Welcome to indoctrination, a weekly conversation series about protecting yourself from systems of control.

I'm your host, Rachel Bernstein.

Tammy Willis grew up in Virginia in the 70s and 80s in a Christian fundamentalist church that she now knows was a cult in the ways

in which it operated and the ways it abused and controlled its members. Her church, school,

and family life was steeped in methods of control based on fear, abuse, dependency, coercion, obedience at all costs, guilt and

shame. She spent most of her early life in heavy indoctrination. Although she's been away from

fundamentalism for 30 years, she's still coming to terms with the ways in which she was raised

and how her life has been affected. Seeing what is happening in the United States political system

and the rise of Christian nationalism has been eye-opening and triggering for her. In the last few years,

it's becoming clear to her that governmental power and influence

is being used to promote specific religious views and violate the rights of other people.

There is a clear connection between the ways in which Christian religious groups use mind

control and coercion, how members who have been conditioned to have blind faith

are now being used in our political system, as she says. The constant onslaught of lies and

gaslighting in the systemic invalidation of mainstream media are causing many people,

according to Tammy. And I've seen it too, not to trust their

own eyes and ears, or to question the ways in which they know things about the world.

These are the exact information control methods that people within fundamentalism and

evangelicalism experience.

She's speaking out because she wants people to understand the damaging cultic nature of religious groups that are all too often seen as benign in the United States.

She believes we are in a cycle of manipulation and control in which politicians are using the ready

willingness and belief of members of religious groups who have already been conditioned to be

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