In Part Two of Takes One to Write One: Cults, Katherine sits down again with her anonymous guest as they dig deeper into life inside a high-control religious group. This episode explores the long-term impact of spiritual abuse, how loyalty was weaponized, and what happens when someone begins to question everything they’ve ever been taught.

Together, they unpack relationships, identity, and the emotional unraveling that often follows the first steps toward freedom. It’s an honest, intense, and insightful look into the psychological grip these groups can have—even long after someone leaves.

Trigger warnings include trauma, spiritual and emotional abuse, psychological manipulation, and suicidal ideation. Please listen with care.

TIMESTAMPS

00:01:26 What differences did you notice in these “biblified” holidays? 

00:03:41 What were birthdays like?

00:04:13 Speaking of siblings and their names from the bible…

00:05:50 And y'all could have pets like typical household families?

00:08:44 To have siblings that weren't around for the cult, that are growing up in a different way. How do you feel about that?

00:10:24 You touched on the sex education or rather lack of. Is that the only way —abstinence?

00:11:53 Was there any talk about the health of like, hey, you're, this is what happens with puberty?

00:13:18 What is in the Bible regarding menstruation?

00:15:51 Did you experience other women in the church being pregnant?

00:18:21 You mentioned at five years old, you knew who you were, quote unquote, destined to marry. Did you have a friendship with the person, or relationship?

00:20:02 What sex education do you suppose the guys got?

00:21:56 “I know one of the guys that assaulted me, assaulted one of my sisters.”

00:22:33 Is that out of shame that you didn't share with each other?

00:24:09 So now that you're not involved, and you exited, what was the removal process like for you?

00:26:45 You mentioned earlier how overwhelming it was to be in the greater world of things. How did you cope with that?

00:29:16 “I never even saw the r*pes as r*pe until I was in college.”

00:33:14 So when you were trying one of every [drug], did you find answers out of those experiences?

00:35:23 What was ultimately something that really helped you start the healing?

00:36:39 This may have been weeks ago, perhaps an off comment, where you were figuring out like, there's not a hell, there's not this, there's not, and it was like, your whole belief system was crashing around you. How long did that take to get over?

00:38:13 “Since the day I was born, I was told these shoulders are going to send me to hell.”

00:39:35 Tell me more about you looking into Greek mythologies.

00:44:32 “I have struggled with s*icid*l ideation adhesion since leaving the cult because suicide is a sin, according to the Bible and according to the cult.”

00:46:13 Is an identity crisis the right term to use for that?

00:46:49 Do you find more solace from talking to folk that were also involved in cults, or do you find more solace from folk that have never been in cults?

00:50:08 So these claims, it seems very your word against everybody else's.

Does stuff like this get caught in that rumor mill and all of the gossip?

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