Sorry it took me a bit to get back here, my comp has been having issues with WS for a few days.... Finally realized I needed some updates that I was ignoring, and now all is well
SO I had a friend, we met when she was 17, and she has been raised with this religion her whole life. She dropped out of school in 5th grade, because she didn't like it, and so her parents and extended family prayed for her to be smart. It didn't work, well she is smart, but not educated. She got a job at a grocery store, which is were I met her, we worked together. Poor thing was so sheltered from the outside world, she had a few friends from "church" and that was it. Her family lived in what I would almost call a compound, it was a lot of extended family, and some friends all on a large piece of property in the mountains, they hunted for a lot of their own food, and also grew what they could as well. This was in So Oregon, near Selma.
With her working, she really started to realize there was a lot more world out there, she was curious as many teens are, started going out with new friends etc.... And she got a boyfriend. Well, by 20 she ended up pregnant, she came to my house in tears, because she was scared her Dad would kill her. I thought she was being overly dramatic, I know Dad's, espescially religious households, are not always very accepting of of a child out of wedlock..... I soon learned, she was serious. She was a disgrace to the entire family. She kept it a secret until about 12 weeks, and decided she needed to be honest with her parents, she was still living at home.
I knew she was gonna tell them, and was waiting anxiously at work the next day to see how it went, well she didn't show. No calling in, just didn't show up, and her cell phone would go straight to vm. I was terrified, I wanted to drive to the house, but I didn't quite know where it was, because they did not allow visitors that were outside of their beliefs. So I waited, a few days passed by, and I had a knock at my door at 3 am. It was her, she had finally snuck away. Her dad had locked her in the barn, and said she would stay there until prayer told him what to do with her. She broke out of there in the middle of the night, ran through the woods, and hitchiked her way to my house ( about 20 miles). She had been beaten, and her hands and feet tied with ropes. She hadn't eaten anything, he wouldn't waste is food on the child she was carrying, so in turn, she was not allowed to eat.
She was staying with me for a while, and her mom finally made contact, and wanted to make ammends, so pretty soon, she went back home. And was allowed to be in the home. By now, she was 16 weeks along, and so far had no prenatal care, but things seemed to be progressing normally. Well then the swine flu hit, and she got it bad... Fever of 104-105, and couldn't even keep fluids down. She was very worried for the baby, and wanted to see a DR. At this point in her life, she had never been to a DR, but she was now an adult, and was choosing to take that route. She called me to come get her and take her to the ER, as by now she was also bleeding.
I showed up at the house, and her Dad came out with a gun pointed at my car, I could see her in the window crying, and yelling, and her uncle and mom were holding her inside. Her dad yelled at me, how I was instilling the devil in his daughter..... and many other things. I ended up leaving, as I was very concerned he was actually gonna shoot me!!
I thought for awhile, and decided, she is an adult, and she wants medical attention, they cannot keep her from getting it. SO I called the sherrifs. They went to the house, and she was no where to be found, and her family played dumb and said she hasn't been there. SO nothing could be done. I started driving the backroads, and finally found her hitchiking again, by now, gushing blood, completely dehydrated, and fever hovering around 105. I couldn't believe she was still standing.
We went straight to the ER, she ended up being admitted for 9 days!!!! They said she would not have survived another 24 hours. The baby also made it through
After that, she moved in with me, and I learned so much more about her childhood. And some startling information about how many siblings she actually had. I knew of 1 older brother... Well mom had actually had 7 babies total, 5 of them had died at some point during childhood. She doesn't know what they died from, but knows they were usually sick before they passed. Her mom delivered all of the babies at home, and none were ever issued birth certificates, ss cards etc. No record that any of them ever existed!!!!
So how many children have we heard that have died??? Makes me wonder how many we NEVER heard about!!!!
SO fast foward a few months, she has a beautiful lil boy. She planned on a hospital birth attended by midwifes, and all was wonderful and perfect. Her mom snuck away from dad to come see the baby when he was 2 weeks old, and my friend went to take a shower, and let grandma take care of him for a few, and when she got out, they were gone.
Mom had taken him to Dad, they needed to pray over him, as HE had contaminated their family by being born in a hospital, and by being born out of wedlock. ( like that was HIS fault! ugh)
Luckily we were able to go up there, and they didn't put much resistance to give him back, but she was then disowned by her family. And will never be welcome around them again. It's been 4 years, still no contact. Also her friends that she was raised with, and her extended family, also will not associate with her. Even if they see each other in town, its as if they have never met.
My friend is a very religious person, prays all the time, and is raising her son in church. But she has realized what extremists her parent are, and is working hard at getting her own life together and learning more about what it is like on the "outside". And she is doing a wonderful job
Oh and her and baby Daddy did eventually get married as well
SO that is my long drawn out story, with less than 3,000 members of this church, I believe it is more like a cult. I know not every member is as extreme as her parents were. But from what I have seen, these aren't sweet loving parents simply relying on prayer. They are controlling, they have very jaded views on the outside world, and really, just seem "cult like" to me.
I hope I didn't offend anyone with anything I have said, and I also don't expect anyone to agree fully with me. I do have strong opinions on how much our laws can control in our personal lives, and maybe I am not against faith healing in general... I don't expect anyone to run to the DR for every cold or flu, but lines have to be drawn somewhere. I believe God gave us the knowledge to create advanced medical care, and DR's and scientists with a lot of intelligence, and that we should utilize these resources as needed. :twocents:
