It’s every parent’s nightmare—watching your child get drawn into something you know isn’t right, powerless to protect them. That nightmare became my reality when my daughter, as a teenager, was coerced by her father and the leader of the Concerned Christians cult. The group, which had started as a Christian counter to the New Age movement, evolved into an apocalyptic sect under the leadership of Monte Kim Miller. Like many high-control religious groups, they believed in the imminent end of the world, promoting extremist and isolationist views.
At 17, my daughter bravely rejected the cult. She realized it wasn’t the path for her and spoke out, hoping to distance herself. Instead of support, she faced rejection. Her step-family, still loyal to the cult, shunned her completely. It broke her heart to see them out in public, only to have them turn their backs on her. The psychological toll was enormous, but I was proud of her strength in walking away from the false prophet and his destructive ideology.
But the story didn’t end there. A couple of years later, the cult came back into her life. Her father reached out, and the love-bombing began. They flooded her with affection, offering the warmth and community that had been missing since she’d been cast out. Desperate for acceptance, she succumbed, returning to the group. This time, the consequences were far worse.
She was spirited away to a remote village in Switzerland, where the cult enforced strict isolation. She became an undocumented alien in a foreign country, stripped of all independence—no legal documentation, no bank account, no job, no driver’s license, and worst of all, no contact with me, her brother, or anyone outside the cult. For 22 agonizing years, I had no idea where she was or how she was doing. Our once-vibrant connection was severed, leaving a gaping hole in both our lives.
Looking back, I wonder if those years were lost because she longed for her father’s approval. Could she have been trying to find her way back into his heart, terrified that rejecting the cult once again would mean another round of shunning? My heart breaks for her as she now struggles to recover from the immense trauma inflicted upon her during those years of isolation.
The pain of losing my daughter was indescribable, but it wasn’t just her who suffered. I, my son, and our entire family were also victims of the mandated shunning the cult demanded. For two decades, we were cut off from someone we loved dearly, all because of the toxic control exercised by the cult. Now that my daughter and her son have finally escaped, they too face the emotional devastation of being shunned by the very people they once considered friends.
Monte Kim Miller and his Concerned Christians may now be in decline, as reported by various sources, including Wikipedia. The group’s numbers have dwindled, and its apocalyptic rhetoric no longer holds the power it once did. Still, the damage has been done, not just to my daughter but to countless others. It’s chilling to remember that this cult, which once worked alongside law enforcement to combat dangerous religious movements, became the very thing it warned against—a destructive, mind-controlling group that would go so far as to manipulate and isolate its members, no matter the cost.
Sharing the Stop Mandated Shunning website with my daughter and grandson has brought a glimmer of hope. This initiative, dedicated to exposing and ending the practice of mandated shunning, is crucial in preventing future generations from suffering the same fate. Our family knows firsthand how damaging mandated shunning can be, and we fully support the efforts to educate others and bring this harmful practice to an end.
We have reclaimed our daughter after two decades lost to the cult, but the scars remain. In sharing our story, we hope to shed light on the insidious nature of high-control groups and encourage others to stand against the psychological and emotional abuse they inflict. No one should lose their family to mandated shunning. Together, we can work toward a future where no one has to suffer in silence.
Note: The “Concerned Christians” cult is now the 20th high-control religion that has participated in our survey.