Sectarian Song: Cult Escapist - By Michael Klein
Sectarian Song is the compelling and often horrifying true story of one man's lost childhood in one of the most controversial religious sects in modern American history, the Nation of Yahweh.
From its shocking opening sentences, Sectarian Song provides a terrifying first-hand look at life inside a cult, in this instance the infamous Nation of Yahweh. Michael Klein (not the author's real name) joined this offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites at the age of eleven, when his mother brought him and his three siblings with her into the group. For two years, until he left at the age of thirteen, Klein suffered abuse at the hands of the zealot cult members, targeted for being a child of mixed race. Even after he escaped, Klein suffered a psychological toll, bouncing between foster homes and psychiatrists, spending years of his life looking over his shoulder, haunted by fear. Despite its grim, often violent early passages, Klein's tale becomes one of hope and faith, an uplifting lesson in the power of the human spirit.
Born to a black, teenaged mother, and a white father, Michael Klein had a tough New York childhood. Nonetheless, he was a quiet, sensitive, and observant child, whose young mother's search for love and security brought a string of men usually unsuitable and occasionally abusive into her children's lives.
Klein's mother thought she'd finally found the acceptance she was looking for in the Temple of Love, run by an extreme offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites who called themselves the Nation of Yahweh. Led by Yahweh ben Yahweh, whom the Temple members believed to be the son of God, the group publicly preached a code of love, peace, and acceptance. What Klein found in their midst, however, was a horrifying existence of abuse and racism, sins committed in the name of God. His memories of the beatings he endured at the hands of the temple elders are searing and disturbing, yet they are eclipsed by the heartbreaking rejection of the boy by his own mother.
For two years, Klein endured the torments of cult life, finally escaping with his half-brother Brian. The boys were taken in by Brian's biological father, who saw their physical scars and immediately sought medical treatment. The exposure led to a police raid on the Temple and the beginning of what would be a long legal battle. Although Klein escaped the cult with his life, the psychological wounds he suffered haunted him for years; he bounced in and out of foster homes and psychiatrist's offices, and his eventual marriage was doomed by his traumatic experiences.
Eventually, Klein was able to gain control of his memories, coming to grips with his painful past in order to move forward and live a productive life. His is a story of great suffering relieved by time, faith, and hope.
Americans tend to watch news stories about religious cults in disbelief, wondering about the people who squirrel themselves away on a remote mountaintop or in a South American jungle. Michael Klein's harrowing story of life in the Nation of Yahweh cult shatters that illusion of distance: the two years he spent as a child at the notorious "Temple of Love" were lived in New York. Brought to the Temple by his mother when he was eleven, the accounts of the abuse and racism he suffered there are hard to stomach. Even after his daring escape, his memories and lingering fear haunted his adolescence and early adulthood, even destroying his marriage. But while Sectarian Song is a story of a lost childhood, it is more importantly a story of hope, faith, and healing, as one man comes to terms with his painful past so that he may fully embrace the future.
"Here I felt like a shell of a man, with just a battered and damaged soul, but I knew I had to decide if I wanted to continue to live a lie and in darkness or, live a great life filled with the wonder and majesty of what life had to offer."
After years of therapy and a failed marriage, Michael Klein faced a hard truth: he could continue living under the yoke of his traumatic past, or he could begin a new life, fueled by hope and faith. He chose the latter, no easy task considering the horrific two years he spent as a virtual prisoner in the Temple of Love, run by the contemporary cult group the Nation of Yahweh. This offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites sect preached peace, love, and acceptance, yet privately they brainwashed members like Klein's mother, and severely punished those who did not fall in line. From the age of eleven to thirteen, when he escaped, the boy suffered horrific abuse by the Temple elders and, worst of all, rejection by his own mother.
By reliving his own vivid memories, from early childhood to his time at the Temple and his struggle to find peace as an adult, Klein (who writes under a pseudonym for fear of retaliation) has crafted a must-read for anyone seeking to reclaim a loved one from a sect or cult. Sectarian Song is a moving and inspiring example of the power of the human spirit to overcome the greatest of odds.
From its shocking opening sentences, Sectarian Song provides a terrifying first-hand look at life inside a cult, in this instance the infamous Nation of Yahweh. Michael Klein (not the author's real name) joined this offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites at the age of eleven, when his mother brought him and his three siblings with her into the group. For two years, until he left at the age of thirteen, Klein suffered abuse at the hands of the zealot cult members, targeted for being a child of mixed race. Even after he escaped, Klein suffered a psychological toll, bouncing between foster homes and psychiatrists, spending years of his life looking over his shoulder, haunted by fear. Despite its grim, often violent early passages, Klein's tale becomes one of hope and faith, an uplifting lesson in the power of the human spirit.
Born to a black, teenaged mother, and a white father, Michael Klein had a tough New York childhood. Nonetheless, he was a quiet, sensitive, and observant child, whose young mother's search for love and security brought a string of men usually unsuitable and occasionally abusive into her children's lives.
Klein's mother thought she'd finally found the acceptance she was looking for in the Temple of Love, run by an extreme offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites who called themselves the Nation of Yahweh. Led by Yahweh ben Yahweh, whom the Temple members believed to be the son of God, the group publicly preached a code of love, peace, and acceptance. What Klein found in their midst, however, was a horrifying existence of abuse and racism, sins committed in the name of God. His memories of the beatings he endured at the hands of the temple elders are searing and disturbing, yet they are eclipsed by the heartbreaking rejection of the boy by his own mother.
For two years, Klein endured the torments of cult life, finally escaping with his half-brother Brian. The boys were taken in by Brian's biological father, who saw their physical scars and immediately sought medical treatment. The exposure led to a police raid on the Temple and the beginning of what would be a long legal battle. Although Klein escaped the cult with his life, the psychological wounds he suffered haunted him for years; he bounced in and out of foster homes and psychiatrist's offices, and his eventual marriage was doomed by his traumatic experiences.
Eventually, Klein was able to gain control of his memories, coming to grips with his painful past in order to move forward and live a productive life. His is a story of great suffering relieved by time, faith, and hope.
Americans tend to watch news stories about religious cults in disbelief, wondering about the people who squirrel themselves away on a remote mountaintop or in a South American jungle. Michael Klein's harrowing story of life in the Nation of Yahweh cult shatters that illusion of distance: the two years he spent as a child at the notorious "Temple of Love" were lived in New York. Brought to the Temple by his mother when he was eleven, the accounts of the abuse and racism he suffered there are hard to stomach. Even after his daring escape, his memories and lingering fear haunted his adolescence and early adulthood, even destroying his marriage. But while Sectarian Song is a story of a lost childhood, it is more importantly a story of hope, faith, and healing, as one man comes to terms with his painful past so that he may fully embrace the future.
"Here I felt like a shell of a man, with just a battered and damaged soul, but I knew I had to decide if I wanted to continue to live a lie and in darkness or, live a great life filled with the wonder and majesty of what life had to offer."
After years of therapy and a failed marriage, Michael Klein faced a hard truth: he could continue living under the yoke of his traumatic past, or he could begin a new life, fueled by hope and faith. He chose the latter, no easy task considering the horrific two years he spent as a virtual prisoner in the Temple of Love, run by the contemporary cult group the Nation of Yahweh. This offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelites sect preached peace, love, and acceptance, yet privately they brainwashed members like Klein's mother, and severely punished those who did not fall in line. From the age of eleven to thirteen, when he escaped, the boy suffered horrific abuse by the Temple elders and, worst of all, rejection by his own mother.
By reliving his own vivid memories, from early childhood to his time at the Temple and his struggle to find peace as an adult, Klein (who writes under a pseudonym for fear of retaliation) has crafted a must-read for anyone seeking to reclaim a loved one from a sect or cult. Sectarian Song is a moving and inspiring example of the power of the human spirit to overcome the greatest of odds.
Sectarian Song: Cult Escapist Reviews
Review From Reader on eZineArticles
Review From Reader on eZineArticles
Review From Reader on eZineArticles
Review From Reader on eZineArticles
Review From Reader on eZineArticles
