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Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 21 – Tragedy of the Chosen OneSensitivity Warning: this article contains graphic discussions of child abuse, murder and suicide.Music featured in this chapter:21st Century Breakdown – Green DayI’m Gonna Get Me a Gun – Cat StevensJanie’s Got a Gun – AerosmithIn this chapter of my memoir the first half describes in detail my psychological breakdown after I began investigating my cult past, my search for mental health help, and the psychiatric assessment and treatment I received. In the midst of that assessment, I heard horrif...
2026-06-1134 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 20 – Law and DisorderMusic featured in this chapter:Who Are You – The WhoFinding Myself – Haley KlinkhammerYou Don’t Know How It Feels – Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersBreakdown – Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersPandora’s Box – MARINAWhere In The World? – Gavin FridayIn this chapter of my memoir I discuss my awkward transition from my cult life to my ordinary life. I kept my complicated past a secret, but there were odd things about me. When I eventually made friends at univers...
2026-06-1050 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 19 – Losing My ReligionMusic featured in this chapter:Life Is a Highway – Tom CochraneThe River, Mother Nature & Me – Jenny LesterOrdinary World – Duran DuranOn the Road to Find Out – Cat StevensRedemption Song – Bob MarleyLosing My Religion – R.E.M.It took me many years to write my memoir. The manuscript underwent many major changes until I finally had a draft I was satisfied enough with to send to publishers. And the contract I eventually signed with an independent publisher requ...
2026-06-1047 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 18 – Should I Stay Or Should I Go?Music featured in this chapter:Losing My Religion – R.E.M.Should I Stay or Should I Go – The ClashBirthday – The BeatlesLeaving on a Jet Plane – John DenverThis chapter of my memoir continues where chapter 17 left off, when I secretly listened to the R.E.M. song Losing My Religion while at the Heavenly City School cult compound in Japan. It was an “aha moment”, when in a state of spiritual turmoil I realized I no longer believe...
2026-06-0929 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 17 – Heavenly LunacyMusic featured in this chapter:Strange Brew – CreamEverybody gets to go to the Moon – The Three DegreesBark at the Moon – Ozzy OsbourneMan On The Moon – R.E.M.This chapter in my memoir starts with my return to the Heavenly City School (HCS) in Japan in early 1991, after the horrific child abuse I witnessed in Macau. Top leaders at the HCS were developing new abusive programs to reinforce the indoctrination of children and teens. Those programs were then spread to communes around the...
2026-06-0931 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 16 – The Exorcism of MerryTrigger Warning – this chapter describes in detail extremely disturbing religious child abuse, including a violent exorcism.Music featured in this chapter:Tainted Love – Soft CellThis chapter of my memoir concerns Merry Berg, the granddaughter of cult leader David Berg. Her horrific treatment by her grandfather and the other adults in his inner circle was published in great detail as a warning and spiritual threat, especially to teens. Merry’s abuse was used as the model for dealing with other so-called delinquent, disobedient teens. I have left out...
2026-06-0819 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 15 – Mr. Big in JapanMusic featured in this chapter:Mr. Brightside – The KillersI Don’t Want to Know – Fleetwood MacBig in Japan – Tom WaitsDivorce Separation Blues – The Avett BrothersThis chapter of my memoir starts with my return to Japan in 1996 after fleeing Beijing, China one step ahead of the authorities. Shortly after, Rachelle and I were recruited to serve the top regional leaders in their office home in Kamakura, just south of Yokohama. The first part of this chapter describes our time serving thos...
2026-06-0837 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 14 – I Shook Hands With The Butcher Of BeijingMusic featured in this chapter:Speaking English – Isle of ManClose Encounters of the Third Kind: Communicating with musicChina – Joan BaezThis chapter of my memoir first describes my return to Japan ten years after the first time I lived there, and the several months I spent evangelizing at the World Expo 1985 in Tsukuba. The rest of the chapter describes the year I spent in Beijing, China in 1985/86 as an undercover missionary disguised as a school teacher.Back i...
2026-06-0626 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 13 – Pearls Of The OrientMusic featured in this chapter:China – Sammy HagarUndercover Agents – Enter ShikariAs a young teen I knew almost nothing about China, but I was intrigued by it. Many Chinese immigrants had come to our small mill town over the decades. The father of one of my Chinese-Canadian classmates was in the British air force based in Hong Kong during WW2. There was a photo of him in his uniform on their living room wall. My classmate was a second generation Canadian, so he and his siblin...
2026-06-0518 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter Twelve – On The Road AgainMusic featured in this chapter:On The Road Again – Willie NelsonBlack lightning – The BellRaysJet Airliner – Steve Miller BandThis chapter of my memoir opens with my returning to the cult and hooking up with a new member, Rachelle, a mother of two who was nine years older than me.In early December 1979, I separated from the system a second time and left Port Alberni to rejoin the Children of God, now known as the Family of Love, or just the Fami...
2026-06-0222 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 11 – The Prodigal Child ReturnsMusic featured in this chapter:Mr. Robot – StyxFamily Affair – Sly & the Family StoneGotta Serve Somebody – Bob Dylan (Take 1 - Slow Train Coming studio outtake)One of Wiktionary’s definitions for “prodigal” is:4) Behaving as a prodigal son: 1. Having (selfishly) abandoned a person, group, or ideal. 2. Returning or having returned, especially repentantly, after such an abandonment.The title of this chapter in my memoir, like a few others, has a double meaning. I first abandoned my family to ‘join’ the cult, then aba...
2026-06-0228 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter Ten – Welcome to the Jungle, or The Guest Who Wouldn’t LeaveMusic featured in this article:Run Through The Jungle – Creedence Clearwater RevivalCountry Roads – John DenverEl Cóndor Pasa (If I Could) – Simon and GarfunkleMorning Has Broken – Cat StevensMoonshadow – Cat StevensAn Unwelcome Guest – The LodgerThis chapter of my memoir has an unusual title. As I explain in the Introduction episode of this series,the chapter titles changed during the drafting process. Initially, all the titles were s...
2026-06-0131 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter Nine – I Felt The Earth MoveMusic featured in this chapter:I Feel the Earth Move – Carol KingWhat Is A Youth - Glen WestonI Don’t Need No Doctor – Ray CharlesThere is double meaning to that title, which readers of my memoir might have realized. As discussed in the previous chapter, my pre-cult sex education both at home and at school was quite inadequate. In this chapter I discuss my sexual maturation, which was occurring in the context of Berg’s deviant sexual teachings within the closed...
2026-05-2821 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter Eight – Revolutionary SexMusic featured in this chapter:Sexual Revolution – Macy GrayThis chapter of my memoir opens with my arrival in Hawaii after fleeing what I believed was the imminent destruction of the United States. A couple months later I left for Japan. After describing my first few months in Japan, I stop that narrative just before describing my first sexual experience, which happened in Tokyo, in order to discuss the cult’s sexual doctrines and my own sexual education before I “joined” the cult.Before I joined the Children o...
2026-05-2808 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter 7 – Fleeing Babylon The W***eMusic featured in this chapter:American Pie – Don McLeanI Shall Be Released – Bob DylanHuman Be-In videos from the first one in San Francisco and later ones in VancouverKohoutek – R.E.M.The Message Of Jeremiah - J. RusselThis chapter in my memoir opens with these paragraphs:The Children of God in the U.S. and Canada began fleeing to foreign mission fields in 1971, heeding Berg’s doomsday warnings about the impending destruction of America. T...
2026-05-2140 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter Six – The Endtime ProphetMusic featured in this chapter:The Prophet’s Song – QueenI thought it was important to include in my memoir David Berg’s origin myth in which he declares himself the final endtime prophet before the second-coming of Jesus, which he prophesied would be in 1993. It helps readers understand the influence he had on tens of thousands of followers around the world, and gives context to my own story. After just a few months of indoctrination, I fully believed Berg was the endtime prophet, and I believed his predicti...
2026-05-2115 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter Five – IndoctrinationMusic featured in this chapter:Little Boxes - Malvina ReynoldsSchool’s Out – Alice CooperAnother Brick In The Wall, Part Two – Pink FloydDust In The Wind – KansasNo Time - The Guess WhoIn this chapter of my memoir I provide the full text of an article published in the Alberni Valley Times a month or so after I “joined” the local commune. At the top of the article was the transcription of the note I put in a Mother’s Day card that...
2026-05-2031 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter Four – Revolution For JesusMusic featured in this chapter:Revolution – The BeatlesThis is one of the shortest chapters in my memoir. I cite a 1971 TIME magazine article titled, “The Alternative Jesus: Psychedelic Christ”, about the Jesus People Movement. The cover pictured a hippie-like Jesus, haloed with the words: “The Jesus Revolution”. I then cite a publication by cult leader David Berg titled “Jesus People? Or Revolution!” in which he writes:“This is a Revolution! We are not compromising and conforming to the damnable System church! We are not conforming to...
2026-05-1907 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeSoundtrack To My Life – Chapter Three – He’s Leaving HomeMusic featured in this chapter:Woodstock – Joni MitchellWoodstock - Crosby, Stills, Nash & YoungBig Yellow Taxi – Joni MitchellEve Of Destruction - Barry McGuireGetting Better - The BeatlesShe’s Leaving Home – The BeatlesCan’t Buy Me Love – The BeatlesBrother Sun, Sister Moon – DonovanFreedom - Richie HavensThe title of Chapter 3 in my memoir is an obvious reference to a Beatles song. The chapter opens wi...
2026-05-1845 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter Two – California Dreamin’Music featured in this chapter:California Dreamin’ - The Mamas & The PapasSan Francisco - Scott MckenzieWith A Little Help From My Friends – The BeatlesAcross The Universe – The BeatlesLucy in the Sky with Diamonds – The BeatlesTime - Pink FloydQuestion - The Moody BluesJesus Christ Superstar - Superstar (1971)All Things Must Pass - George HarrisonWhat Is Life - George HarrisonAwaiting On You All - George Harri...
2026-05-1559 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChapter One - Gotta Serve SomebodyMusic featured in this chapter:Gotta Serve Somebody - Bob DylanSixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie FordMurder Most Foul – Bob DylanAbraham, Martin and John - DionInto the Ocean - Blue OctoberHow Great Thou Art - Elvis PresleySgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The BeatlesAll You Need Is Love - The BeatlesI open my memoir with a flash-forward to the time I first heard Bob Dyla...
2026-05-1358 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeMisguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeSoundtrack To My Life - IntroductionMusic featured in this post:To Be Free - Glyn Lehmann, sung by Shrewsbury International School childrenStereo - The WatchmenWhen I created the outline for my memoir, Misguided, as a guide for writing the first draft, I found that naming the chapters with song titles or lyrics was a useful way to summarize or foreshadow the subject of each chapter. I did that for every chapter in the first draft of my manuscript. Under each chapter title, I also included a few lyrics...
2026-05-1314 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChildren of the Cult – episode 5 – Fighting BackChildren of the Cult – episode 5 – Fighting BackFinding justice becomes a compulsion for Hope and Verity, a necessary step towards their healing. They tell their stories to Scottish detectives. Up to then there had been no criminal convictions of COG/Family cult child abusers in the UK, and only a few in other countries, because of the cult’s secrecy, multiple aliases, frequent moves and other legal obstacles. Hope assists the investigation by trying to identify the locations of the cult’s communes in Scotland where her abuse occurred. Verity becomes a witness in Hope’s case.After...
2026-03-1454 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChildren of the Cult – episode 4 – Escaping the FamilyChildren of the Cult – episode 4 – Escaping the FamilyThis episode starts and ends with disturbing clips from the murder/suicide video of Ricky Rodriguez, the son of cult leader Karen Zerby. Early 1990s, global media scrutiny intensifies as many in the second generation escape and expose child abuse in the cult, which is now rebranded as the Family. Fearing persecution, members are ordered to burn all incriminating evidence of abuse in the cult’s documents, photos and videos. Children and teens are coached on how to deceive and lie to media and authorities.The largest ever U...
2026-03-1353 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChildren of the Cult – episode 3 – Teen RebelsChildren of the Cult – episode 3 – Teen RebelsIt is the early 1990s, police and child protection authorities in many countries conduct raids of the cult’s communes. Hundreds of children were taken into custody, but children of the cult were heavily indoctrinated to deceive and lie to outsiders, including authorities, so they were all soon returned to the cult where they continued to experience systemic abuses. As the children become teens, many begin to rebel against their abusive upbringing and receive brutal corporal punishments. Teen training camps were set up to indoctrinate them even more, forcing them to be...
2026-03-1251 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChildren of the Cult - episode 2 For GrandpaThe five-part documentary series, Children of the Cult, charts the remarkable true story of three British women born and raised in the infamous cult Children of God, now known as The Family International. Hope, Verity, and Celeste speak out about their years of abuse within the cult and their incredible fight for survival, escape, and quest for justice. Hope and Verity both successfully brought criminal convictions against their abusers, a very rare outcome for survivors of that cult. I participated in this documentary, primarily by giving many hours of interviews to the producer’s research assistant for background information. I...
2026-03-1148 min
Misguided: The Soundtrack To My LifeChildren of the Cult - episode 1 Welcome to the FamilyThe five-part documentary series, Children of the Cult, charts the remarkable true story of three British women born and raised in the infamous cult Children of God, now known as The Family International. Hope, Verity, and Celeste speak out about their years of abuse within the cult and their incredible fight for survival, escape, and quest for justice. Hope and Verity both successfully brought criminal convictions against their abusers, a very rare outcome for survivors of that cult. I participated in this documentary, primarily by giving many hours of interviews to the producer’s research assistant for background information. I...
2026-03-1049 min
Connect to Premium Digital Audiobooks on Any DeviceEnjoy Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life In a Doomsday Cult from Perry BulwerPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/818881 to listen full audiobooks.
Title: Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life In a Doomsday Cult
Author: Perry Bulwer
Narrator: Kyle Snyder
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 11 hours 51 minutes
Release date: August 27, 2024
Genres: World Religions
Publisher's Summary: In 1972, Perry Bulwer, a naive sixteen-year-old growing up in Port Alberni, a mill town on Vancouver Island, dropped out of high school to run away with the Children of God, one of a number of millennial Christian cults that sprang up in the 1960s and 1970s. Bulwer takes the listener on an...
2024-08-2811h 51
Top Full Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, MemoirsMisguided: My Jesus Freak Life In a Doomsday Cult by Perry BulwerPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/818881 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life In a Doomsday Cult Author: Perry Bulwer Narrator: Kyle Snyder Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 11 hours 51 minutes Release date: August 27, 2024 Genres: Memoirs Publisher's Summary: In 1972, Perry Bulwer, a naive sixteen-year-old growing up in Port Alberni, a mill town on Vancouver Island, dropped out of high school to run away with the Children of God, one of a number of millennial Christian cults that sprang up in the 1960s and 1970s. Bulwer takes the listener on an extraordinary trip through the world of biblical literalism...
2024-08-2730 min
Hear the difference storytelling truly makesMisguidedVisit audiobookzap.com to start the 30-day free trial and listen to full audiobooks for free!Title: MisguidedSubtitle: My Jesus Freak Life in a Doomsday CultCategories: Biography, Fundamentalism, Religious StudyAuthor: Perry BulwerNarrator: Kyle SnyderPublisher: Tantor AudioRelease date: 08-27-2024Language: English
2024-08-2700 min
BC Humanists PodcastPerry Bulwer - Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life In a Doomsday CultCONTENT NOTE: Parts of this discussion touch on child abuse and suicide.
Perry Bulwer is the author of Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life in a Doomsday Cult.
Misguided is a unique first-hand account of a life spent in the Children of God, a/k/a The Family, a millenarian doomsday sex cult under the sway of a charismatic leader, David Berg.
In 1972, Perry Bulwer, a naive 16-year-old growing up in Port Alberni, BC dropped out of high school to run away with the Children of God, one of a number of millennial Christian c...
2024-05-1334 min
The Podcast For InquiryMisguided: My Jesus Freak Life In A Doomsday Cult with Perry BulwerPerry Bulwer (Facebook) speaks about his part-memoir, part-exposé book, Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life in a Doomsday Cult. Perry describes what first attracted him to the cult, and why he stayed in it for nearly 20 years. Perry recounts the lasting damage from his time in the Children of God, to himself and especially to those born into it. Podcast for Inquiry is hosted by Leslie Rosenblood and brought to you by the Centre for Inquiry Canada. Support Podcast for Inquiry on Patreon: https://patreon.com/PodcastforInquiry. Send your thoughts and feedback to podcast@centreforinquiry.ca.
2024-04-031h 11
IndoctriNationBONUS EPISODE PREVIEW: Leaving "The Family" w/Perry BulwerThis is just a preview of our Patreon exclusive bonus episode. You can listen to the full episode by becoming a member at:
www.patreon.com/indoctrination
Returning guest, Perry Bulwer was Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada, where he joined the Children of God after dropping out of high school at age 16. He then spent the next two decades living in Children Of God communes across the world. In 1991, at the age of 36, he was finally able to escape the cult. Perry now advocates for second-generation cult survivors, and continues to shed light on the Children of God...
2023-12-0809 min
IndoctriNationMisguided w/Perry BulwerPerry Bulwer was Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada, where he joined the Children of God after dropping out of high school at age 16. He then spent the next two decades living in Children Of God communes across the world. In 1991, at the age of 36, he was finally able to escape the cult. Perry now advocates for second-generation cult survivors, and continues to shed light on the Children of God, a/k/a "The Family".
He is the author of the new memoir "Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life In a Doomsday Cult", A unique first-hand account of a life...
2023-11-081h 20