Day 63 of "Figuring it Out" - Revisiting That Time I Went to a Cult (For a Day)

Kia Ora! Happy Thursday!

PIN IT

How are you going today fam? Thank you for reading another one of my daily rambles :) I'm going okay today, my hayfever is really bad today and the hayfever meds haven't helped at all - I've got awful itchy eyes and feel so congested with a bit of a headache and maybe I'll steam my face later on, and see if that helps relieve some of the symptoms. But these are the joyous things we put up with to live in Melbourne haha (tbh it wasn't any better for me in CHCH). Anyway, woke up kinda early this morning and got ready early-ish and I've already been for two walks today so I'm pretty proud of that but I have been feeling a little disenchanted with myself today. I don't know whether having a well-being break is getting to me, or it's the fact that yesterday's blog didn't seem to do so well (sometimes I get an average of 10 daily views but yesterday's only got 2 for some reason) and I don't know if it's just me overthinking it, the time I posted, or if people are starting to lose interest, or literally nothing at all. I really hope you're not losing interest because I'd love to keep talking to you guys on a daily basis about things and drive more engagement to the site. But anyway! At least (bar the hayfever) today is somewhat of a good health day and I've managed to do a little more of my Christmas shopping also, which is always good to get out of the way early. Especially when you're like me and get overwhelmed with crowds. I never used to in NZ but I guess that's because when there are crowds there, they're not actually that big, but when there are crowds in Melbourne, it's intense and it gets hot and just ugh. But anyway, I've told Luke we will go soon to do the rest of it - like get our Christmas tree and decor and a few other things we need for it. And I'm also excited to choose my 2024 diary also.

Last night we watched "The Super Maro Bros. Movie" which I was worried I was going to hate because of the bad reviews BUT I have to admit, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I was going to. It was great on the nostalgia factor (especially if you grew up playing any kind of Mario game) and really good not to fall into those misogynistic traps that a lot of the games do with Princess Peach. But in saying all that, it was still pretty stupid - which is definitely what you want from a movie like that. I also liked the fact that there were TWO after-credit scenes - which I didn't expect but definitely liked what they put in at the end there. Have you seen this movie? What did ya'll think of it?

I've just made myself a berry smoothie ready to get into today's blog topic!

For today's blog though, I thought (with Talon's advice, thanks Talon) we could revisit the time I visited a cult for a day! As many of you know, I did try and do a podcast last year with a friend of mine in Melbourne, but unfortunately, that friend had some extenuating circumstances and we just didn't get around to continuing it. I didn't want to do it on my own either so I thought I'd focus on my own solo projects for the next wee while and see what happens from there. Anyway, we did discuss the day I visited a cult in that podcast so if you've ever heard that, I'm sorry this is gonna be repetitive, but it'll be worth it because it was a really interesting day nonetheless.

So let's set the scene shall we? Back in 2016 or 2017, I can't actually remember which year it was - I'm learning towards summer of 2016, I decided to take a Sociology Summer Course at university and the course was on collective behaviour, so things like cults, riots, communes etc., and to me that stuff is SUPER interesting - I even wanted to do research on cults following that course but academia wise it just wasn't the right thing to do a masters thesis on (unless you could like go to the cult and that's just not very safe). I also want to mention here that we were not allowed to take photos OR post anything on socials about the place but I think it has been long enough now that it doesn't matter. Anyway. Pls don't come for me - I think enough people who have left the cult have shared enough of their experiences that they would probably over-saturate mine now anyway (i.e., I'm not famous nor do I plan on bashing the cult). I just want to share my experiences.

So in New Zealand, there's this farm on the West Coast of the South Island called "Gloriavale Christian Community" - their wiki page says they're a very small community BUT when I went, it felt pretty large. As of June 2023, their estimated population is 700 (and fun fact here, when cults or communes get to over 500 people, they often collapse because they're just too large or they pull a Jonestown - maybe I'll do another blog post on that cult later on). Anyway, it's surprising that they still exist with so many members, and also with their founder having passed away now too, even more interesting.

Gloriavale was founded by evangelist Neville Cooper (aka the late Hopeful Christian) in 1969. The group was originally called the "Springbank Christian Community" and some people also labelled it the "Cooperites" but I don't think Hopeful liked that name very much. The community's belief system is that of fundamentalist Christianity (i.e., creationists, where they believe the world is 6000 years old and they do not believe in evolution). It is also VERY VERY gendered with male dominance and submissive women. The members all wear blue uniforms. The leader Hopeful was originally born in Australia and invited to New Zealand as a member of the Voice of Deliverance Evangelist Mission. Hopeful also survived a plane crash in 1965 in Queensland (although I am unable to verify this, I'm just taking it off of Wikipedia). Hopeful Christian spent a bit of time in NZ, then returned to Australia to encourage his wife and children to move to NZ. They then settled in Rangiora, Canterbury - a very small town and then slowly took over the place and churches. From here Springbank was formed. They then went on to acquire a farm in Cust and slowly worked their way up from there to be fully self-sufficient (ya know, the farming and agricultural stuff NZ is known for). At this point in time, the church began to establish a points system for members to share wages (this stuff makes me feel so weird) and many members shut down their personal bank accounts as well they didn't need them! This was also when the uniforms were introduced. Sidenote - I'm trying to be as unbias as possible when discussing the history, but I'm struggling a little). I'll give more of my opinions once we get to the actual visiting Gloriavale part.

Following this, the community got SOOO big for Cust, it had to relocate, again! Between 1991 and 1995, the group relocated to Haupiri Valley where they were renamed "Gloriavale". Two large dairy farms were purchased and this is what we know Gloriavale as today. If you would like to learn more about this community, you can visit their website "here". Just be very careful when reading media articles about this group as the narrative is often controlled - even if it comes from them directly so we'll probably never know the full truth of what goes on behind closed doors. But with the context being given now, let's get into what my experience was like visiting this place and I want to make that very clear, I ONLY visited for a day, I was never a part of them and could never follow their beliefs but it was bloody interesting, terrifying and a strange experience to go and visit them for a day.

First day of summer class (LOL nerd I know, but you could still get living costs over summer if you were studying and now looking back on it with my giant student loan, that wasn't a great plan, but it made me happy at the time), we were all given the course outline and we noticed that there was a field trip. We had no bloody idea what we were in for and when we found out we were going to go to Gloriavale, I think so many of us were pumped. A lot of people chose to opt-out of it because it was for the experience and there wasn't an assessment attached to it but I just knew if I said no to visiting a cult, I'd regret for the rest of my life and ever since I turned down a modelling contract (and regretted it - yes mum I know you told me I would one day BUT I may have never gone to uni), I vowed to not turn down things I knew I'd regret later on. So of course I said yes AND omg, you had to fill out so many waivers because it was so high risk (and fill out all of your health details + dietary requirements). At this time, I hadn't been diagnosed with IBS yet so I didn't have too many things to worry about). But they catered to every single person's dietary needs - vegan to celiac, it was impressive). Tbh, I highly doubt you'd get away with this level of high-risk field trip today, so we were really lucky we got to go. Oh, and the lecturer had contacts with people at Gloriavale so we were invited to go and visit them (forgot to say that earlier).

Anyway, what I remember, is driving in our uni vans (with some of the students being drivers - so dodgy because some were manual and some were tip tronic) but we all made it there safely and driving from CHCH to pretty much Greymouth and back in one day was so EXHAUSTING and I was just a passenger. So we're told by our lecturer that they won't try and indoctrinate us and basically said nothing bad was gonna happen (nothing bad happened but spoiler alert, of course they tried to indoctrinate us). First we all needed the bathroom as soon as we got there because we'd been in the vans for so long and I remember being told there was no locks on the bathroom doors (because it was a) like a home, b) similar thoughts to what's mine is yours - like everything is shared and the reason why the Amish don't have pockets and c) so if their were SA allegations, they could get in and help. But alas, a bunch of young women and not very many men (from Western soceity) were freaked out a little at this so we all stood outside waiting for each other because we were worried someone would come in. Anyway, like this seems like such a stupid thing to worry about. I also remember not being able to find toilet paper and then one of our teachers was like it's in the cupboard like a home (hahah we were VERY ignorant). Once we got over the bathroom dramas, we were invited for a concert and some snacks - all the food was amazing) and I just remember feeling SOOOO drained from Hopeful Christian preaching at us all afternoon. He told us about two different wives (I think one had passed away but I'm not sure if I'm remembering it right) and how there were so many near death experiences and how he was saved at the time. I don't think he talked about the plane crash mentioned in the wiki article, but he did talk about a fire in a caravan and there was definitely more than one fire. Also, we were told not to use our phones out of respect but of course a lot of us still tried to check them BUT there was no reception and the batteries just got really drained for some reason - I'm guessing it could have been the heat or I might have forgotten to charge it idk, it was weird) but I just checked the time and then put it away.

After the lovely concert, we were then given a tour around the farm and honestly, it felt like were were invading their property. I felt so bad at this point (not physically, just for being there, but I had to keep reminding myself we were invited) and I'll never forget the amount of Peugot's I saw there - he must have had a deal with them but every time I see one now, I just think of Gloriavale. I also saw like one Toyota ute (which I mean makes sense for a farm but wouldn't you have more utes)? We then were given a tour of the slaughterhouse which a lot of the vegans/vegetarians struggled with and yeah it was bad, but it didn't seem inhumane, just kinda seemed like you were at a butcher's. Following this, we were shown a tour of the kitchen and one thing I noticed here was how good the women's complexions were and then I remember, oh yeah no birth control is allowed so no wonder their skin is so perfect (jealous). Anyway, it was men doing the farm work and women doing the kitchen work and raising kids and the point is to raise kids - that's their whole purpose in life and I don't wanna hear any of this oh they're "brainwashed" shit, they're not brainwashed, they're indoctrinated. The two terms of different - sure it's really hard to change their worldview, but they are still in control and aren't being forced to stay there. However, in saying that, it is really hard to get into Western society after living in a cult/commune and you are often ex-communicated if you do leave meaning you can't talk to your family or get back in sorta thing - it's really sad. That's some fun sociology for today. Let's get back on track.

As we were touring the farm, I remember some kids coming out and one of them said "look mummy, they have weird clothes" and it just stuck with me so much. I also remember learning that they were only allowed to watch certain movies and were taught dinosaurs weren't real (I'm guessing because it goes against what they believe in). But I really really felt like at this point we were invading their home. Anyway, it was then time for dinner and more preaching and singing and I don't remember what I ate, but it was yum (especially the dessert - but it was all organic so ya know) and then it was time for chit-chat before we left and this point it's like 9pm at night so every one is feeling very tired. They gave everyone who came a DVD and a loaf of bread which was yum but I still felt weird being there and when everyone was mingling, I felt really scared and didn't talk very much. I probably should have but I was too tired and didn't want to argue with anyone OR actually get indoctrinated. They also let us know that sometimes they would let members of the public stay over for a night - which I don't think I could have done. But we finally left around 10pm and my gosh, was I tired once we got back to CHCH.

I also forgot to mention that because it's a commune, when people get married, they then move into a room together where they have babies and they all stay in the same room just in separate areas. I always wondered what that meant for "adult time" if the kids went to another family room or if they just did it when the kids were asleep but you don't ask people those kinds of questions and as you know, the purpose of this place is to pop out babies so there's no birth control (shudder).

It was the next day and we had class at 12pm (instead of 11am) and it was a relatively small class because it was really hard to get up and honestly it should have been cancelled or pushed back more because we had had such a big day the day before driving ALL the way to the West Coast and back to CHCH. Honestly, the thought of doing that now is just making me sleepy af. Anyway, the class was really to discuss our experiences and everyone seemed to have a great time but the lecturer did ask if anyone had a negative experience and I did, so I put my hand up, but all I could come up with was that I just found the preaching really draining which the lecturer then argued that that was the point of his preaching and I was really too tired to think of anything else so just nodded along. But yeah, that was my experience visiting a cult for a day back in my homeland. Would you visit a cult or a commune if you had the chance?

I thought this would also be a good chance to discuss some reasons why people might join cults or communes also (to keep it on the sociological side) so here goes (also kinda similar to why some people might join gangs)

1. Relative Deprivation Theory - is a theory used in social science to explain why some people might be more likely to join a cult. Relative deprivation is basically what you'd think it is - when a person lacks the resources, diet, amenities, or lifestyle that they are used to (i.e., being deprived of something one is used to) so some examples could include losing a job, a breakup, lack of access to healthy food and water etc. When one experiences relative deprivation, they may start to feel worse about themselves and look to other areas to feel better and some even join cults.

2. They were born into it - so they have no other worldview.

3. They are seeking a sense of belonging/purpose.

4. The want to better themselves OR they went a greater sense of community.

5. Some people indoctrinate/recruit members in public (often without the members of the public knowing it's a cult).
   

That's only a few reasons but there's definitely a plethora more out there and sometimes it can be as simple as being fed up with mainstream society. Oh yeah, the main defining factor of a cult is that they reject mainstream/western society and want to follow a different lifestyle/belief system. If you're interested, here's an article from Cosmo (lol) about the "16 Scariest Cults of All Time". There's also plenty of documentaries and YouTube videos available online if you do want to learn more - which I find super fascinating myself but as I keep reminding you throughout this blog post, do your due diligence when learning about cults - look up more information about them, especially as the media tend to ALWAYS label them "sex cults" or accusations of SA etc., which in some cases will be true, and others won't. Just please keep an open mind and be curious and don't go straight into negative connotations just because the word "cult" is used.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this really long blog post today and let me know if you'd like to hear more about cults in general OR if you'd be interested to learn about other field trips I went on during my studies at university!

For today's question, I want to know, if you could go to a cult/commune/community for a day (with no repercussions), where would you go and why? It can be any active or no-longer active place of your choosing.

Thank you for reading this really long blog today and letting me share this experience with you. I hope you learned something. But that's all from me today. I'll see you all tomorrow for another daily life update random blog topic.

Ka kite,

Much love,

Ash xx

P:S: have any of you been keeping up with the Cody and Satori drama on YouTube? Let me know your thoughts if you have? I'm curious to know!

Okie I'm really going this time! Bye Bye Bye!

Update 3/10/2024 - I forgot to add in my YouTube video! Check it out below: