The Jessie Cult
The beguilement of the very elect.
Free thinking, free will and free speech are limited in an environment where full obedience to leaders is required. Experts say cult leaders, in turn, have narcissistic and authoritarian streaks and are motivated by money, sex or power (perhaps all three).
This obedience factor is another key element. It plays off of a human’s natural inclination to follow orders and do what others around them are doing. In cult settings, critical thinking is often frowned upon, while absolute faith is rewarded. Guilt, shame and fear are also constantly wielded to slowly strip away an individual’s identity.
Cari Shane, The Psychology Behind Cults, Discover.
For the last 2 years I have been covering Jessie Czebotar and her rise from obscurity to being an internet influencer. The chaplain has developed into SRA victim/whistleblower/Federal whistleblower/Federal witness/author/illuminati MOD/survivor and so on. From research, most of these titles are false and much of her enterprises she operates under the guise of ministry, offer no public accounting since her Ministry, Illuminate the Darkness LLC, is a for profit corporation.
So far I have not dug too deeply into her followers. They are immensely important and she would remain the obscure chaplain if not for them. They are on Twitter and other social media platforms playing a combination of defense and offense for her. Some are radicalized and rabid in their defense, seeming to lack any empathy for any hurt they project. Others are probably well meaning believers, but as stated above these devoted folks don’t think critically and their needs for a hero to lead them through the morass of troubled days are satisfied. By and large, they are her support group and keep her operation financed with donations, book and merchandise purchasing and workshop events.
Is This A Cult?
While not the classic portrayal of a band of people sequestered in a compound with an autocratic leader awaiting the end of the world, the followers of Jessie Czebotar do practice cult-like behavior. Spread around the internet, they function as the online cult leader Sherry Shriner’s cult did, staying alert waiting for their leader’s daily pronouncements, praising her, defending her from critics, or discussing issues getting to know one another to feel a part of something.
One major issue for this cult or any other, is believing anything their leader says without question or further thought. And as in all cults, questionnaires are automatically suspect. You can witness this in the tweets. A new person appears in the thread with questions which are tolerated at first. Then the faithful sense something, a trigger and will start their own questioning of this person looking for a hidden motive. Then the Enforcer will show up being even tougher to the point conducting a menacing interrogation. For some, it’s too much to endure and the poor soul will scamper off to safer havens in the depths of the internet. Leaving the cult to label this person a troll or a paid operative. The Hive-mind is consumed with paranoid thoughts. George Orwell once remarked about life in a police state—it’s the ordinary citizens that will turn you in first, thinking they are doing good for the collective. A variation of Stockholm syndrome. But they are all still slaves.
Who Are These People?
From all walks of life but especially hard to tell exactly with many people running under fake names and pictures. The person calling you a paid troll may be a paid troll themselves, since most accusations thrown about are not backed up by any proof.
Jessie supporters mostly attach their political and religious views to hers. Almost all are MAGA/Trump supporters, conservative, Christian and deeply devoted to Jessie. Some are prone to wild conspiracy theories, such as all famous people are clones and the originals have been executed. Often they express their love for her in gushing terms so much so, they don’t seem to be aware they are practicing idol worship. One woman said that Jessie had saved millions of children; another said her affidavits she released were second only to the Bible in importance; and finally, “God danced the day you were born.”
Regardless of who they are, there is a habit of never finding any fault with Jessie as one would a god. When confronted with facts that show Jessie told a lie or that a story is off kilter, they refuse to accept it—they will either attack the messenger or ignore the evidence altogether. Never have I encountered people so blinded and deluded such as this. They can’t be reached. They are accepting of all she says, such as her story of seeing real dragons—a black one and a green one—and they are untroubled about it. There is literally nothing she can tell them that will leave them aghast or consider leaving her. That is true devotion.
Another troubling aspect of the cult members is their lack of empathy they extend towards anyone that points out Jessie’s fraud. They can take an aggressive turn, act bossy and at the worst turn into bullies and make threats. Myself and others have been called every name in the book but a child of God. It’s a strange thing to see people who profess to be Christians call other people bitches and feces (see below, Marion Altena).
There is a man listed below in the screen captures who claims to be a Christian and bragged of how much he enjoyed verbally abusing myself and another researcher. In the beginning, his introduction to us was that of a bully, “You leave Jessie alone and I’ll leave you alone.” Not exactly the love of Christ there, sir. And that abuse continues. I’ve never said a word to him. People like that exist in a fanatical rage and can’t be reasoned with. The hate is irrational and unwarranted. But this is who Jessie attracts. Or who knows, she hires.
A Cast Of Characters
“When going gets weird, the weird turn pro,” as Hunter S. Thompson once remarked. With this cast of characters out of central casting it’s hard to tell at times who is real and who has way too much time on their hands. The fanaticism and idol worship can turn to the extreme as can be seen in the examples below.
In General
Most Jessie cult members are generally clueless. They are gullible and easily deceived. The people that will ignore the feeling that something isn’t right. They need someone like Jessie in their lives. A leader, a hero. Others are in the know and theirs is a desire to defend Jessie from all incoming questions, comments and evidence that contradicts her.
The Weirdoes
Or rather, high functioning mentally ill people. Twitter and social media are loaded with them. And if you exist online for any length of time, you will encounter more than you would ever want to. It makes one wonder at how these people function in society at large. They mostly remain anonymous and consider it not cowardly to take cheap shots behind a fake name and picture.
The Liars
This group will accuse others of lying and have to lie to do it. They can fabricate nonsense in a rage. I’ve always been amazed at how angry they get. It’s just a disagreement. Some of us are not fooled by somebody with vague stories that often amount to summaries. Yet they view Jessie as one of God’s great servants and to criticize her in any way is akin to blasphemy. We are often told we are in danger of the fires of hell. Basically, we give them the truth and they call us liars; Jessie lies to them and they thank her for her truth.
Bottom Feeders
Both of these women raised questions regarding the death of my father. As if this is related to my research in any way. More like an unhinged attack, done with malice, without forethought or regard to conscience. Yes, it’s hardball.
For the record, my father died as a result of being too close to a live, downed power line caused by hurricane Mathew in October of 2016. It was an accidental death. Cathy Lake’s comment that my father “supposedly died” is incorrect—he did as shown in his autopsy. All of her other comments claiming Sarah and I lie and fabricate Jessie’s quotes are Lake’s lies in an attempt to cover up. I live in my parent’s house since as the sole heir, I inherited it. How hard is that to suss out?
Laurie Darsey is such a mess Jessie blocked her. Here, she catches on to my father's death story and launches a barrage of tweets demanding I tell the “truth” about my father’s death. This, after she has often called me a liar. It makes no sense and one can do a google search to read the news stories about it. I did what Jessie did—blocked her. Whereby, she called me a coward. That, coming from a woman hiding behind a fake name and a flower picture! Laurie truly is the epitome of a bottom feeder.
The Abusive
Actually, Marion Altena could fit here but I reserved a section just for her since she is a team leader. These are the cult members that do ad hominem attacks with no regard to facts or reason. Any facts will be thrown back in your face. They may be just super dedicated due to their great love for her or else have a paid arrangement. They may also be the sock accounts of other well known supporters. The are without truth or empathy.
The Worst
This category is reserved by Marion Altena, author, photographer and leader of the Netherlands branch of Jessie’s Illuminate the Darkness ministry. (It is unknown what she actually does there.) She serves the same role as Marianne Mulloy did for Sherry Shriner as the Enforcer. Innocent souls that question Jessie are served the Marion Treatment. (See ScottWilburn21) She’s been feuding with me and others ever since I started writing about Jessie and other researchers emerged to challenge Jessie’s claims. Other researchers get the same left hand of fellowship from her. Her anger filled, hyperbolic rants are the stuff of legend. Everything she accuses others of, she does. Her tweets are filled with exaggerated claims, rudeness, slander, lies all while claiming to be a Christian. I’ve been told from various sources she is a witch and I find this totally credible. She claims Christianity but the fruit she bears is rotten. She is truly one of the nastiest people I have ever encountered online or off. Below are just a few of many attacks she has launched over the years against myself and others.
The Final Look
I can say I have never had a pleasant experience with any of Jessie’s people. It’s because I’m a critic and I point out facts that do not fit her ever expanding narrative. Her cult are idol worshipers and are so deeply deceived they are convinced Jessie critics are all liars no matter what proof is provided—and much is. They are fanatical in the belief that Jessie would never lie to them. Or for that matter, any harm such as her treatment of the Rief family and her shady actions in the abduction of Jonah Rief, her promise to help find him, taking money from the Rief family and her resulting inaction. Her cult ignores this sordid event. As it is written in Scripture, even the very elect can be deceived.
I think we view them as mostly misled, needy or gullible Christians and they view us as agents of Satan. My fellow researchers have been called witches or a Bride of Satan with no proof. To question Jessie or document a lie, is to make you a villain in their eyes. We are commonly reminded of God’s judgement upon us for questioning her. And therein lies the division that Jessie creates. She has made no effort to bring both sides together. One would think that if you know you are causing division you would take a step back and take a look at your actions. But this is not happening here.
Somebody once said, you know you are in a cult if you can’t believe your leader would do anything wrong or lie to you.
Sources
https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/the-psychology-behind-cults
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-mind/202106/understanding-cults-the-basics
Dragged into the Light Paperback – by Tony Russo. The Sherry Shriner cult story.