A Little Bit Culty
Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames
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When God Becomes a Predator: Melissa Archer Inside the 5F Ministry (Part 1)
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Melissa Archer is best known as Natalie Buchanan on One Life to Live, with later stints on Days of Our Lives and a run of indie films. These days she builds software, including NeuroRewire, an app for rewiring thought patterns formed in situations people didn't choose. Somewhere in the middle of all that, she accidentally joined a cult. We first learned about her from Be Scofield's reporting in The Guru, and she joins us fresh off the story going public. In Part 2, Melissa walks us through how a non-practicing Catholic went looking for a deeper connection to God and found a pile of red flags she didn't yet have the language for: love bombing, daily phone calls, leadership titles, "diamond memberships," doubt dismissed as a "religious spirit," and isolation bragged about so openly she figured a group that culty couldn't possibly be a cult on purpose. Her entry point was a Tanzanian "prophet" named GeorDavie and his 5F movement (formerly Advanced Anointing), with twenty-something emcee Kathryn Krick and pastor David launching the American branch. And to her credit, Melissa was skeptical enough to design a literal test for whether the prophecy stuff was real. But a streak of "miracles" had her healthy skepticism gaslighting itself, until it ended with a prayer: "I'm going all in—pull me out if I get too deep." Come back Thursday for Part 2, when we head to Tanzania, where the promises got bigger, the control got tighter, and the whole thing stopped feeling like a miracle. Check out the original post on 5F on The Guru: https://www.gurumag.com/l-a-s-viral-exorcist-kathryn-krick-knew-of-prophets-sexual-abuse-allegations And follow Melissa on Instagram, Facebook, or X. Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of cult dynamics, coercive control, religious and spiritual abuse, manipulation, gaslighting, and isolation. Also…let it be known that: The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty f*****d. Buy the A Little Bit Culty paperback, ebook, or audiobook on Amazon or order a signed copy. Check out our amazing sponsors Join A Little Bit Culty on Patreon Get poppin’ fresh ALBC Swag Support the pod and smash this link Check out our cult awareness and recovery resources Watch Sarah's TED Talk and buy her memoir, Scarred CREDITS: Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames Production Partner: Citizens of Sound Co-Creator: Jess Tardy Audio production: Will Retherford Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore Writer and administrator: Sandra Nomoto Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS: Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/culty. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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