A long time in the making

books:

	• Prophet's Daughter: My Life with Elizabeth Clare Prophet Inside the Church Universal and Triumphant Erin Prophet The Lyons Press, 2008 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 27 reviews view larger image
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A long time in the making

The voice, perspective, and intimate history revealed by the author, Erin Prophet, in Prophet's Daughter, offers a sound and sympathetic view of her relationship with her mother/Guru, a history of the Church Universal and Triumphant and demonstrates the delicate moral issue of accepting zealous leadership and giving blind devotion.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has encountered the CUT as a current/former member or as a curious neighbor. "Prophet's Daughter" offers a clear and honest history of the leaders of Summit Lighthouse and CUT. Critics of the book like to accuse the author of distorting the past or destroying the almost god-like aura of former Leader and mother of Erin Prophet, Elizabeth Clare Prophet. The reality is that Erin played a major role in the direction of the CUT in the 1980's and had direct access and influence into the inner workings of the "inner church". Erin's efforts can be seen as a gesture of resolution not only for herself but for some of the messy legacy that her mother left behind.

On a more personal level, as an individual who underwent baptism at birth, accepted holy communion within the CUT and was educated within it's sponsored school, I consider the intent of the author as positive resolution for not only myself but for the community that the CUT hopes to create.

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Candid and convincing

Books by former members of so-called "destructive cults"--in particular, those by the children of their founders--tend to focus on resentments, oppressions, and family dysfunctions. The reader gets no sense of why anyone would want to follow such a leader. Erin Prophet's account is different. Having read it, I really feel that I have seen Elizabeth Clare Prophet and the Church Universal and Triumphant as fully and realistically as possible. --Lowell D. Streiker, Ph.D., author of Mind-Bending: Brainwashing, Cults, and Deprogramming....

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Well Done, Erin!

As a former member of this cult, I read this book almost non-stop. the book explored territory familiar to me: decreeing, dictations, the shelter cycle, the alleged infallibility of the messenger, etc. To those not familiar with the cults practices, some of the book may read like a foreign language, but stay with it. And to those who are still in the cult and have excoriated Erin Prophet for having exposed long hidden skeletons, you need to get a serious reality check going. One of my former friends told me that she'd lived on the ranch for several months, on staff and she never saw any abuses of power or other negatives. I doubt that she spent any time in the power clique of Mrs. Prophet's inner circle.

I found my self shocked, disappointed, chagrined, by Erin Prophet's very well written book. I say that for my own myopic involvement, that helped to destroy relationships with family and friends. Like many followers, I took Mrs. Prophets words at face value, even when she deliberately distorted the Bible, a document with which I had some familiarity having been raised Baptist. But it was convenient for Mrs. Prophet to do so, for it allowed her to portray Jesus the way she wanted Him seen, as an Ascended Master, instead of Savior.

I digress.

I also found myself enlightened, informed and even entertained. When I left the cult 10+ years ago, there was a swirl of rumor, most of which Erin Prophet confirmed. Mrs. Prophet preached one standard for her followers while violating those standards herself. Repeatedly.

So kudos to Erin. I hope that having written this book you will experience some closure. I know that having read it, I experienced some closure personally. And I hope that those of you who write negative reviews without having cracked the book open, will stop with your "CCJ" (cult speak for criticism, condemnation and judgement: BIG BAD no-no's) and read with your mind at least half open. you owe it to yourself.

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A courageous expose'

I was a church communicant and staff member from 1963 to 1975, having joined the Summit Lighthouse (CUT predecessor) at the age of 14. I recall Erin and the Prophet children as small children, and regularly babysat them. I think that the Prophet children carried an enormous burden, of parental expectations compounded by their assumed status in the church. I consider Erin's work in this book a story that begged to be told, and her conclusions quite similar to my own, which eventually led me to cease my activities with the church in 1975 at the age of twenty-seven.

However, the challenge for all who were communicants of CUT is to maintain a firm sense of self while sifting out what useful information can be gleaned from the tatters of a broken belief system. And, the younger one is exposed to the belief system, the more difficult it is to reach an operational state of integration into society. Many, many persons have had their lives destroyed - emotionally, mentally, physically, economically. The climb back for some is impossible. But for Erin, her siblings, and the people that they grew up with, there is no reference point! What memories they have are based on what they are trying to reject!

Which makes Erin's book all the more remarkable, given this backdrop. I have witnessed CUT's demise, through the eyes of my mother (a faithful member from 1962 to her death in 2004) and my siblings,who were also communicants. And now, this "insiders' insider's" look basically verifies my own conclusions. I sincerely wish Erin and her family all the best, and congratulations for having attained such a difficult milestone!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

In early 1990, in response to apocalyptic prophecies given by her mother, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Erin Prophet entered a network of underground bunkers in Montana along with members of her mother's Church Universal and Triumphant, a controversial New Age sect. Emerging to find the world still intact, Erin was forced into a radical reassessment of her life and her beliefs. She had spent her adolescence watching her mother vilified as a dangerous cult leader even while attempting to meet her expectations by becoming a "prophet" herself.

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