups that exist to twist it.

To reiterate RR's point, despite the suffering in my group, most of the group retained their faith. I think that there are stages to leaving a group. Quite often there is an intial rejection of all the group stood for and wanting to enjoy life somehow. (I watched stacks of videosduring this stage for me.) Another later one is a drive for normalcy, a dynamic of wanting to go back to what was before. To the faith/belief of an earlier point in your life. Or to use a biblical phrase to feel the "locust years" are past and you can resume the normalcy of you.

The worst possible bible twisting I exeprienced was in a christian cult.

Contrary to the christian hysteria, most occultists dont care about christians

In the hopes that the original poster had a real question, and not an intention to start preaching, I'll answer the question.

I left a Bible-based cult after having born and being raised in it. That was 20 years ago. Avoiding changing one cult for another, I did go on looking for answers and true spirituality. I finally concluded that I do not believe in the Bible in the sense that many cults and many well-intended christian religions believe it's God's word. I'm not going into specifics, but that's just what I decided to believe.

The reasons for my believes today about the Bible have little to do with the cult I was involved with, although I do admit that many cults create this black-and-white mentality where people either love or hate things, and their believes are not exception to the imposition of that way of thinking, meaning that, as I have seen happening, some ex members of the cult I was involved with become the exact "opposite" in their set of believes, hence not believing in the Bible anymore.

Who say they turn away form the Bible in the first palce? I still read the Bible. I figure even if it isn't / weren't the real word of God, its a great philosophy book.

Because the cults (Christ or God based) use the Bible and Jesus as a weapon, I have not "turned against" the Bible, or God for that matter, but I have most certainly turned against organized religion. I absolutely do not trust anyone who is "overly religious"...give me the creeps.

To answer the OP, spiritual abuse is particularly horrific and very difficult to recover from. It doesn't matter if it was a Buddhist cult or Christian cult, it will feel like jumping from the fire into the frying pan going back to the Bible, Koran, etc. or organized religion unless the ex-cult member does some really intense therapy and discovery about their experience.

If you never had the chance to read the Bible and have your freedom to join any church of your choice, and if this particular cult leader used bible verses as part of their preaching along with their brainwashing tactics You kinda get turned off with the idea of using the Bible as a source of inspiration and truth. The truth you eventually seek once healing starts after escaping a cult is the truth and trust that comes from the love instead of hate from fellow humans-not something that is written in a book. It isn't the book that is offensive-it's how it was used and the memory behind it that turns you off.