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daddylonglegs
Confused,
Everyone on here IS being watched (ie posts being read) because this forum is public, and known and commented about by people involved in this group. That is no secret. Don't see where the veiled threat is. The "Watchers" that Hickman talked about are aliens/fallen angels- and are our enemies, as they know our every thought, and try to put thoughts in our heads to lead us down the wrong path. Another absurd teaching of this cult that is just another way to make people think they are always under attack, and therefor need to be extra vigilant in their obedience to "The Way". There is a lot of paranoia in this group. Children are taught from a young age that someday the entire world will be against them and that there will be persecution because of who they are (ie. descendants of Jesus, etc).
There are also many levels of "in". Since this is not an organized group the way it seems to have been in the 70-80's, there is no member roster or anything like that. You are considered "in" unless you are "left-sided" meaning you do something to get yourself kicked out. Most people who are "left-sided" are put there because they have decided to "leave" and made that known, or they quietly left, and someone finally figured out they were living a lifestyle not "approved" and they chose to continue it. You have people "inner-circle" I guess who are involved in every teaching/ activity, and you have people on the fringe whose parents are involved, but they hang-out around the edges, go to big get-togethers once in awhile, or barely at all.
In case the post wasn't actually read, when I mentioned law-enforcement, it was one of several carreers mentioned just to point out that people in this cult appear normal on the outside because they participate in general society, with several different professions. They blend-in unlike, say, the Amish or FDLS, or any of those groups who close themselves off to society and stand-out right away. What are they going to do? Pull you over and give you an extra ticket because maybe you wrote on this forum?
It is hard to miss how many people read this forum. I think it has more to do with the time period of this group (30+ years) and the number of people involved over the years (someone earlier on this thread said it was 1-2,000 at one point).

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Confused7609
Revisiting the past isn't an issue for me. What I do believe in, is freedom of expression and not having a leader on here, or a people who do not respect the different perspectives of others. As someone who has been subject to thought reform and control, it is important to me that it does not occur on here. There should not be a leader on here, a controlling opinion on here, nor dominant and submissive interactions. I believe no one should feel intimidated by other posts into feeling they can't express the type of effect this group has had on them, just because it does not involve sexual abuse. I don't feel other post should be criticized at all. Posters should feel comfortable to state their experience, opinions, or what will or has helped them.