Would you recognize a cult if you were in one?
I received this book as part of an early reviewer program.
This is a simple, no-nonsense book describing how a young family gets taken in by a cult without realizing the truth of their circumstance.
Looking for a simple life with like-minded people, this couple finds themselves moving into one of the Twelve Tribes communities. The book chronicles not only how they were taken in, but most of the book describes what the day-to-day life of a “TT” member was like. If you are looking for scandal, you won’t find it here. Indeed, the author has many fond memories of her 14 years with the TT. Various other family members also “join” over the years.
If you look up the Twelve Tribes, you will find many stories about child mistreatment. The organization expects members (mothers, specifically) to use a rod to regularly discipline their children. People who would normally not have treated their children roughly were counseled, sometimes in front of the whole community, if they allowed their child to “misbehave”. This misbehavior was normal child behavior most of the time.
The story helps the reader understand how people inside a cult are brainwashed into accepting new “revelations” that sometimes upended their lives. The chastisement adult members were subjected to was nearly as bad as what the children faced. The cycle of boredom and repetition meant they often lost track of time. Their days were extremely full, particularly for women. Imagine making a meal for 50 people with a baby in a carrier on your back and two children under the age of six in a kitchen with several other mothers and children. Kids were taught to chop vegetables before they could read. I cringed at the thought of all those children with knives; it is amazing they were at the hospital regularly. There were other questionable medical decisions made by the so-called leaders of each community in which the family lived.
Ultimately, this family left the Twelve Tribes and started over when their oldest child was 15 years old. They had to start over with nothing. I wish the book had another chapter or two explaining how they dealt with the new life changes.
The book was very interesting and I’m glad I read it. I was most surprised by how boring a cult can be. I appreciate the author sharing the story with the world and hope others read it before they go all in with any sketchy group.



One of the breaking straws precipitating their exit was a meeting with the cult leaders to admonish them, as parents, because word was out that the older child had the temerity to listen to country music. This “revelation” followed by the author realizing she didn’t feel safe buying a bag of chocolates at the drug store, helped the couple see they had lost themselves in the wilderness of monotony. ( )

It's just mind-blowing to know that these cults are still out there and presently operating. I was so disgusted with the way women were treated and the children beaten into submission while the men and "elite" members were given a pass. I'm glad that family finally escaped such a horrific life. I hope that her story can bring awareness to those who need it. ( )

Yet another memoir by an ex-member of a religious cult, Tamara Mathieu's ALL WHO BELIEVED gives a detailed and winceworthy account of her years in the Twelve Tribes (aka TT). In 2000, a recent college graduate, newly married with a baby, Mathieu is disillusioned with the usual rat race routine of work, child care, housework and empty nights of boring tv, so she talks her husband into chucking it all and joining the closed religious community of the Twelve Tribes. Fourteen years and three more children later, the grinding drudgery, imposed poverty, oppressive rules and hidden hypocrisy of their life forces her to recognize the reality that this is a CULT that is crushing the life out of her, and her family flees back to the outside world. The real mystery here is why it took them so long. Brainwashing and fear were the tools that TT employed. Homeschooling discouraged reading almost everything. Children were systematically disciplined with spankings and canings from an early age, and questions and creativity were stifled. Women were to be absolutely submissive to not just their husbands, but to all men. Shaming, shunning and public confessions were common for any and all 'transgressions,' large or small. Close friendships between women or between children was discouraged. And yet the community elders and leaders enjoyed special privileges and freedoms.

This is a good book, honest and articulate, from a woman far too intelligent for such a life. I was reminded of another similar memoir I read not long ago, about another cult, one which was far worse in that it also included rampant sexual abuse by pedophile elders - Danielle Mestyanek Young's UNCULTURED. Mathieu apparently encountered nothing like this in her years in the TT, although the mandated subjugation of women was bad enough in itself.

Cults and tribes like these will always be around. In fact, most organized religions employ many of the same methods of brainwashing and fear described here. It brought back my own Catholic childhood with its memorized questions and answers of the Baltimore Catechism and the rituals of weekly confessions. Much to think about here. I'm happy for the author that she and her family escaped. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, REED CITY BOY ( )

I was not aware of the Twelve Tribes cult prior to receiving this book. Reading this memoir, Tamara makes it more easily understandable why some are drawn to groups like these, and how difficult it is to extricate oneself. The writing is easily understood. I imagine writing this memoir as difficult and I hope it was also an exercise in healing for Tamara. ( )

Very detailed description of the 14 years the author , her husband and their children lived in the Twelve Tribes cult. Hard to understand the power of cults to brainwash, control people., Hopefully her memoir can help some others break away from dangerous cults. ( )