In Reply to: Re: a question posted by Aggie on May 01, 2009 at 07:01:35:
Destructive cults or organizations use fear to control people. Fear while in and fear after leaving. How is this done? Say a country rejects the cult and then a few weeks, months or years later some disaster happens, like a big earthquake, the leadership of the *DO* (destructive organization) will say God did it to punish that country for their rejection.
Followers parrot this information.
Like if a restaurant refuses to let their crappy singers sing in it, they "wipe the dust off their feet" and talk to God the hitman about how mean those people were to them. A few months later, the restaurant collapses. Praise God, the hitman. I'd laugh if it wasnt' so tragic that people's minds can get twisted like overwrought pretzels in these orgs.
On a more intimate level, say a person leaves a *DO* and then gets into a car wreck and their kids die, according to the *DO*, God did it to punish them for leaving and internally, the person who left could return to the group with horror stories of God's mercy in sparing them and how God dealt with them for "backsliding" by taking their family.
What kind of sadist do they believe in, and isn't it a bit grandiose to believe God would harm your family so he could get you back in the fold, or threaten others about dire consequences should they even consider leaving?
When something bad happens to the leader, it will usually be blamed on the Devil. Yes, the Devil is out to get the leaders but GOD will get the followers. &gn;:P
There are tons of examples of cults cursing backsliders and people who reject them, some of them documented in writings of which numerous incidences are printed in TF literature.
It's not odd that you feel under psychic attack.
What is encouraging though, is the more you recover from your experience the more you will come to realize that bad things happen and so do good things and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the *DO* other than perhaps implanted fears and dread are taking hold.
It's not any different than people who believe in Voodoo and they fear the witch doctors. Much of what gives the witch doctors power is spiritualizing anything bad that happens.
Other factors are the use of physical means to create illusions of something greater causing bad things to happen, or organized lying and pretending "Jesus" or (fill-in-the-blank god) is talking.
Though you are not physically with your *DO* any more, it sounds like the fear factor has a grip on your life. I'd say, seek out professional help. You are not crazy but you are distressed (normal reaction to living in a *DO*) after getting out and it helps to have people who can help you 'get your marbles back'.
Some people get out of *DO's* and still, years and years later, fear God, like some sort of hit man in a helicopter with a big flood light on them and a scope with them in the crosshairs. God-uh, the big hitman-uh in the sky.
Those people are pathetic. You deserve healing. It will take some time, but that fear will lift if you can get away from people that spiritualize everything and attribute everything to (fill-in-the-blank) "God" or "The Devil" according to their leader's doctrine or how the Lord "leads" them.
You'll notice that in a *DO*, a person is "lead of the lord" as it wraps nicely around cult doctrine. Congratulations on leaving your *DO* behind, and there is HOPE and healing for getting the *DO* out of you.