I agree with BE

you know, if people met some of us who say we are messed up, it's not like they'd see someone picking at their hair, or looking very traumatised or talking to themself, or anything that gives any indication of what we've been thru at all. It's not every day i feel wretched. i i generally have come to a good place in my life where i have genuine love and hope in my life and where i feel a lot better and can block out a lot of what haunts me. of course, i do have bad days too, and some really bad days. i don't chose to be depressed or angry when i am. sometimes it just all hits me. it really is something i can't controll completely.

The things that Family survivors have been through is difficult for a lot of people to believe, because (as you say) they are in denial about just how bad some children have it when growing up. In TFI's case, it's particularly odious because whatever occurred, it was done in "love" and for "God." So, even if "mistakes were made" by a few "misguided" disciples, it couldn't have really been so aweful, could it?

There is one group of people who are likely to believe what second generation cult survivors have to say regardless of how far-out the story may seem. I'm a social worker by profession, and I have seen and heard all kinds horror stories over the years from kids and adults trying to recover from the experience, long before I discovered this site or MovingOn. When I compare what I read from SGAs to what I know from years of working with abused kids NOT raised in TFI, the stories ring absolutely true to me. The SGAs stories are consistent, and there's ample corroboration in the form of MLs and other documents (the testimony give to Justice Ward, for example). That's one reason why this site is so important--the documentation is priceless.

i also did this home schooling when i was in there accept for me it was called ACE i have no idea what it stands for all of us children where made to study these text books the problem is i never realy learned anything from them the younger years are ment to be the years where you absorb information easyer well i can tell you it really stuffed me up when i got out of the familly i started year 9 high school with the education of id say about a year 3 or 4 primary student i couldnt read properly or write i could count ok but i could not do any mutilpcation exept my 5x tables becuase i told told how to read the time it was embarassing starting high school like that in a public school i consanlty got told i was dumb and stupid and always made to stay back after class to catch up on things i could not do i think the lack of education was 1 of the cruelest things they could do as you can see with hard work iv gotn my basic education but even now you will see how bad my spelling is

I think limiting education is abuse. I think controlling what education is given to the children and teenagers is close to mind control. Some people may not agree, but whats the point of limiting education? To make sure people don't ask questions and follow blindly. I've noticed that if you're part of a religious that doesn't like people asking questions or promoting education...that religious group is crap.