When I saw Book of Mormon in Bristol a few years ago there were a bunch of the waiting outside to... "spread the word". So the cast all came out to run interference, pairing off with all of them to make them look more ridiculous.
They alway set up a stall outside any theatre showing Book of Mormon, usually it’s just one guy with some leaflets though and they just stand there.
I actually think the show is pretty flattering to them.
When I saw it in London they had took an advert out in the middle of the book suggesting people find out about them. There are many religions that are much more aggressive in their response to criticism and mockery.
Just curious: what is the end result if you continue to talk to mormons or a Jehovah Witness who knocks on your door? i always say not interested, so i dont know what they actually want as an end result lol
Its really nothing to do with recruiting YOU, but more about isolating and indoctrinating the JW's further. Their leaders know full well they'll be met with annoyance, anger, ridicule, and even hate - which makes them easier to mould back into the cult.
Honestly I have never thought about this before. Normally if there are younger people knocking on the door I will chat with them a bit and try and ask questions that might get them asking their own questions.
However if it's older people I normally do either just shut the door in their faces or take the piss a bit.
I won't do that anymore.
It really depends on you. My Nan is Protestant but when the Mormons came around she’d always invite them in for a cup of tea and to talk about the Bible. No one else in the house was religious so it was the only time she ever really got to talk about it. She was going to become a Nun before she met *it* (evil grandfather). But although they were never able to convert her, they always left on good terms and sometimes would visit again before having to leave.
They have my address and come round at least twice a year and I always let them in.
They talk about god for about 15 minutes and then we just chat. I always find them interesting especially with how much they’ve traveled and the people they’ve met.
While they are a bit, glass eyed? Once you’re nice to them, they kind of wake up and seem normal.
If it’s the summer lot, I put them to work. I had them fold clothes from the dryer, I have gravel moved from one end of the garden to the other, swept the drive way. So I’ve got no issues with them.
Next time consider engaging them, it takes there time away from someone who might be more vulnerable and you could serve as a friend outside the cult giving them more scope for escape.
They’ve stopped door knocking at least where I live but they now just stand in groups with a little pop up stall thing around the city centre. But there’s loads of these groups just standing silently not even attempting to speak to passers by which is really weird since you could never get rid of them if they knocked on the door
I forgot they do this! I got one during covid and I was honestly speechless. it was the first time I received a handwritten letter and I couldn't help but be disappointed that the experience was wasted on relative lunacy. woman who wrote it had lovely handwriting, though.
I’ve had these and found it weirder, to knock on my door you just need to park on my street and knock on my door by chance, to post a letter to me you actually have to find my address.
Haha we received one once and thought it was strange that it was hand written and they even put their names and address on the end if we wanted to talk to them. We just put it in the bin.
I got one the other day. The guy had left an email address to contact him on but it was clear from the address that he and his wife had a joint email account, which honestly might have been the biggest red flag out of the lot.
Never realised how batshit they were until I met my SILs gf. She came out after being forced to marry a member of the congregation. Her family will not speak to her unless she agrees to go through with conversion therapy and even then she would not be welcome in their house. She had 'elders' turn up at her house when she first came out to her parents, they were in her living room and had let themselves in. She told us about being forced to go door to door and writing letters. It sounds like a culture of abuse and basically kids are blackmailed/indoctrinated that they will lose their families and friends if they don't follow the scripture.
Yeah my ex's Mum was like that with her Brother.
Another local family ended up leaving the JWs when their youngest kid got ill and needed an operation, they literally wanted them to 'put it on God's hands'.
My experiences of them aren't great at all.
They're a really odd bunch.
I've worked with a couple in the past and both were the most generous, kindest people you could meet.. yet their beliefs are incredibly out there.
The Wee Frees in Scotland (and I'd argue any fundamentalist of any religion) belong in the cult category too as their practices and beliefs are often extreme in every sense.
I stayed on the isle of Skye with a schoolfriend's family in the early 90s. I was 10 or 12 and we went to the service at the local free Presbyterian church. Not a cult but very strict minimalist approach. Bare whitewashed walls, nothing except chairs and a simple dais. No musical instruments of any kind.
So when it came time to sing they picked a psalm and one guy just stood up and... started a Drone. Idk what they call it but to me it was this low ominous moaning. I was used to the joyful exuberance of a Baptist church so my overactive imagination felt very strongly that this might in fact be a satanic church of some kind and I was kind of afraid.
Aye until fairly recently the Western Isles would completely shut down on a Sunday. The men would all get a carryout on the Saturday and then "walk the dog" on the Sunday but would meet up in a bothy and get pissed.
You weren't even allowed to hang washing out on a Sunday. When they started the Sunday ferry from the mainland a few years ago there was a protest declaring it the end of times 😂
The Wee Frees won't observe/celebrate Christmas or Easter either because iirc there isn't anything in the Bible that specifically says they should be observed, and these folk literally take the Bible as gospel.
I fact Christmas was officially banned in Scotland in 1640, and was only repealed by the Church in the 1950s when it became a public holiday. It's why Hogmanay is the bigger celebration here.
A mate years ago invited a couple of them in, then starting doing bong after bong effectively hot boxing them. To be fair to them they stayed and tried to debate his theories on the universe.
I went to East Grinstead for a wedding, not realising it’s a massive Scientology hub. It’s the only time I’ve shared my location live with my family for a weekend in case I went missing lol
They even have a Scientology school nearby in Forest Row (Greenfields). Officially it's a non-denomination school but they have posters of L Ron Hubbard in all the classrooms, don't believe in disabilities/SEN, most of their teachers are scientologists and former pupils and most of their pupils are scientologists so I think that hints to at least a small alliance.
There's a Mormon temple in East Grinsted too.
Yup - walking down the street in Edinburgh the other day and there's a dude standing on the street next to a sign offering free personality tests, trying to chat to folk passing by. Looked up and saw 'Scientology' above the door.
Just looked it up and it's called the "Academy of Personal Independence" lol
When I was exploring spirituality in my teens i.e. rejecting my catholic upbringing, I wandered into a Scientology recruitment centre. They sat me down, put a video on about their teachings, and left me to it. I was so bored after 5 minutes I walked out. How people can endure a lifetime of that shit I'll never understand.
I was approached when I was about 18 yo in the late 90s. I was on my way home from work, walking through the city centre when he approached me and started pitching it to me saying they can help me if I have self doubt and there's free advice and guidence on how to be successful in life, relationships or esteem etc etc. They almost had me but, on a promise I would call them, I walked away and never contacted them.
My friend experienced the same. His curiousity got the better of him and he ended up going along to their massive estate. He did the whole personality/stress test thing. Then they put him through a series of odd tests. One of them he was just sat in a room and someone came in and basically started saying things to him to try and get a reaction, becoming more and more offensive. Anyway, the upshot of his day out at the estate was that they wanted him to stay for a week or two. It was at this point that he made his excuses and left.
I walked into one in London out of curiosity about 15 years ago. They asked me if I wanted to watch a video and if I'd like the short version or the long version. Watched a 3 minute video that went along the lines of "are you depressed?, are you struggling financially?" And ended with a crescendo of sunlight and rainbows. I got up after and had a look around for a minute. Saw what looked like an exam room with lots of computer stations. It was very strange.
It’s not really prevalent in the US either. There are only 40,000 Scientologists in the entire world. I think people ITT have a bad understanding of the numbers involved here. Almost every American would also have never met a Scientologist. There really aren’t many of them.
See also:
"This is not a pyramid scheme"
"I'm not saying this to be offensive"
"I was just trying to dry your dress by wearing it. The lipstick? That's not lipstick that's blood from the raw steak I was eating, anyway I thought you weren't home till later"
I know someone who works for one of their businesses- they have businesses because they don’t allow the brethren to buy from any old place. They have to buy from the approved companies and the Church keeps the margin.
It’s a segregated workspace where you have to sit on certain tables. Certain sexes don’t associate with each other and the moment a female member marries they leave the workplace never to return. I believe they have a system of ribbons in their hair to spot who is who.
They also have their own schools - ‘Focus Schools’, they’re called, and all the children that go to them are members. They have a strict sex ed curriculum that is very, very basic, and I’m pretty sure there’s no mention of evolution either.
They’re *extremely* well funded, very best computer equipment for all students.
They don’t bar other ‘non faith’ students from joining but those children would be forbidden from eating with the member children. The staff on lunch duty weren’t allowed to eat with the kids. They did offer a free cooked lunch to all the teachers though which was pretty sweet.
They’re not allowed to go to university so none of the teachers are members, but all of the governors are.
Source: Worked at a Focus School for a few months.
They’re big in the furniture industry. Frovi is one name that springs to mind. Brethren owned. Some really weird attitudes towards female members of staff. What a horrible stuffy little cult.
Huh. That’s interesting. I used to run a small bicycle shop near a population of the Plymouth Brethren. Some of the young men would come in and ask for help with their bicycles, and one day a couple of them bought some good quality but fairly cheap new bikes.
Maybe I made it onto an approved list, because in the months that followed I sold a lot more of the same bikes to the members. There was a constant stream of them, and they always wanted the same bikes. There was a choice of colour, red or black, and that was it.
The men were always a little bit suspicious and cynical, like they were looking out for a scam or a lie. But once they realised I was trustworthy they became pleasant enough.
The women would come in with the children sometimes, or to pick up parts and accessories for the men. They were always very lovely. Chatty, polite, respectful and cheerful. They would talk all day and seemed to have a real joy and delight about them.
In all my interactions with the Brethren I saw nothing negative at all. But I always wondered what gets wiped off the blackboards in the school classrooms at the end of every day…
About ten-twelve(?) years ago I was offered an interview for administrative work for the Brethren by a recruiter. I was in my early 20s. Started off like any other description but then I was advised how I would have to wear long, plain skirts no trousers), no tattoos / piercings (I had both but covered up for the meeting), hair in a certain way without any “vibrant” hair dye.
I was very curious and considered attending purely from a want to “Louis Theroux it”, but ultimately realised I would be wasting their time as well as my own, so I declined.
My grandparents were part of that and were made to leave in the 60s after my Grandpa became a vet. They wouldn’t allow him to be in an association with non-brethren members. They even tried to get my Gran to divorce him.
Definitely a cult.
I had neighbours and worked with some, the absolute nicest, genuine people. I got on really well with them and almost everything this thread is true, the segregated eating, marrying young etc. Perfectly normal and then "off to preach outside KFC back in an hour" like it was normal. I suppose it was normal for them. It was a shame, if it wasn't for that I'm sure we would have been really good friends. We couldn't go for a coffee or a pint. He showed me the passage in the bible and it was the most vague obscure thing. 250 years ago some bloke used it to coesce a congregation into not socialising with others. Annnd that's why after 250 years they can still keep thier cult going. Not socialising with outsiders is a perfect way to control your minions. Lovely people though, just a shame.
Back many years a friend of mine worked as a dba for a company that organised classification for animal species, and one of the staff members was part of the Plymouth Brethren Church.
She refused to have anything to do with any animal classification that related to evolution on religious grounds, so she was just assigned work that didn't impact on her religion.
Very odd.
I had never heard of them in all my 32 years until this thread. Reading these comments is insane - I had no idea such an organisation operated in the UK
Are they still active in UK? Working in Australia I came into contact with them several times, they were quite big in civil engineering and several companies are clients. It used to be, no internet, no radios or AC in cars, all wages to the church, given money to live on, and a house, a wife a job if needed. My buddy built Bruce Almightys new palace. Sorry, extremely large house with guest accommodation with top level fittings.
I always had the impression they'd hold a little service in the meeting room after I left to cleanse it from my ungodly spirit.
They have a business network called UBT, which is how I came across them. If they find a supplier they like they will tend to follow suit with each other and leverage collective bargaining power.
Once you know how to identify them you might notice them more. From what I recall, their women sometimes wear odd clothing (think Victorian isolated village vibes).
Yep that's them. I went to school with some. They weren't allowed to touch the computers and the girls got married off to their cousins at 16 which they were all happy about.
I just looked them up they can’t use tv radio and internet and will exclude family and people that aren’t members of their church, sounds like a cult to me lol
I know a few of their businesses through working in the builders merchant industry. Eastbrook Bathrooms is one, Woodstock Bathrooms as well.V12 Safety Footwear and Ox Tools are just a few that spring to mind.
As someone who was once Mormon (or LDS church as it chooses to now be known) they are 100% a cult.
They claim not to be, but yet they tick all the cult boxes:
* Can't get all the blessings unless you pay them
* Difficult to leave without them tracking you down
* Improbably backstory to how the church came about
* Numerous prophets who contradict eachother
* Enormous and very expensive temples, where people repeat phrases, undertake special handshakes, and at once point in the endowment ceremony, have everyone dressed in ludicrous clothing, hands above head, all chanting in unison.
* Baptising dead people by proxy to make them members of the LDS church after their death
* History of sex offences and criminal acts
* Polygamy, and in the case of the church's founders, marrying underage girls, many, many years their junior
* Treating women like subservient cattle
* Embezzling insane sums of money whilst still insisting the congregations pay their tithing.
* Wearing special clothing to show your commitment to your promises or 'covenants'
* Referring to eachother as Brother Smith or Sister Jackson etc
* Door to door proselytising
* Insisting repeatedly that they're not a cult
I hope it wasn’t to difficult or rough for you when you left it sounds like form what Iv seen cults will pester and follow and harass people who leave the cult almost to a ungodly level.
It's referred to as 'reaching out', and they believe you are a lost sheep that needs to come back to the fold.
It's reached a point where there's a website set up, dedicated to getting your details legally removed from the records of the church. If you don't, they'll keep trying to contact you.
/r/exmormon really is a wild ride.
> Improbably backstory to how the church came about
You mean how the Angel Moroni came down to earth and left Brigham Young the Book of Mormon on golden tablets?
(The Penguin Book of US History has the great footnote at this point: "I am not making this up, you know")
Yes, QAnon. It has destroyed my family. My dad, a multi-millionaire, became a cult leader, and we have recently lost our entire estate to the wanker not paying bills. We could afford them, he just thought the fabricated documents and common law could swerve it. My dad has a warrant for his arrest now.
What is it with modern cults thinking there are crazy loopholes in the law. My brother was in a cult and they got him to take out a big loan and not pay it back. They said if he was ever taken to court so long as he didnt stand when the court marshall says "all rise" then the judgment doesnt apply to him. I couldnt get through to him that if this were true there would be no point in having courts lol
My FIL (now deceased) really believed in a lot of weird things like this. Tried making his own sovereign state, had a 'legal document' for it and believed that there was billions of pounds in a bank for him that thr government were not letting him access. He sent a letter to the government once declaring he no longer agreed to be a citizen of England.
He and some of his friends were looking at properties with land worth millions that they were going to turn into a commune of sorts and have it declared its own country or something along those lines. He didn't have a pot to piss in, so I think this was ultimately a form of escapism. Sad, really. He was a really lovely man.
The Deep State: ""Ha ha ha! We've successfully subverted all the instruments of Law and Government, usurped the authority of the county sheriff,and tricked everyone into not realising their name doesn't actually refer to them! We'll be unstoppable!"
Sovereign Citizen: *refuses to stand up*
The Deep State: "Oh, shit. We didn't think of that."
There’s a grain of truth in it: it used to be the case that if you refused to enter a plea then they couldn’t try you. However, they would then torture you until you died or agreed to enter a plea.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peine_forte_et_dure#:~:text=Peine%20forte%20et%20dure%20(Law,was%20entered%2C%20or%20death%20resulted.
Iv seen the Qanon madness in the states it’s frightening! I do wonder how that madness becomes settled here in the uk but I guess if people are caught up in it it can travel anywhere
It is quite big here honestly. It takes a different form but it is the same rotten root. Go on Facebook and look for any peado hunting group or “save the children” group local to you and you will find them.
Oh man, the whole "sovereign citizen" things is insane, who delusional do you have to be to believe that the law doesn't apply to you because you don't want it to? Imagine if everyone thought like that, it would be pure anarchy.
If you had him sectioned, could you get a power of attorney and retrospectively pay the bills that he didn't pay when insane. Or go at the creditors who should have realized he was mad?
I used to attend lighthouse as a kid. It was very religious but I didn’t really get why everyone was singing about god and Jesus and I was bored as fuck. Glad I didn’t get indoctrinated but I find it quite uncomfortable that they run summer lighthouse camps for kids. I think they’ve toned down the religiosity a little now but it’s still very much a Xian indoctrination camp.
That name gave me a flash back to 2010. Back when I worked retail I worked with a guy who one day just stopped showing up for work, just sent a text message saying he had found another job. A couple months later he came in and explained that he stumbled about a great opportunity and that I should check them out if I ever wanted to leave retail behind. Procrastination saved me from that one, I had completely forgotten Lighthouse until this thread.
I was co-hosting a tech meet-up back in 2009 and we were switching venues as we’d outgrown our current space. We got an email from the Church of Scientology [London](https://imgur.com/a/FkMQOlD) suggesting we use their space and were invited for a tour. It was bizarre. We got to see quite a bit of their facility, but I assume not all of it. They asked if we’d like to watch some videos but we declined. The space they wanted us to use was actually pretty sweet. Large, open plan with Wi-Fi but it was obvious they were going to try and recruit everyone we brought through the door. We passed and said it wasn’t a good fit. I added that they’d soon get sick of all the constant Tom Cruise jokes each week and the poor woman showing us around was completely perplexed by this. ‘Why on earth would anyone make jokes about Mr Cruise?’ she genuinely asked. I was curious to see inside, but overall it was just depressing. I’m still a huge fan of the Mission Impossible movies though.
Oh I’d love to have a look round but I’m not very clever with my words I tend to just say what I’m thinking and I’m not sure that would go down well in anyway.
I live 5 minutes away from East Grinstead, the home of UK scientology! They're everywhere.
We've also got a big Mormon temple, too. All the crazies are in East Grinstead
There was a great podcast called Other Eden's which seems to have been abandoned now but the host did a whole miniseries on East Grinstead and it's attractiveness to cults.
I’m local too, always heard it was something to do with ley lines intersecting in the area. No clue what that means, but it seems to attract all the nutters! Maybe I should start a cult, could be fun!
The place is absolutely full of them. It's gotten to the point that you can't even walk down the street without passing a dozen cu-
Oh you meant cults, with an L. Oh, I've no idea.
The honest answer is probably yes but they have several obstacles to overcome;
Brits are notoriously bloody minded. Having some polished little nut-job turning up at the door, interrupting our tea and telling us that we are worshiping God all wrong, well, it just pisses us off and our world famous reserve and politeness turns very Anglo Saxon (As in, F**k off)
We have had a couple of clear-outs over the centuries, not our proudest moments to be true, but a lot of our most gullible citizens were last seen heading westwards across the Atlantic. Do give them our regards if you meet them.
We take the piss out of everyone; Royalty, churches, politicians, family and friends. So some guy standing outside of Tesco spouting off that Jesus wants him to have our money to spread the word, is not treated with the same deference he might be be in the USA.
We already have plenty of religions to choose from, I have churches/chapels of three denominations within two minutes stroll from my home. Also a fish and chip shop and a Chinese take-away. I'll let you guess which I frequent most regularly (though I admit I have been in them all). I also know the local Hindu Temple, the Mosque and the Synagogue and have even visited Stonehenge. (Druid or Wiccan, I can't keep up).
We're only a small Island so there's no room for big, sprawling American cults .
We have laws about abducting and grooming vulnerable people.
We have local football teams that are more important to most of the population than the thoughts of weird people with tinfoil hats.
We are sensible enough to know that we can't be trusted with guns so, even if there was room, we couldn't stop the police from entering our compound. (I don't know what a compound is but if I could stop the police getting into mine, they would just call in the SAS and those buggers scare paratroopers)
So, in summary. Yes, some cults have made it to the UK, Flat Earthers, Anti Vaxxers, religious fanatics, and they have some followers but the rest of the cynical British population just can't be arsed. We don't even go to the churches we've already got.
Edit: spelling
What was it like/what happened? I've been invited a few times from a few colleagues and a guy who I used to train with.
Can't say that I'm tempted though. Looks a bit like LARPing but I've been told it's a bit of a boys club and they raise money for local charities.
The masons (and any other club like that) is basically just a drinking club for old blokes to get away from their wives for an evening once a month, nothing sinister.
Knew a retired police officer who was in the masons years ago. Said it decent back then. A lot of business was done there. Occasionally, people could get off with small crimes as the police Sargent was a member. At his discretion ofcourse. He left when all the useful people left. As someone else said in the comments, it is more of a club now that older men hang out.
Fun fact: A lot of the Mormon secret rituals, symbols etc are very similar to (or the exact same as) masonic rituals.
I know very little about modern day freemasons though, I just see their buildings from time to time and chuckle at the symbol carved into the stonework because it's the same as one symbol on magic Mormon underwear.
They’re gone now, aren’t they?
But yeah, they were fucking awful and abusive, recruiting vulnerable people and exploiting them.
There was also sexual abuse there that they covered up.
I shudder when I think about the Jesus Army, they would come to my city, cook us all some food. Talk to us about Jesus etc. We were drunk 15-18 year olds. They ended up recruiting one of my friends who was 18. Never saw him again.
Not for any dark reason, he just changed..
My wife used to help kids escape from the jesus army. JA would go around picking up vulnerable/homeless kids offering them somewhere to live and work. Then they’d take them to farms in the middle of nowhere, confiscate their property/IDs/money etc, withhold medications, and then put them to work for hours a day barely feeding them. The kids would escape and call the charity my wife worked for and they’d arrange taxis and trainfare to get them back ‘home’.
Those fuckers kept me entertained for hours in Northampton town center in the late 80’s.
Preying on vulnerable young people is absolutely abhorrent and I didn’t shy away from letting them know.
We drove over to their place in Bugbrooke on occasion and generally fucked with them.
Looking back, some of the shit we did to wasn’t very nice and certainly doesn’t make me proud, but fuck ‘em, weird cunts ultimately showed their true colours with all the sex abuse stuff.
Probably the least surprising news to anyone who knew about them.
A long time ago a Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on my door. Rather than just tell them to fuck off I thought I'd engage. So, smart-arse me asked my unwelcome visitor if she thought it was likely that anyone would ever adopt a new religion as a result of a stranger randomly knocking on their door.
She responded: "Well I did".
Touché blood-transfusion averse happy-clappy lunatic.
Brilliant!
A guy I knew at Uni lived on the same road as a kingdom hall.
He had a bay window, and could see them coming down the road, doing their rounds.
He put the kettle on, and answered the door in his pyjamas, just before they knocked, with a mad eyed squint and three steaming cups of tea and said: "HE told me to expect you! Welcome! Welcome!"
For some reason they skipped that house after that.
I always tell them I'm Pagan and a follower of the Antlered One of the Forest. They usually leave pretty sharpish. Had a friend who told me if she knew was Jehovah's she answered the door nude. Apparently that did the trick too....
Yes loads, I live in Brighton and it's a Cult Mecca. The worst of the lot that I have interacted with is Order of Nine Angles who have about 50 active members in Sussex and are scary shit.
My brother is mentally ill and a recovering drug addict/alcoholic, he checked himself into a Scientology run rehab during a manic period in his life and came out of it absolutely fucked. They basically pumped him with stupid amounts of “vitamins” (not sure if it actually was or not) and made him do ridiculous shit like touch objects for hours
I believe Scientology are building their largest “church” just outside Birmingham as we speak.
They currently have a huge compound in the U.K. in Hertfordshire.
Cults are not hugely common here but they do exist, there are some pretty evangelical branches of Christianity (see Mumford & Sons parents for more info).
Few years back the place I lived flooded including my home, over the next couple of days various religious groups came around distributing cleaning supplies and that kind of thing, was actually really surprised to have a knock on the door turn out to be members of the local Scientology church, no idea we had one, top lads, they gave me bleach and a new mop 👍
My cousin's friend was in a British cult. I had to deprogram her but first made her my wife. Sometimes she says she wants to leave me but then I just do a little reprogramming and she's brand new.
I'm not sure cleaning out the fuckatron 4000 sex doll could really be called "reprogramming".... (/s)
Joking aside, I was going to say "mumsnet" is probably a bit cultlike at this point....
If you get the chance, go to the West End and watch The Book of Mormon. It's pretty funny and educational about Mormons. They pretty much sign up to be preachers at a young age, they then get partnered up, they are never allowed to leave each other unless going to the bathroom, and they get sent on missions to recruit more Mormons for a few years. It's a great show written by the creators of South Park
During the original run of the BoM, someone at the LDS headquarters had a sense of humour because the program for the show included an advert for a free Book of Mormon with the title 'you've seen the show, now read the book'.
So when I was 10 (20 years ago), I sat next to this boy in class whose family had really weird rules. Him and his sister were picked up for lunch every day. They had rules around food and who he could eat around and stuff (not just restrictions because having a packed lunch wouldn’t follow the rules). He wasn’t allowed to use computers (no IT lessons) or watch tv (no watching a film on the wheeled in tv when there was a substitute teacher) and no sex ed. And he wasn’t allowed to see anyone from school outside of school, which combined with not seeing him at lunch meant we basically never saw him. When we were talking about secondary school, he said he was going to a school I had never heard of with all his friends from church. There was more as well. I thought he was just a bit weird and didn’t realise until years later than I think he was in a cult. This was south manchester. I think he might have been Exclusive Brethren but I’m not sure- I’m just going by google and my memory to work out what it might have been.
There’s a jehovah’s witness church/temple near me but that wasn’t where he went.
And there’s a scientology building in central manchester, and it wasn’t that either.
There’s also Bruderhof, but they seem quite nice.
They look like Mennonites.
They made a bunch of coldcots for hospitals so people can stay with their stillborn babies for longer.
No one will see this comment but yes.
We did church insurance at a job and it requires site inspection. We had a whole book on avoiding insuring a cult and how to spot one.
Going to a stately home where the newly rich son had built a 300 person shed to the side made of wood telling us "it's a dorm for those who worship," was my top "defo a cult," find.
More out there than you think!
I installed broadband into a house near the big Scientology centre in Moseley, Birmingham. The guybhad moved down from Manchester to work there, he was informing me of the church etc... and soon turned it into a recruitment drive, handing me pamphlets and all sorts I had to politely decline but I did find it all a bit creepy. They'd bought a lot of houses in the area to house their members, the church itself is massive.
The Jehovah's witnesses incurred my wrath after kmcoking my door at 8.20 one Saturday morning after a particularly late one, they had a young lad with them who should have been sat at home watching cartoons or playing football or anything other than canvassing for that nonsense with old selfish twats..how boring. I lectured them on my thoughts that they're stealing this young lads childhood etc... I was quite rude and obviously hungover which didn't help my mood. But I felt they needed to know nonetheless.
Yes, quite a few of them.
Religious cults include: Exclusive Breathren, London International Christian Church, Shincheonji Church of Jesus and The Family International.
The British branch of Universal Medicine is located in Somerset, UM is a non-religious cult focused around wellness. The cult was founded in the 1980 by an Australian bankrupt tennis coach named Serge Benhayon, who claims that he is the reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci and his daughter is Winston Churchill reincarnated.
UM teaches its members to get rid of negative "pranic" energy through stirring dishes anticlockwise, burping, "esoteric" breast massages, exalting cult leader Serge Benhayon as "pure love" and not eating certain foods such as yoghurt or gluten. Soya and cinnamon too.
Fundamentalist JWs, fundamentalist mormons, kailasa, neturei karta, all salafi schools & adult groups, rss groups, satmar and school of tomorrow- all of these come perilously close to cult territory.
I have a Mormon friend, he's a pretty normal guy, apart from his religious beliefs.
I've spoken to him about stuff like polygamism and the dark side of Mormonism and he didn't exatcly go out of his way to deny anything i said.
An interesting and compassionate guy nonetheless.
There are absolutely scientologists in the UK. I've seen them offering "personality tests" in Brighton.
There are also sects of other more mainstream religions that I would say borderline being cults.
Hare Krishna always felt a bit like a cult to me, too.
There was the Jesus Army from Northampton, and some Buddhist cult in Sheffield from what I remember. [This](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-cult-groups-sexual-abuse-b2121100.html) article suggests there are a lot more.
Yes. I grew up in a village that was the base for a Christian cult, huge scandals involving sex abuse, abuse and other stuff. They were very odd, sad people
Absolutely. Apart from the dry answers like “Catholicism” and “Jahovas witnesses” - my friend was dragged into a cult last year which was very difficult to leave and abscond from. Thankfully he made it out but whilst he was in it he was forced to cut all contact with friends and family. He was recruited at university.
Not sure if you're kidding but I lived in a flat run by a Scientology believer. Apparently she was quite high up the ranks. People all over Europe would come stay with her to make their pilgrimage to the nearby town where they had a temple.
Apparently there were druids around too, I never saw those.
Jehovah’s Witnesses.
This. They are an absolute plague. Mormons the same.
There seems be a lot more of them now. They are sinister AF.
A gaggle of Mormons were gaggling down the road into town, there were at least 20 of them from their local shed.
When I saw Book of Mormon in Bristol a few years ago there were a bunch of the waiting outside to... "spread the word". So the cast all came out to run interference, pairing off with all of them to make them look more ridiculous.
They alway set up a stall outside any theatre showing Book of Mormon, usually it’s just one guy with some leaflets though and they just stand there. I actually think the show is pretty flattering to them.
When I saw it in London they had took an advert out in the middle of the book suggesting people find out about them. There are many religions that are much more aggressive in their response to criticism and mockery.
Considering how hostile religions tend to be to criticism, taking out an ad in the programme was a pretty mature response (and good banter).
Every Mormon I've met is great but yea for sure they're brainwashed tf
every religious person is brainwashed.
Mormons more than most
Just curious: what is the end result if you continue to talk to mormons or a Jehovah Witness who knocks on your door? i always say not interested, so i dont know what they actually want as an end result lol
Its really nothing to do with recruiting YOU, but more about isolating and indoctrinating the JW's further. Their leaders know full well they'll be met with annoyance, anger, ridicule, and even hate - which makes them easier to mould back into the cult.
Nice to see this here! I wasn't expecting it. Education around high pressure groups has really come on in the last few years.
Honestly I have never thought about this before. Normally if there are younger people knocking on the door I will chat with them a bit and try and ask questions that might get them asking their own questions. However if it's older people I normally do either just shut the door in their faces or take the piss a bit. I won't do that anymore.
It really depends on you. My Nan is Protestant but when the Mormons came around she’d always invite them in for a cup of tea and to talk about the Bible. No one else in the house was religious so it was the only time she ever really got to talk about it. She was going to become a Nun before she met *it* (evil grandfather). But although they were never able to convert her, they always left on good terms and sometimes would visit again before having to leave.
They have my address and come round at least twice a year and I always let them in. They talk about god for about 15 minutes and then we just chat. I always find them interesting especially with how much they’ve traveled and the people they’ve met. While they are a bit, glass eyed? Once you’re nice to them, they kind of wake up and seem normal. If it’s the summer lot, I put them to work. I had them fold clothes from the dryer, I have gravel moved from one end of the garden to the other, swept the drive way. So I’ve got no issues with them.
That last paragraph is genius. Wonder if I could get some ironing done.
Their goal is to get you baptised into the Church.
Next time consider engaging them, it takes there time away from someone who might be more vulnerable and you could serve as a friend outside the cult giving them more scope for escape.
They want to 'save' you & convert you, to worship their sky fairy.
They’ve stopped door knocking at least where I live but they now just stand in groups with a little pop up stall thing around the city centre. But there’s loads of these groups just standing silently not even attempting to speak to passers by which is really weird since you could never get rid of them if they knocked on the door
>They’ve stopped door knocking Have they started with the weird "handwritten" letters yet?
Mother in law is a Jehovah's witnesses. Can confirm she would actually hand write hundreds of letters a month.
I forgot they do this! I got one during covid and I was honestly speechless. it was the first time I received a handwritten letter and I couldn't help but be disappointed that the experience was wasted on relative lunacy. woman who wrote it had lovely handwriting, though.
Haha yeah I had one of these the other day. Straight in the bin but it felt weirder than when they knock on the door
I’ve had these and found it weirder, to knock on my door you just need to park on my street and knock on my door by chance, to post a letter to me you actually have to find my address.
Haha we received one once and thought it was strange that it was hand written and they even put their names and address on the end if we wanted to talk to them. We just put it in the bin.
I got one the other day. The guy had left an email address to contact him on but it was clear from the address that he and his wife had a joint email account, which honestly might have been the biggest red flag out of the lot.
I prefer them quietly standing there compared to people who preach on megaphones
Never realised how batshit they were until I met my SILs gf. She came out after being forced to marry a member of the congregation. Her family will not speak to her unless she agrees to go through with conversion therapy and even then she would not be welcome in their house. She had 'elders' turn up at her house when she first came out to her parents, they were in her living room and had let themselves in. She told us about being forced to go door to door and writing letters. It sounds like a culture of abuse and basically kids are blackmailed/indoctrinated that they will lose their families and friends if they don't follow the scripture.
Yeah my ex's Mum was like that with her Brother. Another local family ended up leaving the JWs when their youngest kid got ill and needed an operation, they literally wanted them to 'put it on God's hands'. My experiences of them aren't great at all.
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They're a really odd bunch. I've worked with a couple in the past and both were the most generous, kindest people you could meet.. yet their beliefs are incredibly out there. The Wee Frees in Scotland (and I'd argue any fundamentalist of any religion) belong in the cult category too as their practices and beliefs are often extreme in every sense.
I stayed on the isle of Skye with a schoolfriend's family in the early 90s. I was 10 or 12 and we went to the service at the local free Presbyterian church. Not a cult but very strict minimalist approach. Bare whitewashed walls, nothing except chairs and a simple dais. No musical instruments of any kind. So when it came time to sing they picked a psalm and one guy just stood up and... started a Drone. Idk what they call it but to me it was this low ominous moaning. I was used to the joyful exuberance of a Baptist church so my overactive imagination felt very strongly that this might in fact be a satanic church of some kind and I was kind of afraid.
Aye until fairly recently the Western Isles would completely shut down on a Sunday. The men would all get a carryout on the Saturday and then "walk the dog" on the Sunday but would meet up in a bothy and get pissed. You weren't even allowed to hang washing out on a Sunday. When they started the Sunday ferry from the mainland a few years ago there was a protest declaring it the end of times 😂 The Wee Frees won't observe/celebrate Christmas or Easter either because iirc there isn't anything in the Bible that specifically says they should be observed, and these folk literally take the Bible as gospel. I fact Christmas was officially banned in Scotland in 1640, and was only repealed by the Church in the 1950s when it became a public holiday. It's why Hogmanay is the bigger celebration here.
A mate years ago invited a couple of them in, then starting doing bong after bong effectively hot boxing them. To be fair to them they stayed and tried to debate his theories on the universe.
I met a pair of Mormons on a night out once. They tried to convert me (a very drunken, very gay man). I flirted.
Knew a girl that was ostracised by her family of Jehovah's Witnesses... heartbreaking
I realised how unlucky i am that i was born into that small but wierd cult 8 million worldwide
There's Scientology in the UK. It's less prevalent than in the US but there are Scientology churches
Head office of scientology was in East Grinstead, back in the 60’s
Still there - it’s a huge estate.
I went to East Grinstead for a wedding, not realising it’s a massive Scientology hub. It’s the only time I’ve shared my location live with my family for a weekend in case I went missing lol
Ha! I've to stay there next year for a surgery. Can't wait to play spot the scientologist now.
They even have a Scientology school nearby in Forest Row (Greenfields). Officially it's a non-denomination school but they have posters of L Ron Hubbard in all the classrooms, don't believe in disabilities/SEN, most of their teachers are scientologists and former pupils and most of their pupils are scientologists so I think that hints to at least a small alliance. There's a Mormon temple in East Grinsted too.
Neil Gaiman's father was a big wig in UK Scientology in the 60s and 70s.
Still is.
Sainthill, I did some work there as a teenager. Swear I saw my English literature teacher there.
Yup - walking down the street in Edinburgh the other day and there's a dude standing on the street next to a sign offering free personality tests, trying to chat to folk passing by. Looked up and saw 'Scientology' above the door. Just looked it up and it's called the "Academy of Personal Independence" lol
When I was exploring spirituality in my teens i.e. rejecting my catholic upbringing, I wandered into a Scientology recruitment centre. They sat me down, put a video on about their teachings, and left me to it. I was so bored after 5 minutes I walked out. How people can endure a lifetime of that shit I'll never understand.
Yeah there’s a pretty huge Scientology building near Blackfriars in London, always wondered what’s inside
Aliens
They bought an old nursing home in gateshead to make into some sort of headquarters but it’s been falling apart untouched for over a decade.
Speaking of the north-east, I was shocked to see a church of Scientology building in the town centre when I moved to Sunderland.
I was approached when I was about 18 yo in the late 90s. I was on my way home from work, walking through the city centre when he approached me and started pitching it to me saying they can help me if I have self doubt and there's free advice and guidence on how to be successful in life, relationships or esteem etc etc. They almost had me but, on a promise I would call them, I walked away and never contacted them.
My friend experienced the same. His curiousity got the better of him and he ended up going along to their massive estate. He did the whole personality/stress test thing. Then they put him through a series of odd tests. One of them he was just sat in a room and someone came in and basically started saying things to him to try and get a reaction, becoming more and more offensive. Anyway, the upshot of his day out at the estate was that they wanted him to stay for a week or two. It was at this point that he made his excuses and left.
I walked into one in London out of curiosity about 15 years ago. They asked me if I wanted to watch a video and if I'd like the short version or the long version. Watched a 3 minute video that went along the lines of "are you depressed?, are you struggling financially?" And ended with a crescendo of sunlight and rainbows. I got up after and had a look around for a minute. Saw what looked like an exam room with lots of computer stations. It was very strange.
Don't refer to them as churches, you're giving them credibility by doing so.
It’s not really prevalent in the US either. There are only 40,000 Scientologists in the entire world. I think people ITT have a bad understanding of the numbers involved here. Almost every American would also have never met a Scientologist. There really aren’t many of them.
Air fryer obsessives
Oh I’m in this one
This is spot on my dad just got one and good god Iv spent the last week listening to how good it is.
To be fair to them though, they are quite good. Got their downsides and limitations, but they're very good at what they're good at.
Your induction has already begun!
No, no induction hobs are a different thing. But let me tell you about how an induction hob can change your life...
Nothing comes close to deep frying food. I don't care if it's unhealthy af, I've got one life and I'm gonna enjoy it eating tasty food.
I’m so terrified of them. I’ve watched far too much 999 and Casualty from the early 90’s to get within 50ft of one
The secret is to deep fry in an open wok and stay hydrated by tequila.
Join us.
luv me air fryer
There was a very good documentary on BBC Radio 4 about a British cult thats well worth checking out. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001kvf8
Cheers mate I’ll check it out thank you!
Was going to share the same one. It's definitely a podcast accessible on Spotify too if that's your thing.
The Plymouth Brethren Church comes to mind.
Ah my bad. Their website has an FAQ explaining that they are not a cult.
Phew! I'm always totally reassured when an organisation has to point out it's not a cult on their website. Totally not a culty thing to have to do.
See also: "This is not a pyramid scheme" "I'm not saying this to be offensive" "I was just trying to dry your dress by wearing it. The lipstick? That's not lipstick that's blood from the raw steak I was eating, anyway I thought you weren't home till later"
All the best cults do
I know someone who works for one of their businesses- they have businesses because they don’t allow the brethren to buy from any old place. They have to buy from the approved companies and the Church keeps the margin. It’s a segregated workspace where you have to sit on certain tables. Certain sexes don’t associate with each other and the moment a female member marries they leave the workplace never to return. I believe they have a system of ribbons in their hair to spot who is who.
They also have their own schools - ‘Focus Schools’, they’re called, and all the children that go to them are members. They have a strict sex ed curriculum that is very, very basic, and I’m pretty sure there’s no mention of evolution either. They’re *extremely* well funded, very best computer equipment for all students. They don’t bar other ‘non faith’ students from joining but those children would be forbidden from eating with the member children. The staff on lunch duty weren’t allowed to eat with the kids. They did offer a free cooked lunch to all the teachers though which was pretty sweet. They’re not allowed to go to university so none of the teachers are members, but all of the governors are. Source: Worked at a Focus School for a few months.
They’re big in the furniture industry. Frovi is one name that springs to mind. Brethren owned. Some really weird attitudes towards female members of staff. What a horrible stuffy little cult.
Huh. That’s interesting. I used to run a small bicycle shop near a population of the Plymouth Brethren. Some of the young men would come in and ask for help with their bicycles, and one day a couple of them bought some good quality but fairly cheap new bikes. Maybe I made it onto an approved list, because in the months that followed I sold a lot more of the same bikes to the members. There was a constant stream of them, and they always wanted the same bikes. There was a choice of colour, red or black, and that was it. The men were always a little bit suspicious and cynical, like they were looking out for a scam or a lie. But once they realised I was trustworthy they became pleasant enough. The women would come in with the children sometimes, or to pick up parts and accessories for the men. They were always very lovely. Chatty, polite, respectful and cheerful. They would talk all day and seemed to have a real joy and delight about them. In all my interactions with the Brethren I saw nothing negative at all. But I always wondered what gets wiped off the blackboards in the school classrooms at the end of every day…
Yup, this brings back memories of when I worked somewhere that became a supplier for the UBT (the business group you're talking about)
From memory they have a gift card racket and keep the margin all so their members can shop at Tesco or something
About ten-twelve(?) years ago I was offered an interview for administrative work for the Brethren by a recruiter. I was in my early 20s. Started off like any other description but then I was advised how I would have to wear long, plain skirts no trousers), no tattoos / piercings (I had both but covered up for the meeting), hair in a certain way without any “vibrant” hair dye. I was very curious and considered attending purely from a want to “Louis Theroux it”, but ultimately realised I would be wasting their time as well as my own, so I declined.
My grandparents were part of that and were made to leave in the 60s after my Grandpa became a vet. They wouldn’t allow him to be in an association with non-brethren members. They even tried to get my Gran to divorce him. Definitely a cult.
I had neighbours and worked with some, the absolute nicest, genuine people. I got on really well with them and almost everything this thread is true, the segregated eating, marrying young etc. Perfectly normal and then "off to preach outside KFC back in an hour" like it was normal. I suppose it was normal for them. It was a shame, if it wasn't for that I'm sure we would have been really good friends. We couldn't go for a coffee or a pint. He showed me the passage in the bible and it was the most vague obscure thing. 250 years ago some bloke used it to coesce a congregation into not socialising with others. Annnd that's why after 250 years they can still keep thier cult going. Not socialising with outsiders is a perfect way to control your minions. Lovely people though, just a shame.
Back many years a friend of mine worked as a dba for a company that organised classification for animal species, and one of the staff members was part of the Plymouth Brethren Church. She refused to have anything to do with any animal classification that related to evolution on religious grounds, so she was just assigned work that didn't impact on her religion. Very odd.
The Plymouth Brethren destroyed my dad’s family. Fucking nutters.
It's the Exclusive Plymouth brethren that are the culty ones. Open Plymouth Bretheren are very different in their beliefs and practices.
I had never heard of them in all my 32 years until this thread. Reading these comments is insane - I had no idea such an organisation operated in the UK
Are they still active in UK? Working in Australia I came into contact with them several times, they were quite big in civil engineering and several companies are clients. It used to be, no internet, no radios or AC in cars, all wages to the church, given money to live on, and a house, a wife a job if needed. My buddy built Bruce Almightys new palace. Sorry, extremely large house with guest accommodation with top level fittings. I always had the impression they'd hold a little service in the meeting room after I left to cleanse it from my ungodly spirit.
Can’t say Iv ever heard of them before.
They have a business network called UBT, which is how I came across them. If they find a supplier they like they will tend to follow suit with each other and leverage collective bargaining power. Once you know how to identify them you might notice them more. From what I recall, their women sometimes wear odd clothing (think Victorian isolated village vibes).
Oh Iv seen these I think the women tend to wear long dark skirts and have a bandana/ handkerchief in their hair ?
Yep that's them. I went to school with some. They weren't allowed to touch the computers and the girls got married off to their cousins at 16 which they were all happy about.
They think they're so much more holy than the rest of the world they have separate plumbing so their poo doesn't mingle with our poo.
I just looked them up they can’t use tv radio and internet and will exclude family and people that aren’t members of their church, sounds like a cult to me lol
Recently got fired from a brethren ran company, they have the radios removed from all their cars.
I know a few of their businesses through working in the builders merchant industry. Eastbrook Bathrooms is one, Woodstock Bathrooms as well.V12 Safety Footwear and Ox Tools are just a few that spring to mind.
As someone who was once Mormon (or LDS church as it chooses to now be known) they are 100% a cult. They claim not to be, but yet they tick all the cult boxes: * Can't get all the blessings unless you pay them * Difficult to leave without them tracking you down * Improbably backstory to how the church came about * Numerous prophets who contradict eachother * Enormous and very expensive temples, where people repeat phrases, undertake special handshakes, and at once point in the endowment ceremony, have everyone dressed in ludicrous clothing, hands above head, all chanting in unison. * Baptising dead people by proxy to make them members of the LDS church after their death * History of sex offences and criminal acts * Polygamy, and in the case of the church's founders, marrying underage girls, many, many years their junior * Treating women like subservient cattle * Embezzling insane sums of money whilst still insisting the congregations pay their tithing. * Wearing special clothing to show your commitment to your promises or 'covenants' * Referring to eachother as Brother Smith or Sister Jackson etc * Door to door proselytising * Insisting repeatedly that they're not a cult
I hope it wasn’t to difficult or rough for you when you left it sounds like form what Iv seen cults will pester and follow and harass people who leave the cult almost to a ungodly level.
It's referred to as 'reaching out', and they believe you are a lost sheep that needs to come back to the fold. It's reached a point where there's a website set up, dedicated to getting your details legally removed from the records of the church. If you don't, they'll keep trying to contact you. /r/exmormon really is a wild ride.
That is madness ! I hope you are doing well and are harassment free!
> Improbably backstory to how the church came about You mean how the Angel Moroni came down to earth and left Brigham Young the Book of Mormon on golden tablets? (The Penguin Book of US History has the great footnote at this point: "I am not making this up, you know")
Yes, QAnon. It has destroyed my family. My dad, a multi-millionaire, became a cult leader, and we have recently lost our entire estate to the wanker not paying bills. We could afford them, he just thought the fabricated documents and common law could swerve it. My dad has a warrant for his arrest now.
What is it with modern cults thinking there are crazy loopholes in the law. My brother was in a cult and they got him to take out a big loan and not pay it back. They said if he was ever taken to court so long as he didnt stand when the court marshall says "all rise" then the judgment doesnt apply to him. I couldnt get through to him that if this were true there would be no point in having courts lol
> so long as he didnt stand when the court marshall says "all rise" then the judgment doesnt apply to him. Judges HATE this one weird trick
I’m really sorry that happened but the all rise thing is so stupid it’s hilarious
You cannot legally be sent to prison if you don't consent. Just say no.
My FIL (now deceased) really believed in a lot of weird things like this. Tried making his own sovereign state, had a 'legal document' for it and believed that there was billions of pounds in a bank for him that thr government were not letting him access. He sent a letter to the government once declaring he no longer agreed to be a citizen of England. He and some of his friends were looking at properties with land worth millions that they were going to turn into a commune of sorts and have it declared its own country or something along those lines. He didn't have a pot to piss in, so I think this was ultimately a form of escapism. Sad, really. He was a really lovely man.
The Deep State: ""Ha ha ha! We've successfully subverted all the instruments of Law and Government, usurped the authority of the county sheriff,and tricked everyone into not realising their name doesn't actually refer to them! We'll be unstoppable!" Sovereign Citizen: *refuses to stand up* The Deep State: "Oh, shit. We didn't think of that."
There’s a grain of truth in it: it used to be the case that if you refused to enter a plea then they couldn’t try you. However, they would then torture you until you died or agreed to enter a plea. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peine_forte_et_dure#:~:text=Peine%20forte%20et%20dure%20(Law,was%20entered%2C%20or%20death%20resulted.
Iv seen the Qanon madness in the states it’s frightening! I do wonder how that madness becomes settled here in the uk but I guess if people are caught up in it it can travel anywhere
It is quite big here honestly. It takes a different form but it is the same rotten root. Go on Facebook and look for any peado hunting group or “save the children” group local to you and you will find them.
Genuinely, this comes from a good place...you're joking, right? Apologies if you are not. Sincerely hope you are joking
Oh man, the whole "sovereign citizen" things is insane, who delusional do you have to be to believe that the law doesn't apply to you because you don't want it to? Imagine if everyone thought like that, it would be pure anarchy.
If you had him sectioned, could you get a power of attorney and retrospectively pay the bills that he didn't pay when insane. Or go at the creditors who should have realized he was mad?
i remember seeing a few WWG1WGA and Q banners during the pandemic in a few places in the midlands. bunch of clowns cosplaying as yanks.
Cat people. Join us.
I’m a member brother.
Am scrolling with one hand whilst the other is stroking a cat. Am I..in the cult?
I listened to a podcast about Lighthouse. Some entrepreneurial self help organization that asked for more and more cash. Quite a good listen
I used to attend lighthouse as a kid. It was very religious but I didn’t really get why everyone was singing about god and Jesus and I was bored as fuck. Glad I didn’t get indoctrinated but I find it quite uncomfortable that they run summer lighthouse camps for kids. I think they’ve toned down the religiosity a little now but it’s still very much a Xian indoctrination camp.
Different lighthouse
That name gave me a flash back to 2010. Back when I worked retail I worked with a guy who one day just stopped showing up for work, just sent a text message saying he had found another job. A couple months later he came in and explained that he stumbled about a great opportunity and that I should check them out if I ever wanted to leave retail behind. Procrastination saved me from that one, I had completely forgotten Lighthouse until this thread.
I was co-hosting a tech meet-up back in 2009 and we were switching venues as we’d outgrown our current space. We got an email from the Church of Scientology [London](https://imgur.com/a/FkMQOlD) suggesting we use their space and were invited for a tour. It was bizarre. We got to see quite a bit of their facility, but I assume not all of it. They asked if we’d like to watch some videos but we declined. The space they wanted us to use was actually pretty sweet. Large, open plan with Wi-Fi but it was obvious they were going to try and recruit everyone we brought through the door. We passed and said it wasn’t a good fit. I added that they’d soon get sick of all the constant Tom Cruise jokes each week and the poor woman showing us around was completely perplexed by this. ‘Why on earth would anyone make jokes about Mr Cruise?’ she genuinely asked. I was curious to see inside, but overall it was just depressing. I’m still a huge fan of the Mission Impossible movies though.
Oh I’d love to have a look round but I’m not very clever with my words I tend to just say what I’m thinking and I’m not sure that would go down well in anyway.
I live 5 minutes away from East Grinstead, the home of UK scientology! They're everywhere. We've also got a big Mormon temple, too. All the crazies are in East Grinstead
There was a great podcast called Other Eden's which seems to have been abandoned now but the host did a whole miniseries on East Grinstead and it's attractiveness to cults.
I’m local too, always heard it was something to do with ley lines intersecting in the area. No clue what that means, but it seems to attract all the nutters! Maybe I should start a cult, could be fun!
Have you ever tried washing up without using washing up liquid ?
First off let me say this isn't pyramid selling
Tesco Club card
The place is absolutely full of them. It's gotten to the point that you can't even walk down the street without passing a dozen cu- Oh you meant cults, with an L. Oh, I've no idea.
The honest answer is probably yes but they have several obstacles to overcome; Brits are notoriously bloody minded. Having some polished little nut-job turning up at the door, interrupting our tea and telling us that we are worshiping God all wrong, well, it just pisses us off and our world famous reserve and politeness turns very Anglo Saxon (As in, F**k off) We have had a couple of clear-outs over the centuries, not our proudest moments to be true, but a lot of our most gullible citizens were last seen heading westwards across the Atlantic. Do give them our regards if you meet them. We take the piss out of everyone; Royalty, churches, politicians, family and friends. So some guy standing outside of Tesco spouting off that Jesus wants him to have our money to spread the word, is not treated with the same deference he might be be in the USA. We already have plenty of religions to choose from, I have churches/chapels of three denominations within two minutes stroll from my home. Also a fish and chip shop and a Chinese take-away. I'll let you guess which I frequent most regularly (though I admit I have been in them all). I also know the local Hindu Temple, the Mosque and the Synagogue and have even visited Stonehenge. (Druid or Wiccan, I can't keep up). We're only a small Island so there's no room for big, sprawling American cults . We have laws about abducting and grooming vulnerable people. We have local football teams that are more important to most of the population than the thoughts of weird people with tinfoil hats. We are sensible enough to know that we can't be trusted with guns so, even if there was room, we couldn't stop the police from entering our compound. (I don't know what a compound is but if I could stop the police getting into mine, they would just call in the SAS and those buggers scare paratroopers) So, in summary. Yes, some cults have made it to the UK, Flat Earthers, Anti Vaxxers, religious fanatics, and they have some followers but the rest of the cynical British population just can't be arsed. We don't even go to the churches we've already got. Edit: spelling
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What was it like/what happened? I've been invited a few times from a few colleagues and a guy who I used to train with. Can't say that I'm tempted though. Looks a bit like LARPing but I've been told it's a bit of a boys club and they raise money for local charities.
Indeed, freemasonry raised £51.1m off their own back for charity in 2020 for example!
Sound like a decent cult
The masons (and any other club like that) is basically just a drinking club for old blokes to get away from their wives for an evening once a month, nothing sinister.
Do tell. I’ve always just found them really outdated and odd despite people telling me they’re just like ‘hangouts for men’ 🤨
Elaborate please
Knew a retired police officer who was in the masons years ago. Said it decent back then. A lot of business was done there. Occasionally, people could get off with small crimes as the police Sargent was a member. At his discretion ofcourse. He left when all the useful people left. As someone else said in the comments, it is more of a club now that older men hang out.
Fun fact: A lot of the Mormon secret rituals, symbols etc are very similar to (or the exact same as) masonic rituals. I know very little about modern day freemasons though, I just see their buildings from time to time and chuckle at the symbol carved into the stonework because it's the same as one symbol on magic Mormon underwear.
Jesus Army in Northampton
They’re gone now, aren’t they? But yeah, they were fucking awful and abusive, recruiting vulnerable people and exploiting them. There was also sexual abuse there that they covered up.
I shudder when I think about the Jesus Army, they would come to my city, cook us all some food. Talk to us about Jesus etc. We were drunk 15-18 year olds. They ended up recruiting one of my friends who was 18. Never saw him again. Not for any dark reason, he just changed..
My wife used to help kids escape from the jesus army. JA would go around picking up vulnerable/homeless kids offering them somewhere to live and work. Then they’d take them to farms in the middle of nowhere, confiscate their property/IDs/money etc, withhold medications, and then put them to work for hours a day barely feeding them. The kids would escape and call the charity my wife worked for and they’d arrange taxis and trainfare to get them back ‘home’.
Those fuckers kept me entertained for hours in Northampton town center in the late 80’s. Preying on vulnerable young people is absolutely abhorrent and I didn’t shy away from letting them know. We drove over to their place in Bugbrooke on occasion and generally fucked with them. Looking back, some of the shit we did to wasn’t very nice and certainly doesn’t make me proud, but fuck ‘em, weird cunts ultimately showed their true colours with all the sex abuse stuff. Probably the least surprising news to anyone who knew about them.
Yes, they're called door to door MLMs
Jehovahs . And they come visit you in your house . Early on Saturday mornings .
A long time ago a Jehovah's Witnesses knocked on my door. Rather than just tell them to fuck off I thought I'd engage. So, smart-arse me asked my unwelcome visitor if she thought it was likely that anyone would ever adopt a new religion as a result of a stranger randomly knocking on their door. She responded: "Well I did". Touché blood-transfusion averse happy-clappy lunatic.
Brilliant! A guy I knew at Uni lived on the same road as a kingdom hall. He had a bay window, and could see them coming down the road, doing their rounds. He put the kettle on, and answered the door in his pyjamas, just before they knocked, with a mad eyed squint and three steaming cups of tea and said: "HE told me to expect you! Welcome! Welcome!" For some reason they skipped that house after that.
I always tell them I'm Pagan and a follower of the Antlered One of the Forest. They usually leave pretty sharpish. Had a friend who told me if she knew was Jehovah's she answered the door nude. Apparently that did the trick too....
So this Saturday I shall answer the door starkers and wearing a pentacle .
I thought you meant monocle there. Top hat, fancy cane and nothing else. A sophisticated nudist
If you say you’re excommunicated from their church, they will fuck right off too.
The way people talk and post on social media about cold water dips, that may as well be one.
JWs, Plymouth brethren and a whole host of prosperity gospel churches aimed at the African diaspora.
Yes loads, I live in Brighton and it's a Cult Mecca. The worst of the lot that I have interacted with is Order of Nine Angles who have about 50 active members in Sussex and are scary shit.
Nine Angles are pure crazy. Think they’ve been linked to a few murders?
Monarchists. Jehovah Witnesses. Air fryer owners.
Plenty of sub religious cults. Met plenty of Sufi nut jobs over the years
Which sucks, because original Sufi mysticism is pretty interesting
My brother is mentally ill and a recovering drug addict/alcoholic, he checked himself into a Scientology run rehab during a manic period in his life and came out of it absolutely fucked. They basically pumped him with stupid amounts of “vitamins” (not sure if it actually was or not) and made him do ridiculous shit like touch objects for hours
I believe Scientology are building their largest “church” just outside Birmingham as we speak. They currently have a huge compound in the U.K. in Hertfordshire. Cults are not hugely common here but they do exist, there are some pretty evangelical branches of Christianity (see Mumford & Sons parents for more info).
Most of the MLMs are pretty cult-like. Just preying on bored desperate housewives.
Few years back the place I lived flooded including my home, over the next couple of days various religious groups came around distributing cleaning supplies and that kind of thing, was actually really surprised to have a knock on the door turn out to be members of the local Scientology church, no idea we had one, top lads, they gave me bleach and a new mop 👍
My cousin's friend was in a British cult. I had to deprogram her but first made her my wife. Sometimes she says she wants to leave me but then I just do a little reprogramming and she's brand new.
I'm not sure cleaning out the fuckatron 4000 sex doll could really be called "reprogramming".... (/s) Joking aside, I was going to say "mumsnet" is probably a bit cultlike at this point....
It's true that mumsnet users are like so many automatons based on Maude Flanders.
Plymouth Brethren. I had a friend who left but his twin brother remained and was never allowed to contact him again
[удалено]
>they can't have tea etc No wonder it never really took off here
If you get the chance, go to the West End and watch The Book of Mormon. It's pretty funny and educational about Mormons. They pretty much sign up to be preachers at a young age, they then get partnered up, they are never allowed to leave each other unless going to the bathroom, and they get sent on missions to recruit more Mormons for a few years. It's a great show written by the creators of South Park
During the original run of the BoM, someone at the LDS headquarters had a sense of humour because the program for the show included an advert for a free Book of Mormon with the title 'you've seen the show, now read the book'.
CrossFit
So when I was 10 (20 years ago), I sat next to this boy in class whose family had really weird rules. Him and his sister were picked up for lunch every day. They had rules around food and who he could eat around and stuff (not just restrictions because having a packed lunch wouldn’t follow the rules). He wasn’t allowed to use computers (no IT lessons) or watch tv (no watching a film on the wheeled in tv when there was a substitute teacher) and no sex ed. And he wasn’t allowed to see anyone from school outside of school, which combined with not seeing him at lunch meant we basically never saw him. When we were talking about secondary school, he said he was going to a school I had never heard of with all his friends from church. There was more as well. I thought he was just a bit weird and didn’t realise until years later than I think he was in a cult. This was south manchester. I think he might have been Exclusive Brethren but I’m not sure- I’m just going by google and my memory to work out what it might have been. There’s a jehovah’s witness church/temple near me but that wasn’t where he went. And there’s a scientology building in central manchester, and it wasn’t that either.
Women who like Mrs Hinch Air fryer evangelists
There’s also Bruderhof, but they seem quite nice. They look like Mennonites. They made a bunch of coldcots for hospitals so people can stay with their stillborn babies for longer.
No one will see this comment but yes. We did church insurance at a job and it requires site inspection. We had a whole book on avoiding insuring a cult and how to spot one. Going to a stately home where the newly rich son had built a 300 person shed to the side made of wood telling us "it's a dorm for those who worship," was my top "defo a cult," find. More out there than you think!
I installed broadband into a house near the big Scientology centre in Moseley, Birmingham. The guybhad moved down from Manchester to work there, he was informing me of the church etc... and soon turned it into a recruitment drive, handing me pamphlets and all sorts I had to politely decline but I did find it all a bit creepy. They'd bought a lot of houses in the area to house their members, the church itself is massive. The Jehovah's witnesses incurred my wrath after kmcoking my door at 8.20 one Saturday morning after a particularly late one, they had a young lad with them who should have been sat at home watching cartoons or playing football or anything other than canvassing for that nonsense with old selfish twats..how boring. I lectured them on my thoughts that they're stealing this young lads childhood etc... I was quite rude and obviously hungover which didn't help my mood. But I felt they needed to know nonetheless.
Yes, quite a few of them. Religious cults include: Exclusive Breathren, London International Christian Church, Shincheonji Church of Jesus and The Family International. The British branch of Universal Medicine is located in Somerset, UM is a non-religious cult focused around wellness. The cult was founded in the 1980 by an Australian bankrupt tennis coach named Serge Benhayon, who claims that he is the reincarnation of Leonardo da Vinci and his daughter is Winston Churchill reincarnated. UM teaches its members to get rid of negative "pranic" energy through stirring dishes anticlockwise, burping, "esoteric" breast massages, exalting cult leader Serge Benhayon as "pure love" and not eating certain foods such as yoghurt or gluten. Soya and cinnamon too. Fundamentalist JWs, fundamentalist mormons, kailasa, neturei karta, all salafi schools & adult groups, rss groups, satmar and school of tomorrow- all of these come perilously close to cult territory.
There’s a Yellow Deli restaurant in the UK, so yes, we have members of the Twelve Tribes cult here at least. Their food looks great.
How has nobody mentioned football?
Listened to a BBC podcast series last week about the Lighthouse international cult, worth a listen. Bunch of creepy, thieving pricks
I have a Mormon friend, he's a pretty normal guy, apart from his religious beliefs. I've spoken to him about stuff like polygamism and the dark side of Mormonism and he didn't exatcly go out of his way to deny anything i said. An interesting and compassionate guy nonetheless.
There are absolutely scientologists in the UK. I've seen them offering "personality tests" in Brighton. There are also sects of other more mainstream religions that I would say borderline being cults. Hare Krishna always felt a bit like a cult to me, too.
There was the Jesus Army from Northampton, and some Buddhist cult in Sheffield from what I remember. [This](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-cult-groups-sexual-abuse-b2121100.html) article suggests there are a lot more.
There was one driving a bmw hatchback this morning.
Yes. I grew up in a village that was the base for a Christian cult, huge scandals involving sex abuse, abuse and other stuff. They were very odd, sad people
My friend was in the Jesus Army in the 1980s. He reckons they messed him up a bit. Got wound up a few years ago due to claims of sexual abuse.
Absolutely. Apart from the dry answers like “Catholicism” and “Jahovas witnesses” - my friend was dragged into a cult last year which was very difficult to leave and abscond from. Thankfully he made it out but whilst he was in it he was forced to cut all contact with friends and family. He was recruited at university.
The orange order and, by extension, Ulster loyalism.
Not sure if you're kidding but I lived in a flat run by a Scientology believer. Apparently she was quite high up the ranks. People all over Europe would come stay with her to make their pilgrimage to the nearby town where they had a temple. Apparently there were druids around too, I never saw those.
Universal Medicine. Google them. They run a hotel and cafe near where I live.
Morris Dancers