My parent's marriage failure with their constant fighting, who felt obliged to get married when entering the cult a few years before I was born, felt obliged to stay together because of the kids and to maintain my dad's honor in the cult, but who finally separated whenever the kids were old enough... That would make them the best relationship counsellors?
Around me I was seeing young people get married and divorce a few years after and sometimes one of the two was excommunicated and shunned. Mean gossip about people and their supposed motivations was rampant. I was tired of the guilt tripping sermons about natural things everybody does, like masturbation.
Personally I knew that I didn't want that miserable life in an unjust cult by 12, I left around 16. I wasn't interested in marriage and kids either but I had a girlfriend (outside of the cult) by then, thanks to my "double life". Because I was the elder, when I left, I was told that I was a bad example to the others, so I was thrown out around 18.
We were immature, our personalities weren't compatible and it didn't last more than a few years, but we fortunately discovered that before being engaged and with kids. We both moved on and had other partners.
I have no regrets and am still glad to have left the cult. My parents are still full of regrets and in the cult, separated and never remarried. Only one of the kids returned, the others left like me when they wanted to live their life. We're all in long term relationships, some of us are married, half of us have kids.
I'm still convinced that it's foolish to engage for life just to be able to really know somebody and make love. It's a trap.
"Appearance of evil": so it's really just a show to lure others and eachother? A bunch of elitist miserables role-playing a Victorian royal family, make-belief? Not honesty and salvation?