LC turned me into a leftist

Hi everyone!

Long time lurker, first time poster.

Long story short, I was involved in LC in the Midwest for a good 4 years. I was gained on campus when I was a freshman. Was very active on campus. Been to all training and conferences I could afford to go to. Loved spending time with the saints. Dropped out of all other extracurriculars by the end of those 4 years. Lost almost all other contacts as well.

Looking back I've never been that depressed or anxious in any other situations. The amount of abuse and stress I was under- kinda unreal to even think about it. Having lived with a racist/white supremacist roommate who was the personification of passive aggressiveness makes everything so much easier in comparison. I'm in grad school studying psychology because, one, I really want to figure out what's wrong with me and second, I'm so intrigued by social psychology, especially theories on cults and trauma. I made it my area of focus and I love what I do. I guess in a way I have to thank LC for that, haha.

Been in behavioral therapy for two years and I can't praise it enough. Therapy saved my life. It rebuilt me as a person from thought processes to actions. I was so damaged and biased and narrow minded I would literally gasp reading some of my old journals from LC years. I didn't sound like a real person; everything on those pages sounded very manufactured and... fake. I was so lost that I didn't feel safe to be honest with myself even, what a tragedy.

Going back to the title. I am a proud feminist and am really into social justice because of my LC years. The LC was a perfect example of patriarchy to me. The dress codes, rules on interacting with members of the opposite sex, rules on speaking in the meetings, and the entire leadership of LC... I can't think of any other social groups I've been in contact with that exhibit the same level of sexism and oppression. It is unbelievable. The objectification of women, intolerance and hatred against the LGBTQ communities, intolerance against other faith groups or Christian groups... Just unbelievable.

It is quite liberating to be out of the LC and live like a normal person again. Well, normality is overrated. Everyone is weird and quirky in their own ways. And I don't have to figure everyone out, I can just accept people as who they are. My friends are amazing, I love my school, and I'm doing everything I can to help out my community and protect those that are marginalized. When we take care of those that are most vulnerable, we will all be better off.

That'll be it for today. If you've read till this far, I appreciate your attention and time. Much love to you all. Take care.