Growing Up in Incestuous Mormon Cult, THE ORDER: “My Father Wanted to Starve My Mother’s Cancer”

Summary

Key Points

• Joe grew up in "The Order," a polygamous fundamentalist sect where inbreeding was common, and his parents were half-siblings. 2:10
• His father, who had 14 wives and over 150 children, was an absent and abusive figure, primarily seen as a boss or disciplinarian, while his older brother served as a dad figure. 6:20
• Joe started working at age nine in Order-owned businesses, performing tasks like assembling books, sweeping, and mopping, without receiving any pay, a common practice for children in the group. 9:38
• Joe began questioning polygamy at 15, observing the disadvantages and lack of genuine connection among his father's wives, and later used critical thinking from college to doubt the Order's teachings. 14:26
• His mother, a hardworking single parent to 13 children, suffered from declining health and was denied proper medical care, instead subjected to a fruit-juice fasting "treatment" by his father to "starve the cancer." 21:37
• He recounts instances of his father's physical abuse, including hitting an autistic child and slapping Joe for stealing a video game, leading Joe to hide and later fabricate a kidnapping story out of fear. 29:00
• After his mother's death and his father's refusal to honor her will, Joe was forced to leave at age 20, but with his sister's help, he managed to retrieve about $12,000 from the Order's controlled bank account. 34:33
• Joe faced significant challenges adapting to the outside world, including a lack of dating experience, difficulty forming emotional connections due to past trauma, and the need to rebuild his entire community. 63:36
• He found emotional support and a new community through a nonprofit called Holding Out Hope, which connected him with a kind Mormon family, and he has since embraced individual freedom and pursued his passion for magic and music. 66:14
• Joe advises those considering leaving to prioritize living the life they truly desire, emphasizing that the freedom gained outweighs any potential losses or mistakes, and that help is available from good people in the world. 76:04