In Reply to: Re: MO-letter: Your declaration of independence posted by Farmer on November 18, 2009 at 13:51:33:
Do you mean to say a member can hold this Mo Letter from 1972 up to the leadership's faces and claim some kind of freedom to leave, then they will be bound by their own scruples to let them go? No offense intended, but if that is the case, then you may be quite out of touch.
Theoretically members are free to come and go. Sometimes it really is as easy as saying "I'm leaving" and they show you the door. But we know that is not always the case. Even nowadays with the Charter, there are scores of stories of people being talked out of leaving, blackmailed regarding family ties, etc. It depends how important this person is, if her son is fathered by a WS person for example, if the home she lives in is one of those run by a gung-ho shepherd. If she has an uncle who is abusing her, then he will likely try to keep his hold on her. It's just the way it goes.
My own experience was they did what they could to stop us leaving.