[TOC] [Title] [Author] [Endorse] [Acknow] [Preface] [Intro] [Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Epilogue] [Ap A] [Ap B] [Ap C] [Ap D] [Ap E] [Readings] [Bib]
-H. G. Wells
For me, awareness came in the form of one tall, good-looking West Virginian, who stopped me on the sidewalk as I was on my way to work. It seemed a bit odd to me that he was asking for directions to a bar at 5:30 in the morning that chilly May day in 1980, but he was. I didn't notice the parked car next to him. When it dawned on me that he was going to try and kidnap me to have me deprogrammed, I started to run. But he, thank God, was quicker than I, and he shoved me into the back seat of the car.
Before I knew it, my father had jumped into the front seat. This time, he assured me in his most no-nonsense, former collegiate wrestler tone, there would be no slip-ups, unlike the last deprogramming attempt six months earlier. During that deprogramming, I escaped out of the New York motel where I was being held and headed back to the cult in Michigan as I had been programmed to do. Not this time, though. This time I was driven from Michigan to West Virginia and there confronted with a lot of information about the cult I didn't even know existed.
There was a lot of talking, sleeping, and some crying as the reality of what I had been entrapped in slowly crept over me. I was finally in an environment which allowed me and encouraged me to talk about the doubts and contradictions I had been programmed to bury within me. After a few days of deprogramming, the spell was broken. I then began the strangest journey I'm sure I'll ever know.
Walkaways
Some people are not deprogrammed as I was. For some the awareness that the group they are in has unacceptable qualities, and the desire to exit come differently. Many walk out of the situation or are cast out, while some emerge from the group over time as the control techniques falter.
(Balance of chapter commented out. Please consider purchasing the book from the American Family Foundation .
[TOC] [Title] [Author] [Endorse] [Acknow] [Preface] [Intro] [Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Epilogue] [Ap A] [Ap B] [Ap C] [Ap D] [Ap E] [Readings] [Bib]