Thank you for posting your story. It is similar to my own, in many ways. It also brought back memories of my childhood, from which I will spend the rest of my life recovering. On the surface, Christadelphians (hereinafter referred to as "CDs") generally paint a picture of pacifism, kindness, compassion, and other attractive characteristics, to lure in rare converts. In reality, th
Forum: Destructive Churches

A follow up, since I was part of this thread, almost ten years ago. It took me ten years to get completely separated from this group, and to get deprogrammed from it. It thoroughly destroyed my life, for some of the reasons articulated in this thread by several people. I had to lose all of my friends and all of my relatives to make a complete escape from it. It is very definitely a cult group
Forum: Destructive Churches

Yes, I would agree, if an individual has the capacity to both move on with their life and remain active in speaking out about cultic abuse, it is desirable and admirable that they do both. I can't speak for other cults and churches, but in the case of Christadelphians, wherein defectors have often lost their immediate family, their extended family, their social network, their sense of dig
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I am temporarily retracting my promise to stop posting in here. You are absolutely correct that there is no time frame for a person's recovery, and I erred in implying there can be one. You are also correct that professional help is often needed and it is important to continue shining sunlight on the leaders and dogmas of some cults and churches. I never disputed those considerations.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I keep getting back on this website, but I am going to stop following its threads of discussion, for reasons I will try to articulate here as best I am able. I will pose a question to myself: Were rank and file Christadelphians complicit in the things I suffered? The answer: Yes and no. Most Christadelphians would find some of the things I have described difficult to believe; I sometimes f
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Like most fundamentalist Christians, many Christadelphians believe in scriptural instructions to use "a firm hand" with children. Spare the rod, and spoil the child. If you have a rebellious teenager who will not submit to your parental authority, stone him/her. Etc., etc., etc. They interpret such scripture as permission to manhandle their children. One of my parents could quote e
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Additional interesting discussions about the Christadelphian religion appear at the Help.com website.
Forum: Destructive Churches

For additional insights into Christadelphian doctrine and departures from the religion, enter "Lynette Schaefer Christadelphian" into your search engine. She is a former Christadelphian who recounts her exploration of Christadelphian doctrine and her exit from the religion in an article entitled "From Christadelphianism to Christianity."
Forum: Destructive Churches

Yes, my comments were truthful, and your own arguments were accurate. Christadelphians have "closed communion," meaning, you can't receive communion until you are vetted as having embraced their unusual belief system. Even in Christadelphianism itself there are various branches (the "Amended," the "Unamended," the "Dawn Fellowship," etc.) which con
Forum: Destructive Churches

After considerable reflection and prayer, I would like to make a final posting clarifying that my previous posts were in no small part motivated by malice and bias resulting from my unhappy personal experiences while a member of the Christadelphian faith. My unhappy personal experiences, however, should not reflect unfavorably on the worthiness and validity of Christadelphianism's teachings
Forum: Destructive Churches

Andy, you are the one who is not hearing. 1. Christadelphians believe only followers of their narrow doctrinal beliefs can receive salvation. How much more "special" can they believe themselves to be? 2. I never stated John Thomas and his teachings are presented as being infallible. I stated Christadelphians, like most cults, had a central charismatic figure, and John Thomas wa
Forum: Destructive Churches

Where to begin. First, there appear to be two "threads" or lines of postings regarding the subject "Christadelphian HELP PLEASE." Try to read both threads, as both have insightful information and comments. Secondly, there is plenty of information about Christadelphian doctrine / teachings on the Internet, and plenty of information about what constitutes a cult. So I won&
Forum: Destructive Churches

See also, "Christadelphian HELP PLEASE" also located on this website.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

"AndrewM1" has two postings in this discussion. One post, responding to "SoulRebel" is appropriate; "SoulRebel" clearly had only a very superficial exposure to Christadelphianism and developed some misperceptions about the religion. "AndrewM1" is off the mark, however, in his responses to Hope Tailor. She does not state, as he implies, that Christade
Forum: Destructive Churches

See the entries under the heading "Christadelphian HELP PLEASE," also on this website.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families