Ex-Members of Followers of Christ Speak Out!

From a "Followers of Christ is a Cult blog:
"I was a member of the Oregon City Followers for over 20 years and I can say with 100% percent certainty that the building as a whole looks the other way when it’s members do things that society would object to. My own family was torn apart by abuse and lies. To live daily with the knowledge that the torture you are experiencing in your own home will not be stopped, that there is no one who will step in and help you and that you cannot possibly seek outside help becasue of the shame you will bring on “the church”, is overwhelming. There were those in that building who knew what was going on in my house, or at least knew something wasn’t right, yet did nothing! When the truth came out we were abandoned by our “brothers and sisters”. My family imploded while they stood by pretending it wasn’t happening. I lost everything that I thought ever meant something to me. When this is how you are raised it is nearly impossible to turn away. No matter what you know is right you also know what you will lose if you acknowledge all the wrong. The vast majority of those out there know the way they are living is wrong but are too frightened to stand up and say anything about it. They are waiting for a great savior to step up and rescue them. How many men have stepped forward but were rejected?? Has there ever been somebody bodily removed from the building for standing up and trying to say their peace?? The only thing this church fears is it’s own members! There is no love of God in that building. They have always stood on the belief that God will protect those within it’s walls if they follow the teachings of their long gone preacher. How can they still be there and not look around them and see the destruction that is coming?“He” isn’t with you anymore. You should be concerning yourselves with what you can do to live more Godly lives than what your neighbor is wearing or who they are talking to. For any member to come on here and say that they have never stood by and did nothing to stop the abuse of women and children is an out right lie! You all do it! All the “men” who hold their little meetings that women are forbiden to take part in, all the parents who have forced their children to marry as young as 14 becasue they fornicated with each other, all you who have stood by while a woman, so exhausted from days of labor and couldn’t possibly be able to think clearly, dies right along side her baby, those who have visited a young mother, too young to die, too delerious from pain to speak on her own behalf, and walk away knowing she will die and it is WRONG, those of you who have used force to keep your young adults from leaving, locking them in rooms and boarding over the windows. You will all be judged for the action or lack there of in the end. I sleep in peace every night knowing that by leaving that lie of a “church” I have given my children the future they never could have had there! I have taught them what true love means. The freedom I felt when I left that place, the peace that came over my heart that I carry with me every day, lets me know I did the right thing. While I was there I lived in confusion and fear. That is NOT religion! I hope with all my heart that the State of Oregon follows through with it’s promise to a little boy named Beau, that no child would die needlessly in that building again. The parents and all who witnessed the suffering of these 2 children should be punished. The bible tells us to obey the laws of the land. All the laws need to apply to this “church”, not just the ones they think they can live with. Do they pay taxes? Yes. Do they abide the speed limits? Yes. Do they pay for fishing and hunting licenses? Yes. Do they go out and kill some random stranger? NO!! They only kill their women and children when they are too weak or too young to speak for themselves. We need to speak for them by showing these people that they are NOT above EVERY law of the land!!"

I was a member of The Followers of Christ Church as well, and I can completely relate to EVERYTHING in your post. I lost my entire family when I left the church. They are so concerned with what other church members will say about them, that they will not even speak to their own family members who leave the church. I am amazed that so many perfectly sane adults can be so brainwashed! I know a lot of good people from that church, but they do not have the courage to stand up for what is right, for fear that their family will reject them (as mine and many others have done). I also hope that the state of Oregon will enforce the laws to protect the children... but sadly, I don't really think it will make any difference. We are talking about people who are so brainwashed and so hell-bent on keeping things the way that they have always been, that they will gladly go to prison rather than compromise their beliefs. I think that the only way the authorities would be able to actually stop children from dying, would be to put 24-hour surveillance on every Follower of Christ home. Not just the homes with children, because the parents would just take the kids to their Grandparents house if they got sick. It has to be EVERY house! I am realistic enough to know that this will never happen, but trust me... IT IS THE ONLY WAY THAT THESE CHILDREN WILL STOP DYING! And that is the truth, sorry if it hurts!

I was a member. Their prayer healed my brain cancer, gout, heart trouble, nine tumors and the headaches not to mention my sore left big toe.

I left because the women were ugly.