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freedom fighter
I was stuck in a cult situation since I was a baby. This woman had my mom wrapped around her finger. I'm not sure why this evil bitch was able to brain wash some to the extent of complete compliance to her way of thinking. Some being able to see their way out of that hell hole was pretty much a miracle. She was a master at complementing people, then she'd get her talons in and twist. Threatening if we'd ever leave we would lose our family and be completely ostracized. That's hard to digest when you are a kid. At that point she already succeeded in dividing a family. She had her leverage. She managed to set up who my brothers were to marry and she succeeded. I figure that's why they are still stuck there. I had to live a double existence pretending that I agreed with everything she said. Inside I was planning my breakaway. People say, why didn't you just leave? Well, ask that to the poor teenagers who were forced to march in Hitler's army. This was all we knew since we were children.
Three brothers left from a different family- one was only 14 years old. Their mother was ordered not to even let them come home to retrieve their clothing. Ordered the rest of their family to never speak to them again. Another boy-12years old was ordered to run home naked as punishment for something. His mother was the cult bitches neighbor. He ended up hanging himself in the garage as the result of verbal and mental abuse. The front of this cult was a thriving furniture company. My sister and I were artists. All of the 13 years we slaved there we got close to minimum wage.At times we never got paid at all. The owners drove around in a red Cadillac. We worked 10-12 hours every day. On occasion we had Sunday off. During seasonal work which was almost all the year round-one holiday runs into another in retail-we often worked 16-20 hours a day. Never got paid a cent for overtime. Often we worked around the clock. We still got screamed at for not doing enough. She took all credit publicly for all the designs my sis and I created. We developed a following of art collectors that bought up our stuff-lost all of them when we left. We couldn't go to movies, we couldn't have friends, we couldn't socialize or date. We were called incompetent lazy slobs, we were called whores, the list goes on.We were her work slaves. I was 28 when I ran the fuck away from that place. I never truly believed what she said even as a kid. There were too many discrepancies and double standards. I had to live a double existence to survive.I was considered the blacksheep of the family because I planned on leaving as a teenager-got caught in my plan and got grilled and threatened by the cult bitch. Finally I had the emotional strength to leave 10 years later. I left because the people I cared for all lost touch of their souls as a result of this evil cult leader. The brainwashing I witnessed almost killed me emotionally. I mourned for all of them. It was worse than watching the death of my dad. Death is natural in the course of ones life. The death of ones soul isn't.
Evil sociopaths, void of all love is the reason these cult leaders do what they do. Purely out of their greedy, power seeking actions, their only goal is to see how many souls they can snuff the light out of. THEY ARE DARK. That is why they do it. They split families, they tell you the only path to God is through them. They are brilliant at being evil in the disguise of love. It is something that sickened me for a long time facing the brutal reality of what this one woman accomplished. I hated feeling it. Through time I came to realize the depth of what I survived.
Just for having the will and courage to walk out of what must have been a horrific situation, makes you a pretty respectable person freedom fighter. I hope that woman is out of business, and if she isn't, have you considered reporting her to the authorities. What she made you and your siblings do and suffer through is illegal. Child labor is illegal, running a so called business and not paying employees is also illegal, so is the type of inhumane punishment she inflicted on you guys. This woman wasn't just evil, she was/is also a criminal. I don't know if or when the statute of limitations runs out on crimes such as hers, but it'd be interesting to find out.
I am so glad for you, to still have [i:0baa359dbd]yourself[/i:0baa359dbd] and your mind to live life with, after such an experience.
In those moments when the harsh and crippling memories begin to seep in, remember always, the best [i:0baa359dbd]is[/i:0baa359dbd] yet to come.