It turns out that, aside from movie reviews, the last series of posts about Hotness and me were pretty much the most popular pages on this site recently. Given this, I’ve decided to work on another short series in which I will explore whether or not the cult life really sucked. I mean, on the face of it, cult life generally was lame.
But I’ve been wanting to know what it is was about the cult that inspired such disgust, disdain, and disappointment in my life. I figure that the best way for me to do that is to write about it and see if I can use this tool and gift to come to some revelations about my past. I’ve realized lately that I have forgotten/suppressed a lot about growing up the way I did. I need those things to be fresh if I’m going to be able to refine my second novel, The Cabin, with any kind of success.
I am going to need to be careful with these posts, because I will be trying to dredge thoughts, feelings, and events up from my memory. I don’t want to exaggerate at all, nor do I want to fill in gaps with imagination instead of truth. But be comforted; I’m not going to pull punches. And I probably won’t change names to protect the innocent. Because as far as I’m concerned, none of the people involved were innocent.
That doesn’t mean I’m bitter about it all. I’ve been blessed with the help of my Savior to find near total forgiveness for all those who did what they did to make a mess of my and my dear friends’ lives and childhood. That being said, I can sit here and identify plenty of what makes up me as a product of my unique upbringing. Some examples:
*Zero desire to have furry animals in the house.
*A view of adults and kids as two sides in a war.
*No idea how to be a son.
*Often very false ideas about how to be a father (universal, sure, but mine are more skewed than I’ve seen elsewhere).
*Inability (in a good way) to take people for granted.
*A constant need to fight a feeling of separation and need for isolation.
*Way too meta far too much of the time.
*Extremely skeptical combined with dangerously naive.
*A deep-seated, fundamental dislike of the names Lucia and Gabriel.
*Sometimes paralyzed by overthinking the smallest of things.
*Mother issues.
I’ll stop there. I’ll also keep these posts shorter, I hope. Part 2 of this series will be up in a couple of days. I’ll talk about some early memories and try to identify the wrongness that was apparent from an early age.
Also, any requests? What would you like to know about growing up in a communal cult?
I would like to know about how “the cult” — meaning the people making up the group — became the cult. In other words, do you see them as mere products of abuse stemming from previous cult members and therefore more innocent? Was there any malice? Did the original members have malice?
Hi Nathan,
This is a good set of questions. I will talk about the answers in my next posting on the cult. Thanks!
Hi Jared,
Read your posts with interested and now realize that your “father” was Fripp. He does have a funny British accent … and that funny British hat :). I hope you read my post on circlephere. I think it would be very interesting to hear about the cults beliefs, dynamics, rituals – and how the thought process affected you later in life – since it was a doomsday cult although I understand that concepts changed rapidly over time. It would make for a very interesting story. You are a brave soul to not hide founders’ names – Best Friends PR has done everything they can to hide their past. If you ask Geraldine Mahoney (Faith) she’ll tell you with a straight face that Best Friends never had a religious background. Good for you for letting the truth speak for itself. Slowly several Process/Foundation children have started writing .. and I must say that many of you are very good writers! Keep up the good work!
Hi Maria,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Thanks also for directing me to your blog post. A couple of quick things:
Most everyone finally knows who their parents are now.
Daniel was my oldest brother.
Faith Maloney (not Mahoney)
My intention is in no way to do an expose of the sordid past of the cult. My writings are investigations of and discussions with myself. But I also have zero intention of hiding anything that might reflect badly on the Process and the Foundation. Those groups were damaging in the extreme to many people, and while I am not out to ‘get back at’ them, I see no reason to protect historical truth. I admire what Best Friends does in general and am regularly dumbfounded at the changes I see in the people who run the show. They’ve all gone quite soft and easy-going. Prosperity seems to be agreeing with them.
Please stop by again!