I Survived The Groomer “Children Of God“ Cult. | JHS Ep. 823

Daniella Mestyanek Young is a survivor of the religious Children of God cult, a US Army combat veteran, an extremely advanced knitter, and the author of Uncultured: A Memoir. Subscribe to the podcast: Full show notes can be found here: What We Discuss with Daniella: 0:00 - Turning children into... something we can’t write here 6:35 - Thought stopping cliches 15:41 - Living abroad makes you want to join cults 21:43 - Moonies 25:48 - Being trained to lie to police questions as a kid 33:59 - Covering up unspeakable acts 43:22 - Creating a fear of the outside world (like doctors) 52:08 - The weirdest Bible parties 1:02:49 - Moving to the USA 1:06:10 - Going to normal American highschool after the cult 1:19:34 - Daniella has been knitting this whole time 1:22:44 - Bribing the cops and government with women 1:24:54 - Resurfacing cult programming 1:28:36 - Spotting signs of cults in the real world Founded in 1968 ostensibly as a wholesome religious group centered around love, faith, and Jesus — and packaged to appeal to impressionable countercultural hippie types of the day — Children of God (later known by variations of “The Family”) veered into true cult territory under the direction of its leader, David Berg. In no time at all, female followers were encouraged to use their bodies and sexuality to gain converts and money in a practice known as “flirty flashing.” The cult also practiced forced polyamory and religious prostitution while aiming to raise “sexually liberated” children. On this episode, we’re joined by Daniella Mestyanek Young, a survivor who managed to escape the cult in her teens after being born into it as detailed in her book Uncultured: A Memoir. Here, we’ll discuss the disturbing details of child sexual abuse that were encouraged by the cult’s leaders throughout its history, what this cult and others do to cultivate credibility among its followers and the outside world, how an organization with such well-documented transgressions manages to rake in millions of dollars every year even now, and the toll that life in a cult takes on those who are lucky enough to exit. Get the BEST highlights from each episode on our clips channel! Want to watch more in-depth interviews with some of the world’s most amazing and successful people? Find full episodes here: Welcome to The Jordan Harbinger Show, a video podcast where each week you get to join a conversation with some of the world’s highest performers and incredible personalities. I’ll ask them the tough questions to tease out their top tips so that you can reach levels of personal growth and mastery that you never imagined possible. Learn more about Jordan: #podcast #jhs #creepy