The Path

So I started watching this new tv show about a religious cult called, The Path and it really has got me thinking again about the way I grew up. 

I have no doubt in my mind now that I definitely grew up in a cult like religion that brain washed their "followers" at a very young age if they were born into it. They also completely isolated their followers from the outside by teaching that they were not allowed to celebrate any holidays nor were they allowed to be involved in politics or sports. I was always left out of any school activities involving the celebration of holidays as well as any of my friends birthdays. I also was not allowed to be on any sports team for fear of showing a competitive attitude which is frowned upon in the religion. In addition to these rules, I wasn't allowed to spend any time outside of school with my "worldly" (aka: people who were not in my religion) friends. That meant no sleep overs of any kind. No going to the movies with my friends sort of thing. A strict no dating until you are ready for marriage rule was also implemented which meant that technically people should not have been dating until they were at least 18 years old. On top of that, games, movies, and general activities were limited because of the restrictions the religion had. These restrictions included not ever watching rated R movies and being shunned upon if you even watched a rated PG-13 movie. Not playing games that involved any inkling of inappropriate topics such as sex, violence, etc. Drinking alcohol was limited to the point of stopping before even being "buzzed". And smoking any substance as well as the use of any illegal drug was strictly prohibited. No swearing is allowed, no dirty jokes, basically nothing inappropriate happening ever. Sex was only for those who were married. AKA, no pre-marital sex. No kissing. No fooling around. Non of that until after you are married. If you are dating someone with the intent to get married then a chaperone is always preferred over just the two of you spending time alone. 

Let's also not forget that if you break one of the bigger rules like fooling around before marriage you should confess to one of the "elders" in order to show repentance. Or pray that you don't get caught. If you do repent or someone somehow finds out that you did something against God's commandments then you get to be punished publicly at church and depending on the severity of your discretion you might not even be able to talk to other followers at the church for months.

I also want to add that you have to have "grounds" for divorce. Like if you and your husband just aren't the same people and you two have literally grown apart, that's not a good reason to get divorced. Someone has to either be physically abusive or commit an act of adultery in order to have grounds. And for me personally, having a husband who was not only emotionally abusive, but physically abusive was still not a very good reason to get a divorce. I was absolutely miserable and at one of my lowest points in life and they still encouraged me to try and "make it work". Like are fucking serious?!  

It's strange how I have always felt like I have lived another life in a sense when I was younger and that I thought I put the passed behind me and moved on. But I can't help but know that deep down inside this "past" will always be a part of me. It has molded me to be the person I am today right at this very moment.