I thought is was only yesterday when I was last here but I see that a few weeks have passed.
I have just been contacted by a TV director wanting to do a programme on how people leaving cults like the EBs find their identity. So now I am thinking about identity and wonder to what extent people raised in high demand groups develop a sense of an individual identity. Perhaps they don't. Reflecting on my childhood and early adulthood i cant get a sense of me knowing who I was. I seemed to be adrift in one sense and firmly attached to an amorphous mass called the brethren in another sense. Maybe my true self was the bit that was adrift - and I was living a kind of proxy self. And maybe it is those who manage to get a good sense of who they are before they leave who do better.
I don't know at the moment but it's worth thinking about.
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3 comments:
Very interesting thought Jill .I believe many of our identitys effected in this way , as you have maybe suggested take on the identity of our experiences .So it maybe could be that part of our identitys could become that of a drifter for instance .I think we do still have identitys yet it may not feel like it , as we feel and can tell we have become in so many ways so very differnt to others we meet and know in life .
Hello Jill, I encourage you in your research. I left the exclusive brethren in my early twenties and am trying to understand how my upbringing controls my thought processes. As you know, the subtle effects of this abuse forms who we are and how we react to others. I would love to hear how your research is going, especially in regards to developing critical thinking. Thank you for your efforts. You very well may be a lone soldier in this research, however I am aware of other writers who have explored spiritualy abusive churches and I have found the book "The subtle power of spiritual abuse" to be very fair minded, accurate and healing. I will pray for you.
M D
Hello Michael
I haven't got very far is the answer to your question for a number of reasons! And I seem to have neglected this blog too.
The situation is that currently I am applying for accreditation for prior learning from the university which means that I have to write 5000 words on what I have already done. If I can convince the university that what I have already done is worthy of doctoral level credits then they will give me some!! Then I can get going with the research.
I am kind of collecting material but in a rather unsystematic way at the moment. I have also given conference papers and will be giving one in Geneva this July - no doubt the EBs will be present as they were last time. Scary!
Thank you for your encouragement - I think I might have to retire to get going on this work as it is very time consuming and I have a full time job as well.
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