In part 1 of this interview we’re going to cover childhood education, higher education, isolation in rural Montana, facing political ideologies of devout CUT members, how Annie's experience parallels that of the author Tara Westover who wrote the book Educated, and mistrust of the medical world.

For this pilot episode, I'm joined by co-host Justice Bartlett of Playfully Conscious in Montana.  She and I both grew up in Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT), the largest fringe religion to ever establish a presence in Montana.  In the late 1980's their leader Elizabeth Prophet warned of possible nuclear war and the members entered bomb shelters in 1990 for two days to prepare for a nuclear holocaust. She was nine years old when her family went underground to prepare for the end of the world.

Episode topics include:

- Her experience when the members entered the bomb shelters with CUT- How does a person find their identity after leaving a cult or religion- What coping mechanisms do people have surrounding religious dogma- How do people heal from PTSD experienced in childhood surrounding spirituality?- How cognitive dissonance allows people to stay in harmful religions - How Toxic Positivity plays into the belief system- Her article in the Elephant Journal: Narcissism: Unraveling the Link between Trump, Trauma & Cult Mentality - The adoration for Trump inside the CUT membership- Why people bond to Trump as a leaderRead more of Justice’s deep writing at: https://www.elephantjournal.com/profile/justice-bartlett/ Or connect with her at: illuminationwithjustice.com