Video of Ginni Thomas speaking abt her 1980s cult experience with Lifespring

[zuul]

Steven Hassan, PhD @CultExpert (Mental Health Professional)

I knew Ginni Thomas. Ginni Thomas was in a cult (the large group awareness training cult, Lifespring). Here she is in 1989 speaking at an event I hosted for former members. Until today, almost NO one has seen this video.

Link to tweet

As you'll probably notice, Ginni seems likable (and she was)! After she left Lifespring, she got heavily involved in the movement to HELP former cult members exit cults. She also organized a cult awareness briefing for congressional staffers in the late eighties.

Sadly, the people who helped deprogram Ginni were also apparently involved in right-wing causes. As is the case with SO many former members, she was overly susceptible and went from one cult to another (The Cult of Trump).

For more on Ginni Thomas' time in a cult, her cult activism in the 80s, and her turn to right-wing causes, this
@washingtonpost article from 1991 is surprisingly thorough https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/09/10/the-nomineess-soul-mate/3e0a9aa9-fdee-41f3-b5be-a6af468d89cc/

To see the FULL video from this 1989 cult member support group conference, you can see that on my YouTube channel here (Ginni Thomas appears at the 17:30 mark):

[Hekate]

1. KnR

[elleng]

2. An unhappy/dissatisfied person for a long time, it appears.

'Sad,' and dangerous for more than herself.

[lagomorph777]

3. A cult-hopper. I wonder what her next one will be?

Heaven's Gate?

[cilla4progress]

4. What a

hot mess

[brush]

5. So she's been easily manipulated for a long while.

No real mind of her own.

[gibraltar72]

6. Ginni went on to be a trustee at Hillsdale College.

She told then President of the school Larry Arn, She could serve better as an employee working on the inside in Washington DC.

[madaboutharry]

7. She found another cult.

There are people who have personalities that make them susceptible to cults and will move from one cult to another.

[elleng]

8. Seems that there are a LOT of them, these days anyway.