Misguided: The Soundtrack To My Life

About Misguided: The Soundtrack To My Life

In this series I imagine the soundtrack to a movie or TV show based on my memoir, Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life In A Doomsday Cult. https://perry-bulwer.blogspot.com/ perrybulwer344598.substack.com (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Perry Bulwer Misguided No More

Category

music · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Mar 2026

Latest episode

16 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

6 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Jun 2026

   Misguided: The Soundtrack To My Life

   Epilogue: Beware of the Kool-Aid Music featured in this post: What It Sounds Like – KPop Demon Hunters Things Have Changed – Bob Dylan Masters of War – Bob Dylan Teach Your Children Well – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Old Before My Time – The Allman Brothers Band The epilogue in my memoir has two parts. In the first half I discuss the downfall of the Children of God/The Family cult. That discussion includes exposing numerous academic apologists who defended the cult over the years, thus enabling the widespread, systemic child abuse to continue for many years. That first half ends by detailing how second-generation survivors of that cult are responsible for rising up against their abusers and taking the cult down through their public activism and advocacy. They are the heroes of this story. In the second half of the epilogue, I bring my story full circle by comparing current world events to similar events I experienced as a teen in the 1960s and early 70s that caused me great existential angst, which contributed to me running away to “join” a cult. In the 1960s a new wave of cults presented a danger to young people like me. Today, there are more cults than ever, not just religious or spiritual, but groups of all kinds that have similar cult characteristics and use the same cult techniques identified by academics working in this field. I end the book with this warning: It’s too late for me, but let my story be a cautionary tale. Beware of blindly believing and being misled by persuasive proselytizers of all kinds. Don’t allow yourself and your children to be MISGUIDED. In 2009, Karen Zerby and Steve Kelly, the leaders of the Children of God/The Family cult after David Berg’s death in 1994, presented a paper at the 2009 Conference of the Center for Studies on New Religious Movements, hosted in Salt Lake City, Utah from June 11th to June 13th, 2009. The paper, entitled: “The Future of the Family International: Establishing a Culture of Innovation and Progress,” outlined organizational changes and evangelistic goals. It was Zerby’s first ever public appearance, however, it was a secret appearance that no one but the academic cult apologists behind that conference were aware of. That was yet another example of how those unethical academics protected the cult and its leaders. As The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper reported, Karen Zerby’s appearance at the conference was “her first-ever public address”.i (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote1sym) After four decades living with Berg in hiding from enemies and followers alike, it isn’t surprising that Zerby wanted to keep her participation in the conference a secret until after it was over. It also isn’t surprising that they chose to present their paper at the Center for Studies on New Religious Movements conference rather than at a similar annual conference held by the International Cultic Studies Association. Professor Steven Kent described CESNUR as ... the highest profile lobbying and information group for controversial religions ... under the directorship of patent/trademark lawyer and independent scholar, Massimo Introvigne. A persistent critic of any national attempts to identify or curtail so-called ‘cults,’ Introvigne has spoken out against what he considers to be intolerance toward “minority religions,” especially in Belgium, France, and Germany. ... Many German and French officials working on issues related to religious ‘sects’ and human rights do not see CESNUR and Introvigne as neutral parties in the ongoing debates (a judgement that certainly flows both ways). Consequently, other people and organizations have damaged their reputations (rightly or wrongly) among these officials by associating too closely with CESNUR.”ii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote2sym) Some members of CESNUR, including Introvigne and another cofounder, J. Gordon Melton,iii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote3sym) have faced criticism for defending dangerous cults and downplaying their harms, or for maintaining financial or personal connections to organizations they are studying. ... Zerby and Kelly referred to the radical reversal of many of the Family’s doctrines, policies and practices as the Reboot.iv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote4sym) ... Gary Shepherd and Gordon Shepherd reported on those fundamental changes in their journal article, “Reboot of The Family International”.v (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote5sym) The Shepherds are both professors of sociology who had studied and written about the Family for several years. Gary Shepherd was involved with his colleague Lawrence Lilliston in the Family-funded studyvi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote6sym) of 32 children that the group attempted to use as proof “that their child-rearing practices and the sexualized environment in which a generation was raised had no deleterious effects”.vii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote7sym) When Lilliston presented the study as evidence in the British custody case, Justice Ward said he couldn’t rely on its conclusions because it was too “superficial and [lacked] academic credibility”.viii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote8sym) That study, and another one by Shepherd and Lilliston were included in the Family-funded book edited by Melton and Lewis. ... ... [the Shepherds] provided details of the radical reorganization in their article, “Reboot of The Family International”, summarized in the opening paragraph: The changes [Zerby and Kelly] outlined presaged a transformation that shifted TFI from being a closely regulated, exclusive communal society requiring uniformity, high commitment levels, and collective decision making to becoming a loose, inclusive, and amorphous cyber community that emphasizes personal choice of individuals pursuing their own spiritual paths as ordinary citizens within the secular societies in which they reside. Virtually all the organizational and cultural structures of TFI were subsequently dissolved, and many previously accepted beliefs and practices modified, downgraded, or simply jettisoned, thus validating ‘‘The Reboot’’ label that TFI’s ‘‘Change Journey’’ had generated. ... all continuing apocalyptic or millennial movements eventually have to make adjustments in both their Endtime calculations and in their relationships to host societies and to the ways of the world. In the case of TFI, however, the latest adjustments or ‘‘revolution’’ we report here seem to push it almost to the threshold of dissolution. ...TFI could simply fade away altogether as a distinct organizational entity.ix (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote9sym) In 2018, long-time Family spokesperson, Claire Borowik,x (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote10sym) wrote an article published in Nova Religio that discusses the dramatic impact the Reboot had on the Family. Borowik reports that the Family’s core membership was less than 7000 members around the time the Reboot was announced in 2009. The Shepherds reported in their article that membership had dropped to 3,473 by the end of 2012. Borowik says that by 2018 there were only about 1,900 members, however, she also writes that most current members no longer consider the Family to be a group or a movement, so don’t think of themselves as members. She uses the term “affiliate” instead to describe them. Like the Shepherds, Borowik doesn’t have much hope for the Family’s continued existence. ... Borowik and some of her interviewees paint a pessimistic picture of the group in its death throes, essentially concluding that the Family has no future as an amorphous community connected only online. Zerby and Kelly intended the Reboot to be the Family’s road to the future, but it turned out to be a dead end. The ex-member community, especially those of the second generation, deserves a lot of credit for that ending. Like the academic cult apologists who discredit and denounce accounts by critical former members, Borowik blames them for making it impossible for the Family to whitewash its past, rewrite history and create a new public image for itself. Efforts to modernize and reinvent its public image were met with heightened public opposition in the early 2000s due to the development of three adversarial former member websites (exfamily.org, xfamily.org, and movingon.org), which rapidly gained prominence in search engine rankings of information featured about TFI. A murder/suicide in 2005 perpetrated by Karen Zerby’s estranged son, Ricky Rodriguez (1975–2005), further increased tensions and placed the movement once again at the center of controversy and stigmatizing media. The consequent media attention served to revive old controversies and create a platform for new former member narratives, intensifying the struggle to dominate the defining narrative about the movement. In its quest to achieve representation and a voice in cyberspace, TFI has struggled to navigate these often contested spaces of the Web, a forum that has proved more amenable to countermovement propagation of information. The permanence and visibility of counter-narratives on the internet introduced a game changing platform of negotiation for TFI, hindering its efforts to distance the movement from past controversies and reinvent itself as a legitimate contemporary movement. The Family is now an unrecognizable shadow of its former self thanks to the heroes of this story, Merry Berg and her second generation peers who spoke out and defiantly pushed back against Family leaders who denounced them as lying apostates and denied their claims of abuse. Those who gave evidence of child abuse in the British custody case delivered some of the first deadly blows. Merry’s willingness to testify against her grandfather exposed the extreme immoralities that lay at the heart of the Family, undermining its very foundation, which is why Berg, Zerby and Kelly so viciously vilified and demonized her. Merry bravely bared the naked truth about Berg for all to see, revealing the fiction of the ‘emperor’s new clothes’. Her personal experiences and revelations showed that Berg was not the Love Prophet, as he was referred to in a Canadian documentary,xi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote11sym) he was the Lustful Prophet, as professor Kent referred to him in his study.xii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote12sym) ... Another influential activist who helped bring down the Family and also died far too young is Julia McNeil,xiii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote13sym) founder of the Moving On website and Safe Passage Foundation. After a decade of advocacy work compassionately supporting her fellow cult survivors, Julia died of cancer on June 5, 2012 at the age of 37. Many others too numerous to name also deserve credit for helping to kill the cult by exposing its abuses and inner workings, making it impossible for the Family to ever reform its image. The list includes everyone who contributed to the exmember websites; everyone who published memoirs, appeared in documentaries or gave interviews to journalists and academics; and everyone who endured systemic and personal abuses until they were able to defiantly resist their maltreatment and rebel against their abusers by escaping to the real world. Most of the second generation have managed to survive and make new lives despite deficiencies in their upbringing that may have hindered or delayed their progress in some ways. Some have even thrived, but many still bear psychological scars and suffer various heath problems from the stress and trauma of adverse childhood experiences. I continue to hear tragic stories of broken families, poverty, homelessness and addiction. Tragically, overwhelming psychological injuries have led some to commit suicide.xiv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote14sym) The Family expected their children to be the vanguard of Christian soldiers in Berg’s endtime army, and leaders of the world during the millennium, Christ’s thousand year reign on earth. They raised them to be shining examples to the world of the group’s godliness, the fruit that proved the tree was good. Instead, turning on its head a Bible passage members often cited as proof of their moral goodness, the experiences suffered by the second generation show that the tree was rotten. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:15-20 Family members also frequently cited Proverbs 22:6 in support of their Bible-based, fundamentalist education: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” But almost all their children did depart from the Family’s way of life and beliefs by revolting against Berg’s Jesus Revolution. Many are no longer even Christians. Through their mass defections, legal testimonies, and personal accounts in memoirs, documentaries, media reports, academic studies and website forums, the children of the Children of God have shown the world that the Family tree was rotten to the core. What It Sounds Like – KPop Demon Hunters Nothing but the truth now Nothing but the proof of what I am The worst of what I came from, patterns I'm ashamed of Things that even I don't understand I tried to fix it, I tried to fight it My head was twisted, my heart divided My lies all collided, I don't know why I didn't trust you to be on my side I broke into a million pieces, and I can't go back But now I'm seeing all the beauty in the broken glass The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like Why did I cover up the colors stuck inside my head? I should've let the jagged edges meet the light instead Show me what's underneath, I'll find your harmony The song we couldn't write, this is what it sounds like We're shattering the silence, we're rising, defiant Shouting in the quiet, "You're not alone" We listened to the demons, we let them get between us But none of us are out here on our own So we were cowards, so we were liars So we're not heroes, we're still survivors The dreamers, the fighters, no lying, I'm tired But dive in the fire, and I'll be right here by your side We broke into a million pieces, and we can't go back But now we're seeing all the beauty in the broken glass The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like Why did we cover up the colors stuck inside our head? Get up and let the jagged edges meet the light instead Show me what's underneath, I'll find your harmony Fearless and undefined, this is what it sounds like I bring my story full circle in the second half of the epilogue to end the book, discussing how the various existential threats facing humanity in the 1960s have become even worse today, contributing to the creation of thousands of new cults of all kinds. Most children of the Children of God refused to stay children, and rejected the fraudulent Family, thereby practically killing the cult. But while that one is effectively dead, cults are everywhere, as the title of Margaret Singer and Janja Lalich’s book Cults In our Midst suggests. By some estimates, there could be thousands around the world,xv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote15sym) and new cults of all kinds continue to be created by charlatans or zealots.xvi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote16sym) Cults are so common that they are now part of popular culture, regularly featured in newspaper and magazine reports, documentaries, memoirs, and both non-fiction and fictional TV series, movies and books. Although there is now more information than ever before about the characteristics of cultsxvii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote17sym) and how to identify their harmful aspects, people still get sucked into them. Some of the same social, political, and environmental factors that led to the counterculture movement and a new wave of cults in the 1960s have worsened since then. Young people today face an even greater existential crisis.xviii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote18sym) Since 1947, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has maintained a metaphorical Doomsday Clock. Midnight represents a global catastrophe. The time on the clock, which was initially set to seven minutes to midnight, is determined primarily by the risks presented by nuclear war and climate change. In January 2018, scientists set the clock to two minutes to midnight. The only other time it got that close was in 1953 after the U.S. tested its first thermonuclear device. Then in January 2020, the revised time on the clock was announced in seconds for the first time. They set it at one hundred seconds to midnight, the closest its ever been, because of the increasing possibility of a deliberate or accidental nuclear war, and the world’s failure to effectively combat climate change. Those double threats to humanity, the scientists said, “... are compounded by a threat multiplier, cyber-enabled information warfare, that undercuts society’s ability to respond.”xix (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote19sym) Just a couple months later, the Covid19 global pandemic started to upend almost every aspect of life as we know it. In May 2020, Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, addressed that growing crisis in relation to their Doomsday Clock setting in January, stating: While concerns about climate change and nuclear war were the major drivers in moving the Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds to midnight, the 2020 statement issued by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists returns over and over again to the same underlying problem: The deliberate erosion by politicians of science and our core institutions. As the Doomsday Clock Statement notes: “Over the last two years, we have seen influential leaders denigrate and discard the most effective methods for addressing complex threats … in favor of their own narrow interests and domestic political gain. By undermining cooperative, science- and law-based approaches to managing the most urgent threats to humanity, leaders have helped to create a situation that will, if unaddressed, lead to catastrophe, sooner rather than later.”xx (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote20sym) Catastrophic changes associated with the Covid pandemic throughout 2020 included the collapse of international tradexxi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote21sym) and travel,xxii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote22sym) and widespread national lockdowns, causing a financial crisis for individuals, nations and the global economy, leading to fears of a recession occurring as bad as the Great Depression.xxiii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote23sym) In the background, drums of war were beating, heating up the New Cold War between the U.S. and China.xxiv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote24sym) Amidst all this upheaval and uncertainty, fearmongering fundamentalists, extremists, conmen and cultistsxxv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote25sym) were peddling all kinds of quack cures,xxvi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote26sym) conspiracy theories,xxvii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote27sym) and Bible-based apocalyptic predictions.xxviii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote28sym) Things Have Changed – Bob Dylan People are crazy and times are strange I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range I used to care, but things have changed I’ve been walking forty miles of bad road If the Bible is right, the world will explode I’ve been trying to get as far away from myself as I can Some things are too hot to touch The human mind can only stand so much I hurt easy, I just don’t show it You can hurt someone and not even know it The next sixty seconds could be like an eternity Gonna get low down, gonna fly high All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie In January 2021, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists kept their Doomsday Clock at 100 seconds to midnight despite the ongoing pandemic. Though lethal on a massive scale, this particular pandemic is not an existential threat. Its consequences are grave and will be lasting. But COVID-19 will not obliterate civilization, and we expect the disease to recede eventually. Still, the pandemic serves as a historic wake-up call, a vivid illustration that national governments and international organizations are unprepared to manage nuclear weapons and climate change, which currently pose existential threats to humanity, or the other dangers—including more virulent pandemics and next-generation warfare—that could threaten civilization in the near future. ... As we noted in our last Doomsday Clock statement, the existential threats of nuclear weapons and climate change have intensified in recent years because of a threat multiplier: the continuing corruption of the information ecosphere on which democracy and public decision-making depend. Here, again, the COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call. False and misleading information disseminated over the internet ... created social chaos in many countries and led to unnecessary death. This wanton disregard for science and the large-scale embrace of conspiratorial nonsense—often driven by political figures and partisan media—undermined the ability of responsible national and global leaders to protect the security of their citizens. ... The members of the Science and Security Board therefore set the Doomsday Clock at 100 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to civilization-ending apocalypse and the same time we set in 2020. It is deeply unfortunate that the global response to the pandemic over the past year has explicitly validated many of the concerns we have voiced for decades.xxix (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote29sym) UPDATE: On January 27, 2026, the Doomsday Clock was set at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest the Clock has ever been to midnight in its history. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board (SASB), which sets the Clock, called for urgent action to limit nuclear arsenals, create international guidelines on the use of AI, and form multilateral agreements to address global biological threats. Masters of War – Bob Dylan Come, you masters of war, you that build the big guns You that build the death planes, you that build all the bombs You that hide behind walls, you that hide behind desks I just want you to know I can see through your masks You that never done nothing but build to destroy You play with my world like it's your little toy You put a gun in my hand and you hide from my eyes And you turn and run farther when the fast bullets fly Like Judas of old, you lie and deceive A world war can be won you want me to believe But I see through your eyes and I see through your brain Like I see through the water that runs down my drain You fasten all the triggers for the others to fire Then you set back and watch while the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion while the young people's blood Flows out of their bodies and is buried in the mud You've thrown the worst fear that can ever be hurled Fear to bring children into the world For threatening my baby, unborn and unnamed You ain't worth the blood that runs in your veins How much do I know to talk out of turn? You might say that I'm young, you might say I'm unlearned But there's one thing I know, though I'm younger than you That even Jesus would never forgive what you do Let me ask you one question is your money that good? Will it buy you forgiveness? Do you think that it could? I think you will find, when your death takes its toll All the money you made will never buy back your soul And I hope that you die and your death will come soon I will follow your casket by the pale afternoon And I'll watch while you're lowered down to your deathbed And I'll stand over your grave 'til I'm sure that you're dead The continuing danger of global catastrophe is real,xxx (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote30sym) and in unstable, troubled times people can be even more susceptible to cultic manipulations. Conmen, spiritual charlatans, religious proselytizers, and political extremists peddling propaganda, disinformation, and harmful beliefs take advantage of people’s insecurities and anxieties during times of great social upheaval. Many people wrongly assume that only stupid people fall prey to cultists,xxxi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote31sym) and that they themselves would recognize a cult, so could never be enticed or tricked to join one. Those are uninformed misconceptions.xxxii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote32sym) No one joins a cult. Potential followers of charismatic cult leaders are recruited and indoctrinated in ways that prevent the unwary from recognizing the true nature of a harmful group, and how they are being deceived and manipulated, until it’s too late. It’s too late for me, but let my story be a cautionary tale. Beware of blindly believing and being misled by persuasive proselytizers of all kinds. Don’t allow yourself and your children to be MISGUIDED. Teach Your Children Well – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young You, who are on the road Must have a code that you can live by And so become yourself Because the past is just a good-bye Teach your children well Your father's hell did slowly go by And feed them on your dreams The one they pick's the one you'll know by Don't you ever ask them why If they told you, you would cry So just look at them and sigh And know they love you And you of tender years (Can you hear and do you care) Can't know the fears (And can you see) That your elders grew by (We must be free) And so please help (To teach your children) Them with your youth (What you believe in) They seek the truth (Make a world) Before they can die (That we can live in) Teach your parents well Their children's hell will slowly go by And feed them on your dreams The one they picked the one you'll know by Don't you ever ask them why If they told you, you would cry So just look at them and sigh And know they love you I think Old Before My Time is perfect for the last song in this imagined soundtrack to play over the end credits of the movie or TV show. The lyrics almost completely mirror my life. Old Before My Time – The Allman Brothers Band There is a long hard road that follows far behind me It's so cold I'm about to die Chasing a dream around the world has got me feeling down Though it used to make me high Looking for answers, searching for the truth In an ocean of lies Trying to find a reason to make the whole thing right Will make you old before your time When I was younger I thought I'd rule the world It was an oyster at my feet Dancing to my own drum, fishing out the pearl Wish I would have been much more discreet I've lived a lifetime, acting out a part It's been a long uphill climb Now all the things that used to mean so much to me Have made me old before my time Wandering aimlessly and wondering aloud Could it ever be much different now Remind me of the past, I slip into a dream Funny, things ain't never what they seem Living like children, never doing what we are told Would not hesitate to take a chance That road behind me now is paved with fool's gold It's almost time for the victory dance No more feeling guilty for things I never did Feeling nothing for my crime Living like a gypsy, dreaming like a kid It's made me old before my time There is a long hard road that winds so far behind me Apocalyptic beliefs are no longer fringe—and they’re shaping how people respond to global threats New UBC research shows apocalyptic thinking is widespread and shapes how people respond to global threats. by Erik Rolfsen March 5, 2026 University of British Columbia In an era of climate anxiety, geopolitical tensions and rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, apocalyptic thinking is no longer confined to the fringes of society, according to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-36275-001?doi=1). “Belief in the end of the world is surprisingly common across North America, and it’s significantly influencing how people interpret and respond to the most pressing threats facing humanity,” said Dr. Matthew I. Billet, the study’s lead author who conducted the research as a PhD candidate in UBC’s psychology department. He is now a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Irvine. The research draws on surveys of more than 3,400 people in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S. national sample of 1,409 respondents, nearly one‑third said they believe the world will end within their lifetime. … https://news.ubc.ca/2026/03/apocalyptic-beliefs-shaping-response-global-threats/ i (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote1anc) “Once dismissed as ‘sex cult,’ tiny church launches image makeover”, by Peggy Fletcher Stack, The Salt Lake Tribune - June 25, 2009https://religiouschildabuse.blogspot.com/2010/11/family-international-aka-children-of.html ii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote2anc) Stephen A. Kent, “The French and German versus American debate over ‘new religions’, Scientology and human rights”. Marburg Journal of Religion. University of Marburg. (January 2001) 6 (1): 15, pp.15,16 https://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/ep/0004/article/view/3742/3559 iii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote3anc) J. Gordon Melton https://www.xfamily.org/index.php/J._Gordon_Melton iv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote4anc) The Reboot Documents https://www.xfamily.org/index.php/Reboot_Documents v (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote5anc) Gary Shepherd, Gordon Shepherd, “Reboot of The Family International”, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Vol. 17 No. 2, February 2013; (pp. 74-98) https://nr.ucpress.edu/content/17/2/74.full.pdf+html vi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote6anc) Lawrence Lilliston and Gary Shepherd, “Psychological Assessment of Children in The Family” https://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/family.htm vii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote7anc) Carol C. Buening, Ph.D., LISW, Critical Commentary on ‘Psychological Assessment of Children in The Family’ http://www.exfamily.org/art/ext/critical_commentary.shtml viii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote8anc) Lawrence Lilliston https://www.xfamily.org/index.php/Lawrence_Lilliston The Judgement of Lord Justice Ward, in part 9.8.1, The Psychological and Psychiatric Evidence - Dr Lawrence Lilliston https://www.xfamily.org/index.php/Complete_Judgment_of_Lord_Justice_Ward#Dr_Lawrence_Lilliston ix (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote9anc) Supra x (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote10anc) Claire Borowik https://www.xfamily.org/index.php/Susan_Claire_Borowik Former members have accused Borowik of various child abuse crimes when she was a leader in Argentina before she became the Family spokesperson. xi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote11anc) “The Love Prophet and the Children of God” documentary transcript https://www.xfamily.org/index.php/The_Love_Prophet_and_the_Children_of_God xii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote12anc) supra xiii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote13anc) Julia McNeil Biography https://safepassagefoundation.org/is/juliamcneil xiv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote14anc) Here is an incomplete list of deaths and suicides of people from both the first and second generations of the Children of God/The Family International: https://www.xfamily.org/index.php/Category:Deaths Ongoing research indicates that the number of suicides among the second generation is many times higher than those listed, and is a much higher rate for that age cohort than in the general population. xv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote15anc) Michael D. Langone and Herbert L. Rosedale, “On Using the Term ‘Cult’”, ICSA Today, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2015, pp.4-6, https://www.icsahome.com/articles/onusingtermcult xvi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote16anc) Janja Lalich, “Cults Today: A New Social-Psychological Perspective”, January 29, 2017 http://cultresearch.org/cults-today-new-social-psychological-perspective/ “We see people of all ages—even multigenerational families—being drawn into a variety of groups and movements focused on everything from therapy to business ventures, from New Age philosophies to Bible-based beliefs, and from martial arts to political change. Noted cult expert and clinical psychologist Margaret Thaler Singer estimated that approximately 10 to 20 million people have at some point in recent years been in one or more cult groups.” xvii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote17anc) Janja Lalich and Michael D. Langone, “Characteristics Associated With Cults” http://cultresearch.org/help/characteristics-associated-with-cults/ That article is an excerpt from the book by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias, Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships, 2nd edition; Bay Tree Publishing: Richmond, CA (August 17, 2006) http://cultresearch.org/take-back-your-life/ xviii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote18anc) “The climate crisis is taking a growing toll on the mental health of children and young people, experts have warned. Increasing levels of ‘eco-anxiety’ – the chronic fear of environmental doom – were likely to be underestimated and damaging to many in the long term, public health experts said.” “‘Eco-anxiety’: fear of environmental doom weighs on young people”, Andrew Gregory, The Guardian, October 6, 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/06/eco-anxiety-fear-of-environmental-doom-weighs-on-young-people xix (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote19anc) Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists – January 23, 2020 Doomsday Clock Statement, “Closer than ever: It is 100 seconds to midnight” https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ xx (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote20anc) Rachel Bronson, president & CEO of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, “The Doomsday Clock meets the coronavirus”, The Hill, May 14, 2020 https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/497565-the-doomsday-clock-meets-the-coronavirus xxi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote21anc) “COVID-19 drives large international trade declines in 2020”, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, December 9, 2020 https://unctad.org/news/covid-19-drives-large-international-trade-declines-2020 xxii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote22anc) “COVID-19, international mobility and trade in services: The road to recovery”, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, January 22, 2021 https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/covid-19-international-mobility-and-trade-in-services-the-road-to-recovery-ec716823/ “COVID-19 has dramatically disrupted international mobility. Border closures, visa restrictions, quarantine requirements and flight suspensions have played havoc with the cross-border movement of people. Reduced mobility drove a collapse in services trade. The drop has been unprecedented in magnitude and has had economy-wide impacts.” xxiii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote23anc) Eric Martin, “IMF Sees Great Lockdown Recession as Worst Since Depression”, Bloomberg, April 14, 2020 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-14/imf-says-great-lockdown-recession-likely-worst-since-depression “The International Monetary Fund predicted the “Great Lockdown” recession would be the steepest in almost a century and warned the world economy’s contraction and recovery would be worse than anticipated if the coronavirus lingers or returns.” xxiv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote24anc) Yen Nee Lee, “‘This is the start of a new Cold War,’ former Trump trade official says of rising US-China tensions”, CNBC, May 5, 2020 https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/05/coronavirus-ex-trump-trade-official-clete-willems-on-us-china-tensions.html “Rising tensions between the U.S. and China — made worse by the coronavirus pandemic — is the start of a new Cold War, former top White House trade negotiator Clete Willems said on Tuesday.” Richard Javad Heydarian, “Fireworks and fury set New Cold War tone in Alaska”, Asia Times, March 19, 2021 https://asiatimes.com/2021/03/fireworks-and-fury-set-new-cold-war-tone-in-alaska/ “Far from paving the way for a smooth “reset” in US-China relations, the much-anticipated high-level meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, seemed instead to confirm the fact that the two superpowers are locked in a de facto “New Cold War.”” xxv (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote25anc) Sam Bradpiece, “How the pandemic in France has led to an explosion in number of sects”, The Local, December 1, 2021 https://www.thelocal.fr/20211201/france-gives-e1m-to-anti-cults-watchdog-after-huge-increase-in-sects-during-pandemic/ “The French government has increased its budget to monitor cults by tenfold after at least 500 religious sects considered potentially dangerous sprung up during the pandemic.” xxvi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote26anc) Ben Smee, “Australian ‘healing church’ defends bleach sales after US coronavirus cure claims”, The Guardian, May 6, 2020 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/06/australian-healing-church-defends-bleach-sales-after-us-coronavirus-cure-claims “Representatives of an international group that calls itself a “healing church” and promotes industrial bleach as a cure for coronavirus say they should be allowed to continue selling the potentially toxic “miracle” solution in Australia on religious freedom grounds. The ABC reported on Tuesday the Australian chapter of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing is selling chlorine dioxide – marketed as Miracle Mineral Solution – online. ... It has been revealed that Genesis II church US leader, Mark Grenon, wrote to Donald Trump just days before the US president claimed disinfectant could be a coronavirus cure.” xxvii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote27anc) Adam M. Enders and Joseph E. Uscinski, “Conspiracy theories run rampant when people feel helpless. Like now.”, Washington Post, May 5, 2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/05/05/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-pandemic/ “As the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, conspiracy theories about the origins, threat and basic nature of the virus have become an increasingly visible and consequential element of the timeline. Conspiracy theories have tangible consequences for individuals and society, especially when they are sanctioned by trusted members of society, such as political, business and religious leaders. They can decrease people’s willingness to get vaccinated or comply with social distancing directives; they can also negatively impact people’s view of scientific findings and political out-groups. That means a pandemic is an especially dangerous time for conspiracy theories.” xxviii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote28anc) “Coronavirus: Far-right spreads Covid-19 ‘infodemic’ on Facebook”, BBC, May 4, 2020 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52490430 “Now, a co-investigation by BBC Click and the UK counter-extremism think-tank Institute of Strategic Dialogue, indicates how both extremist political and fringe medical communities have tried to exploit the pandemic online. ... As they dug deeper into the posts, the researchers took note of many thousands of links directing users to fringe political and health websites.” “End times experts see ‘growing interest’ in Bible prophecy amid coronavirus pandemic”, The Christian Post, April 22, 2020 https://www.christianpost.com/news/end-times-experts-see-growing-interest-in-bible-prophecy-amid-coronavirus-pandemic.html “LifeWay found that nearly nine out of 10 surveyed pastors viewed the end times prophecies of the Bible as being showcased in current events. ... Darrell Bock, a professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas, also touched on the increased interest in end times prophecy during the webcast. “We did this poll before the pandemic really reared its head,” Bock said. “These questions were asked as the reports of the plague were coming out of China and hadn’t even really hit Europe yet. So these numbers do not reflect the reality we find ourselves in and I agree with Joel. If we were to re-ask these questions, we would see them be even higher in light of what’s going on.” xxix (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote29anc) 2021 Doomsday Clock Statement, “This is your COVID wake-up call: It is 100 seconds to midnight.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/ xxx (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote30anc) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told 193 nations at the 76th General Assembly session: “I am here to sound the alarm: The world must wake up. We are on the edge of an abyss — and moving in the wrong direction. Our world has never been more threatened. Or more divided. We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes.” Secretary-General’s address to the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly, September 21,2021 https://www.un.org/sg/en/node/259283 xxxi (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote31anc) “Janja Lalich: how normal people end up in cults like NXIVM”, Radio New Zealand, February 27, 2021 https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018785404/janja-lalich-how-normal-people-end-up-in-cults-like-nxivm “It’s a myth that only “stupid weird crazy people” get tied up with cults, says cult expert Dr Janja Lalich.” xxxii (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com/p/soundtrack-to-my-life-epilogue#sdendnote32anc) International Cultic Studies Association, “Common Myths and Misconceptions About Cults and Cultic Groups” https://www.icsahome.com/articles/common-myths-and-misconceptions-about-cults-and-cultic-groups This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit perrybulwer344598.substack.com (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   14 Mar 2026

   Children of the Cult – episode 5 – Fighting Back

   Children of the Cult – episode 5 – Fighting Back Finding justice becomes a compulsion for Hope and Verity, a necessary step towards their healing. They tell their stories to Scottish detectives. Up to then there had been no criminal convictions of COG/Family cult child abusers in the UK, and only a few in other countries, because of the cult’s secrecy, multiple aliases, frequent moves and other legal obstacles. Hope assists the investigation by trying to identify the locations of the cult’s communes in Scotland where her abuse occurred. Verity becomes a witness in Hope’s case. After leaving the cult Celeste seeks justice against her main abuser, a top leader in the cult. She receives a letter of apology from him admitting his guilt. She sends the letter to her dad who is still in the cult. Although that top leader admits to systemic sexual child abuse in the cult, Celeste’s dad remains in denial of child abuse in the cult and continues to fully support it. Celeste reconnects with her sister and begins a happy life with her real family. Verity speaks with her brothers, who both gave statements to the police about their childhood abuse. She tells her father she is bringing a legal case against him. He apologizes and begs her not to, but tells her he will plead guilty. At trial he changes his mind and pleads not guilty, but does eventually plead guilty to four sex assault charges as part of a plea deal. Verity is shocked to learn his sentence is merely 240 hours of community service and being on the sex offender registry for only 3 years, despite his extremely cruel sexual abuse of his daughter and another girl. It was the first criminal conviction of a COG/Family child abuser in the UK. Hope’s abuser is arrested in France, extradited to Scotland and charged with 9 sex assault offences against Hope and another girl. He pleads guilty to 7 of the charges. Hope screams for joy, “that’s justice”, on hearing that he was sentenced to 11 years 6 months in prison and put on the sex offenders registry permanently. Hope: “He took around 12 years of my life, and justice took around 12 years of his.” Verity: “Every single court case that’s successful, every single conviction, is a little bit of justice for everyone that grew up in that environment. Even if it wasn’t their abuser, it’s an acknowledgement that the abuse happened and these people should be punished.” Verity’s brother Ken: “Surviving and thriving is the best revenge you can ever have, it’s the best victory you can ever have against your abusers.” Hope: “My call to arms to second generation survivors who have suffered like I have suffered: ‘come forward, speak out, speak your truth, you’re not alone anymore.’” *** This five-part documentary series, Children of the Cult, charts the remarkable true story of three British women born and raised in the infamous cult Children of God, now known as The Family International. Hope, Verity, and Celeste speak out about their years of abuse within the cult and their incredible fight for survival, escape, and quest for justice. Hope and Verity both successfully brought criminal convictions against their abusers, a very rare outcome for survivors of that cult. I participated in this documentary, primarily by giving many hours of interviews to the producer’s research assistant for background information. I appear briefly in a couple of these episodes. I consider it the best documentary on that cult so far. It is no longer available anywhere, so I am making this important documentary series available here. Subscribe for free to my page and you will receive emails with links to each video or article I post. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit perrybulwer344598.substack.com (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   13 Mar 2026

   Children of the Cult – episode 4 – Escaping the Family

   Children of the Cult – episode 4 – Escaping the Family This episode starts and ends with disturbing clips from the murder/suicide video of Ricky Rodriguez, the son of cult leader Karen Zerby. Early 1990s, global media scrutiny intensifies as many in the second generation escape and expose child abuse in the cult, which is now rebranded as the Family. Fearing persecution, members are ordered to burn all incriminating evidence of abuse in the cult’s documents, photos and videos. Children and teens are coached on how to deceive and lie to media and authorities. The largest ever UK child custody case exposes mountains of evidence of extreme child abuse in the cult. Celeste’s sister testifies against the cult, Celeste is forced by cult leaders to oppose her sister’s testimony and defend the cult, which causes her great psychological distress. The judge believes Karen Zerby’s lies that they now denounce the perverted sexual teachings of the deceased David Berg, so he allows 3 year-old to remain in the cult with his mother. Teen Hope is trapped in Europe and sex-trafficked by the cult. She secretly plots a dramatic escape from Prague back to the UK and sets herself free. Celeste is recruited into Karen Zerby’s secretive household in Portugal and discovers Zerby is still sex-obsessed. Celeste meets Zerby’s son, Ricky, who is disgusted by his mother’s leadership and tells Celeste they are in a cult. Ricky leaves the cult. Celeste gets pregnant and doesn’t want to raise her child in that environment, so asks to leave Zerby’s home, but she’s told she can’t because she knows where Zerby lives. When Zerby moves, Celeste leaves the cult and returns to the UK, where she has the support of her mother and sister. Many of the second generation didn’t have that support when escaping the cult, so life after the cult was very difficult, with many spiralling into dark paths, including suicide. Second generation survivors organize to expose the cult’s systemic abuses, and provide the FBI with evidence, but the legal system fails to bring justice to those survivors. Ricky, recognizing there would be no justice for most survivors, plots to murder his mother, Karen Zerby, but unable to find her he murders her assistant, one of his abusers, then kills himself. It made headlines around the world. Zerby has no remorse, she blamed Ricky for yielding to the devil. Verity and Hope begin their quest for justice by separately reporting their life-long abuse to Scottish police, who believe their stories and start their investigations. *** This five-part documentary series, Children of the Cult, charts the remarkable true story of three British women born and raised in the infamous cult Children of God, now known as The Family International. Hope, Verity, and Celeste speak out about their years of abuse within the cult and their incredible fight for survival, escape, and quest for justice. Hope and Verity both successfully brought criminal convictions against their abusers, a very rare outcome for survivors of that cult. I participated in this documentary, primarily by giving many hours of interviews to the producer’s research assistant for background information. I appear briefly in a couple of these episodes. I consider it the best documentary on that cult so far. It is no longer available anywhere, so I am making this important documentary series available here. Subscribe for free to my page and you will receive emails with links to each video or article I post. Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit perrybulwer344598.substack.com (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

4. 

   12 Mar 2026

   Children of the Cult – episode 3 – Teen Rebels

   Children of the Cult – episode 3 – Teen Rebels It is the early 1990s, police and child protection authorities in many countries conduct raids of the cult’s communes. Hundreds of children were taken into custody, but children of the cult were heavily indoctrinated to deceive and lie to outsiders, including authorities, so they were all soon returned to the cult where they continued to experience systemic abuses. As the children become teens, many begin to rebel against their abusive upbringing and receive brutal corporal punishments. Teen training camps were set up to indoctrinate them even more, forcing them to be Christian child soldiers in their parents’ fantasy of a spiritual endtime war. So-called delinquent teens were sent to a Teen Detention compound in Macau. Members who had joined the cult to escape the oppression of their parents, churches, governments, etc, became the oppressors of their own children. Teen Verity, desperate to escape the cult, has a brilliant tactic: purposely collecting contraband items then laughing in the faces of her abusers when they attack her as being demon possessed. Finding her own power, Verity physically fights back and sets herself free, but life after the cult won’t be easy. David Berg dies, none of his so-called endtime prophecies fulfilled, and Karen Zerby takes over the cult. *** Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This five-part documentary series, Children of the Cult, charts the remarkable true story of three British women born and raised in the infamous cult Children of God, now known as The Family International. Hope, Verity, and Celeste speak out about their years of abuse within the cult and their incredible fight for survival, escape, and quest for justice. Hope and Verity both successfully brought criminal convictions against their abusers, a very rare outcome for survivors of that cult. I participated in this documentary, primarily by giving many hours of interviews to the producer’s research assistant for background information. I appear briefly in a couple of these episodes. I consider it the best documentary on that cult so far. It is no longer available anywhere, so I am making this important documentary series available here. Subscribe for free to my page and you will receive emails with links to each video or article I post. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit perrybulwer344598.substack.com (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

5. 

   11 Mar 2026

   Children of the Cult - episode 2 For Grandpa

   The five-part documentary series, Children of the Cult, charts the remarkable true story of three British women born and raised in the infamous cult Children of God, now known as The Family International. Hope, Verity, and Celeste speak out about their years of abuse within the cult and their incredible fight for survival, escape, and quest for justice. Hope and Verity both successfully brought criminal convictions against their abusers, a very rare outcome for survivors of that cult. I participated in this documentary, primarily by giving many hours of interviews to the producer’s research assistant for background information. I appear briefly in a couple of these episodes. I consider it the best documentary on that cult so far. It is no longer available anywhere, so I am making this important documentary series available here. Here is the second episode. Subscribe for free to my page and you will receive emails with links to each video or article I post. Episode 2 - For Grandpa Starts with a shocking story of a 3-year-old child bride, “married” to cult founder David Berg, who was on the run from the FBI and Interpol. The psychosexual aspects of Berg’s childhood described, which led to his perverted sexual doctrines in the cult. Children were denied a regular childhood and were raised in a highly sexualized abusive environment. They were not raised as children, but as endtime soldiers in a spiritual war, so they got no real education. The cult’s Music With Meaning ministry begins, child performers exploited. Celeste, Hope and Verity describe the horrific child sexual abuse they suffered, which was systemic and normalized in the cult. Scotland detectives begin investigations into Hope and Verity’s cases. Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit perrybulwer344598.substack.com (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

6. 

   10 Mar 2026

   Children of the Cult - episode 1 Welcome to the Family

   The five-part documentary series, Children of the Cult, charts the remarkable true story of three British women born and raised in the infamous cult Children of God, now known as The Family International. Hope, Verity, and Celeste speak out about their years of abuse within the cult and their incredible fight for survival, escape, and quest for justice. Hope and Verity both successfully brought criminal convictions against their abusers, a very rare outcome for survivors of that cult. I participated in this documentary, primarily by giving many hours of interviews to the producer’s research assistant for background information. I appear briefly in a couple of these episodes. I consider it the best documentary on that cult so far. It is no longer available anywhere, so I am making this important documentary series available here. Here is the first episode, with the others to follow. Subscribe for free to my page and you will receive an email after each video or article I post. Episode 1 - Welcome to the Family This episode covers the founding and early years of the doomsday cult, Children of God, aka, The Family International. From one family in California in 1968, it quickly spread to thousands of members in over 100 countries. Hope, Celeste and Verity were born and raised in the cult, and they recount their parents’ stories of joining the cult and their devotion to their leader. They describe the systemic child abuse in the cult based on twisted biblical interpretations in the writings of the self-professed endtime prophet, David Berg. Their quest for justice begins. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit perrybulwer344598.substack.com (https://perrybulwer344598.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

Contact Misguided: The Soundtrack To My Life

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.