Former "Children Of God" cult member Flor Edwards describes her childhood growing up in Father David's cult known today as The Family International.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_International`

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, "at its height" the Family movement had "tens of thousands of members, including River and Joaquin Phoenix, Rose McGowan and Jeremy Spencer".[4] TFI initially spread a message of salvation, apocalypticism, spiritual "revolution and happiness" and distrust of the outside world, which the members called The System. Like some other fundamentalist groups, it "foretold the coming of a dictator called the anti-Christ, the rise of a brutal One World Government and its eventual overthrow by Jesus Christ, in the Second Coming".[5]

In 1976,[6] it began a method of evangelism called Flirty Fishing that used sex to "show God's love and mercy" and win converts, resulting in controversy.[7] TFI's founder and prophetic leader, David Berg (who adopted the name "Moses David" while in Laurentide, Canada),[8] and was also referred to "Father David" by members),[5] gave himself the titles of "King", "The Last Endtime Prophet", "Moses", and "David".

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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/children-of-god-cult_n_5bfee4a3e4b0e254c926f325


One day, I stopped at the library on my way home from school and picked up an issue of Seventeen Magazine. Flipping through it in my bedroom, I found a feature titled, “Did You Grow Up in a Cult? Take this Quiz and Find Out Now.”

After taking the quiz in what must have been record time, I came to a line that read, “If you have answered ‘yes’ to three or more of these five questions, you may have grown up in a cult.” I had answered yes to all five.

For a moment my world tumbled out of orbit. I knew my upbringing had been unorthodox ― to say the least ― but I had never realized exactly how different my experiences had been compared to those of other kids. As unbelievable as it may seem, it took a silly quiz in a magazine to make me begin to understand what I had been through and who I was because of it. I just kept repeating, “Oh my God! I grew up in a cult. OH MY GOD! I GREW UP IN A CULT!”

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(Edited for length)

"Father David believed he needed a large army to prepare the world for the Great Apocalypse, which he claimed would come in 1993."

I married my first ex wife in 1993. Does that count?

After my father died, I had to go live with another family member. The first girl to befriend me at my new high school was a member of this cult. The pamphlets that she gave me seemed utterly wacky to me. Eventually I moved on to other, more promising friendships. Later I learned that she did that to every new student. Trust a cult to pick on the vulnerable.

I'm amazed that more exmos don't create their own cults, knowing how Joseph did it and the perks Joseph had.

Do you want to start a cult with me?