From Fear To Freedom - Paperback

by Peter Black (Author)

Most of us have at least a basic understanding of religion and may call ourselves Christians, perhaps even attending Church. Many will regard the values taught by Christian Churches as being of benefit to all, especially the youth in our community. What happens though when a religion goes wrong and becomes a destructive cult? How much damage can it do to believers? How are the lives of innocent people wrecked? Why do people become entrapped by cults in the first place? What nightmarish things sometimes go on behind the closed doors of a religious cult? Would you even recognize a cult if you found one? All these vitally important questions are answered in From Fear to Freedom and many typical characteristics of destructive religious cults are explained in clear yet simple detail. If you are trying to put your life back together after getting out of a cult, then this self-help book for religious cult survivors can help - how? Because it's written by a cult survivor who spent 31 years in Herbert Armstrong's powerful, destructive and so called Christian cult, The Worldwide Church of God. This easy to read title will also help if you are assisting a friend or family member to put a wrecked life back together after they have left a cult. It points the way forward for cult survivors and leaves the reader with a strong belief in hope, recovery and above all, freedom.

Author Biography

Peter Black lives near Brisbane Australia and was introduced by his parents to life in a powerful, destructive and fundamentalist religious cult at the early age of 3. Most of his childhood, teenage and adult years were shaped by the twisted and fear-filled belief system of the Worldwide Church of God, until he walked out of the group when 34 years old. As just a small child himself, Peter heard many times the horrible and sickening sound of children being bashed week after week during church because of the cult's insistence on this for even small misdemeanors. Also the author lost a number of friends who went on to suicide due to lives totally wrecked by Herbert W Armstrong's so-called Christian Church. As if this wasn't enough, the author has been vision impaired all his life. He says the Worldwide Church of God was a lonely place to grow up because he was rejected by most of his peers who just couldn't deal with someone who has a disability. Peter says people with disabilities were seen as having a "blemish" within the cruel sect. Despite all of that, Peter pulled his own life back from the brink and then went on to work with a number of other cult survivors in a similar position with their own lives. As well, the author gave a presentation entitled "the cult which almost changed the world" at a meeting of the "cult information and family support" (CIFS) support group in Brisbane during 2011. The writer believes that the recovery needs of religious cult survivors are poorly understood, even by many professional counselors and he says "who better to write a book on the subject than another cult survivor". From Fear to Freedom concludes with a resource list of support organizations, some of which are of a general nature and others dedicated to assisting survivors from many different cultic groups. The book itself will help anyone who has left a damaging cult to put a wrecked life back together, just like Peter did.