A woman has spoken out after being ‘brainwashed’ by a strict religious ‘cult’.
When she was growing up, Elizabeth Hunter claims her dad controlled all aspects of her life.
The 27-year-old was brought up in a strict religious community where she wasn’t allowed to listen to any non-Christian music.
She was homeschooled and taught about the Bible, all while being educated on how to be a good wife.
During her upbringing, she was also taught how to bake bread, sew and even play the piano.
In fact, by the age of 17, Elizabeth, from Texas, US, was already thinking about marriage.
She told UNILAD : “There was no TV in our house, we weren’t allowed to watch movies or television shows.
“I wasn’t allowed to cut my hair I was not allowed to wear make-up.
“[Also] I wasn’t supposed to date or flirt with any guys because my dad was going to pick my husband.
“And then all my life skills were all about things I needed to be a good wife.”
Elizabeth claims she was made to learn certain skills so she could “play the piano for the church” if her husband wanted her to.
She grew up in Texas as part of Bill Gothard’s Institute Basic Life Principles (IBLP) ‘cult’.
One of the main principles of the movement is the idea that everything in life is determined by the father of the family.
She was told that going against this would result in physical punishment from God.
Elizabeth claims she wasn’t allowed to wear clothing with words on as her mum claimed it “draws attention to her body”.
She also says she was banned from donning the colour green, simply because her dad didn’t like it.
Elizabeth eventually realised her upbringing wasn’t normal or healthy.
It was when she told a therapist about being tied to her sister with rope that she realised they had experienced child abuse.
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She then realised the religious group was actually a ‘cult’.
Now Elizabeth lives a new life away from Texas where she documents her past on social media.
She said: “I do see myself as a cult survivor.
“It kind of started as a joke, to just like, talk about some funny things my parents said to me.
“So I just started making TikToks to educate people. But it will hopefully be healing for other people too, who have gone through that.”