The first settlers in America came to escape religious persecution, and to practice the religion of their choice without government interference or restrictive institutional supervision. It is unsurprising then that freedom to practice whatever your religious belief or none, became a First Amendment clause in the US Constitution. Such idealism has over the centuries of the United States existence allowed hundreds and hundreds of religious denominations to surface. Even though within the burgeoning ranks of evangelical Christianity, they sometimes appear to stretch or stray from the essential teachings of Jesus, to the point of perversion and beyond. The Way Down, comes as yet another documentary about an idealistically driven Christian sect that becomes an oppressive cult. And over its five episodes it becomes clear exactly what needs to happen for even the most well meaning of religions to slip into becoming a cult.
Gwen Shamblin was brought up in the Southern Baptist tradition within her own family. And its apparent that their hardline approach to Christianity, influences The Way Down Workshops and the Remnant Fellowship that Gwen develops, pioneering her own unique approach to religious practice. Its a weight loss regime, that sees obesity as a prime indication of a lack of godly focus. As Gwen puts it, too much bowing down to the fridge, and not to God. The implication being that the depth of your devotedness to God will manifest in your being slim. You hear this, and you look at Gwen Shamblin and her preposterous pile of hair, and you wonder quite how anyone could fall for this load of buncombe. But they did, and that is what makes this documentary compelling viewing.
There are plenty of to camera confessions from former Remnant Fellowship members. Often concerning the all male hierarchy of elders, directed by Gwen, controlling the lives of men and women in the movement. Often using their children as leverage to keep them there. Threatening they could take their children from them if they left. Cruel punishment regimes for troublesome children recommended by Gwen, resulted in the death of one child. Men or women who could not loose weight would be ostracised as defective practitioners to be treated as suspect. This movements growth cannot be based entirely on Gwen Shamblin's manipulative behaviour or dubious charisma. it's also about creating a self reinforcing belief culture where your level of fervent practice will receive its own reward. So people dedicate themselves to this devotedly. And when things do go wrong, no one is allowed to publicly acknowledge why this has happened, to question why it happened, or make recommendations to prevent it happening again. They are just told to move on and forget it.
Had not Gwen been killed in a plane crash, these scandals might never have never come out. Her own children Elizabeth and Michael exhibit all the signs of being quite damaged personalities. The Remnant Fellowship gradually at her instigation, become entirely self contained and self referential. Businesses and services were all managed in house, drawn from and serving members only. All the power, direction and control of the movement came from Gwen and a small group of male elders acting as her administrative acolytes. The Fellowships hierarchy became both judge and jury on the rectitude of its members, that moved swiftly to discredit anyone who left or criticised the Remnant Fellowship.
This self containedness, barricaded against the influence or censure of the surrounding culture, which meant it was difficult to question or contradict any of the ideas held, both from within and outside of it. Impossible for anyone to ascertain quite how wealthy the movement had made Gwen Shamblin and her family. It seems the First Amendment itself provides statutory protection for these religious sects, from outside interventions unless an illegality or heinous offence can be proven to have taken place. I guess those founding fathers naively put more trust in the good nature and moral upstanding of religious practitioners than we would these days.
CARROT REVIEW 5/8
The Way Down, can currently be seen on HBO Max.
No comments:
Post a Comment