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In Reply to: openmindedness posted by goth88 on August 11, 2002 at 20:40:49:
i personally have not seen many people leave the family and opt for new high control structures.in fact it seems more common that reconnecting w/ other fellowships proves to be rather difficult. for me, personally, spending a lot of time and effort to try and sort thru specific spiritual issues was a very high priority. reading widely from various spiritual and philosophical perspectives, weighing out the points of veiw, seeking to get a sense of God's leading in my own life, questioning carefully my own motives for past and present decisions , has been very liberating. i found it very helpful to detach questions about reality from the emotional content they were loaded w/ in the family. i personally believe the Lord never left me w/o his presence in or out...despite the darkness that eventually crept in to so much of the movement, including my own heart. and when He eventually helped me out, He has been very good to lead me into some very green pastures...stuff that has helped me see beyond not only the narrowmindedness of the cult, but also many of my precult prejudices and thought patterns.
as far as "safe places" go, having space to work thru your genuine inner beliefs w/o lots of human pressure, i totally agree. but it does sometimes strike me that some exmems who do not hold to a christian worldveiw sometimes tend to "lump" or misjudge those who do...or may "read into" others positions associations from family teachings, as some of the lingo remains the same. i have seen many folks who's spiritual journeys have led them thru many phases..changing and (in my opinion) growing...perhaps w/ a few stumbles and zig zags, but to healthy, humble, REAL relationship w/ an infinite, invisible God. obviously, if that is real, that radically impacts how we may approach issues of our past, present, and future.
wondering how you feel about those thoughts, goth?
