TIFU, by talking bad about a "cult" in my hometown.

Yikes. Normal day at work, boring and uneventful as usual.

Friend at work was discussing video games, asked for his gamer ID so we could play some later. It's the same name as a famouscult leader, the one who had the people drink the Kool-Aid that made them sleepy....

We got on a tangent about Jonestown, Waco, and then I brought up a cult that live on the property of an abandoned haunted house that's situated in a cave.

Another coworker in the room became very upset at me for insinuating that it was a cult. I said "It sounds a lot like a cult from what I've read and seen on TV about it."

She became very upset and told me I didn't know what I was talking about. I thought that was weird, so I searched for them online again after not doing so for many years.

Guess who's photo is on an interview piece done about the "Cult"? My co-worker.

I FEEL SO FUCKING BAD GUYS. I basically just shit talked this girls whole community.

I'm going to apologize for what I said. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. Ouch.

Edit: since this has blown up I’ll address some questions.

1. I called it a cult because it’s been featured as a cult on VICE news, Dr Phil, Lisa Ling, Oprah. It’s also been featured on numerous websites. I found a blog post by a woman that used to be with the leader of the group and the comments on the blog post are filled with people calling it a cult. set-free-indeed.blogspot.com/2018/02/back-from-year-fall-of-september-2009.html?m=1

2. The cave is the abandoned haunted house. Before they moved there, it was used as a big scale haunted house type of thing where people would go for Halloween. It shut down due to safety concerns because portions of the cave were deemed uninhabitable.

3. The leader of the group has a double major in religion and psychology. He has a way of talking to people that makes them feel as if he has all the answers to their problem. He’s said some very inflammatory things about organized religion and mega churches.

4. Not everyone believes it’s a cult. They do feed and house a lot of homeless, drug addicts, and felons there. There have been some very bad people that have stayed there. One man was arrested for trying to bomb churches in Oklahoma.

5. I feel bad because the person I know who this TIFU was related to is not a bad person. She appears to have been taken in by this group with no other place to go. According to her, she has had substance abuse issues and they helped her get over them.

6. I believe it’s a cult because of the numerous allegations by former members that it is a cult and that the leader manipulates people into doing things. Like telling people that they can hear the voice of God, telling them to leave their husband, his idea of Spiritual Marriage, which states you can divorce someone just because you hear a voice that says so.

7. This man has full blown dialogues with God. He has written a book, allegedly with the same name.

8. There’s more that I cannot say because the last thing I want is to be fired from my job for making this a big deal. Just pointing out what I know to be true and what I have heard from others who know this group.

• TL;DR I talked bad about a religious group in front of my coworkers and found out that one of the members of that group is also one of my coworkers and it's very awkward. I want to apologize but I feel so awkward about it.