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Call me evil, let me go

Cult following

CALL ME EVIL, LET ME GO
A mother’s struggle to save her children from a brutal religious cult
By Sarah Jones
Harper Collins. 310 pages. £6.99
ISBN 978 0 007 433 568

This is an accessible account of one woman’s struggles with a Christian group that had clearly lost its moorings and developed cultic tendencies. It seems to have hit the shelves of some major booksellers. It gives mixed messages about Christianity, and the author herself, understandably, has ended up confused.

Sarah’s early life was troubled. As a rebellious teenager she was sent by her parents (who were sure they were doing God’s will) to Tadford Charismatic Church, where she was pressured into marriage and, with other members, lived for many years in almost slavish obedience to its domineering leader.

Sarah gives an honest account of her struggles in life before, during and after this experience. It only slowly dawned on her that she was in an oppressive and controlling environment. The book is the story of her escape, which, sadly, left her marriage broken and having to raise four children by herself.

The book is a gripping and easy read. It has many salutary lessons — how a church can become too controlling and how people can be damaged permanently by the lack of balanced biblical teaching. It left me feeling sad that not only do such things happen in the name of Christianity, but also for the consequent instability and lack of understanding of what real Christianity looks like in a person’s life.

It is a pity that a book which is likely to have a large readership leaves us with a rather fuzzy impression of what it means to be a Christian.

Hazel Watts,
pastor’s wife and Marie Curie nurse