My Parents Were Members of a Cult – This is My Story
There, in the far corner of the room, crouched a little girl. She had sad, brown eyes that were welling over with enormous tear drops. Whats wrong? I asked soothingly. Her only response was a sniffle as if she didn't hear. I couldn't reach her; I didn't know how. Frantically, I began screaming and yelling, waving my arms violently in the air. Why wouldn't she look at me? What was wrong with this child?
My parents were divorced when I was only two. I was too young to realize what had happened. Their separation had little effect on me at the time, but I would later realize how much this had hurt me. I was left to live with my mother and my older sister. Within a few years, my mom met a man named Arthur. He was a musician. They began seeing a lot of each other and eventually decided to tie the knot. I dressed in pink with pig tails holding my golden locks back from my face. I looked like an angel, but behind this angelic face was pain and suffering that would eventually surface as a teenager.
"This little piggy ran all the way home!," teased my new step-father as he tickled me. It didn't take long to warm up to this guy. Being so young, I don't think I realized that he wasn't my father. I was a kid, nothing affected me so when my mother stopped coming home at night, I didn't worry. Church became a regular routine at the Drummond household. Prayer in the morning, at night, chapters and chapters of the Bible, speaking in tongues, the Holy Spirit. These were things that we became accustomed to. I would hear my mother speaking in tongues. To me, it sounded like a foreign language. I could never understand what she was saying. It was almost scary to see my mother screaming these strange words, but I eventually got use to it. Day after day, I started seeing less and less of my mother. She and my stepfather devoted all of their time to the church. It was called "Christ Church in Action." Before long, we were packing our bags and heading to Smithfield. It was a place I had never heard of, but would later learn to love. We moved so that we could be closer to the church.
While Appalachian stereotypes changed over time early images of the land and people are seen as very separate entities. The land being lush and the fertile while the people are shown as the crude and undeserving of such a beautiful home. These separate images would gradually fuse together as the arts industry gradually took over the changing social and economic landscape of the Appalachian Mountains.
One day, I was assigned to a three year old girl who came from the burn unit. Her head and torso were bandaged up, and I was able to see blood that escaped from her bandages. Her name was Kemora she was a very shy girl, making it difficult for her to open up to me. While playing in the playroom, she stayed to herself even after I attempted to join. However, after various attempts, I finally got a giggle out of her and we instantly connected. I noticed the discomfort she was going through with every subtle movement,
As a small 5th grader not much sense came out of my parents divorce. Lots of confusion mixed in with an underlying sadness that I was too shy to show because I couldn’t stand the thought of making my mother cry. But it hurt. I took these emotions and bottled them up hopes that things would go back to normal
Society strives to feel a sense of belonging. We want to be a part of something that shares the same beliefs as us. We spend our time trying to place ourselves in a group to satisfy these needs, whether it is in a hobby club, a group of friends, or religion. Some people go to more extreme measures and find this in what we call a cult. According to Henslin, a cult is a new or different religion whose teachings and practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion. (2013:405) Cults are often identified with the ideas of mass murder, deviant behaviors, unusual beliefs, and extremely devoted members. Cults are also highly known for their leaders. The leaders of cults usually are the ones that portray the image for the entire group. Successful cults take a strong-minded and, according to Max Weber, charismatic leader.
After seeing though the eyes of my pastor I’ve come to realize the importance of faith and committing to one’s beliefs. Returning to church after two massive losses has helped my mother in many ways and it has also taught me as a young man how small things that I could do would turn to have a big impact on someone’s life the same way my pastor impacted my life and the life of my siblings.
Looking back on my childhood, I have many memories shrouded in fear and self-loathing. I was raised in the Baptist church. My mother and grandmother made sure that I attended church every Sunday morning. My grandmother was from the mid-west. She carried her strict Bible belt background with her as she traveled west with my grandfather. The many lessons I learned from my grandmother and the minister at our church played a big part in how I began to see the world and my place in it.
The Gothic style evolved from that of Romanesque, building on concepts and ideas that led to the creation of larger and grander structures. Today, mankind looks in awe at the structures that were built hundreds of years ago without the assistance of modern technology and equipment. These architectural styles are indisputably different, but equally profound. They made use of differing techniques to become tangible structures that can still be seen
Camille, Michael. Gothic Art: Glorious Visions. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice Hall, 1996. 12. Print.
Growing up, I was raised by a single mother of four and I was fortunate enough to have an extraordinary mother, who always put her children before herself and sacrificed a lot for our well being. I was brought up, in a Baptist Christian household, which has strongly influenced my beliefs, values and life decisions. My mother made it her duty to help build her children’s relationships with God. By making sure, we knew the importance of having him in our lives, and that we knew the word of God. I remember as a child, my mom use to read us scriptures from the bible and explain them to us in an age appropriate manner. I greatly appreciate her efforts because she was the force behind my connection with God and it has made me into the women I am today. Some
My family consists of five children, which today is considered a large family. Of the five I am the youngest by six years. My parents were married for twenty-eight years before they decided that divorce was the only solution. I was fourteen years old and the one child that suffered the most emotional damage. Because of the many years my parents were married and the wide age difference between my siblings and myself I was the only child still living at home with my parents. The day my dad decided to move out was the day my life changed forever.
The earlier designs of medieval architecture had features like pointed arches in the nave, window and doorways, small clusters of columns, pillars, small windows and thick walls. This was during the Romanesque period and a lot of the early Romanesque architecture had influence from the byzantine period, which was the previous time period of architecture.
Daly, Laura A., Linda M. Perez. Exposure to Media Violence and Other Correlates of Aggressive Behavior in Preschool Children. American Press Inc, 2010. Print
Praise God; that was the phrase I would here every morning when my dad would drop me off for school. Although my family has gone through many hard times, they have grown to know Christ and wanted to share that with their kids. I grew up in the kind of household that if you said “shut up” then you were going to be spanked several times. I knew one thing on Sunday morning and Wednesday nights; you go to church. Church became a hobby to me, I didn’t hate going there but it was just what you did. I thought that all families were like that also, I didn’t realize till my teenage years that not everyone goes to church every Sunday morning and Wednesday night. But as I grew older and started really listening to what my friends would talk about at school, I saw that life wasn’t all about going to church and being a Christian for some people.
Furthermore, television violence causes aggressive behavior in children. Many people believe that children who watch violent television programs exhibit more aggressive behavior than that exhibited by children who do not (Kinnear 23). According to the results of many studies and reports, violence on television can lead to aggressive behavior in children (Langone 50). Also, when television was introduced into a community of children for the first time, researchers observed a rise in the level of physical and verbal aggression among these children (Langone 51). The more television violence viewed by a child, the more aggressive the child is (“Children” 1).
Vergragt, Philip J., and Halina Szejnwald Brown. "Sustainable Mobility: From Technological Innovation to Societal Learning." Journal of Cleaner Production 15.11-12 (2007): 1104-15. Web.