This show was about the Strong City cult in New Mexico run by self-appinted messiah Michael Travesser (aka Wayne Bent).
'I have some news. The world will end on the 31st October 2007. Oh shit, that's been and gone. I guess I'm not the Messiah after all.' You think then the cult members would pack up and leave. But I guess they just pick a new date.
How do you convince someone to let you sleep with their wife? It's quite a trick. 'God wants this and God wants that.' Oh, Ok then. Here, take all my money, fuck my wife, abuse my child.
I'd like to call these people stupid, but it's something worse than that. Everyone in this show looked utterly lobotomised, waiting for death. No one smiled. How do you get people into that state? Were they once sentient? There was something other-wordly about them. How mentally beaten do you have to be to give over your children?
Michael told the children that then needed to be 'naked in front of God' so they agreed. Then he decided to hold them whilst this happened. This really is sophisticated child abuse, when the victim is implicit, when the victim thinks you're Jesus. God told him to lie down with seven naked virgins. The only mind-boggling thing is he admitted it on TV, and compared himself to a doctor. 'Doctors put their hands in women and think about sex.' Not if they do it 12 times a day. They are probably thinking about what's for dinner.
What sort of documentary did Michael think would be made about him? Did he think the film maker would agree with him when society didn't? Did he REALLY think it was the end of the world, and wanted to document his journey before then? But what would anyone care if we were all obliterated? I just don't get that part.
Then Michael's son Jeff admitted that 'God came down and forced Michael' to consumate with Jeff's wife. It was a terrible, strange act of God. He was astonished and so was Michael. Not half as astonished as Jeff's wife I bet. For fuck's sake. Wake up. His son couldn't even look up as this was discussed. Utterly depressing.
It was also terrifying that the children who's parents had come to collect them eventually ran back to Michael. He said he had sacrificed his life for them. Actually, they had just sacrificed their personalities.
So life didn't end on October 31st after all. Instead they just walked outside shouting 'liberty'. Oh well. At least they didn't top themselves. I think that's an 'at least'. Or is living for them somehow worse?
PS. Michael set a new date for the end of the world- and it is today. So if you thought the most exciting part of the night was going to be the X factor final, you may have a shock in store. Then again...
18 comments:
Hello,
I am one of Michael's "cult" members. I have to laugh at the view you have taken of us. I do understand it, though, after having viewed the film myself. Ben Anthony created a very twisted tale full of lies and motive suggestions.
This site may be of interest if you are interested in knowing the truth about us. It will clear away the Ben Anthony twist to our story.
http://strongcity.info/
I had a look at site. I'm sure he did twist things, he's a journalist though, what did you expect? It's a shame you were led on by him, just as it's a shame you're led on by Michael.
well...thats two dates he got wrong for the end of the world.
when will these gullible cult members 'wake up and smell the coffee?'
I am assuming that those who follow Michael believe the Bible due to what I have seen. If those who follow him do, then why don't you believe in Deuteronomy 18:20-22 and Jeremiah 14:14. He clearly made a prediction, a "prophecy" and it failed. Please, just look over these verses and search what a prophet is and what is not.
I guess some of us want something to believe in and others are fine without anything except life itself.
I saw that these people were first followers of a church, the SDA. Then this Michael minister who starts recieving his own revelation from God leads some away, separating from the church. They believed this Guy and followed him, I can only pray for them. But he had a foothold on them from the church group.
It would seem that christians would read the bible for themselves to find out what God is really saying. He says nothing of what this pathetic man was claiming. When God returns the second time the whole world will know it, He will come in the clouds. Not to just a few.
Yes I do believe in Jesus Christ and watching this film moved me to check my self and my belief. I still believe, but when I see all these churches who claim to know God and His will I think it is a mystery why God allows all these differences. I do feel sorry for all people who are victims of a cult. The LDS are another cult where the members are restricted to doing the demands of it's "leaders".
I was in a church cult during the eighties and was counseled out by a minister, I thought I would die and go to hell. My whole life was ruined I felt at times. We were taught that the end of the world would be in 1996, it never came-the end.
I have moved on but I still have the knowledge that I believed in and sacrificed a good portion of my life believing in somthing that was not truth. Though they said it was truth.
I trust no one now, I do attend various churches from time to time, I can't stand it when the ministers act like they are all knowledgable. We don't know when the end will be, no one does. We don't know alot of things.
acceptance of this is what has helped me.
Gettin slammed by the bearded one himself... poor chumps and consumation. Sorry son, but she's my bitch now sucker! Hahahaha...
Creepy, weird folk on wacky weed make these peeps look normal. Very sad. Very perverted. Prophecies aint prophecies if they don't come true... they're just speculation and anyone can do that. Oh well, cult's like these make good TV. =) Nice work Ben.
Life is a mystery. No one knows where it will go and when it will end. What is the point of you being here if you have all the answers? To me, I do believe there are greater forces out there. The law of physics for one, it's just there and no real explaination for it's mechanics for people to comprehend. From what I understand, It is men and women's perseverance that pushes our species to break through the brinks that set us apart from animal. We are all animal, but our understanding, emotion and compassion that makes us different.
I don't understand why we are here, but we are. Isn't that enough? I don't care what you believe in, Buddhism, Christianity, Catholics, Shia, Suni, Shintoism etc... We are here and we should figure out this mytery on our own. Everyone is unique and we all think differently, so how can everyone come up with a single answer to the hardest question? The meaning of life...
This screened in New Zealand last night, and I had to laugh at how God had pushed him down on his sons wive and God made him groan lol WTF
This cult is shit and then in the end he got down with touching young girls!
I watched this show just recently. Ester you have a right like everyone else to beleive in what you want. But as a parent or a responsible person....no child of mine would ever be allowed to lay down naked with an old man that should have walked out of the room when he was told from these girls that they wanted to be naked with him. How do you explain the fact he aquired all these women that came to be with him that were already married to another man AND gave vows under god to stay with them...to honor and cherish....what kind of women is that to leave the man you married to go have sex and relations with this Mr. Went and forget the family that they started with someone else....that to me is shameful...Open your eyes people of this cult/religion and look at the whole picture. It is terrible that he has broken up so many families just to have some kind of power status. As I veiwed this story on TV everyone looked like they were nice people and you have the right to be there if thats what you want. But I do beleive there was something other than religion this man was after.Good luck Ester and God Bless.
I can believe that on this day and age there are still people that can be so naive to allow other people to control their minds to the point to lose your own identity. Can they see that this man is a fake? He has the audacity to say that he is God in carne. One should be so weak to allowe this to happen to one self. I hope this crook rots in jail, like some of the people said at the end of the documentary, so they can finally be free.
It is unbelievable that on this day and age there are still people can that can be so weak in their minds to let a crazy, evil, mind controlling person like this Michael to control their lives, even though he said he controls no one, he does, we should follow no human but only God, this man is a complete disrespect to God the Lord of Heaven and earth. It is a shame that men like this use God as a shield to do his evil deeds, I hope he rots in jail.
It is unbelievable that on this day and age there are still people can that can be so weak in their minds to let a crazy, evil, mind controlling person like this Michael to control their lives, even though he said he controls no one, he does, we should follow no human but only God, this man is a complete disrespect to God the Lord of Heaven and earth. It is a shame that men like this use God as a shield to do his evil deeds, I hope he rots in jail.
It is unbelievable that on this day and age there are still people can that can be so weak in their minds to let a crazy, evil, mind controlling person like this Michael to control their lives, even though he said he controls no one, he does, we should follow no human but only God, this man is a complete disrespect to God the Lord of Heaven and earth. It is a shame that men like this use God as a shield to do his evil deeds, I hope he rots in jail.
It is unbelievable that on this day and age there are still people can that can be so weak in their minds to let a crazy, evil, mind controlling person like this Michael to control their lives, even though he said he controls no one, he does, we should follow no human but only God, this man is a complete disrespect to God the Lord of Heaven and earth. It is a shame that men like this use God as a shield to do his evil deeds, I hope he rots in jail.
It is unbelievable that on this day and age there are still people can that can be so weak in their minds to let a crazy, evil, mind controlling person like this Michael to control their lives, even though he said he controls no one, he does, we should follow no human but only God, this man is a complete disrespect to God the Lord of Heaven and earth. It is a shame that men like this use God as a shield to do his evil deeds, I hope he rots in jail.
Jim Jones, David Koresh and now Wayne Bent, were instructed by god to bang the wifes of members of their flock. God does indeed work in mysterious ways.
Having just watched the show, I feel somewhat compelled to express my pity for you remaining cultists. My personal opinion is of disbelief, that you could just let someone like Wayne take you, enclose you off from the world and brainwash you day in and day out to the point that any pre-existing morals you once had are distorted to bend around his fantasy and that it's ok to let your children lay naked with a 60 or so year old, or even your let him take your wife to fulful his sexual desires all in "God's will", it's just sick.
And whilst I myself am not religious, nor could I care for any divive belief I must speculate and say that there must somewhere be a point when even the most deeply religious person can distinguish between right or wrong.
Americans never cease to surprise me with their stupidity sometimes. :)
I feel hugely sorry for the naivety of the followers of this so called religion, they must realize they have one life (i think), and to just live it. The human psyche does unfortunately have a god shaped hole in it ie: we all want to believe that someone is watching over us, and that when we pass away, we all go to a land of candy and chocolate where everyone`s `nice`. Unfortunately there has to be balance with positive and negative, this is what the makes the world tick. Wayne Bents son however seems to not believe his dad (in my opinion), but fulfills the role of the loyal son in supporting his dad in what ever ridiculous and evil he may commit. I don`t want to have a go at the followers of `Waynes`cult, because i believe that they are all genuinely incredibly nice people, but they fear life itself in all its ugly beauty, and lack the necessary knowledge and backbone to make there own personal opinions without the influence of others, and the want to believe in something bigger than themselves, is over powering. Having said that i believe Wayne himself is incredibly evil.
Ps. Is there not some kind of vigilante group that could rectify situations like this, after all how many life's has Wayne Bent taken metaphorically speaking.
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