In Reply to: interesting question posted by Acheick on February 10, 2005 at 10:23:05:
Speaking for myself, I was an agnostic before the Family. All the abuse in the name of God to FG women and families led up to my rejection of Faith. That and the Catholicism and paganism attached to my biological parents affected my faith prior to that. I guess it was Rejection part 1 and Rejection part 2.
My thoughts on why many FG retained a faith is because a) they left early enough before the worst happened and what they learned was not sexually oriented. b) they had biblical training in the beginning and although it was a cult and controlled from a corrupt core, the teachings were gradually corrupted. c) most SG came along when the overt (widespread doctrine of) sexualization of the group had started and had greatly worsened with time targeting the chidren of the group. It would seem hard to keep a Faith so intertwined with sexual sharing schedules and harsh emotional and physical and sexual abuses.
From a historical perpective, I remember Deborah was in charge of childcare and someone had sent her a question regarding sex and what children should be allowed to see or something like that, and her reaction was that children should be allowed to be kids and that wasn't okay. It was pre-Davidito book and before she was dealt with and left the Family.
The first step in letters, from my memory was that children should have a healthy attitude about sex. Don't be afraid to answer questions and nothing wrong with nudity. Well, nothing is wrong with it if you are not a pedophile. But we all know now and eventually learned then, that Berg was one and taught that as doctrine. The FGs that were recruited early did not get involved with a sex cult and just having thoughts and "lusting" after another adult was a subject for intense "dealing with" during purging sessions at times.
Because of the control, indoctrination and so on as described by Lifton and Singer, I believe members, FG and SG now still in TF see things via the eyes of their cult leader or in SG case, their captor.
I further believe that since sex became God in the Family (in the name of Jesus) that it destroyed faith in many and attracted some that would see the family as candyland for their sick criminal desires.
At the same time, some split off their conscience and did not report abuses not realizing them as such. The fact that many people blame Elizabeth Smart for not getting help when she was in public underscores society's lack of understanding of Stockholm Syndrome, Battered Person's Syndrome, Cult Survivors, etc.
That being said, it makes sense that exer FG are categorically seen as abusers and that correlation would be applied to Christianity because that is in fact what happened to SGs regardless of how or why it happened.
I guess my question would be how is it so many FG held on to a Faith after the Family experience? What have different FG gone through that found solace eventually in one religion or another or in atheism/agnosticism and being comfortable with that?
I am not comfortable with any thing.