Mariama Bah

Biography

Grant writer and massage therapist Mariama is a survivor of an international high-control group. She formally resigned from the group upon learning her ex-spouse had been excommunicated without her knowledge. Having confusion around doctrine and policy, she dove headfirst into intense research on her group and curiosity led her to find groups labeled as cults. To her surprise, she realized the parallels between what she was researching and what she had personally experienced were too similar to deny. The cognitive dissonance was real; for the first time, her mind was free to explore thoughts outside the teachings she was brought up believing. She was now free to choose what entered her mind from here on out. Living Cult Free came on her radar as she reached out to organizations providing resources and support for survivors. Stay tuned for her upcoming podcast DISPLACED.

 

Born as a third generation into a religious high control group, Mariama was 32 was the lightbulb went off that something wasn't right. Her relatives had held positions at headquarters as well as her ex-husband. She had first-hand exposure to incongruent behaviors and procedures. She felt that as more time went on she was getting less scriptural explanations of how issues were handled and more "this is our policy' reply. She felt herself become more suspicious of procedures as she tried to do 'internal research' and noticed after she started therapy she was being asked questions about how situations were handled that she not only could not answer but knew even with research she would still be left in the dark waiting for answers. She chose to leave about six months into the COVID-19 pandemic and realized she was in a cult 11 days later after doing 'external research' on what classifies a cult.