A young woman from Albuquerque, New Mexico, took to TikTok to talk about her upbringing in a Christian sect.
Marissa Martin, 24, was moved to talk about her childhood after admitting that she was lucky for the lack of “hate” she has typically received in her posts, but with one major exception: defensive Christians.
“I want to talk about the fact that I never get hate on my videos, which is amazing, I have really amazing viewers,” she began, while also trying out a recipe that combines raspberry syrup and iced matcha.
“But the only type of video I make that always hates me is when I talk about the cult I grew up in,” he described.
Marissa Martin, 24, talked about growing up in a Christian sect, that is, a congregation that followed the teachings of the Independent Fundamental Baptist sect.
‘This sect I grew up in, yes, it was a Christian sect. So a lot of Christians who watch my videos or watch the video are personally offended when I say, ‘I grew up in a cult,'” he continued.
‘But here’s the thing: it was an extremist Christian religion. Extremist, okay?
Specifically, his family had been in the Independent Fundamental Baptist church.
The organization, made up of local churches that preach deeply fundamentalist Christian messages, was the subject of the 2023 documentary series Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals.
The heartbreaking documentary series highlighted in particular the rampant sexual abuse of women and children that runs rampant in congregations.
Marissa went on to explain the strict dress code that only allowed “solid white” casual shoes, while “dress shoes” could be solid black.
She continued: ‘We had to wear skirts up to mid-calf. We couldn’t show our ankles. We had to wear sports socks. We also had to wear pantyhose (under skirts).
‘Us We couldn’t show our shoulders. We couldn’t show our collarbones.
The rules he had to follow ranged from adhering to a strict, ultra-conservative dress code, to prohibiting him from interacting with children and listening to music.
Marissa also explained that nail polish wasn’t allowed either, unless it was “a super, super, super light light pink.”
Any type of physical education required culottes, from running to volleyball and even swimming.
In general, “there was nothing co-ed, boys and girls were never allowed to do anything together,” Marissa emphasized.
He continued: ‘We weren’t allowed to listen to music: no CDs, no MP3 players, no phones.
“When I was a kid, I was in school, my parents had to sign a contract at the beginning of the year that we wouldn’t have a phone.”
They were also not allowed to have any type of social media, as she stated: ‘The list goes on and on.
‘If you’re one of my haters who feels personally offended when I say, “I grew up in a cult,” because you feel like I’m being disrespectful to the Christian religion, all I have to say is, if you’re wearing pants in your videos, don’t They like you.
“They think you’re going to hell, so you can’t win,” he said.
He also alluded to the cult’s “main men” being “in jail” for “exactly what you would think,” i.e. child abuse and pedophilia, among other things.
The content creator added that while she would like to do a full ‘story’ about her experience, she admitted that she believes she has ‘trauma-blocked much of my childhood.’
However, she supported the documentary series Let Us Pray, mentioning that reference is made at all times to her own cousin, as she had been the secretary of one of the men convicted of pedophilia.
Meanwhile, he considered his drink recipe a complete success and also encouraged his viewers to try it.
“Raspberry and matcha go together,” he declared. “This is the best matcha I’ve ever had.”
