MK forum

I love and appreciate Cynthia's comment about her healthy relationship with God, even though she doesn't set foot in a church.

Yes the church uses all kinds of crap to control. My hobby horse is the idea of tithing. I believe that was Old Testament and not for today. I love a sermon my best friend preached. The widow's mite is often used to manipulate people to tithe and give. However my friend brought up the idea that Jesus was pointing out the despicable mind control of the church expecting this poor woman to give all she had. He puts it way better than I can. But he points out that this was shameful that the church who is supposed to be giving to widows is expecting her to give all she has. How terrible that she felt obligated to do this.

God entrusts His Spirit in each of us. I feel that you can have a wholesome relationship with God, even without attending church or reading the Bible every day. It is personal.

Woe to the pharisaical preachers of today manipulating women and children, twisting God's Word for their gain.

Bemused, what a wonderful poem and expression of emotion! I LOVE poetry that is rooted in experiences. And I get it. It hits home. Poetry is what I wrote to get through the darkest hours when I did not think I would survive. . . when all I could think about was taking my life. The following poem that I wrote, is a reflection of my realization that religion was toxic and abusive for me and my family. The doctrines and teachings of the cult almost destroyed every relationship in our household and left me without the will to live. But, I recovered as you can see:) We no longer need to fear the Elephants in the room. They are cowards as you found out. When confronted, they run and hide.

Religion's Cell

I am free from the shackles of bondage
That had me bound in Religion’s Cell,
For God’s Truth came to the rescue
And released me from Religious hell.

For me, there was a price to pay
To be free from the shackles I wore.
It meant leaving the Cell that confined Me
To walk through Freedom’s Door.

The Truth didn’t have opinions,
No doctrines, dogmas or creeds.
It only came armed with Facts
That I had only to believe,

The Truth revealed the tactics
Religion used to lure me in
And under the guise of Christianity
Shackled this poor sinner within.

Its cells are decorated with lies
Poor sinners are taught to believe,
Based on doctrines of Man,
Not Truth and Grace and Peace.

Control is the ultimate goal
Religion seeks to attain
To keep me bound in shackles,
So Religion reaps the gain.

For once I yield to its lies
I’m locked in Religion’s Cell
To live my life in bondage,
Serving in Religion’s Jail.

The Shackles Religion used
Appeared to me as good,
For I was told I would please God
If I do thing things I should.

Attendance to every service
Was one of the Shackles I wore,
For if I wasn’t faithful
God’s curses were in store.

Tithing to the church
Was another Shackle I wore,
For fear that God would hurt me,
Bringing anguish in great store.

Fear was the ultimate shackle;
It had a choke hold on my life,
And when I’d break free of a shackle,
Fear brought pain and strife.

Those bound in Religion’s Cells
Are taught to ostracize
Those who don’t believe
Or question all the lies.

Religion’s Prisoners are ready
To destroy those who break free,
Leaving them scarred and wounded,
Bleeding on their knees.

But God is good and Faithful
To rescue those who see
That Religion’s ways are evil
And they truly can be Free.

Free to break the shackles
That in bondage have them bound,
Free to serve him in Truth
Without Religion around.

I am free from the shackles
That had me bound in Religion’s Cell,
For God’s Truth came to the rescue
And released me from Religious hell.

@NowAware: You nailed it. Tithing is one of the biggest scams of religion. It is not mentioned in the N.T. AND it only applied to the Jews. It never applied to the Gentile people. It was done away with under the New Covenant. So, it still does not apply today. I can get on my soapbox on this one because it robbed us of lots of money and kept us very poor.

Here's a tidbit of truth to chew on:

“The Third Commandment also has not fared well in English. Lo tissa et shem Ha-Shem Eloheikha la-shav is usually translated as “You shall not TAKE the Lord your God’s name in vain.” Many people think that this means that you have to write God as G-D, or that it is blasphemous to say words such as “god-damn.” Even if these assumptions are correct, it’s still hard to figure out what makes this offense so heinous that it’s included in the document that forbids murdering, stealing, idolatry, and adultery. However, the Hebrew, Lo tessa, literally means “You shall not CARRY [God’s name in vain]”; in other words don’t use God as your justification in selfish causes. The Third commandment is the only one concerning which God says, “for the Lord God will not forgive him who carries His name in vain” (Exodus 20:6-7). The reason now seems to be clear. When a person commits an evil act, he discredits himself. But when a religious person commits an evil act in the name of God, he or she discredits God as well. And since God relies on religious people to bring knowledge of Him into the world, He pronounces this sin unpardonable.” — Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy

Dear Maire, Your story is heartbreaking. I am so sorry. No one should have ever experienced that. Ntm is horrible not confronting this doctor. This is criminal. They are wrong. You are precious to God and to us. If ntm being there in Panama is truly God's will then He can make it work whether or not this doctor is confronted. Just goes to show that ntm doesn't have unshakable confidence in their God.

One statement you made is that you did not deserve better husbands. Please tell me that you do not believe this now. This is a lie . No one deserves abuse, thus the reason there are organizations fighting for justice and fair treatment for women and children.

I thank you for sharing your personal story. This makes me all the more fervent in exposing abuse.

Onward Good Citizen Soldiers
Marching as to War
Defeating those who abuse
And standing against that we do deplore

Some carry the cross of Jesus
Others their conscience call
But matters not the background
Not it matters not at all

The lawmakers have been awakened
They are stirring with the evidence they have seen
And thank us for our courage
To end this nightmarish dream

The ranks of Good Citizens are swelling
And the opposition has begun to hide
Behind their fancy lawyers
And their memories that are so denied

From the Mighty Canadian Rockies
To the Land of the Long White Cloud
The voices of those who seek justice
Is growing increasingly loud

Each brave soul that tells their story
Each message sent to support the cause
Is a hand reached out to others
And just reason for polite applause

So to each and everyone
Who has bravely played their part
May you find encouragement and comfort
And above all a peaceful heart

Cynthia, a most warm welcome to our Fanda Eagles Forum! You are with kindred spirits here. The NTM environment many of us spent our childhood in is very similar to the fundamentalist environment you broke free from.

When I first learned a few years back of the extent of child abuse that went on decades ago in NTM schools for missionaries' children in countries like Bolivia and Papua New Guinea, I was sick for days. I thought "This is just the worst. The worst." It has been a terrible awakening to learn in the past months that the horrors that were perpetrated in those MKs schools were also happening here in America, in numerous fundamentalist Christian churches, schools, and other types of institutions like children's homes. I am heartbroken to know that not only were my fellow MKs abused, raped and molested, but so were many other innocent children who were unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of evil men who did indeed carry God's name in vain.

I resonate with the way you tie the subjugation of women into this picture as well. It makes perfect sense to me that just as children in NTM were viewed as possessions with no voice, the fact that women were also treated in much the same way, set the stage for the children to be used and abused. The man who molested my daughters on the mission field was also a physically, emotionally and sexually abusive husband, and we now know that his wife tried to appeal to mission leadership for help, and was ignored.

Thank you for your website, your book, and all you are doing to call attention to many of the same issues that have been fueling this blog and discussion forum for the past four years.

I am sorry to be so sporadic in my comments. I deal with many victims of abuse and they need my ear. I will do my best to respond to each of you as I can. I appreciate your patience with me.

@ Bemused: You should put that poetry into a book. Amazon.com is free if you wish to publish it. I can tell you are writing from the heart. I published all my poetry, but paid a traditional publisher to do it...because I didn't know any better at the time! Bemused, you can do it. Let the world see the emotions behind what you experienced. I did. You write great poetry.

@ Raz: Thank you for the welcome! I can sense the spirit of the people here and feel at home. I am among friends and people that have suffered as I have suffered. The horrid reality is that religion is responsible for inequality in the world. That is what I cover in my book and on my blog. Every article uses FACTS to show changes that have been inserted into scripture to subjugate women to men. Religion leads to a list of rules for WOMEN; those rules lead to abusive attitudes in MEN toward women; those attitudes lead to abuse of women AND children. The root cause of the sexual exploitation and abuse of women and children IS religion. The facts are clear and speak for themselves. I will take FACTS (documented evidence) over Preaching of Opinion any day.

Any time there is inequality, those slighted by it will suffer abuse. Women are the most abused race of people in human history all because men changed the words of scripture, corrupted them, and POINTED women into a place of servitude to them. (All in my book, well documented, scholar support on this subject). As a woman, I am angry at what religion has done to us as a race. It stripped us of equality, honor and dignity and has affected secular law in some countries where we cannot escape the abuse.

We women are precious in God's sight. We are equal to men intellectually and spiritually. There is neither male nor female in Christ Jesus. Jesus came to undo the evil men had done to us and to give us victory over sin in our lives...but it did not last. I realize that not all men are abusive. Not all men have the attitudes that lead to abuse; BUT, religion influences every individual on the planet. In this day and age, when scholars KNOW what the corruptions are in the Bibles we have in existence, there is no excuse for these scholars NOT to put out a translation that corrects what man has corrupted so we can be given our honor, dignity and equality back. There is no excuse for men not to stand up and protect us and our children from the abuse. If we are going to find safety, men have to fight for us because they dominate the world in every society.

My soapbox rant for the evening. I apologize if I have offended anyone. It is late here, so I wish you all a good evening.