In Reply to: Be honest posted by porceleindoll on April 05, 2004 at 19:25:38:
Pitied or respected are not the only two choices of expressions. I would have to say categorically that I do NOT "pity" you or any SGA for rejecting Christianity, since you never really had the real thing in the Family to reject in the first place, and even it it had been, it was shoved mercilessly down your throats to the point of beatings and Victor camps.
Respect? Yes, I respect you and your choices. Can we disagree on points and still respect one another? I believe we HAVE to. As survivors of a horrible cult, we have to respect each others' beliefs and choices because we of all prople appreciate the freedom of personal choice after years of repression.
But more than anything I think the word that describes my feeling is I understand. I understand and emphathize with the choices that SGAs make. I am not surprised that so many chose to reject Berg's twisted version of Christianity, any kind of authoritarian Christianity, or any Christianity period, given what you've been through.