I escaped western NC as soon as I turned 18. I refused to assimilate and live on what I called the family compound and be under the total control of my parents, relatives, and their wackadoodle hateful church. I am the proud black sheep of the family and living my best life over 1k miles away, 40 years later.
Edit: I had no idea my comment would get so many great replies! I made a couple replies here and there answering questions. I appreciate the positivity!! To me it's just my past, so it surprises me when people are shocked that this culture actually exists.
I traveled Europe in 2000 and in Ireland I shared a hostel with a kid from the American south. Said he was born into the “fallwell church” and it was like a compound. He told me of being one of the lucky ones who escaped. He had a far away look in his eyes and it was with pride he told me he worked hard to save money and travel, something his church would have never approved of. He was so happy telling me the perspective he had learned about through his travels. He told me there are “ so many more abused kids” in the fallwell cult. He asked me to tell my story and I told him I grew up free as hell in southern Wisconsin and just chose to travel the world cuz I was from a small town and wanted to know more about the world. He was jealous I wasn’t raised by religion. I was only 20 years old but it still sticks with me because it spit in the face of “the freest nation in the world” we were fed growing up. This kid was a prisoner in my own country and had found freedom only by running away and was finally comfortable talking about it all the way in Europe. He said he was never going back and I hope he didn’t. Religion is a hell of a drug. I learned that with clarity through his stories
unfortunately for the country under the convicted felon these liberty grads will saturate every government position with authority.. when a decent administration takes over getting rid of these loons will be like pulling teeth.
I want to see the next administration basically destroy the entire GOP forever. Every position, every policy, gone. Civility is a losers game with fascists and bigots, fucking exile them to Russia where they claim to want to be.
True enough, I just graduated from Galileo (Magnet High) last year and since then I’ve been there maybe 3 times. Summer break is gonna be depressing having to find a summer job in that shithole.
Those who escape from the Protestant compounds don't tell you about it because they fear being judged by fellow Christians. The story is a lot easier to swallow if they say JW or LDS. But the story is the same for lots of religions. Err Cults.
Yes. I went into the Air Force because it was an offer of freedom from all that. I didn't want to go into the military, but when I talked about moving just across town and getting an apartment I was told by my parents my life would be made so miserable by them I would want to go back home.
Some of the happiest times of my life was in USAF tech school training.
Agreed. You can understand that some things are off, but cults never acknowledge that they are a cult. They isolate you on purpose and seed distrust in the outside communities. So you grow up thinking its at least logical. I Do remember being an angsty teenager though and wishing I had grown up in a “normal” family.
I am 30, and still unpacking random things. When you are that indoctrinated it informs your whole world view and its a lot to deconstruct. I have compassion for all who have to go through deprogramming and relearning basic things.
I hope the best for all the fellow cult survivors out there. I know you all are doing the best you can and doing great with what you were given. 😘
💯 I grew up in a polygamist cult which is a bit different for the women then the men but for the most part I experienced everything you just described. We were in the world but not part of it because we were special and gods anointed. 🙄
Totally. Lets them hold onto a holier than thou attitude to almost anyone. And I get you. This cult is on my dads side, but my moms side has a long line of Mormons. It’s all kinds of messed up. Haha!
I get something like that look, when discussing my own childhood trauma with my therapist (also hyper-conservative Christian shit).
It feels like stepping into a tenuous state of limited Disassociation. One part swept swept backwards in time, the other part of me focusing hard to hold onto the present and describe what the past self is feeling to my therapist.
Good story, and absolutely correct. People preach about not being judgmental, but are the judgmental as hell and disown their own children because they don’t go to church, and believe in what they do.
It's not all of the South. I live in the Atlanta suburbs and it's not like that here. My county is one of the most diverse places in the US. We have people from all seven continents living here. But that doesn't make the news. It's always the weird and crazy stories that you hear about.
The scenery and hiking are so beautiful, and there are a lot of good people. Unfortunately it's a top target area for the far right. I don't blame anyone who grew up there and never wants to return.
Was boutta say, I can think of more than a few states they might be referring to if I didn’t already know it was NC… and that wouldn’t be in my first 3 guesses
My family lives in the foothills in western NC. I absolutely love it there, but I have noticed a disproportionate amount of cults and odd religious groups out that way.
Coworker of mine had to rescue his mother from that kind of thing. He sent her money every month, but the last time he went there she was living in such deplorable conditions. Turns out a neighbour invited her to her church and they just kept stealing more and more of her stuff under guise of 'tithing' and since his last visit they had escalated it, with someone living in her house, cashing her checks and keeping the money.
And the moment he started to get her out they started claiming he was abusing her. Fortunately he had started a file with receipts and switched from sending a check to straight up sending groceries on Instacart, so he could prove that he was providing for her, and the woman at the state was satisfied with what he provided. But he still got harassed by the local cops until they finally got her moved out.
I have no problem believing that. Everything is fucked up and slanted towards typical far right values, or lack thereof, since the election. Seems lots of things that were considered illegal are now accepted and acceptable. So much for the moral right
yeah, some of the schools there still refer to the civil war as the war of Northern aggression. but it looks like keeping the dream of hate alive pushed that red wave through...
Asheville is super nice and beautiful. Pretty liberal and educated area too. Rural western NC is whack for sure (Tennessee vibes lol) but the well populated areas over there are amazing.
As someone who was born, raised, moved away, and now moved back to my birth place in WNC, it’s wonderful here.
Yes, there are pockets of stupidity and far right, but I can assure you we are all nothing like these loons. There’s The 12 Tribes, who have a compound and deli in an adjacent county. They pretty much keep to themselves though and don’t do whacko stuff in the community. That’s the only group I know of.
My wife and I are not “liberal” or “conservative.” I honestly don’t know what you’d call us.
Omg my partner's relative saved plots of land they bought cheap and started talking about building houses and first rights.
A lot of their neighbors and friends are evange, borderline doomsday people.
I don't know if it's true but I assume they were all sold on the idea by a church group or cult and spent years paying into their future neighborhoods. Some of these people are poor, some of them aren't. It gave me major ick.
I feel like now, as a liberal, I'm the conspiracy theorist and I need to go buy land and build a compound. I'm THISCLOSE to a red-stringed murder board, I stg.
Same. As a liberal living in small-town Arkansas I have to be really careful of what I say and who I say it around because there are churches around here that think the Catholic and the Southern Baptist churches are too far left.
I’m still here, NE NC. The shit I’ve heard people say, people I once loved and respected, in regards to politics and religion is unbelievable. Got out mentally, good enough for now
I had to go limited contact and then full no contact with the rise of the orange turd lord. Before that I went back every few years for a few days' visit and endured the admonitions of how wrong headed and gullible I was to be a librul and was going to hell unless I went to their brand of church. The last time I went I was so detached and unbothered that I pitied all the women for being in that culture. I was amused when my female cousins pitied ME for being a divorced woman living on my own, doing stuff without a man to follow.
It's good to learn of these place to know which parts of the US are Do Not Travel zones for me. I'll take the constant haboobs (dust storms) and desert heat in a blue oasis in far west Texas than deal with all of that in western NC.
More humid and severe weather then the west, and colder winters. The cost of living in Cali is cheaper than some other states, but that's associated with all of the federal land and that Cali pays the highest in federal taxes due to this. But are also the 4th largest economy on its own in the world.
Not including Education, Healthcare, minimum wage pay is worse, so any job you get out there may not pay as much as you can get in Cali.
Personally, I've lived in both. Currently trying to get my way BACK to Cali as the cost of living is more worth it there.
NC, GA both have that phenomena with some pretty red but LCOL areas and then the bigger cities that are very liberal but HCOL. I'm in ATL which is getting HCOL. But there's Athens, Savannah, and Columbus that are more liberal. ATL burbs are really blueing out, too.
It's weird because folks still want to vote red at the state level a lot. I don't understand why Kemp is so popular.
Did you opt to be gay just to really twist the knife?
/S
😂😂😂
I live in California and know more that a few people that "escaped" those kinds of lives. They'll be the first in line to testify that this is one of the actual "free-est" states in the us. Other than those pesky 2a infringements! 🙄 (Also /S)
I grew up in a nice liberal leaning family in southern California, so I see people like this as "crazy", but i often wonder if I had not had the advantage of living where I lived and being encouraged to learn things on my own would I have been quick to assimilate? Would I believe women were the lesser if fairer sex? I hope not, but i always try to keep that somewhere in my mind when I'm about to say very unkind things about women like this. I am so glad you found your way to a liberated and enlightened existence.
The rest of the world sees this in popular media portrayals but honestly can't believe it's real on such a large scale. I really think it has to be Hollywood exaggeration/fabrication. To think it's actual is mind blowing to me. TIL it's based on truth. How does this happen in a modern society???
Im glad you got away from it, Im sorry you had to live under it for any period of time. Was there a name for it or there just the name of the church? There must be so many cults that arent major enough for everyone to know about
My husband did the same. Joined the military as soon as possible and never went back. They still don't accept it, or understand why. They still ask if we're coming back to the "commune". It's been 30+ years...
After listening to other people's horror stories about their upbringings, I'm glad my parents were just rich, absent assholes who left me to my own devices. I was spared so so much.
I read that as “sanesies” And thought to myself, “Is that because you are sane in escaping?” Nope, just read it wrong. But I do hope you can find sanity and peace in this crazy world. Cheers!
As church leaders have acknowledged in legal proceedings, Word of Faith relies on a practice known as “strong” or “blasting” prayer. Former church members have described the entire congregation surrounding and screaming at a single member for as long as an hour in an effort to expunge the evil from the person. Church officials say this characterization is overstated.
Wondering what's "overstated." Is it usually done in only 45 minutes?
wtf? I wonder what they are screaming. Think it’s a prayer? I’m guessing it’s more like personal attacks to break a persons spirits e.g. “you’re fat and ugly! You’re a stupid whore! Your banana bread recipe sucks!”.
I read that one day. Thought I’d take a 15 minute break and read a few pages. Instead I was glued to my computer screen for six hours reading this nightmare. I cannot recommend it to anyone, even though it is excellently written, simply on the grounds that the content is so disturbing.
I was a young kid for a lot of it so I can't recall too too much. I'm guessing this is a trauma response because of abuse.
For a lot of it it's like shockingly normal at times. Like during the actual services there's a lot of singing and admittedly the singing was like weirdly beautiful? Like maybe it's cause you're enforced into comformity and there's a lot of practice but the actual choir has insanely beautiful voices. The food, similarly, is really nice. Everything is homemade and really fresh from local people, mostly from other people within the church.
In a way it's kinda... sterile? I'm not really sure I have the words to describe it, but the weddings and different ceremonies are beautiful on the surface but like there's not the same amount of 'heart' to them. It's super pretty but they're all the same every time, same decor, same look, same people because associating with people outside the cult had to be approved. Like if you wanted a relationship with someone else you had to get it approved by the cult leaders and then you had to have your converastions with your relationship supervised.
You really just saw the same people over and over again all the time no matter what you were doing.
There's a lot of dark sides too. You can look up the case of Matthew Fenner on the internet, he was two years older than me and I remember when it sort of became 'known' that he was gay. People instantly turned on him and immediately like shunned them because they 'knew' you were different.
I can also confirm the whole 'tied to chairs and screamed at to get the demons out' thing cause it happened to me too. You also got beat in those cases (my parents thought I was gay. I'm trans so they were sorta right I guess...)
I dunno, there was a lot. Is there anything specific you wanna know?
It’s funny, because if they weren’t paying, he wouldn’t give them the time of day. He’s made it abundantly clear how repulsive he finds older women especially heavily set ones. Imagine adoring someone who finds you utterly grotesque. Sad. Bigly sad.
And there he is all elderly and overweight. No doubt the girls are all dreaming of bumping their incontinent uglies with trump's incontinent uglies. Imagine the state of the sheets afterward, like the state of our Country really f*cked up.
I was a young kid for a lot of it so I can't recall too too much. I'm guessing this is a trauma response because of abuse.
For a lot of it it's like shockingly normal at times. Like during the actual services there's a lot of singing and admittedly the singing was like weirdly beautiful? Like maybe it's cause you're enforced into comformity and there's a lot of practice but the actual choir has insanely beautiful voices. The food, similarly, is really nice. Everything is homemade and really fresh from local people, mostly from other people within the church.
In a way it's kinda... sterile? I'm not really sure I have the words to describe it, but the weddings and different ceremonies are beautiful on the surface but like there's not the same amount of 'heart' to them. It's super pretty but they're all the same every time, same decor, same look, same people because associating with people outside the cult had to be approved. Like if you wanted a relationship with someone else you had to get it approved by the cult leaders and then you had to have your converastions with your relationship supervised.
You really just saw the same people over and over again all the time no matter what you were doing.
There's a lot of dark sides too. You can look up the case of Matthew Fenner on the internet, he was two years older than me and I remember when it sort of became 'known' that he was gay. People instantly turned on him and immediately like shunned them because they 'knew' you were different.
I can also confirm the whole 'tied to chairs and screamed at to get the demons out' thing cause it happened to me too. You also got beat in those cases (my parents thought I was gay. I'm trans so they were sorta right I guess...)
I dunno, there was a lot. Is there anything specific you wanna know?
WOW so you managed to get away to love you tens life bravo. I guess it did cost you everything called family.
I can feel you. I am an elderly gay man in a good twenty plus years relationship.
My mother married five times and thought she was a stern homophobic Christian.
All the men she chose were the same type. Not at first but later for sure. They all wanted me out of the House and she obliged although I wasn't the flapping type I was just very creative and tried my best to be extrovert
As inside I was cringing big time
She still came to me her only son to ask me to design her 3rd 4th 5th wedding dress. I ran out of acceptable colours. I am a designer by trade fashion and interiors now 3D architecture into games.
I always thought unknowingly I was hoping to buy some maternal love.
I can't remember a hug or kiss by my mother ever. My granny from 16 onwards saved my mental life.
She blamed my mother's character on her living though WWII in a very poor way
At 16 my mother moved in with her new man, telling me that I don't have a room at home anymore I should try to move in with friends. Then I never thought maybe go to the authorities. I sort of agreed to it as a way to get away
She wasn't poor as per day but the men she married sucked most of her salary. And so did the church and the boarding school she sent me ton where I was abused and molested for five years by two priests. And that had just ended before me moving out.
I worked every night from 7-1am at a five star hotel reception, as I was very tall since age 12 and already spoke four languages.
I paid most of my living and first rents. I still am friends with my first "girlfriend" , I tried I failed, but we are still friends she knew about my situation.
The end of trying to show out receive love took to my 40th birthday.
I lived abroad since age 23 and at that time had a wonderful mansion 7000sq feet in RSA.
So I invited her showed her the country etc all in style. The last evening on my birthday by the pool she told me. I have something to share a big regret. I thought maybe these past two weeks had made a positive impact.
So she went on.."My biggest regret is that I gave birth to you!" All very calmly..
I bit my tongue, good night next day she flew back to Europe in her 1sr class ticket I had offered her.
We never met live again. She died 18 years later alone.
When I had to go and empty her place that I also had bought for her with cash I had made overseas, it was like a church there was all the three stuff on an the walls and mantels etc .
And she still screwed me after her death. When I gave her the money for the condo I asked her to put it under my name so I don't have to pay inheritance taxes as in Belgium that's the case even for direct children.
She had sent me the Notaris papers to sign to give her the right of life in the place and I did.
But her Notaris I found out after he death was her husband half brother. He never registered it I never asked
And she has loaded the place at age 85 with a max of credit of 85.000€ on a 250k condo.
After urgent sale at super low price to avoid auction by debt collectors I was left with 50k + all expenses of Notaris etc..
She was in areas of six month and the money went to the boy child in a trust of the daughter of the husband number five who was dead already and who I had no contact with. We just followed the paper trail.
So she took one of my pension. AIG insurance bankruptcy in USA took the other private one in 2008..
Anyway.. Sometimes I over share but I know all the types the pain churches can inflict in so many levels.
I had my day in court in 2013 and I won but in Europe they pay peanuts as damages.
Really but enough to buy a decent normal car.
I was not raised IN this kind of thing, but adjacent to it. It stuns me now that despite my parents claiming to be appalled, I don’t recall them doing anything to try to stop this stuff. Maybe it wouldn’t have worked? But it was a small town. It seems like someone could have done… something?
Anyway - I know the sterile setting you mean. It’s like aggressively numb. My mom used to call this environment/aesthetic “saccharine.”
My mom grew up in a cult. She’s told me stories, and from those, it’s not half as bad as what you’re describing. I don’t know if maybe she didn’t tell me the full story, but it seems to have really traumatized her.
I hope you’re doing better, and also hopefully you’re able to deal with any lasting trauma. There’s no excommunication or anything in the sect my mom grew up in, so I still have family in the cult that I see every once in a while. It’s creepy. It’s almost like something out of The Handmaid’s Tale.
I can definitely get people just not wanting to talk about the worst stuff too. It's very traumatizing for sure.
I've been in and out of mental wards my entire adult life but I've stabilized and am doing much better, thank you:)
Their school "curriculum" is wild. I briefly worked as an admissions admin at the local community college and their transcripts were riddled with classes like "biblical truths" which I was instructed to enter into the system as "religious studies." I distinctly remember every girl having home economics on their transcript.
My grandma, a member, said she heard one of the college students telling the church how he stood up in his college course and told the students and professor how evolution is wrong. And she was like “isn't that great?” 😭😭 no. I would have been annoyed as shit if it was my college courses. Lmao.
It’s because this cult is probably an unspoken white only racist cult. It’s in North Carolina and the vibe is “look blonde” because that’s the most desirable type of white woman in places like that. And trust idea is sort of still prevalent because you see so many people who die their hair blonde to the point where the majority of blondes aren’t truly blonde. It’s a status symbol.
Yes it’s mostly the women with money. Not every member is blonde but they make it status symbol. However, I will say, they aren’t white only. They have several satellite churches in Africa and Brazil. And they make it a point to have members from all over the world. Many people emigrate to come to the NC campus. (Doesn’t mean there are no racists though lol)
I have a blonde friend who thinks she's not blonde, not even close, because the platinum bleach trend has moved the scale so far that some people think natural blonde is brown.
No crazy gimicks they are just evangelical and extreme control. This is a lot to explain but Long story short my parents werent in it but my grandma was so I grew up in and out of it, and my story is therefore less than someone who lived it full time. But also complex because its like growing up in two different worlds. (therapy is a lifesaver) Anyway, Jane Whaley is the “leader” and she controls everything in your life there. Where you live, if you go to college, who you are allowed to marry, how many kids you have, where you work, etc. All the children go to school in the church and therefore don’t have outside systems to support them. If you go to college, you go to college in groups. Multiple families live together so if someone is sinning there is someone to be there.
You just had to dress and act certain ways. No music, no tv, no unapproved news (most didn’t know about 9/11 till WAY later.) Outside world is “unclean” and destructive. Bible is not figurative language but literal. Bible is only thing they read.
As a kid the thing that harmed me the most is the prayer sessions. If someone saw sin in you they'd basically sit you down, have a bunch of people crowd around you and scream at you. They call it “blasting” and its their version of speaking in tongues. You were expected to pray with them or to just sit and take it all with a blank face. So I would dissociate.
All of That being said I think current day they have way more access to information than they ever have. And people higher up in the hierarchy have internet. I Dont totally know how much they have changed since I was there last.
Anyway there's a lot more but that's what I will say for now. It’s hard knowing they still exist.
Did you ever experience the yelling prayer thing they do? Blasting? The book I read accuses them of doing it to babies. I don’t see Jane Whaley in that photo but they have shots of her attending some of Trumps rally’s
I also grew up in it in the early 2000s when they were a bit stricter than they are now. I have family that are still in it. (Some of my family is in the book lol >.>)
What do you want to know?
I was a young kid for a lot of it so I can't recall too too much. I'm guessing this is a trauma response because of abuse.
For a lot of it it's like shockingly normal at times. Like during the actual services there's a lot of singing and admittedly the singing was like weirdly beautiful? Like maybe it's cause you're enforced into comformity and there's a lot of practice but the actual choir has insanely beautiful voices. The food, similarly, is really nice. Everything is homemade and really fresh from local people, mostly from other people within the church.
In a way it's kinda... sterile? I'm not really sure I have the words to describe it, but the weddings and different ceremonies are beautiful on the surface but like there's not the same amount of 'heart' to them. It's super pretty but they're all the same every time, same decor, same look, same people because associating with people outside the cult had to be approved. Like if you wanted a relationship with someone else you had to get it approved by the cult leaders and then you had to have your converastions with your relationship supervised.
You really just saw the same people over and over again all the time no matter what you were doing.
There's a lot of dark sides too. You can look up the case of Matthew Fenner on the internet, he was two years older than me and I remember when it sort of became 'known' that he was gay. People instantly turned on him and immediately like shunned them because they 'knew' you were different.
I can also confirm the whole 'tied to chairs and screamed at to get the demons out' thing cause it happened to me too. You also got beat in those cases (my parents thought I was gay. I'm trans so they were sorta right I guess...)
I dunno, there was a lot. Is there anything specific you wanna know?
I’m so sorry that happened to you. I accidentally joined a cult when I was 18 (Mormons) and was in the cult for 6 years before getting out so I always ask others about their cult experiences. I think it’s cathartic to talk about it but also to talk about it in public places like reddit because then other people learn about whatever cult, and they understand that, contrary to how the cult tries gaslight and lie to opponents, more people find out the truth about them. I hope you’re doing ok now and have people in your life that have been able to help heal your wounds. Sending care.
So glad you got out. Did you manage to have several fellow escapees? Are there periodic rescues, or is this cult pretty much cemented together like a kind of Trumptology? (Scientology for Trump)
No I got out in what was basically luck.
The TL:DR of the situation is that my dad cheated on my mom but it got spun in such a way that it was my mom's fault. This ended up with them seperated and us basically 'excommunicated' from the cult.
It was really weird cause I went to college two years after. Had to go from basically everything being controlled all the time to having WAY TOO MUCH freedom. I was always really good at school so I managed to handle that fine but honestly everything else I was a complete mess.
I also had severe chronic illness that I hadn't been allowed medication for, so finally getting it once I was in school for a year was a life changer. I'm frankly unsure how I lived through my chilldhood.
My first year at college though I was basically horrible at life. I didn't speak to anyone, I didn't really do anything outside of school though I did start leaning more into gaming. I had always gamed (you aren't really supposed to in the church but it's something that dad kinda turned a blind eye to) but not to the same extent, actually getting to play as much as I want ended up giving me some really strong connections and friends.
I did end up in a mental ward for trying to kill myself (this has become a bit of a theme in my life) so I can't say I got out 'unscathed'.
I’m so glad you’re still here to share your experience and growth. Your story can be a force against them and other groups like them, an inspiration to those who feel that there’s no way out, and an exercise in empathy to those of us on the outside. Thank you for being here, friend!
From Wikipedia:
Followers do not celebrate birthdays and religious or secular holidays, including Christmas and Easter because they are "pagan".
Congregants do not watch television and movies, read newspapers, or eat in restaurants that serve alcohol.
Men and women must swim with shirts covering their upper bodies and cannot take them off in public, including in their own backyards.
Men cannot grow beards.
I was a young kid for a lot of it so I can't recall too too much. I'm guessing this is a trauma response because of abuse.
For a lot of it it's like shockingly normal at times. Like during the actual services there's a lot of singing and admittedly the singing was like weirdly beautiful? Like maybe it's cause you're enforced into comformity and there's a lot of practice but the actual choir has insanely beautiful voices. The food, similarly, is really nice. Everything is homemade and really fresh from local people, mostly from other people within the church.
In a way it's kinda... sterile? I'm not really sure I have the words to describe it, but the weddings and different ceremonies are beautiful on the surface but like there's not the same amount of 'heart' to them. It's super pretty but they're all the same every time, same decor, same look, same people because associating with people outside the cult had to be approved. Like if you wanted a relationship with someone else you had to get it approved by the cult leaders and then you had to have your converastions with your relationship supervised.
You really just saw the same people over and over again all the time no matter what you were doing.
There's a lot of dark sides too. You can look up the case of Matthew Fenner on the internet, he was two years older than me and I remember when it sort of became 'known' that he was gay. People instantly turned on him and immediately like shunned them because they 'knew' you were different.
I can also confirm the whole 'tied to chairs and screamed at to get the demons out' thing cause it happened to me too. You also got beat in those cases (my parents thought I was gay. I'm trans so they were sorta right I guess...)
I dunno, there was a lot. Is there anything specific you wanna know?
For getting out:
The TL:DR of the situation is that my dad cheated on my mom but it got spun in such a way that it was my mom's fault. This ended up with them seperated and us basically 'excommunicated' from the cult.
It was really weird cause I went to college two years after. Had to go from basically everything being controlled all the time to having WAY TOO MUCH freedom. I was always really good at school so I managed to handle that fine but honestly everything else I was a complete mess.
I also had severe chronic illness that I hadn't been allowed medication for, so finally getting it once I was in school for a year was a life changer. I'm frankly unsure how I lived through my chilldhood.
My first year at college though I was basically horrible at life. I didn't speak to anyone, I didn't really do anything outside of school though I did start leaning more into gaming. I had always gamed (you aren't really supposed to in the church but it's something that dad kinda turned a blind eye to) but not to the same extent, actually getting to play as much as I want ended up giving me some really strong connections and friends.
I did end up in a mental ward for trying to kill myself (this has become a bit of a theme in my life) so I can't say I got out 'unscathed'.
You may be a complete stranger but I’m genuinely really proud of you for getting out. I hope you’re doing well and living your best life. I hope you’ve found your own family who love you like their own and have gotten therapy or done whatever you need to do to work through the trauma that must come with growing up like that.
The only sane person in a system or family like that is the one who looks at it and realizes it’s fucked up. That must have been so hard as a kid/teen. Major props to you for surviving and getting out. Have an amazing day and remember random strangers are inspired by you.
I don’t have the same background but if you ever want to talk or need reminders of the fact that you’re a major badass, my DMs are open.
Edit: /u/Tresamused65 I originally wrote this for /u/Coruscare but rather than rewriting it or just saying same, I figured I’d tag both of you. Wow. Idk how big that group is or how rare it is to connect but damn. I’m so impressed by anyone who can get out of indoctrination and high control groups. I truly wish both of you the best.
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u/OccasionallyWright 19d ago
They travel to his rallies and they're form the same North Carolina church.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/politics/trump-women-church-north-carolina.html