Is Ruby Franke Mormon? Religion explored as concerning Connexions cult teachings surface online

Former family YouTube vlogger Ruby Franke, who was arrested on August 30 after being suspected of committing aggravated child abuse, had been a member of the Mormon Church, or the LDS Church, formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The Franke family had been among the family vloggers on YouTube who were also members of the LDS Church. Ruby started her channel 8 Passengers in 2015 and documented her daily life with her husband and six kids before closing the channel earlier in 2023. After that, she co-created another channel, ConneXions, with Jodi Hilderbrandt, who is a therapist by profession.

ConneXions included podcasts and videos pertaining to a support group for moms that discussed parenting principles, creating classes, homeschooling, etc. Ruby and Jodi also held one-on-one training sessions for those seeking them.

However, in the wake of Ruby and Jodi’s arrest, some concerning factors about their content on ConneXions have surfaced. Disturbing events shown or discussed in Ruby Franke’s 8 Passengers are also being circulated online as viewers are left stunned and appalled at the momfluencer’s parenting methods.

Viewers started labeling the ConneXions duo as a ‘cult’ after they began expressing racism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism in their videos.

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Ruby Franke's stricter Mormon beliefs and cult teachings on ConneXions

A Reddit user shared a post around November 2022, asking if Ruby Franke was still a Mormon by religion and comparing her YouTube channel with The LeRoys, another family who were also Mormons. The user wrote that while both these families are members of the Mormon Church, the Franke family appeared to be more old-fashioned and extreme.

The user went on to point out the difference between the LeRoy family and the Franke family. They said that the former talked about their mental health struggles and other issues and that they did not put restrictions on letting their kids have cellphones or going out and having fun. The mother of the Leroy family was also described as sharing a very deep and friendly relationship with her children, and the kids were also well-behaved.

The Reddit user continued that the LeRoy parents also joke about adult topics and are not that uptight with their children. They are only strict with the duration of using cellphones, but otherwise, they were described as a great family. The user then shared that they were confused about whether Ruby Franke was living a twisted version of Mormonism.

Some other users commented on the Reddit post and agreed that the Franke family followed more rigid stances and were stricter with their children in terms of parenting. One user wrote that Ruby Franke spoke about crop tops being awful in one of her videos and also banned her daughters from wearing bikinis even inside their hot tub at home.

Apart from that, throughout the progression of Ruby Franke's now-defunct channel, 8 Passengers, viewers noticed how Ruby and her husband's approach toward their children started becoming problematic to the extent of being abusive. On several occasions, the couple put their children through severe punishments.

After the criticism over their content on 8 Passengers increased to the point of no return, Ruby stopped making vlogs there and moved to ConneXions. In addition to homophobic and racist remarks, Ruby Franke and Jodi Hilderbrandt encouraged their viewers on ConneXions to cut ties with all their family members if their ideals don’t match.

The duo also preached to parents that children in general are manipulative and evil, adding that a parent is not obligated to love, nurture, support, and care for their children at all. Ruby and Jodi said that the sole duty of parents is to teach kids about Jesus Christ and “save” them from distortion by any means necessary.

Mid-2022, Ruby’s eldest daughter, Shari Franke, posted an Instagram story and confirmed that she did not have any contact with her parents anymore and also condemned the extreme views expressed by her mother in ConneXions.

Ruby and Jodi’s content became more distasteful to viewers over time. Jodi Hilderbrandt used the R-word on multiple occasions and even mocked that many people find the term offensive. In another video, the therapist made disturbing comments about r*pe and said that it was a choice.

She added that a woman cannot start engaging in s**ual activities and back out of it midway. According to her, if a woman gets r*ped, apparently she is the one to blame and thus women need to practice abstinence.

Jodi and Ruby also went on with their extreme homophobia and claimed that microaggressions and other terms coined by the LGBTQ+ community were “made-up” words. They also labeled being homosexual, bisexual, or transgender as “distortion,” reasoning the only thing that a person can be is God’s child.

Ruby Franke and Jodi Hilderbrandt's extremist and unusual beliefs have made people deem them a 'cult'. Their controlling behavior towards others has also added to the label.