Charlene Lamy Edge Speaks about The Way International

Former Religious Right Leader Endorses Undertow by Charlene L. Edge Greetings, readers. I'm honored that my cult memoir is endorsed by Frank Schaeffer. If you have a copy of my memoir, Undertow , you'll see his blurb on the front cover and a longer version of it inside. In brief, Frank Schaeffer is a New York Times bestselling author, an artist, and, among other things, the son of Francis and Edith Schaeffer, Christian evangelicals, who in the 1960s, helped found what's known as the Religious Right. Keep reading to learn more. But first, the endorsement. Frank Schaeffer Endorses Undertow “In  Undertow,  Charlene Edge has written a brilliant and engrossing warning to the future by dissecting the past. There are really two books here: one is on a cult called The Way (one of the largest fundamentalist cults in America with about 40,000 followers [in its heyday]).  The second book is an examination of the dynamics of all personality, religious, and political cu...

Greetings, readers. The following is a version of a post I once published on my website https://charleneedge.com. The same is true of most posts I've included here on my Blogspot account.  Protestant Fundamentalism and scholars who say useful things about it By Charlene L. Edge I'm thinking again about Protestant Fundamentalism and how it hooks believers. How does it do that? With the hook I call "certainty."  Over the years, I've looked into how fundamentalists get hooked on certainty and found scholars who have something helpful to say about it. By the way, there are many kinds of fundamentalism. Most religions have a fundamentalist branch within their system that demands a literal interpretation of and obedience to its doctrines, and engages in black and white thinking. I mainly address Christian fundamentalism because I spent so long in that land of lost perspectives. When I left The Way International, a Christian fundamentalist group, I tore down the curtain ...

  What do you know about Christian Nationalism and why care?  Christian Fundamentalism’s adherents, whether we like it or not, are gaining more and more power every day in the United States thanks to the Religious Right’s promotion of Christian Nationalism, which is based on fundamentalist views of the Bible. Christian Fundamentalism involves the notion that Christianity is the only religion that is “right” with God.  Its rules for interpreting the Scriptures are anchored in inerrancy. Inerrancy means without error. So for fundamentalists, that means the Bible must be perfect. Why? Because they believe God is the author of the Bible and God is perfect. Therefore, whatever He authored would be perfect, too. Usually, to make the Bible appear perfect or without contradiction results in chopping up the Bible into different time periods called "dispensations" or "administrations" to show it has no contradictions. For instance, the God of the Old Testament told His people...

One of my favorite humorists, Oscar Wilde, quoted a popular adage that I absolutely love:  "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."  At one of my presentations about cults I used that adage to convey this: Anyone who does not stand for good values, such as respectful discussion, empathy, and transparent leadership, just might find themselves falling for a cult. Feel free to share the following info with anyone who is worried about a loved one (or themselves!) in danger of falling for a controlling organization making promises that sound too good to be true. A word of caution Be wary about spending boatloads of time and energy trying to talk someone out of their involvement in a group that you see as manipulative and deceptive--but remain open to talk about it if they want to.  Remember this wise saying from Mark Twain: "It's easier to fool a man than to convince him he has been fooled. Note: The following is from a presentation I gave to...

What are reliable sources on the subject of cults? This post offers a list of sources I respect on this topic. I encourage you to share this post. Links on the book titles take you to Goodreads.com where you can find descriptions of each book.  In the case of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA), the link takes you to their website. This list of sources was compiled by Charlene L. Edge, author of Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. Robert Jay Lifton, PhD Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and The Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry by Robert Jay Lifton. The New Press. 2019. Pg. 4, 5. [Chapter 7: Trump, is very timely]. "I have insisted upon retaining the word “cult” for groups that meet three criteria: First, a shift in worship from broad spiritual ideas to the person of a charismatic guru; second, the active pursuit of a thought reform-like process that frequently stresses some kind of merger with the guru...

Greetings, readers. This post contains information to help you identify traits of a group which would make it a "cult," otherwise known as a high-control group or coercive organization. High-control groups may be large (thousands of people) or small, in-home fellowships or meetings (just a few people). I prepared this info from screens in a PowerPoint presentation I created when I gave talks to students and other interested groups.  Screen 1. What is a Cult?  First , a shift in worship from broad spiritual ideas to the person of a charismatic guru; second , the active pursuit of a thought reform-like process that frequently stresses some kind of merger with the guru; and third , extensive exploitation from above (by the guru and leading disciples)—whether economic, sexual, or psychological—of the idealism of ordinary followers from below. ♦ Source: Losing Reality: On Cults, Cultism, and The Mindset of Political and Religious Zealotry by Robert Jay Lifton. The New Press. 201...

  Breaking the Power of Cult Symbols The following is a paper I presented in 2017 at a conference on cultic studies. As you read, you'll find places where I cited slides in an accompanying PowerPoint that I was showing the audience, but I am not posting it here. Instead, please use your imagination. Footnotes are at the end of the paper. Original presentation given at International Cultic Studies Association 2017 Conference in Bordeaux, France. Presenter: Charlene L. Edge, author of Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International . New Wings Press. 2017. My presentation today is about how cult leaders use symbols to control followers and how we can break the power of those symbols. As an example, I’ll use The Way International, ™ the fundamentalist cult I escaped in 1987. High-control groups like The Way use insignias, catch-phrases, and other imagery to recruit, manipulate, and retain believers. These emotionally charged symbols c...