NEW ZEALAND
Stuff
JANET PROST
I was one of the lucky ones as I was not destroyed.
My early childhood in the Exclusive Brethren, tucked in a corner of Ontario, Canada, was almost ideal as it was loving Christians worshipping together in the way they believed.
There were a lot of edicts – no Christmas, Halloween, Easter, television, and most girls were forbidden to wear pants – but my parents didn’t bother to follow those rules.
But even in those early days I was aware of other assemblies in our sect that weren’t ideal as they had bullies in charge and were slowly and surely destroying their members with their harsh and arbitrary rules.
My childhood ended when the bullies came. It was no longer about worship, rather it was about who you were, how much Darby Bible you had read, and how well you followed the rules.
My father was first excommunicated when I was 10. We went from being the favourite family in our assembly to the pariahs; we were completely shunned and no one came to see us. My mother stopped eating and went into a deep depression. She has never been the same person again.
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