Wolseley wrote on Nov 2
nd, 2015 at 10:21pm:
____ wrote on Nov 2
nd, 2015 at 9:19pm:
So why is this child abuse acceptable?
Because it isn't child abuse.
FOR the first 25 years of her life, Joy Nason lived in constant fear of “God’s wrath” — to the point where death was a better option than confessing her sins.
The Neutral Bay woman has opened up about her childhood as a member of the Exclusive Brethren church in her book Joy and Sorrow.
The book goes into depth about growing up in a family that belonged to an evil cult and how she is “surviving and thriving” after escaping.
She was born in Bristol, England and her family migrated to Australia in 1953. She said while her parents were kind, the Brethren’s grip on the family only tightened.
The family lived at Croydon Park in a regular house but were required to attend daily meetings of the Brethren.
Edicts included no television, no toys, no pets, no contact with outsiders and an intimidating culture of confessing sins.
Part of the reason she left to seek sanctuary with a former Exclusive Brethren member was her fear of not being a fit and proper person for the church.
She writes in the book that she had ``become a brainwashed soul, living in dread of God’s wrath’’.
“Time after time I would shake so much sitting next to my mother in the meetings, I was sure she would notice,’’ said Nason.
“I was terrified that my sins might warrant a confession and figured I’d rather die than let this happen.’
However, Nason says her only real “sin” at the time was a desire to experience the outside world.
Nason was well aware that by leaving the Brethren she would be cut off from her family (except for three of her seven siblings who had left the Brethren) and may never see her parents again.
When her mother died, it was made very clear to Nason that she could not attend the funeral.
Earlier her father had been excommunicated from the cult for questioning their ideas and separated from his wife.
“It broke his heart,’’ says Nason.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/i-was-raised-in-a-religio...currently apx 15000 E.B members in Australia.
Was this women exposed to child abuse via religious teaching?