Here’s another excerpt from my correspondence with Erin (not her real name).
I think the disconnect between the atmosphere people think they promote, and what is actually experienced by the people not in authority, is fascinating. It’s as though they lack the imagination to follow their ideas and teaching through to the logical conclusion. I had another experience with this in the church i was a part of after Teen Mania. It’s part of why I think its good that people are sharing their experiences. It’s not as though TM is the only place where people will encounter spiritual abuse, and if we can’t recognize it in our experience there then we’re just setting ourselves up to be caught in similar situations again. I’m still working through the pain of this latest round. At least with TM I can think I was young and didn’t know any better, but I want to actually learn from these experiences, not just forget.
I could not agree more. The disconnect between what I thought I would experience at TM and what I actually experienced was life shattering. I’m still suffering the effects today, as many are.
5 comments:
Life shattering. Good phrase. I remember being excited to go on a Teen Mania trip because Ron and his posse promised it would “change my life.” It did. For the worse. I don’t think anyone can ever be the same after Teen Mania.
September 26, 2009 2:11 AM
Luna de Sorrow said…
I am soooooo happy to find this blog. I never was a “member” of TM but lived in the same town as HA and attended many functions there as well as interacted with many members off-campus and went to church for a time where most of them attend. (This was over ten years ago).
I am so sorry that you experienced this. I come from a cult myself, although a different one . . . the best book I have read which has helped me tremendously is “Take Back Your Life–Recovery from Cults and Abusive Relationships” by Janja Lalich and Madeleine Tobias. It is life-changing–my copy is yellow from highlighting. God bless as you traverse this journey.
September 26, 2009 10:56 AM
Luna de Sorrow said…
I meant to send you this link.
http://www.therevealer.org/archives/timely_002836.php
September 26, 2009 10:57 AM
Chandra said…
This is such an interesting blogsite for me! I am unfamiliar with TM myself, but what I see and read here is gut-wrenching! It feels all too familiar to something I went through at the hands of homeschooling. I really believe that spiritual abuse is a category that has yet to be legislated, and should be. The damage it does to impressionable young teenagers is undeniably painful, graphic, and disturbing. Thanks so much for shining a light!!
www.chandra-bernat.blogspot.com
September 26, 2009 8:57 PM
Matthew Bryan said…
Yes, I am an Alumni from 2005-2006, and I am finding much of what is being said (from what i’ve read so far) very good. My story is long and complicated…but long story short, experiencing the HA set in motion a series of spiritual destructive events that I am no where near over yet.
September 27, 2009 2:41 AM
