When I was seventeen, I graduated high school and packed up to move to Phoenix, Arizona. I was joining a discipleship training program for college-aged students. I was elated–it was my first time moving away from home and I loved the idea of dorm life and adult life. As most teenagers are, I was happy to be out of mom and dad’s house so I could make my own rules, live my own life and redefine myself. Typical post-high school feelings.
The training program wasn’t what I expected it to be, though. Instead of making up my own rules, and acting out my new adult life, I spent several years forbidden to go off campus without permission from a discipleship leader, unable to date without the permission of my pastor (which wasn’t ever given), scrubbing toilets, washing dishes, doing laundry (for the pastor), and nannying the pastor’s children.
I was quickly branded the “good girl” and was put to work in the pastor’s home taking care of their children and often writing sermons for the pastors. I was a “pastor’s wife in training.” My senior pastor called me that, actually. He would walk in the house and call, “Woman of God! Did you go running today? We don’t want you to pack on the pounds like my wife here.” His wife was a size two and worked out at the City Club in Lafayette, LA at least three days a week. She only ate salads and there were no “extra pounds” on her, as he implied.
The pastors snatched me up to groom me into looking like their wives, teach me ministry etiquette, and give me face time with my pastor so I could “counsel” with him and make sure my decisions were ran through him before I did anything major in life. I raised his children, in part, because they wanted me to be a good mother when their chosen pastor came along to propose to me, and the other part of the plan was that they wouldn’t have to pay a nanny since I worked nearly for free (about $0.50 an hour, actually).
I planned the holiday church staff parties, wrapped presents for dinner parties, and learned to cook their favorite Cajun meals, so I could be the absolute hostess when my time came to help lead my own church. I was encouraged to run every morning, and not to eat fried foods, because no one likes a fat pastor’s wife. My hair was to be grown out long, and blonde was the color of choice for me. I was taught walk in stiletto heels, with a proud chest, raised chin, and eye-brow lifted just enough so I’d look sexy and mysterious.
It worked. The men wanted to be near me. Some wanted to marry me. One that I actually thought was attractive. However, the pastor had his own set of ideas when it came to what men were suitable and unsuitable for me. His dream was to plant 100 churches in 100 years. I was to be on the next shipment out of the church, with my groom-to-be (chosen by the pastor), so that we could plant a church in X-City in Louisiana.
The pastors dream was tripped up for a second when I told him that I’d like to do missions work, with or without a husband, and not pastor a church. I’d also like to get a college education. And while I was at it, I really liked this one guy, T, not the guy he’d “prepared” for me.
All of this was a terrible shock to the pastor.
Why?
I don’t think any woman in his life had stood up to him. Ever. Not to mention, Christian Southern women from his church did not make up their own mind. He was the authority of them, if they were single, and he made up his mind for the women in his congregation. If a woman was married, and he didn’t like her husband, he’d spend time emasculating her husband so he’d be afraid to speak his mind, too.
After our discussion, with which we disagreed on the core things that mattered to my future, I knew that I couldn’t live in Louisiana anymore, and I couldn’t attend that church. I’d have to do the hardest thing I’d ever done until that point: leave the friends I’d grown to love for years.
I knew what happened to those who left the group. They were never spoken to, and they were whispered about quietly (mostly about the “sin” they were partaking in, and how they’d “backslid” into temptation). If you left without the pastor blessing you, you were considered to be rebellious, disobedient, and otherwise a castaway. Most of your peers and fellow leaders would ostracize you and drop their loyalty to you as a friend in order to prove their devotion to the pastor whom you didn’t listen to.
In retrospect, everything that I was taught in this group was either extreme or destructive to my personal well-being. Not only was it unbiblical; it was unrepresentative of the idea and teachings of Christianity. There was no academic, historical or social context taught to us with the Bible. It was an authoritarian viewpoint from the pastor, only, and no other voice of God was to be heard but the pastor’s. The way the Bible was twisted into oppressing us was horribly abusive.
We were given the idea that we were not only sinful in nature, but we were rebellious, and couldn’t trust our own hearts because they’d lead us astray from what the pastor taught us. And what our pastor taught us was God’s voice of authority in our lives. If we departed from it, we were in sin.
It took years for me to figure out that this group was a cult. It took tears and many therapy sessions until I could admit that those pastors whom I loved so deeply, were harmful to me.
For me, it’s taken years to redefine myself and to give myself permission to change as a person. I still wrestle with the guilt that I’m not “living my life right” or that I’m an evil, rebellious sinner, despite knowing that I’m actually a pretty decent human being.
I began my Bachelor’s degree in 2005, after leaving the training program and church. I started school, still defining myself by “their rules” and eventually found the support to break away from the power they still had over me. I entered therapy, which was helpful.
I took classes on Christian fundamentalism, the Holocaust, and World Religions. I found through my studies that religion in general has caused a lot of harm to people, but it’s also mostly good at its core. Humanity can be horrific and awful based on their religious or personal biases, but humanity can also be a thoughtful, insightful group of people.
The more I studied and made new friends, the more open-minded and contentious I became.
I began to discard everything I was taught in the cult, and I went back to my young adulthood to find who I had been before I joined the group. I revisited childhood dreams of becoming a writer. I took up drawing, as I did when I was 10. I allowed myself to be happy with my personality, my quirks and my own dreams.
I cried a lot. I talked to friends for hours about the hurt I was experiencing. I got a cat (which I highly recommend).
Every one copes differently, and everyone’s journey will be different. I can’t offer you a cliché answer that life will be better, or eventually be perfect. Honestly, life never will be perfect.
I can express to you that if you were in an abusive relationship, or a religious cult, there’s nothing wrong with you, and the shame you feel comes from the power struggle we may always feel from our former leaders and oppressors who spent years carefully manipulating and controlling every choice in our lives. They live in your head at times, and the best thing you can do is cut ties with those people, and don’t feel bad about it. Distance yourself from them. Provide for yourself resources, friends, and tools to make you feel safe and healthy again, and keep supportive, kind people around you in your life.
Life will eventually feel normal again, and you’ll start to feel happy with who you are, and not what someone is telling you to be.
Hi, I am currently in Master’s Commission in New Iberia, La. I am glad that you are putting you stress and frustration out in the open. But I think that you are putting a bad name on Master’s Commission. I know from my 2 years of experience that Master’s Commission is not a cult. I repeat NOT A CULT!! And stepping into Master’s Commission as a 1st year, EVERYBODY know you can’t date!! I think if you were close to God as you were stating that you should of kept to your convent that you sign at the beginning of the year. And authority or not, and Christian knows that if what they are telling you does not line up with the Word of God, then don’t listen to them and follow God. It is only common sense for you to leave if you were getting treated harshly. I do know of some MC groups that have took advantage of their students and that have made it a “cult” like experience but the students left! I promise you, if my directors where like that I would be on the next flight home! We have a great MC group and AWESOME and AMAZING directors, and if you have any questions I have no problem answering them! – Shala, 2yr M.C. Acadiana
All religions are a cult.
Thanks for writing this!
I am glad you had the courage to free yourself from the manipulations of a religious abuser. You are free to be who you are & not what some controller wants to mold you to be…which is usually in their own image.
Kudos!
Which is especially terrible when they’re not too good looking, if you know what I mean. ;P
I crack myself up.
Seriously, though, some of the inner traits of my leaders were not too attractive.
You are funny Lisa!
Hey…it’s shows you are healing when you can chuckle at the insanity of it all!!
April,
I agree! Comedy has helped me a lot–watching it on tv and making fun of things that have happened.
If we don’t laugh, we cry.
Comedy does help. Here’s a funny quote by George Carlin,
[:)
“I’m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.”
I had a similar experience with Campus Outreach. Be bold, talk about it! Not many people do.
I had a similar experience with Campus Outreach. Be bold, talk about it! Not many people do.
Not as Gusty,
Thanks for the comment.
Can you elaborate on Campus Outreach? What is that?
It is an Christian ministry on several campus’ around the nation. It is like Cru except it is Calvinist and puts more emphasis on discipleship. I had a similar expierience.
Campus Outreach or CO is a college ministry like Cru. A couple of things do distinguish CO though from other college ministries, such as an emphasis on discipleship, Calvinistic theology, and it is run through a local church.
Just found your great blog from my Facebook feed. Moved by your personal story. Love your recent post on your children. J.
Thanks! I’ll check out your site soon.
thank you for sharing …. this sounds like my old church and what they do with the young men and women of it. They have an “internship” program that sounds very much like this. Healing comes from talking about it. Keep talking!!
Religion is stupid. The Bible is not. Since the Bible is what it is (an ancient, sometimes mysterious book), people turn to religion to get an explanation of what the message is. What they’re really trying to do is control the message. But it never works. The message (The Word) is supposed to change you from the inside out, not into what a minister wants you to be, but what you where intended to be by God Himself. I’ve had startlingly similar experiences… for me, the answer came by doing three things over a period of many years: First, I never stopped believing that God is good… Second, I quit going to church… Third, I read the Book and came to my own conclusions. Now, I spend genuine time getting to know God, not because I feel obligated to, but because I want to. All it took was for me to realize that I truly am free. Jesus died 2000 years ago to set all men free from the penalty of sin. So… I am free to sin if I want to (though most MC leaders would disagree). I am made free by what Jesus did, and yes, if I want to, I can sin to my heart’s content. But guess what? I feel such gratitude for this gift of eternal life that I only want to learn more about the giver of the gift, and be like Him. He is my hero for all time for bestowing upon me this gift, and I love Him for it. You see, God was never the problem, it was the ego of man. Don’t ever attribute to God the shortcomings of men.
I was converted into the Pentecostal Church of God when I was 14.
I left when I was in my 30′s……I left with the understanding that I would never let any one take God away from me, not even the
church. I love God and know he loves me…..I have chosen to hold on to the good part of my teaching and disgard the parts that were used to control me…..the voices in the church will never leave and a part of me does not want to return . A part of misses the
church family. I am trying to hold on to the part of that experience that made me a better person and let go of the part that did not believe I was a good person and never accepted who I really am. Every day I remind myself I am good and God loves me and is the only one who really knows my heart….there is safety in the love of God.
Brandon,
I understand where you’re coming from. I often get confused in church and wonder where God is in all of it. Sometimes it seems that church is just a power-hungry system seeking to control, and that’s not what God wants for us. Right now, I’m in a Christian youth group, and I’m concerned about the direction our group is taking. I’ve heard about some members leaving and being shunned by the rest of the group. I don’t know the entire story, but I’ve never read anything in the Bible about shunning Christians for struggling with sin (which I think might have something to do with it); as a matter of fact, it encourages us to lift them up and help them recover.
On a side note, I’m curious about your conclusion concerning sin, and the idea of you being free to sin when you want. How did you come to that conclusion? There’s nothing in the Bible that supports that idea. Paul writes that we are ‘dead to sin’ and, as a new creation in Christ, we should focus on striving for perfection and put our old sinful lives behind us. We might slip up and sin, but that’s much different from using atonement as an excuse to sin some more. I’m curious how you came to this conclusion.
Peace.
You have an amazing story. Thank you for sharing it. I look forward to reading more of your blog. Thanks for participating in my Travel Through Thursday blog hop.
Thanks!
You have a great story and will be an inspiration and support to many people. I have a story of my own trauma that I am working to get written down as well.
Recovery is a life-long journey to finding your inner self. I still question that inner being, but I am truly happy with her.
I wish you much success.
Hi Lisa - found you through SheWrites. Want to send much love and encouragement your way. I, too, am a cult survivor. Though mine was a different size/shape, they’re pretty much all the same in the end, aren’t they? Kudos to you for having the strength and courage to leave. Not all do.
I actually write two blogs – one, purely on writing Writing in Flow, and another on emotional recovery. I managed to escape the cult and get my head pretty much in order, only to enter a reltionship with a man who’s mentally ill that was equally devastating in different ways. OCPD – Scattered Thoughts from the Front Lines. Please feel free to stop by and use what you can, and I will try to get back here, as well. ~hugs~
Lisa, I was once a masters student i “quit” half way through my sencond year. My first year was amazing and wouldn’t change it for anything i grew and learned so much, then my second year i realized and saw things that were not biblical and nurturing and i snapped back to reality really fast. im glad someone has spoken openly about it, i do however feel that not all masters programs are run like cults but i do know there are several that are. I feel horible for the people who get so involved in it that they cant get themselves out. when i left i actually lost all my friends b/c someone (i assume in leadership b/c they’re the only ones that knew) had told my “mentor” how i felt about her and she actually called my friends and told them not to talk to me anymore….i feel sorry for those people. take care lisa! may your journey be filled with lots of self assurance and adventures!
i forgot to mention that the masters i was apart of was run by a close friend of Lloyd’s so chances are your masters experience and mine are very very similar!
I agree. I highly recommend getting a cat too. Or a dog. Whichever suits your fancy. Honestly… don’t feel right commenting on the rest.
Hi. I found my way here via Provender. I recently began sharing my story of leaving a cult on my blog and am looking for other survivors. It is amazing to see how similar the stories are! It’s like Satan can’t come up with any new tricks. The main difference I see is on the sexual level. It seems groups are either too “modest” or too “sexy.” I come from a group that is heavy on the sexy. An acquaintance recently met some of the girls I left behind and thought they were prostitutes. I had a good laugh over it, but felt so sick and sorry for them. They believe they have the sole responsibility of saving their marriages and, thus, dress in a way to keep their husbands close. I am still working to be free from the pressure of hanging on to a man who never had any intention of leaving. Craziness!
Thanks for sharing your story. I look forward to perusing your site and getting to know you better.
Thank you for this blog. I love it. I was not exactly “part” of a cult, because I never believed in their ideas, but they definitely did horrible things to me in the name of ‘religion’ and I saw horrible indoctrination all around me.
i’m really really happy for you
My sister has been in Master’s Commission in Europe for over 2 years now. There has been no issues for her throughout her time in MCE. I don’t really believe that this is a Master’s Commission issue but a leadership issue. The pastor that you dealt with obviously had a spirit of control, lust and pride and needs deliverance. It seems that you are hurt by what has happened to you but you need to allow God to heal your hurt and move on instead of bash this ministry that does have a desire to go out and preach the Gospel.
Sarah,
Unfortunately, this is a Master’s Commission issue from the founder down. The founder, Lloyd Zeigler, and I have had several discussions about my blog. He fully supports and backs not paying his staff and students, and he wasn’t open to changing certain issues for the safety of students/staff. The Network did make some changes based on my letters to them, so I do give them credit for that. However, the set up of the program (from the sleep deprivation, to forbidding students to date) is cult-like.
I don’t know if you’re interested, but the stories that former Missionaries of Charity tell are profound and describe so many abuses, mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical. The first book I read (after studying Mother Theresa and her letters) was Hope Endures by Colette Livermore. http://www.colettelivermore.com.au/ Then I watched the Magdalen Sisters, which is based on the true stories of girls who endured abuses in a Magdalen home. Now I’ve got “An Unquenchable Thirst” by Mary Johnson http://www.maryjohnson.co/ who was a Missionary of Charity for more than 20 years. These really shed light on the inner workings of some sources of christianity.
Bravo, Lisa. Beautifully written. Your story is so moving. I can’t wait to read your book.
I attended a non-denom. church for eight years, where you couldn’t make major decisions without pastor approving of them. You were not allowed to give money to outside charities and if you did, they said your heart was not in their church but somewhere else. If you didn’t agree with something the senior pastor was doing you were considered to be in rebellion and sooner or later you’d die spiritually and go back to the world. If you left the church, they would prophesy against you all kinds of bad things. We were dismissed because we didn’t agree with the “God given vision” that the senior pastor was conducting. For about two years we searched for a church and found nothing but jealousy, insecurities and unhappiness, so we backslid into the world for 3 months, totally given into partying, drinking and hating Christians and anything to do with God. But God had a plan and He put in our path a couple who eventually became our spiritual parents. So far we’re trusting God with all we are. There is no way we would go through the desert we went through during those 23 months. We now realize God was always there, however, man can manipulate and twist the word to control people. I’ll never know for sure the reasons why some of them do that, but one thing I know for sure, nothing will separate from this life’s greates love, the love of Jesus, the only one who loves me for who I am.
amen! Romans 8:38 love that scripture!:)
I spent 2 years with Lloyd at mcusa from 2007 to 2009 and I must say i am quite surprised by claims and your story portraying masters as a cult. Not once did I experience the cult like behavior you speak of.
I have been around different MC’s for the last six years, and actually did one year out in California.
I agree with you on some accounts:
Yes, some parts of it do seem cult-ish. But I see all of the rules and different things that you make a big deal out of, as having good reasoning behind it. Let’s take the ‘No Dating’ rule – the reason that this specific rule was put in place, was to make sure that you weren’t distracted while you were in the program. It was to make sure that your focus during the year was solely on God.
Some of the rules are unnecessary. Fortunately, the program that I was involved in, bent the rules to what they believed was necessary. We still kept all of the core values of MC, but things like the “confessing of our sins to leadership” was one of those things that they didn’t think was necessary. I feel like most people would think that should be a ‘Me and Jesus’ thing and maybe an accountability partner if you think it would be good for you. My program didn’t put all of the ridiculous rules and things on us – they treated us like the adults that we were.
Leadership in the different programs differ. A lot. I think that a big factor in your experience was the leadership in your program. When I read your story, the whole time I was thinking to myself, “Why are those people in church leadership?!” I, too, have been screwed over by a church (one that I was heavily involved in for at least 7 years, mind you.). And once that one thing happened, it’s like everybody turned against me. And it hurt. But you can’t let one experience at one church change all that you believe. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I moved on from that church and did my thing.
Honestly, to me, your story just seems to be a huge problem with the leadership of the program and the church.
I found your story fascinating.
I’m very curious now about your faith NOW, your relationship with God, are you involved with any church etc?
Perhaps all of this is still evolving. This is my first time here, and if you’ve answered the above elsewhere on your site, forgive me.
Wishing you well and blessings on you as you continue your journey!
My wife grew up in a cult church type. She went through similar things and took her years to get over it. All her friends, family and life was through there. They made her so dependant on the congregation headed by a pastor that had absolute power over all major decisions in thier lives. I grew up Catholic and embraced all my christian brothers and sisters from other church backgrounds. I attended this church for a little while before I started getting a “vibe” that something was off. I met my wife there through a mutual friend who attended church there all her life like my wife.
My wife and I fell in love but because I wasn’t officially conformed to their ways I was forbiddened to date her or anyone else. Every time my wife (girlfriend at the time) wanted to date and be together she would get threatened with being cast out and that satan would rule her life. Finally in the end she chose me, not because I made her choose but because she decided that I wasn’t what they claimed and they didn’t care for the truth.
We’ve been married 12 years since. I have always supported her and helped her recover from this cult. The only sad part is, is she doesn’t realize even today that it was a cult. She knows that they were wrong for how they minipulated her and made her dependant on everyone within the church. But she still holds them to some regard.
They have broken up real families who have not spoken to eachother in decades under the belief that if they’re not part of this “church” then they’re not really part of “our” family.
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Lisa – I agree totally with you comments about the master commission and Assembly of God. My step daughter joined the master commission in Fort Myers, FL after graduating from high school. I had to find $6k to send her there for one year. This plus 4 more years at North Central and then working at a Masters Commission in Texas completed the cult transformation. She is a 31 years old woman who does not know how to think for herself. Every single thing she does whether it is deciding what to wear or where to go and live is based on dreams from God. She speaks babble and calls it speaking tongues. She was told that unless she spoke in tongues she would not graduate from North Central. In addition to paying for the Masters Commission, I also took out parent loans for her for North Central. The agreement was that once she graduated, she would pay. Well, 9 years after she graduated, I am still paying the loans for her. She has refused and now refuses to speak to me or her father. She got married and did not even invite her father to the wedding. The Assembly of God should be proud of the woman they created. She is exactly the type of woman that you refused to become. Good for you!
I am so sorry to hear about some people having a problem with the Assemblies of God (AG). I have had a very positive experience in the AG, and have not had any of the negative experiences described earlier. Again, I’m sorry to hear about the experience described above.
Someone mentioned their daughter becoming transformed into a cult and not respecting her parents. That goes so against the things I have learned in my experience with the AG. I have been involved in the AG since I was in high school (I am now in my forties), and still remain very involved today. I have met many pastors, have visited many churches, spoken in churches, etc; and have never encountered the type of situation described above. I do not doubt the horrible experience you have had, but it does not effect how things are done in general.
I do not mean to minimize Lucy’s hurt. I’m so sorry to hear what Lucy went through. I hope she can continue to find healing, and continue to experience the reality of the love of Christ, and find a church where she is encouraged in her faith–not taken advantage of, controlled, or manipulated.
Excuse me, Lisa, not Lucy.
I graduated from MCUSA when it was still in Pheonix. I can say, I don’t regret attending there, I feel that it helped shape who I am. However I remember not allowing the staff to dictate what I did or didn’t do. I also remember if I wanted to sleep in once in a while and not go to prayer I would, I mean I was PAYING THEM 8 thousand dollars to work for their church. So it was easy for me not to let the guilt sink in to deep. I can recall being looked down upon from staff members though, for being insubordinate to their standards of “living for God”, it was like the more you did for them the more they would talk highly of you. I remember one staff member deemed “Pastors right hand man” would always use the phrase “God’s not going to honor you if..” as if our goal was to get God to honor us, I thought it was about honoring Him. They would reward those who were becoming like them by bringing them to a new level of Masters Commission called Soul Countenance, if you were called by God to be in Soul Countenance then boy were you Gods man. Now understand, I may not have been prime choice for there standards, I mean I did break covenant more than once. But when they would talked to me about my behavior, it was never with an understanding mindset, more so with “Gods not going to honor you if…” so after I graduated, I thought God wasn’t going to like me and because of my choices and I was going to be left to be alone and not be a good example for God. Well its funny how things work out because if i could go back today, my scripture would be Romans 11:32 For God as imprisoned all men in disobedience, so that He may show his mercy to everyone. And now almost ten years later, God has shown his mercy, Got a good life, got a good wife and the family is fine. That was a little Billy Joel for ya, Peace!
Joe,
It sounds like you think you were super rebellious so you did your thing and escaped some trauma, which is far superior to what I did: follow all the rules. Personally, I think if you’re honest with yourself, you will find that some of this stuff probably fucked you up for good. But you might live in denial for life. Your choice.
Best wishes,
L.
Religion is well suited as an agency of control. Passed down from ‘mother’s milk’ to children before they have analytical ability, these inbred principles do horrible damage, establishing invisible and nearly unbreakable chains. I recently met Lisa through an online writing group she organized, and I can tell you she is a remarkable person. It’s great that she’s been able to break this horrible dependency imposed by controllers who always believe their ends justify their sacred means. I’m hopeful that more and more people will realize their power is in their own humanity and not something given mystically. That they will see they have more and better abilities than anyone in the previous history of mankind to find their own truth, and can take full responsibility for their own existence. I’m well along on that journey and very comfortable with it. I wish her the very best experiences on her life’s path.
My heart goes out to you. I’m sadden to hear of your pastor who ruined your perspective on church and christian community should be. Even more so, they probably tainted some parts of who God is and because of their mistakes may be keeping you from an amazing relationship with God’s son, Jesus Christ. His son paid a huge price for all of us. Jesus body was ransome to death so that you and I could have a relationship with the Father as real with our most intimate friends here on Earth. Unfortunayely,.I have not gone through the same experience as you but I have gone through a horrific experience that put me face to face from choosing to believe in God or choosing to say I believe in God but am not sure you are real. You know this situation is what brought me back to Jesus. At the end when no words could take the pain away or erase the memory,.there was Jesus kneeling beside me with open arms ready to embrace me and love me. When I finally said to God that I was ready to let go and allow him in, my journey to healing began. My foundation of who Christ is and what the Bible says is much more solid and stronger than before the night when I was raped…when everyrhing about God came into question! Today I am an even stronger believer because what the enemy meant for evil my God turned it aroun for good! Jesus can do the same for you. Youdon’t need to have someone tell you who Jesus is or what to believe. He is standing in front of you ready to enter in your heat. Tell Jesus your hurt. Tell him who you want to become. Ask him to help you forgive those who’ve done you wrong. Tell him that you want to feel his arms around you and that you are not forgotten. Tell him that you know you he has good plans for your life but the enemy wants to steal kill destroy and tell him that you desire to have a relationship so unlike any other type. God in his loving way gives us free will to make up our own minds. You can choose whether you want him in or not. You are in my prayers and may God of truth, love, and compassion open your eyes to the truth that is only found through his son Jesus!
I can’t help but notice how many of the individuals here who are posting about “good” experiences with these groups are MEN.
Here’s the thing…of *course* men have a better experience in a patriarchal system. You reap all the benefits and get about half the *obvious abuse. You don’t notice how you’re personally being abused by being stuffed into the #manbox, because the abuse is subtle and socially pervasive across our white male privileged culture, so it’s harder to notice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1PbsV6B80
And the women…oh, the Stockholm Syndrome! “Oh, but you just don’t understand these rules!” “Oh, but they did it to help you!” “Oh, but you should try *this organization instead.” Or my favorite, “Oh, but that’s just that *leaders’ * interpretation; there’s nothing wrong with oppressive patriarchy, per se!”
Groups like MC and Luce’s Honor Academy are nothing more than the Taliban. We should all be throwing off these shackles.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels to show us that this all-surpassing power is from God, and not from us.” 2 Cor. 4:7. God’s word doesn’t come from dusty tomes and oppressive people in pulpits and churches and other constructs of humans. We are vibrant spirits in human form and God’s love shines in those of us who let it, and no church can define that for us; that is our responsibility, indeed our Divine privilege, as adults of a mature faith.
Thank you, Lisa, for sharing your story.
I went to war week in Louisiana and I had no idea that this was happening behind the scenes! wow I am so sorry you had this happen to you! May God avenge you like His word says He will! Vengeance is mine says the Lord I will repay!