Back in January of 2020, before all the crazy, I was contacted by Bob Smietana, who was then the Editor-in-Chief of Religion News Service, a rather impressive and wonderful news outlet that reports on the religious angle of all the newsworthy stuff going down. Bob had found this podcast and was interested in discussing my childhood and experiences and we ended up doing an interview some weeks later. He also talked to my dad and sister. The article ultimately came out on October 14 and you can find it here: https://religionnews.com/2020/10/14/process-church-final-judgment-best-friends-animal-rescue-foundation-faith-jared-garett-latter-day-saint-cult-scientology-satanist-pet-rescue/

I shared it around and had some fascinating reactions. First off, it sounds like my dad and a few other former members aren't happy with how 'Satanist' the cult sounds. Additionally, there's at least one factual error. More importantly, one of the guys I grew up with got Facebook-angry and I wound up doing an informal poll of others that I grew up with regarding how we grew up.

Turns out we have very different takes on our experience.

I'll address all of these things in this episode, as well as share my own thoughts as I read my own words and experience as filtered through a very good journalist's brain and writing.

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