After all, leaving or disfellowshipping is supposed to remove the offending person from the church and cut them off from sowing any more mischief or discord within that body. The leadership of the church expects to be able to both characterize the person who has left and project the agenda and message of the church without hindrance going forward.
Imagine their consternation when someone whom they believe they have eliminated decides to challenge them. It must be infuriating for them to be confronted by someone whom they have labeled as being wrong. “NO, I’m not wrong – YOU are wrong!” That’s simply not supposed to happen. They are supposed to be able to control the narrative.
The thing that infuriates these folks more than any other is that one or more of these rejects would have the audacity to stand up against God’s anointed ones! It infuriates them, and they see Satan as being behind any and all such efforts. It is simply incomprehensible to them that one of their minions would regain their independence and stand on their own two feet again – to begin thinking for themselves once again.
Worse yet, they no longer have the means to control the access which these disgruntled folks have to the folks who have stayed behind – the internet has made that virtually impossible. It has to be frustrating to realize that there is absolutely no way to regulate what folks do in the privacy of their own homes. And with blogs, tweets, Facebook and e-mail everyone has a means now – a forum to reach the public. Yeah, the genie is out of the bottle, and there’s no stuffing him back down inside there!
Of course, from the perspective of those who have escaped these cults, the freedom to help others and make them aware of the hurts and harms that these cults have inflicted on so many is very appealing. We no longer have to suffer in silence and slink away into oblivion. We have a voice, and the cult’s leadership no longer has the ability to stifle, dismiss or suppress it!
Lonnie Hendrix
