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In Reply to: At what point did you leave? posted by porceleindoll on September 09, 2002 at 20:14:34:
Many people are not in The Family but by their own declarations, they still have much of The Family in them. The reason is that departure is a process and has many stages.
In The Family it involves a series of decisions on each one of the doctrines. The teachings of the Family permeate every aspect of life and everything we did, we thought about and talked was in accordance to a prescribed cannon. People construct their realities based on their own experiences, real or imaginary. The Family gave those experiences and defined reality for everybody so in order to move to another environment, one must review all the aspects that built that reality.
Not everybody can do that. Not everybody will want to do that. It doesn't matter whether they are still in The Family or not. Why? if their reality is not being challenged, why would they want to change? If they are comfortable with that reality, why change it?
Some of the steps required to leave The Family must pass through first and foremost, realizing that Berg was not a true prophet (because he was a false prophet). This in itself is a long walk for many because it goes through stages as: a man of God, a good man, a man with good intentions, a man who made mistakes and posibly some others.
Then there is the deal of his letters, which is also related to how Berg is viewed. A saivor, a prophet, a story teller, a charlatan. Some people, even though out of the family for decades, are still clinging to the letters as if they contained some sort of divine revelation.
Then there is the living together... then the tithing... then the publications and personal attachments...
There are many stages but one thing is for sure, those who were not born to be slaves and zombies will eventually find their way out of that bondage. May God be with then to lead them in that direction.
