If you want to know the truth, I called Marilyn "evil" in the flesh. Along with variety of other choice descriptions. I'm not sure I'll ever understand what it was that resulted her being so twisted and power hungry. And her off-spring, Rick, my first cousin once removed. What turned him into such a monster? Was it just because he's Marilyn's son or something mor
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I concur, this posting was "dead on" topic. (In fact this story brought me back to this forum after a long hiatus.) Allow me to elaborate. The dying patients that the SD nurse (Jodi) who were denying that they had COVID-19 were demonstrating something far more extreme than "cognitive dissonance." Cognitive dissonance is a process by which someone attempts to cognitively ma
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I concur, this posting was "dead on" topic. (In fact this story brought me back to this forum after a long hiatus.) Allow me to elaborate. The dying patients that the SD nurse (Jodi) who were denying that they had COVID-19 were demonstrating something far more extreme than "cognitive dissonance." Cognitive dissonance is a process by which someone attempts to cognitively ma
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Re: Larry Bobo's post, If you examine cults and cult leaders, you'll often times notice that cult leaders have a tendency to co-mingle their personal and organizational funds. In other words ... they're not all that careful and concerned about the law and the IRS when it comes to them using church property and money for personal gain. I suspect that TLWF is the same when it c
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I think it's important for all of you to read this to understand who and what you've been dealing with all of these years. This is from Wikipedia but extracted directly from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 for Anti-social personality otherwise known as a sociopath: Some excerpts: A. Significant impairments in personality functioning manifest by: 1. Impairments in s
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Onion(): The details in your description of the early relationship between JRS and Cousin Marilyn is completely consistent with the stories I heard from my family members. The one thing I didn't know about was the wig. That's a new one for me. Thank you for the information. This adds a layer of “richness" to the family stories. Allow me to add something from the family lore ...
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Onion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi FSChicago - This is just my opinion but I think > everyone's interest in actual relatives of Marilyn > is because everything about her has always been > secret. If you look at the bios on church > websites very little is stated about Marilyn's > history before she became the church Marily
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

For those who didn't see my earlier posting, I'm Marilyn Hargrave's cousin. We're same generation, but I was born nearly two decades later. I have had little or no contact with her while she was alive and certainly no involvement at all, whatsoever with TLWF. I joined this community largely to discover whether or not it would be safe to travel to her gravesite particularly gi
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

kBOY Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Having been around for the passing of JRS, > but not privy to all those sordid details, I would > very much like to hear what > FROMsouthCHICAGO was told about that > spectacle. Ok, if you're really interested. And by the way many of the details that you're about the read were document
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Changedagain(): You have a (Central European) Jewish grandparent. (At least that would seem to be the simplest explanation.) Whether that person was a part of the Jewish community is another thing. Interesting. TheycallmeJonah(): Thank you for the directions. I took a look via Google Earth and what I saw was as you described. Since you said that you were at Marilyn's funeral, I have a
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Onion: Looks like you had more contact with Bessie than I ever did. Lucky you. Bessie was one of the few relatives who actually liked me while growing up. (There was a strange family dynamic going on, on both sides of my family for decades. Too complicated to explain here. And some of it I've had to piece together over the years.) So my memories of Bessie are good ones. Again, thank you f
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thank you all for the welcome to the forum. I'll address some of your points and questions. - First, Onion ... thank you so much for sharing your experiences with my Aunt Bessie. Yes, she was a wonderful person. I'm so happy to know that she was loved. And it was my experience that she was a giving and generous person. I know that she always went out of her way to make my parents, br
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Allow me to introduce myself, I am Marilyn Hargraves cousin. My mother and her mother were sisters. My mother's name was Mildred and her mother's name was Bessie. Bessie was part of the TLWF until Marilyn threw her out of the cult in the 90s. I have had no contact with Marilyn as an adult but several of my relatives have. I do have contact with and a good relationship with her brother,
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Allow me to introduce myself, I am Marilyn Hargraves cousin. My mother and her mother were sisters. My mother's name was Mildred and her mother's name was Bessie. Bessie was part of the TLWF until Marilyn threw her out of the cult in the 90s. I have had no contact with Marilyn as an adult but several of my relatives have. I do have contact with and a good relationship with her brother,
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families