CLOSING THE DOOR ON SHERRY SHRINER

 

On July 19, 2010 I posted what I thought was a humorous piece on a bizarre group of people on Facebook whose belief system was so far out there, I thought it was satire. That post, which you can read by clicking here, began a several years' long fascination on my part with this charisma-free individual and her increasingly demented claims. 

Her followers did not find me amusing, as evidenced by the post above, and soon the novelty wore off and I decided to look into their leader. What I found was a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories with roots stretching back to anti-Semitic beliefs, Hollywood-inspired tales of aliens, and astoundingly odd misreading of the Christian Bible. Despite what was already enough to convince me the woman was mentally unbalanced, it was when I heard her speak that I knew for sure she was dangerous.

I listened to several of her podcasts and even suffered through one of her rambling, schizophrenic "books" because I just couldn't believe there were other people taking her seriously. Eventually, I started writing about her and her cult of adherents. I published the articles on Suite101 with the intention of trying to figure out if Shriner was a con artist or a true lunatic. I reached the conclusion that she was somehow, paradoxically, both. There really is such a thing as believing one's own bullshit, and no one excelled at it the way Sherry Shriner did.

After a while, it stopped being fun. People enjoyed the articles well enough, but they seemed to fall into one of two camps: The Dismissives, who felt Shriner deserved no attention at all, and the Popcorn Munchers, who looked forward to a good laugh. I was neither. There was something dangerous about this mush-mouthed individual, something dark and horrifying. I had gone from intense amusement at the outset to fascination to finally wariness. 

While I looked in on Shriner's antics from time to time over the next decade, I didn't feel the need to write about her. Others were already doing that, some of whom were doing a good job. Still others were just out there as she, calling her a false prophet instead of dangerously mentally ill. Some even accused her of being the shapeshifting reptilian alien she labeled others as being. I was not the first person to write about her, but it seemed like most others were more concerned in proving she was wrong in favor of their own ideologies. Clearly a war was being waged between extremists in the world of self-righteous zealots. 

The years passed and more dangerous paranoids took the stage, most notably Alex Jones. The QAnon movement seemed to encompass all ludicrous theories in a similar way to Shriner but with even more frightening effectiveness. Shriner was becoming a dinosaur in an era where her teachings were little more than an Internet footnote. Her voice had receded into the background of a rising cacophony of illogical, truth-bending, reality-denying imbeciles all believing their uninformed opinions to be equal to proven fact. I almost longed for the "charm" of her silly claims and assertions. Then I found out somebody was killed because of her and everything changed.

Actually, let's take a step back to 2012, not long after I had stopped paying much attention to Shriner and her wacked out cadre of supposed Orgone Warriors. Somehow, a story did not catch my notice that year, perhaps because it was a pivotal year of change for me. Apparently, a young woman from my home state who actually didn't live all that far from me committed suicide in a nearby park so she could be reborn as a spirit warrior in Shriner's so-called cause. Her name was Kelly Pingilley and she was, by all accounts, most likely an undiagnosed delusional schizophrenic who desperately wanted to understand the voices and urges in her head. Shriner preyed on people like her.

An event I did know about was the suicide and possible murder of former Shriner acolyte Steve Mineo in 2017. Mineo supposedly asked his girlfriend to shoot him in the head because he couldn't handle all of the online harassments from Shriner's followers coupled with his inability to expose her as a fraud. The details of the shooting are bizarre and covered in length on the Vice docu-series "The Devil You Know." But you can read a more detailed account here.

Shriner immediately went into self-preservation mode, blaming the girlfriend by branding her a vampire and a demon and shapeshifter and a clone and whatever else dropped out of her evil ass. She blamed NATO for Mineo's death, which she claimed was part of a psyop being waged against her because of her dangerous status as God's holy messenger.

First of all...NATO??? Secondly, how could Mineo's girlfriend be all of those things at the same time? She even used doctored photos to make it seem as if the woman had been replaced with an older-looking clone.

Who knows what other horrific things she caused during her time online? She was an unrepentant opportunist to whom human life clearly meant very little. Her "ministry" was her source of income and she milked it for all it was worth. 

Shriner died of a heart attack on January 28th, 2021, most likely caused by her reported chain-smoking problem. One would think a movement so strongly identified with its originator would die off with that person gone. One would be wrong. The Facebook page devoted to Shriner continues under her daughter's moderation and many claim Sherry wasn't killed at all. One person even wrote that she was "disappeared" by NATO and will re-emerge brainwashed,  refuting everything she taught. All I could write back was, "Now THAT'S how you keep a swindle going!"

That is most likely my final word on the subject of Sherry Shriner, warbley-voiced, poorly spoken, hostile and undeniably insane self-appointed Messenger of the Most High and purveyor of every batshit crazy conspiracy theory ever devised. May she fade into the background of collective memory until she is little more than footnote. 

It's Not Always About Getting Published

I recently queried an editor who is compiling an anthology of alternative theology stories. Without getting too deeply into what that means, suffice to say I had a feeling my previously published story about the White Republican Jesus confronting the actual historical Jesus while mindless Americans cheered him on might be what they were looking for. Unfortunately, I sent the query after the submission acceptance period had closed. Here is the thread, starting with my letter (His are in quotes):

I was wondering if you are accepting reprints for this anthology? I have one in which Evangelical Jesus and Actual Jesus have a war words in the street. it was originally published in a for-charity anthology I edited.

-Christopher Nadeau

"We have closed it, but I have a practice of reading late submissions and if they knock my socks off I say screw it if schedule allows and include them.  I have the joy of writing the checks and so I get to make those decisions.  Send it and I’ll read it."

Thanks! Whether you say yes or no to this one, you just made the list of my top five favorite editors with that reply!

Story attached.

"I like this very much.  I’ll know in the next thirty days if I’ve got any room, I have two other stories in the same space.  If room opens up, depending on what drops out, I’ll let you know. 

That isn’t an acceptance or rejection, but it is definitely worthy of the anthology, if room presents itself."

I told him I understood and thanked him; sometimes just knowing that someone would print your story if they were able can be satisfying in its own right.

Proof that I Tried.

If nothing else, I can take some comfort in the fact that I wasn't one of those bullshitters who stood back and talked a good game about someday somehow maybe considering sitting down and writing those stories or that book one day possibly in the not-too-distant future. I did that and more. My "legacy" is out there for others to see, at least those works that aren't out of print.

So, no matter what else happens or doesn't happen, I know I was present and I did the work. Whether or not I succeeded is a subject open for debate, but at least on a minor, personal level, I guess I did.

I assume my "author page" will remain up for some time to come~

The Danger of Sherry Shriner Revealed.

Seven years ago I posted this exchange between the followers of a woman named Sherry Shriner, her followers and I. At the time, I was astounded by the sheer insanity I saw on her Facebook page (I'm still blocked from viewing it, by the way) and amused by the interplay that resulted from my attempts to locate a modicum of logic in their bizarre belief system.

In a nutshell, Sherry Shriner believes in every conspiracy theory regarding aliens, monsters and secret societies out there. She uses the Bible as a way of combining them all. Soon after the reposted exchange, I decided to start investigating this individual to see if she was insane or a con artist. I wrote several articles, finally arriving at a disturbing conclusion: She was both. It is indeed possible to believe one's own delusions and still be a manipulative confidence artist. Charles Manson and Jim Jones come to mind.

Shriner does it in a post-modern online way but she still leads a cult of unstable wackjobs desperate to believe what she says ties up all the things that make them uncomfortable or uncertain and presents them in a neat, prepackaged bow. Most of my articles are, sadly, no longer available but as I published them, I went from outright amusement to deep concern. Cults have always fascinated me. I actually began a novel featuring feuding cults fighting over a captured alien. But Sherry Shriner always struck we as someone potentially dangerous and now I know why.

Somebody has died because of her insanity.

It's not funny anymore. This woman needs to be institutionalized right alongside her equally mentally ill followers.