[arthurchappell]

AMA Arthur Chappell - question areas to consider - !?. How I ended up in a cult. How I escaped from the cult. 3/. Why I don't believe in God. 5/. How I got into creative writing. 6/. How I got published. 7/. Being a Civil War Re-enactor. 8/. Anything about my interests in pubs, beer, history, art, life in general

What not to ask for - Free money, next week's lottery numbers, calculating Pi to 8,0000 places,

[Fergal]

Thanks for starting an AMA Arthur. How did you end up in a cult? What was your experience with them? Which cult was it?

[Angie10]

Hey Arthur Chappell! I was actually going to ask the same questions Fergal has posed LOL I suppose the next thing I'd like to know is why you don't believe in God; could it be tied in with your experiences with the cult you managed to escape?

BTW are you the same Arthur Chappell who was at PersonaPaper?

[arthurchappell]

Thanks for starting an AMA Arthur. How did you end up in a cult? What was your experience with them? Which cult was it?

The cult was then known as The Divine Light Mission (now called The Prem Rawat Foundation) I got sucked in in 1981 after my dad died and I was overcoming severe illness, - a girl invited me on a date but she was just recruiting me - you used the same approach to reel others in too. I escaped in 1985. They teach you to feel, as your mind makes you doubt God, so you should just stop thinking - - I eventually thought myself free

-- 05 Nov 2017, 16:45 --

Hey Arthur Chappell! I was actually going to ask the same questions Fergal has posed LOL I suppose the next thing I'd like to know is why you don't believe in God; could it be tied in with your experiences with the cult you managed to escape?

BTW are you the same Arthur Chappell who was at PersonaPaper?

Yes I was on Persona Papers - the cult directly shattered my sense of religion, though I was dabbling in agnostic/atheistic ideas before I was recruited - my Catholic upbringing included being forced to write right handed - I was naturally left handed

[Fergal]

Thanks for your reply arthurchappell, that is all very interesting, sorry to hear you had those difficulties.

my Catholic upbringing included being forced to write right handed - I was naturally left handed

I know a man in his sixties who also had this done to him in an Irish primary school. I don't believe it was anything to do with the Catholic religion, just what teachers mistakenly believed at that time.

Please do let me know if this question is too personal, but I would be interested in hearing how you got yourself reestablished once you escaped from the cult. E.g. how did you get yourself to a position where you had a place to live and start to earn money again? When you finished with the cult, did you have to start from scratch or did you have some resources from before you became a member?

Also, how would you compare the Catholic church to a cult, I don't mean in terms of what they actually believe, but in terms of how they might pressurize you to remain a member of their organisation? Or to put it another way, would you consider the Catholic Church to be a cult?

[johir]

If there is faith in your hearth then there is a religion. there is no religion which is proved.

[southernfried18]

Hey, I'm glad to see you over here too Arthur.

[ptrikha21]

Glad to see you here. A few questions:

1)Peanut butter or normal butter- what would you prefer?
2)Drinking Beer at a Pub or at home?

[Abigael]

AMA Arthur Chappell - question areas to consider - !?. How I ended up in a cult. How I escaped from the cult. 3/. Why I don't believe in God. 5/. How I got into creative writing. 6/. How I got published. 7/. Being a Civil War Re-enactor. 8/. Anything about my interests in pubs, beer, history, art, life in general

What not to ask for - Free money, next week's lottery numbers, calculating Pi to 8,0000 places,

Which cult was that? How did you end up in it? How did you come out of it.