In Reply to: ok, give yourself a break posted by sophie on March 23, 2005 at 09:15:10:
Sophie I agree there were some genuinely loving and good people in the Family, people I could still count as my friends today, but for the most part the all-inclusive love and sense of belonging in the cult was very deceptive & controlling. For e.g. if you fell out of favor for 'doubting' or resisting a change foisted on you, then suddenly the word came down from the top & like a school of fish all turning one direction together, everyone would shun you & your best 'friends' & even your mate would report on you in their OHRs. If that didn't happen to you, count yourself lucky. I've heard stories of friends being good, loyal Family members & writing crappy stuff on each other & had it happen to me.
You say, 'There was a whole lot of love given and recieved from the average family member. That`s what made us believe everything.' Yes, it was that love & acceptance that was used to manipulate us to go with the flow & the New weird Wine, cause the day we didn't go with the flow, all the love & acceptance would be taken away. Not only the love taken away, but our kids & mates & jobs & everything we counted dear.
I once had leader in the Family give me such a believable look of love, & I almost made a vital decision based on the 'sincere' love I felt emanating from her, but the bottom line was she was doing it while trying to give me a hard-sell to submit to leadership. Sorry, but I have a very dim view on the genuineness & the quality of the 'love' received in the Famiy. Cool individuals yes, but overall it was used for deception. I don't have the Family's love & acceptance now, for e.g. but I have my freedom & my conscience back.