This sounds exactly like the church my sister goes to in colorado named First Love Harvest and the Pastor is Sun Hui East. Everything you have listed as warning signes completely lines up with what she is experiencing. I am so scared for her. This cult has completely taken over her life and has made her believe through mind control and brainwashing that she is not Godly or Holy enough unless she listens to every single thing this woman sais. She claims to be a prophet and makes her members do whatever she says or they fear they will lose their salvation. It is so sad to me and I want to have her come back to us but she is so involved that she even gives all her money to this group. I am scared for her and convinced that if they all drank poison in order to get into heaven than she would too!

Psychological and emotional abuse lawsuits are difficult to prove in court.

There is no law against "brainwashing" in the United States. The courts do recognize "undue influence," but it it seems that this is difficult to use as the basis for a claim in court.

This is something that would need to be discussed with a personal injury lawyer in your a given area if a lawsuit were being considered.

it is hrrible....

it is the requirment is era to Abusive and Controlling Relationships.

I'm a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and can add that no matter what rape is extremely damaging. The dynamics are really the same no matter the abuse. Generally speaking those who abuse were once abused themselves, although this does not mean that because someone was abused they WILL abuse.

The concept is that people re-enact what was done to them "compulsion to repeat the trauma." This is why abuse is so often generational.

But it does break your sense of trust, it is a betrayal, you no longer have a sense of having control over your body or mind, and also there is a sense of broken attachments and connections. At least, that's what I and many others have experienced.

Changes in brain chemistry- Current day they are trying injecting those who have just experienced a trauma with Cortisol, and there is evidence that this may prevent the trauma survivor from having PTSD. Still, you can't really do that with someone who is in a war, or what is a war of another, or maybe, in essence, the same kind-being abused over a period of time by people who are supposed to care for you, people that you trust.

There are theories that those who abuse do so because of the effects of trauma, abuse, neglect etc. on their brains. We have all heard of the war veteran who has a flashback and reacts with violence or extreme anxiety etc. to a situation in which there is no danger.

I can't help but think that many cult leaders (and unscrupulous heads of corporations, politicians (particularly the extreme right wing ones) are people who were damaged in ways such that their ability to feel empathy is impaired.

I would bring the example of James Dobson of "Focus on the Family". At ProjectNospank there is an article "James Dobson: The King of Pain"

In it we find that he was physically and psychologically abused by his mother, and we see that his child rearing advice is nothing less that cruel and abusive. He re-enacts what happened to him, he becomes the authority figure, and for some reason ordinary decent people listen to him and think he's a good guy.

(grim)

Many years ago, pre Internet, the psychologist Alice Miller wrote a series of books in which she traced how persons abused as children re-enact this abuse when grown up.

Drama of the Gifted Child

For Your Own Good: Roots of Violence in Childrearing.

According to Miller, many abused children are desperate to believe in the benevolance of their adult tormenters, because often they depend on these same adults for survival or the perpetrator threatens then to keep silent.

In this unbearable predicament, victimized children try to get some
sense of agency, not matter how illusory. Many times, the victim gets a sense of power by allying with their perpetrator. The victim gets illusory agency by willing himself to believe that this is not really abuse, but is for his own good. The victim despises his own vulnerability, then learns to despise anyone perceived as weak and vulnerable.

They convince themselves that the abuse is 'for their own good' or 'character building.' In adulthood, such persons may readily buy into 'crazy wisdom' alibi if the perpetrator is a guru.

Persons in this predicament will attempt to bully whistleblowers into silence.

All this is done quite unconsciously. In the worst scenarios persons egregiously abused in childhood may in adulthood collude in abuse of the next generation. Some adults betrayed and used as children may make a career defending a series of crazy wise gurus. Others may make a career claiming
that adult use of small children is natural, normal and that the children 'want it'.

Alice Miller traced how abuse of children and those despised as childlike is passed through generations in this manner.

She termed it poisonous pedagogy.

And when an entire culture, religion or ideology is developed to rationalize this abuse, and especially if this abuse is tied to moral/political absolutes, its especially easy to rationalize and especially difficult to root out.

In the very worst situations, anyone arguing on behalf of compassion and an end to the abuse is framed as being 'weak'.

In another example of how this dynamic works, we can turn to a film documentary about homophobia and closeted politicians--a film entitled Outrage.

In Outrage, one politician was interviewed who had closeted himself and later chose to come out.

He told the interviewer about other closeted power figures he had known.

The people who chose to closet themselves, live the stress and tension of a hidden and double life, rationalized this by seeing all this self imposed suffering and deceit as a badge of honor, and the ability to 'take it' proof of masculinity, of toughness, of moral excellence.

Anyone who chose to put an end to the charade and come out was despised by these closet cases as proving himself too weak, too inferior to bear the strain if remaining closeted

As a final note, Umberto Eco, who as a child, lived in Mussolini ruled Italy, wrote about a mindset that he termed Ur Fascism -- or proto-fascism.

In this mindset weakness is despised, strength is exalted. And...life is seen as struggle.

In such a set up, anyone designated as weak (including small children) might well be at risk of contempt and that in turn enhances risk of abuse.

One can be sentimental about children as a symbol of innocence, but at the same time also despise the actual needs of real children.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2017 10:20PM by corboy.

Oh yes, I now about this.
A church in Glasgow, called Struthers, had a leader who made us all stand like naughty school children while she admonished anyone who had questioned the leadership. She let us all get into a state of mutual hysteric excitement before launching her tirades. Struthers Memorial Church in Greenock, Glasgow and Falkirk run by the Black family an their accolytes in the Beath family and the Speirs family for the benefit of those families. Never trust them, never fall for it an never go near them if you value your sanity and self worth.