Looking for information and support

[Ilovemykids4]

Hi, and thank you for letting me join this site.    I have a very very unusual story, and I don't know if it is welcome here, but I don't know where else to go.  

 

I have joined this site not so much for support in my christian deconstruction, but about religious trauma that has been inflicted upon my family by fundamentalist "friends".  It is bizarre, extreme, and will affect myself and my children for the rest of our lives as one of my children has joined this "cult" and is now married to the girl from this fundamentalist family.   

 

I hope I can tell my story, warn others about the dangers of even being friends with fundamentalists, get support, and maybe find some help for the grief and overwhelming anger I feel and struggle with every minute of every day now.   

 

Let me know if this is ok and where I should post if it's ok.

 

The sect of this cult is called Open Brethren and they are pretty damn extreme.  My whole family has been damaged by them

 

I became an atheist in the last 2 years because of what has happened...it started the questions and then everything just fell apart.   

 

Thank you

 

 

[☆ moxieflux66 ☆]

Hello Love! And welcome to our site! Please do feel free to tell your story, as much or as little as you are comfortable with. Take your time. A lot of our members have been heavily traumatized and can relate. 

The Testimonies section is a good place, or Introductions. 

We hope you can heal here. 

I know I have! 

Moxie

[◊ Weezer ◊]

1 hour ago, Ilovemykids4 said:

Hi, and thank you for letting me join this site.    I have a very very unusual story, and I don't know if it is welcome here, but I don't know where else to go.  

 

I have joined this site not so much for support in my christian deconstruction, but about religious trauma that has been inflicted upon my family by fundamentalist "friends".  It is bizarre, extreme, and will affect myself and my children for the rest of our lives as one of my children has joined this "cult" and is now married to the girl from this fundamentalist family.   

 

I hope I can tell my story, warn others about the dangers of even being friends with fundamentalists, get support, and maybe find some help for the grief and overwhelming anger I feel and struggle with every minute of every day now.   

 

Let me know if this is ok and where I should post if it's ok.

 

The sect of this cult is called Open Brethren and they are pretty damn extreme.  My whole family has been damaged by them

 

I became an atheist in the last 2 years because of what has happened...it started the questions and then everything just fell apart.   

 

Thank you

 

 

welcome!  You came to the right place.  Post as Moxie indicates above 

[Ilovemykids4]

Thank you..... I feel like I finally found somewhere that I can talk about what has happened and have people understand.   I will post in testimonials tomorrow.  thanks again

 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

Welcome to the community.  As indicated, many of us have also been traumatized by religion.  Some from family and friends; others from overwhelming childhood indoctrination.  We do understand what you have been through and what you are currently going through.  We are happy to help you in any way we can.  Please feel free to reach out to us.

[nontheistpilgrim]

Welcome

I don't have your experience but I knowsomething of the Open Brethren - which are not so bad as Closed Brethren, at least in UK.

I worshipped quite happily with open brethren in Malta many years ago. Perhaps they were more open because most of the attenders were from the British forces. They were extremely freindly and 'open', making us single service people very welcome.

I'm not denying your experience, of course. Since I became 'surprised by joy' on becoming a non-believer I have realised how dangerous all Christian religion is and how it is founded on myths and fairy stories.

I wish you well and am sure you will find strength from members of this Forum.

 

[Ilovemykids4]

2 hours ago, nontheistpilgrim said:

Welcome

I don't have your experience but I knowsomething of the Open Brethren - which are not so bad as Closed Brethren, at least in UK.

I worshipped quite happily with open brethren in Malta many years ago. Perhaps they were more open because most of the attenders were from the British forces. They were extremely freindly and 'open', making us single service people very welcome.

I'm not denying your experience, of course. Since I became 'surprised by joy' on becoming a non-believer I have realised how dangerous all Christian religion is and how it is founded on myths and fairy stories.

I wish you well and am sure you will find strength from members of this Forum.

 

 

Thank you....This sect, "headed" by the father from this family has become very cult like, including shunning practices.  That is what is most concerning to me.   I will lay it all out in my testimonial post, but would love to speak to you further because this cult seems so extreme and rigid and authoritarian and in addition to being concerned for my son, I'm also concerned about the very real harm that has come to the 3 children from that other family.   

[◊ Weezer ◊]

12 minutes ago, Ilovemykids4 said:

 

Thank you....This sect, "headed" by the father from this family has become very cult like, including shunning practices.  That is what is most concerning to me.   I will lay it all out in my testimonial post, but would love to speak to you further because this cult seems so extreme and rigid and authoritarian and in addition to being concerned for my son, I'm also concerned about the very real harm that has come to the 3 children from that other family.   

Do you know if this group is part of the Mennonite Brethren?  We went to one of their congregations in Kansas just before stopping any church attendance.   They were friendly and didn't seem cultish, but after a while it seemed they considered their group as "special" when compaired to outsiders.  Hopefully Pilgrim can shed some light on the situation.

[Ilovemykids4]

26 minutes ago, Weezer said:

Do you know if this group is part of the Mennonite Brethren?  We went to one of their congregations in Kansas just before stopping any church attendance.   They were friendly and didn't seem cultish, but after a while it seemed they considered their group as "special" when compaired to outsiders.  Hopefully Pilgrim can shed some light on the situation.

I am not sure...they were always very secretive and I had to do a lot of sleuthing to figure out even that they are open brethren.  However, they are absolutely "special" when compared to outsiders.   Wait until you hear the stories I can tell about things they believe and things they have done to my family members and to their very OWN family members.    They are absolutely sure they are better than everyone else, and they will judge you very harshly...with a smile on their face.    

[pantheory]

 

Welcome to our forum Ilovemykids4,. As Moxie pointed out above, your story fits very well in the section category called " Testimonies of Former Christians." This section is the "Questions" discussion forum. So if you would like to continue here it might be best to ask questions. If not and you want advice, sympathy etc. .., it might be best to tell your story in the Testimonies section where you can also see the unhappy stories of many of our members also.

 

Hope you like our little Forum. Many have testified on this site that it has helped them a lot, or to get over, or to live better with their past or ongoing troubles with Christianity.

 

As for now, Cheers to you for coming here

[TABA]

Note: I have moved this topic here from the “Got Questions?” section where it was originally posted.