The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin

Glad someone made this documentary. In high school my friends and I drove to the church on a dare one night. Here in Tennessee's Tri-State area, religion is a part of almost every household. We are used to "out there" Christian practices and we always joked about Remnant being a cult, but we had no idea it was so crazy. We got a scary/eery feeling that something was off. Maybe it was just the superstition that made us think that, but we couldn't wait to get out of there. It is important for Christians to also stand up to other churches when they are wrong. Christians often feel that we are in this battle of the world hating us together, but it is also up to religious people to hold their own accountable. These are the people that cause others to distrust religious people and Christians.

This certainly takes you for a ride. The first episode was a little slow but overall good, the second episode was more captivating and informative, and the third episode had my heart strings pulled in every direction.

Interesting documentary. I wish the structure was more in order as it was a bit all over the place, but there was a lot of information and I enjoyed it. It makes me so sad that people get sucked into cults like this. I feel so sorry for all of the children, especially Joseph.

I wish we got to hear how the people who left the Church were able to do it and what happened afterward.

I wonder if God brought the plane down...awkward!

Looking forward to the new episodes next year.

It's a good series but it could be S'much better with some editing. But it seems that all documentary series' now churn out twice as many episodes as they should. I don't know if it's because they want to stretch these stories out the way the series Dexter took 4 season's worth of material into 9 seasons, or if they just don't want to hire an editor. This is another series that would thrive as 3 episodes. But it IS interesting and well done.

I really enjoyed this and look forward to 2 more episodes (presumably next year?) I'd like to hear a little more about what becomes of some of the key players. Especially Gwen's daughter - if that girl isn't suffering with Anorexia, I'm not sure who is.

I'm a little surprised that the story was unfamiliar to me as I find the topic very interesting. Between the cult storyline and the charlatan religious leader storyline, it was right up my alley.

How individuals can let themselves be taken it by such incredibly obvious hypocrisy is truly beyond me. But I guess they must be looking for something missing in their lives if they're willing to let anyone or anything influence them to this degree. And that's how a cult gets you - it provides what is missing. It fills a void that nothing else has been able to fill.

Of course it's the children either born into it or brought into it by their parents who get my deepest sympathy. Or someone like Delaney who was influenced at a young age and at a particularly vulnerable time in her life. My heart breaks for her parents.

What really fascinated me, however, was reading a couple of the reviews here. There are people who watch the series and then defend this despicable, greedy, evil, charlatan and her co-leaders? It's not a cult and Gwen actually helped people? Really? And how could anyone criticize parents fighting to keep their high school daughter from joining this cult filled with crazies and zealots?

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And it probably shouldn't surprise me as it's a big part of the reason this country is in the horrendously frightening position it's in today.