What is the point of control? What do they want?

[Trapped]

Originally Posted by Onlooker

Hello Trapped,

Are you a former church kid? Just by reading your post, I can hear and see the pain of the “church life” over-pouring through your writing. Talked to quite a few former church kids, they all have the same kind of pain that bleeds through even when they are trying to do their best not to show it. I’m just guessing I say. Maybe wrongly.

There is only one way that those who continue all these abuses will be brought to justice even in our lifetime, and that’s by having more and more victims speaking out. Unless that hidden life of the system will be brought out to light, these men will continue to exploit their prey. Whoever this individual is that wrote this post you referring to, or the other post here, is probably a man with a bunch of skeletons in his closet, who can’t and won’t allow any light in the room. This kind of personal vitriol, is the outright expression of what Jesus said, that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. This has permeated in this movement going back for decades, even to the beginning. In order to make oneself feel righteous in their eyes, they step all over people and attack those who call out their hypocrisy.

I very much doubt that this individual has the b@^^s to face the music, especially when it comes to responding to your words, and if what you said can be backed up by real facts (which can probably be found written and spoken by real people, here and elsewhere). It’s a one way street when it comes to them, you ether running people over or you are being run over by them.

Wish you well, and may God raise more people to speak out for the broken, and the afflicted.

To the moderator,
I noticed there is registration process to post here. Maybe eventually I will do so, but I just can’t right now. Please have a bit of grace at this time for me, if possible. I’m not interested in daily or even weekly posting, but I might check in once in the while.
Thanks

Hi Onlooker,

You got it Yes, I am a former church kid. I have also talked to a bunch of church kids, and see the same thing. They are just "not doing well". And there are so many thick layers and facets to that phrase it's unbelievable.

I agree that victims and the wounded members need to speak up, but unfortunately the local church's typical response is tantamount to additional abuse/victimization and gaslighting, and many former members simply are not strong enough for the fight, and the leading brothers know it. Many of the leading brothers know what they are doing. And because of their evil and unrighteous ways targeting those who know and speak the truth, they get away with it. (Even though they are not actually getting away with anything, but simply God's wrath is additionally being stored up against them.)

But for now, although this may seem counterintuitive, I am okay with this situation because the fact that victims are NOT speaking out means that maybe for the first time they are.......prioritizing taking care of themselves first. The local church chopped them up and tossed them in the trash, the local church told them God only loved the Christ in them but not actually they themselves, and now in NOT speaking up, the former members in pain have realized that their own care and healing and recovery is more important right now. They realize they matter, maybe for the first time in their life. So that's a good thing.

But long-term, as people get healed, they do need to speak up and be willing to have their name dragged through the mud because they know what the truth is, and the small-minded, immature, petty name-calling that the local church leaders think is "so effective" will only serve to further dig their own Witness Lee laden graves. Just like there are now many, many videos and blogs and social media pages out there now about groups like Jehovah's Witnesses or Scientology or any number of other problematic groups, so I have no doubt that over time the same thing will happen for the Lord's Recovery. The Lord's Recovery is a lesser known group compared to some others, and so the sheer volume of people willing to speak out doesn't quite seem to be there yet. There are a lot of former church kids out there, and a lot of non-church kid former members too, that are unmoored, devastated, and without a direction because everything that gave them direction for their whole life turned out to be a sophisticated and deceptive lie. The local church hurts people and destroys families and wrecks lives, and that message needs to get out there.

I also agree with your comments about the state of mind of the other poster. I had written a response that detailed out all the ways their posts pointed directly to the way cults operate or the way cults train their members to think (or not think), but abandoned it because ultimately I felt like the "ear to hear" probably wasn't there. Ironically I think when people post in that way, they are actually probably so terrifyingly aware of the lies they are carrying, that that kind of post is just a form of a coping mechanism. The "lashing out" carries enough decibels that it drowns out their conscience, and so they feel temporarily assuaged.

Thanks so much for your kind words and well wishes. It means a lot. All the best to you.

Trapped