FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Ottawa, Ontario, Monday, March 10, 2025. A Canadian survivor of abuse at an elite Canadian Christian school has a dire warning about the serious consequences of religious freedoms afforded to educational institutions on both sides of the border: that this may leave people scarred for life.
“As the conservative Christian movement is gaining strength and wielding political power, now is the time for survivors of religious extremism to speak up,” says Beth Granger, one of the representative plaintiffs in a landmark class action lawsuit against Grenville Christian College in Brockville, Ontario.
Granger was born and spent her childhood at the now defunct private school, shuttled between Grenville and the Community of Jesus, a controversial sect based in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Instead of being an elite educational institution, Grenville turned out to be an abusive cult.
“What’s important is that we continue to shine a spotlight on cultic abuse that causes lifelong damage,” says Sarah Edmondson, actress, author of Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life, and co-host of the A Little Bit Culty podcast.
Granger shares the details of her abuse, including the debilitating impact on her mental health, in a new memoir, Born and Razed: Surviving the Cult was Only Half the Battle, which is described by cult expert and author Janja Lalich as, “a stunning contribution to the growing recognition of the impact and trauma of growing up in a cult.”
Granger describes how churches often seem like warm, welcoming communities while the truth is quite the opposite. At Grenville, for example, visiting dignitaries, advisers, and ministry inspectors were always impressed by students and staff. And because followers are taught to suspend independent thought, they are unlikely to notice the damage being done to them or to those around them.
It’s not just strictly educational institutions at risk for this abuse. Granger also worries about the troubled teen industry, that includes:
- therapeutic boarding schools
- residential treatment centres
- conversion therapy centres, and
- wilderness programs.
“Most of these are run by religious groups who continue to operate largely unregulated,” says Granger, who believes that the fact that their religious status exempts them from government oversight should alarm everyone.
“Youth don’t leave these places unscathed,” she says. “And when children are stripped of their self-worth and traumatized in a system of fear, they become adults who can’t always cope. Their partners, children, and even colleagues will be impacted. The ripple effects can be staggering.”
With religious freedoms guaranteed by law, and religious institutions enjoying tax exemptions, Granger calls for accountability for these institutions and their leaders. She also believes that cultivating compassion and spreading awareness are important steps in combatting harmful indoctrination and abuse in the name of God.
Born and Razed: Surviving the Cult was Only Half the Battle is published by Ingenium Books and was released February 19, 2025.
Learn More:
About Beth Granger: ingeniumbooks.com/beth-granger/
About Born and Razed: ingeniumbooks.com/BORN
Access Beth Granger’s Media Kit: ingeniumbooks.com/bethgranger-mediakit/
Beth is available for media interviews and her important new book is available for review.
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