What is it about these selfish men who, under the guise of religion, use and abuse people to feel powerful and line their pockets? This is not an isolated case, but a story that repeats itself over and over again: religion may be different or have a skewed purpose, but the underlying desire of the leader is always the same and the damage is exact for the people who have believed. his lie. It is deep and devastating.
This documentary follows several young people (some more recent and some from the early origins of the church) who have been lured to Robert Shinn's Shekinah Church in the US under completely false pretenses. Of the newest group of young people, most are talented dancers, all starting out in the competitive career of professional dance. Of course, when Shinn sees this, he has dollar signs flashing in his eyes and through manipulation and proselytizing, he, along with the use of reinforcements from his family who follow his lead and also benefit financially, is able to use their talents to make their bank accounts overflow.
Stars: Kagga Jayson, Melanie Wilking, Kylie Douglas
This is not a stupid man, he sees the progress that can be made at the expense of these talented, fresh-faced people, leaving them high and dry as they dance up a storm on social media. But he also knows that religion and business are not pleasant bedfellows for the masses, so he develops a production company '7M' where he can work himself to the bone during the day and preach to their young brains and tired bodies during the day. evening.
In addition to targeting young people who know what struggle is or those who are simply vulnerable, he quickly traps them in a one-sided contract and his false prophet mantra by dazzling them with beautiful houses and the flashy cars he drives. He knows that as the likes increase, he will also increase his exposure and this will be a springboard to greater tax profits on advertising campaigns, films, etc. But sadly, as is often the case in these stories, those who go out of their way to donate can't enjoy their hard-earned money because most of it goes back into the big boss's pockets. However, this is not the only thing they lose, since it is part of their strategy to preach the importance of separation from their loved ones, yes, they are told that to "save" their relatives from hell they must cut all ties with them. ...& I mean ALL the links.
The other part of this documentary is an examination of the devastation on the other side of the equation: the family members left without any contact except some strange dancing video with a strange smile to watch while scratching their heads wondering what happened with his son. We also meet a couple of Korean sisters who were in the first wave of Shekinah victims and join the current fugitives in not only trying to acclimate to the real word, but also seeking some form of justice.
The older of the two sisters, who was trapped for 23 years in Shinn's hallucinatory version of Holy Roller Big Brother, is deeply devastated by her time in the cult and what those years took from her. She is emotionally fragile, angry, confused and wants revenge and no one can blame her for that. It must be a bitter pill to swallow to realize that you have spent half your life not wrapped in the arms of a loving church with a direct line to God, but rather being manipulated, lied to, abused and robbed.
This is a challenging documentary to watch as it shines a light on some of the worst types of deception and abuse: when people's personal faith is used against them solely for power and greed. But, in my opinion, it is worth watching if only to see how these young people can regain their autonomy, realize the victims they really were, and seek to establish new lives in which they are masters of their own destiny. Where there is life there is hope and these survivors have a lot of life left to live now that they are out of the reach of the egomaniac that is Robert Shinn.
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