Editing Love Has Won (section)

== Origins ==
According to her family, Carlson (born November 30, 1975) grew up in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], and was a "straight A student". Her mother, in the [[HBO]] documentary ''[[Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God|Love Has Won]]'', clarifies that she was a good student who earned As and Bs. In Carlson's early adult life, however, she began to talk increasingly about "outlandish concepts" such as starships.<ref name="Didn't Deserve" />

Sometime between 2000 and 2007, Carlson developed an interest in [[New Age]] philosophy and became a regular poster on the Lightworkers.org website's forums. On the forum, she met Amerith WhiteEagle (Robert Saltsgaver), who convinced Carlson that she was divine, and Carlson began to claim to experience [[paranormal phenomena]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite magazine|last=Moyer|first=Christopher|date=November 26, 2021|title=From 'Mother God' to Mummified Corpse: Inside the Fringe Spiritual Sect 'Love Has Won'|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/love-has-won-amy-carlson-mother-god-1254916/|access-date=November 27, 2021|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|language=en-US}}</ref>

In late 2007, Carlson left her third husband, her children, and her job as a manager at [[McDonald's]],<ref name="Didn't Deserve">{{Cite news|last=Iati|first=Marisa|title='She didn't deserve to die the way she did,' says family of cult leader found dead and mummified|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/05/love-has-won-cult-leader-dead/|date=May 5, 2021|access-date=May 5, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref name="New Documentary">{{Cite web|first=Simon|last=Doherty|date=March 23, 2021|title=Watch Our New Documentary About 'Love Has Won', a Group Former Members Call a Cult|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/love-has-won-vice-documentary/|access-date=May 4, 2021|website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|language=en}}</ref> and ceased contact with most members of her family,<ref name="Didn't Deserve" /> joining up with WhiteEagle in Colorado.<ref name=":8" /> The group was originally known under the name "Galactic Federation of Light".<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Phillips|first=Noelle|date=May 16, 2021|title=How a Texas mom left her family to become 'Mother God', leader of Colorado's Love Has Won cult|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2021/05/16/love-has-won-cult-mother-god/|access-date=May 16, 2021|website=[[The Denver Post]]|language=en-US}}</ref> The group posted their first videos to [[YouTube]] in 2009.<ref name=":8" />