I am writing a magazine article about recovery from spiritual abuse. m-

[Tovah]

The article is for a magazine that I freelance for. It is a recovery magazine (AODA issues, spiritual wholeness, etc.) It is located in Minneapolis/St. Paul (I live somewhere else, though).

The story will focus on defining spiritual/religious abuse, some examples, and issues of recovery. I would like to include a few real-life examples. If you would like to share your story, here is what you need to know:

My personal e-mail address is xxx@xxxxx.com. You can e-mail the information to me.

Please provide me with a pseudonym (fake name) for yourself and for anyone else that you mention. I do NOT need to know your real name or where you live. Since the magazine is located in the Twin Cities, readers will probably assume the people in the story are from there, but I won't say either way.

Please share your story. It does not have to be long or extremely detailed, and your wording may be changed to fit the format of the story. I am interested in hearing what brought you into this particular church/group, what it was like at first, what occurred that was negative (why you left) and how you are working on recovery.

IF YOU WISH you may share the name of the church/organization you were affiliated with (I do not mean a specific church, ie. Faith Community Church on Main Street in Boise Idaho. I mean a general denomination or group, assuming it is national.) although I will not publish the names in my article. The story is on religious abuse in general, NOT an "expose" of a particular church or organization, and this is not a "hard news" publication and I don't want to get sued. But if it will help ME understand as I do the writing, you can include that information for me.

If you are interested in being included, please respond by the end of this week. If you have any questions, please e-mail me.

Blessings
Tovah

[Hope 98]

Hi Tovah - haven't seen you in forever!

I hope that I can beat anyone else to a response in this thread because usually requests of this kind are treated with suspicion.

Soo....

Everybody who is new and anyone who may not remember, Tovah was very active on this board in the not too distant past. (I know I said forever - I exagerate) If I remember correctly her departure was due to her employment rather than a problem with anyone here. You don't have to share anything with her unless you want to, so please be nice, ok?
:)

[Voyager]

I think Tovah's request seems very genuine and sincere. The ones I worry about are the "authors" who try to come in and rule the forum with an authoritarian agenda, and then beat you up with Bible verses if you question their motives.

Great to hear from you Tovah! I may consider sending you something.

:cool:

[Tovah]

Thanks for the welcome...I remember both of you! :)

Yes, I was working a couple of jobs and way too many hours and had to go offline for a while. You're right, the request is sincere ;) and if anyone has any questions about me they can e-mail me and ask.

I've been doing OK in the spiritual health dept. although have lost several family members (2 aunts and a lifetime friend who was like an aunt) in just the last few months, and of course death is kind of a trigger for me... Our little mission church is still very small but going strong.

I have written several articles for this publication before; one was on how to find (choose) a church, and one was on the difference between "spirituality" and "religion." If someone wants to read either or both, just send me an e-mail and I will send you the article(s).

Hope to hear from some folks. This is a good opportunity to anonymously help someone else who may be going through what you have been through.

Blessings,
Tovah

[Jerry]

Just adding my "Tovahs Cool" :cool: to this thread :D ,,,,, :eek: AN ARTICLE ??????
Love Jerry