Shadow Of Hope: A Religious Cult Hiding In Plain Sight

 The Handmaid's Tale is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which has overthrown the United States government.

This famous novel-- also a successful HULU TV show -- was influenced in part by a 1980s religious cult from suburban New Jersey. 

  The Shadow Of Hope podcast explores the history of that cult -- the People of Hope, a Catholic Covenant Community. At its peak in the 1980s, the People of Hope would take over a parish, clash with the residents of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey and build the suburban equivalent of a compound.

Over eight episodes, host Karen Ann Coburn tries to find out what led regular people - her neighbors, her classmates, her friends - to commit their lives to this secretive group. In the process, she reveals the truth about life inside a Covenant Community and ponders the question, what price are we willing to pay to belong to something bigger than ourselves? 

 

Writer / Producer / host Karen Ann Coburn says; "The podcast has had a very positive response so far, and I have been asked many times to produce another season. I do have plans for a bonus episode that is geared toward survivors of high control groups. It will feature an interview with the Psychologist Ray Dreitlein, whom listeners will recognize from the final episode of Shadow of Hope."

Karen Ann Coburn, now a Los Angeles-based podcaster and writer for Pleasant Run Productions, grew up in Cranford, New Jersey, one of the growth areas of this religious cult.

Karen continues: "Five years ago, I returned to my hometown of Cranford and started asking questions. I quickly learned that what started as a Charismatic prayer group became what is known as a Catholic Covenant Community. Led by a failed stockbroker named Bob Gallic, this secretive group clashed with the Archdiocese of Newark and sowed chaos in the town of Berkeley Heights. My investigation also reveals a pattern of crimes that continues to haunt many of those raised inside the People of Hope."

This superb podcast is part true-crime, part horror, part social commentary, and part religious podcast. The tale of the People Of Hope crosses all those genres. 

Karen Ann Coburn has assembled a documentary masterpiece here. Forget video, her haunting audio narrative puts a chill in your bones as she tells the story of this religious cult that encamps itself in the leafy suburbs of New Jersey. 

Karen's scriptwriting, storytelling and narrating keep you driving around the block to finish an episode. The sound quality, music, and depth and number of interviews brings an immediacy to the documentary.

As the tale of this cult unfolds, listeners find that the cult leadership wants more control over its members, so it "requests" that they move to Berkeley Heights, a township in Union County.  Located on a ridge in northern-central New Jersey, Berkeley Heights is a commuter town of New York City in the New York metropolitan area, nestled within the Raritan Valley region.

Over several episodes, Karen explains the restrictions placed on the community members. Girls, for example, could not wear pants, and boys had to engage in only manly activities. Girls, meanwhile, were relegated to passive activities.

 Karen knew from Lauren Passell's newsletter about Ear Worthy, and that I lived in the Cranford area as a young adult. In an email, she asked me if I had ever heard about the People Of Hope? Did I know that a dangerous cult lived near me at the time? No, I didn't. That points out how these cults -- not just religious but political -- can live next door to us, and we not see their extremism. They consciously blend into the background and assiduously work in the shadows to convert new people to their twisted cause. 

Whether you are brainwashed by a religious cult leader or a "news" network or demagogue, extremism does foundational damage to society and culture.

As podcaster / author / professor Brené Brown says: "Faith minus vulnerability and mystery equals extremism. If you’ve got all the answers, then don’t call what you do ‘faith.’"

  I highly recommend Shadow Of Hope. It's narratively sound, a canary in a cold mine about the insidious nature of extremism, and reminds us that skepticism, the scientific method and logic are useful tools in our topsy-turvy world.