Clip from God Willing: Daniel's Story

The story of a mother and father who are confronted with their son's indoctrination into a high demand religious ideology. Daniel was introduced to the new religious framework which exploited his religious upbringing and his need for acceptance and moral validation.

His indoctrination into this new way of thinking took him from being a college student with a promising future to a religious zealot captured by a fringe ideology which manipulated him into cutting himself off from his family, taking on a new name and remaining in physical and mental isolation with the group known as the The Brethren or the Garbage Eaters.

In this excerpt from the 2010 documentary "God Willing" Daniel's parents recount their efforts to try to rescue their son from the mental control of the group, only to discover that their son would fight back against his own parents to remain among the brotherhood.

This is a remarkable example of the hold that such groups can have on even college educated adults, such that they are willing to completely cut off the friends and family which were an integral part of their identity and life prior to indoctrination.

This group is one of the most striking examples of how a high demand ideology will cut off outside influences by alienating members from their family of origin and the identity tied to their upbringing. This creates a greater dependence on the group and shields the member from any information or influence which could free them from its hold.

Red flags to notice in this regard from any group or ideology are:

- Teaching that if you family doesn't agree with the ideology - then they are bad.
- Teaching that you should not listen to any family who try to cause you to doubt.
- Teaching that other members of the group can be a substitute for your family of origin or a "found family"
- Framing normal family concern or disagreement with the teachings of the group as "Abusive" so that cutting off ties to the family can be justified
- Teaching that a new name should be taken to go along with a new identity in the group which may also include reframing the old identity as "dead" or bad in some way.
- Isolating members from contact with or access to their family of origin.

Check out the full God Willing Documentary for the complete story: http://godwillingmovie.com/