Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NancyB, you brought up many valid questions about
> mental health and substance abuse in TLWF. A
> quote:
>
> "I Don't mean to lump all metal health and
> substance abuse into one package...except in the
> eyes of the cult any problem was some kind of
> enemy assault - they had no licence to diagnosis
> and treat - they sure did not have the wisdom to
> know when to get someone help. There was NO
> healthy balance in their expectations. We were
> expected to eat, sleep, and breathe the leader and
> ignore our healthy filters."
>
> From studying I have done recently, it seems very
> common in cultic groups for leaders to make
> demands on members' time such that they ignore
> basic healthy routines in sleep, nutrition, family
> time and self-care. Keeping people chronically
> sleep deprived and driven to perform at all costs
> is a classic cult tactic. This is also a method
> used for eroding the ability to make sound
> personal decisions.
> [
www.tuck.com]
>
> You have also mentioned that JRS and other leaders
> had substance abuse problems themselves. JRS
> seemed to feel that "the battle" justified his
> reliance on alcohol, the drug of choice in TLWF.
> This filtered down into the rank and file members
> as well. If a person refrained from drinking, they
> were considered "religious" (an extremely
> pejorative term in TLWF). This was especially true
> in CLW and other larger "Kingdom Facilities". I
> was often concerned by the effect this culture was
> surely having on young people in the group. I felt
> that they were learning to follow the same
> paradigms, predisposing them to the same lifestyle
> and problems as their parents. I have heard
> recently from several younger people that this was
> indeed the case, and that an inordinate number of
> them became reliant on alcohol. Some became
> alcoholics or drug addicts. A sorry legacy.
Thank you Reep so much for validating and stating more succinctly than I ever can. My hope is for all of us to live healthy well balanced lives now that we have seen "the light" on what was really going on.