Inside the cult of the Jesus Army, iPlayer
Discussion
You may remember the Jesus Fellowship - an evangelical Christian church that started in Northampton.
It spread around the UK, and they had 100 communal houses, and 1000's of members living according to 'God's plan'. They had a big revenue, and big outreach. I remember seeing their 'Jesus Army' buses going around London.
Uneasy viewing & may be triggering for some. But great reporting. 2 * 50 min episodes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002fxr6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Army
It spread around the UK, and they had 100 communal houses, and 1000's of members living according to 'God's plan'. They had a big revenue, and big outreach. I remember seeing their 'Jesus Army' buses going around London.
Uneasy viewing & may be triggering for some. But great reporting. 2 * 50 min episodes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002fxr6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Army
I grew up in the area and surprised they had such an outreach nationwide. I thought it was just the Midlands and London. As kids we used to take the piss out of them in Northamptonshire town centres and sing football chants like:
Jesus Ar-my!
Jesus Ar-my!
Jesus Ar-my!
Jesus Christ's barmy army!
One Jesus Christ
There's only one Jesus Christ...
They were sketchy and dodgy AF and loads of rumours going around to do with child abuse and sexual abuse.
Jesus Ar-my!
Jesus Ar-my!
Jesus Ar-my!
Jesus Christ's barmy army!
One Jesus Christ
There's only one Jesus Christ...
They were sketchy and dodgy AF and loads of rumours going around to do with child abuse and sexual abuse.
buffmoto said:
It s heartbreaking to hear what some members went through. These kinds of environments prey on people looking for community and purpose. I m glad it s being exposed, but I can t imagine how hard it is for survivors to see it all laid out like that
I feel for the children, as they had no choice. But those who joined as adults, not so much. Unfortunately some people are destined to make terrible life choices, and if it hadn't been the Jesus Army that screwed their life up, it would have been the bookies, or the pub, or some romance or financial scam they would have got roped into. I suspect none of them would have led happy normal lives if Jesus Army had never existed. And I realise that often they've suffered childhood trauma or whatever that has led to their poor life choices. But they are still adults, and adults, even those that had an awful childhood, have to take responsibility for their own actions.
Also, we throw around the word "cult", but in reality, what's the difference between a cult and a religion? Time and numbers, that's all. All the world's major religions used to be cults, but I guess 14-20 centuries and a billion plus members, and they gain a respectability they don't deserve.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Monday 4th August 08:55
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I feel for the children, as they had no choice. But those who joined as adults, not so much. Unfortunately some people are destined to make terrible life choices, and if it hadn't been the Jesus Army that screwed their life up, it would have been the bookies, or the pub, or some romance or financial scam they would have got roped into. I suspect none of them would have led happy normal lives if Jesus Army had never existed.
And I realise that often they've suffered childhood trauma or whatever that has led to their poor life choices. But they are still adults, and adults, even those that had an awful childhood, have to take responsibility for their own actions.
Also, we throw around the word "cult", but in reality, what's the difference between a cult and a religion? Time and numbers, that's all. All the world's major religions used to be cults, but I guess 14-20 centuries and a billion plus members, and they gain a respectability they don't deserve.
Frank Zappa used to say that the difference between a cult and a religion is the amount of real estate involved.And I realise that often they've suffered childhood trauma or whatever that has led to their poor life choices. But they are still adults, and adults, even those that had an awful childhood, have to take responsibility for their own actions.
Also, we throw around the word "cult", but in reality, what's the difference between a cult and a religion? Time and numbers, that's all. All the world's major religions used to be cults, but I guess 14-20 centuries and a billion plus members, and they gain a respectability they don't deserve.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Monday 4th August 08:55
Roofless Toothless said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I feel for the children, as they had no choice. But those who joined as adults, not so much. Unfortunately some people are destined to make terrible life choices, and if it hadn't been the Jesus Army that screwed their life up, it would have been the bookies, or the pub, or some romance or financial scam they would have got roped into. I suspect none of them would have led happy normal lives if Jesus Army had never existed.
And I realise that often they've suffered childhood trauma or whatever that has led to their poor life choices. But they are still adults, and adults, even those that had an awful childhood, have to take responsibility for their own actions.
Also, we throw around the word "cult", but in reality, what's the difference between a cult and a religion? Time and numbers, that's all. All the world's major religions used to be cults, but I guess 14-20 centuries and a billion plus members, and they gain a respectability they don't deserve.
Frank Zappa used to say that the difference between a cult and a religion is the amount of real estate involved.And I realise that often they've suffered childhood trauma or whatever that has led to their poor life choices. But they are still adults, and adults, even those that had an awful childhood, have to take responsibility for their own actions.
Also, we throw around the word "cult", but in reality, what's the difference between a cult and a religion? Time and numbers, that's all. All the world's major religions used to be cults, but I guess 14-20 centuries and a billion plus members, and they gain a respectability they don't deserve.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Monday 4th August 08:55
A few large houses or the odd church - cult
Billions of pounds worth of property, mosques, churches or synagogues or whatever, filled with priceless artifacts - religion.
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