*Liberty has damaged so many people and relationships that not everyone feels safe with it being known that they are letting what was done to them become public
"I grew up going to Liberty for almost 15 years. I was a part of the typical youth there. I was homeschooled, took a few classes at LCC,I went to TFC, I did Bible Quizzing, I had friends in multiple cliches within Liberty. I was a good kid. People liked me. I didn't drink, do drugs, have sex, smoke, listen to "bad" music (basically anything that didn't play on Joy FM), dress inappropriately, and I regularly tried to "witness" to "project kids". I was your typical cookie cutter Liberty kid. Now, as any normal 14 year old human being would, I began to notice boys. Not in a bad way, but I began to have conversations with them and befriend a few of them. And one in particular, I talked to a little more than my other guy friends. All of our conversations took place in a public setting with other people around and we stood a respectful 3 feet away from each other. We didn't do anything wrong. I guess someone had noticed us talking and laughing and having a good time, and word of it reached the Almighty David Vaughn. One day, my family was sitting at the dinner table eating supper, and the phone rings. It was pastor Vaughan. He tells my father that his daughter was seen talking to a boy at church for a lengthy amount of time. Pastor Vaughan told my father that he suspected that we had a crush on each other and if it were true, that this crush was not appropriate because we we not old enough to court and get married and that it needed to stop immediately. He advised my father to take action against our friendship and to keep a better eye on me.
Can I just take a moment to say..... What the f***?!?! How is an innocent friendship any of DJV's business? How dare he call my house about this? I was deeply embarrassed and confused and angry, as I had every right to be. I thought I had followed all of the social rules of engagement mandated by Liberty. During the following weeks at church, I couldn't help but notice that people were looking at me and whispering to each other about me. I overheard a conversation between two respected elders of Liberty about my friendship with this boy, and that it was disgusting. I was even more confused.
This is how that whole experience effected me: I had absolutely no idea how to interact with the opposite sex at all. My family left Liberty when I was a junior in high school. At that time, my parents decided to send me to public school. I was mortified and scared to death because (1) being homeschooled means that I had never been to a "real" school before and I had no idea what to do and (2) as a Liberty kid, I was taught that public schools were full of sinners with no Christians and it was a filthy, dirty place. I was socially awkward and had trouble making friends with anyone. When I went to college, I remember wanting to join a club called Christian Campus House. I joined in August and I remember asking the college minister "what's the dress code here? I see all these girls wearing spaghetti straps. Is that ok? Should I pray for them?" I remember the minister looking at me like he had just seen a green alien from Mars. He said to me, "there is no dress code here. My Job is to help you find your way back to God. Whatever you wear on that journey is up to you.
At that point in time, a huge light bulb turned on for me. I was no longer at Liberty. Liberty is not normal. Liberty is a cult. And I was free.
Freedom meant that I no longer had to behave like Liberty wanted me to. And I loved it.
Since Liberty, I have learned how to treat people with respect and dignity, no matter who they are, what they look like, and where they come from. I learned how to love people where they are at and not to look at them as "projects". I have I learnt a lot of the "Liberty-isms", but I am still working on it.
I know that most of these stories so far are about emotional, spiritual and physical abuse towards grown adults. But what about how Liberty treats its youth? What about how they groom their children to be the next generations of ultra conservative watch dogs looking down from their pulpits to judge others on how they see fit? I was almost one of those people. And I am so glad I am not!"
Do you have a story to tell? Has Liberty Church hurt you? Email your story to petertkintz@gmail.com and I will have it posted!
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