All Comments on 'A Religious Experience'

It’s stories like this one that keep me coming back to Lit. Thanks BillandKate for an exception work. Five stars!

but to answer john's thoughts. toni was a powder keg. i really hate saying this, but all my life experiences and conversations throughout my life have imprinted a stereotype on me. If a woman comes from a broken home, she's probably a lost cause. I don't know why, but I've never seen anything to the contrary. Men can rise above a bad upbringing it seems. I have a dozen of those stories. Obviously not all men, but it happens often enough. Maybe women just bottle it all up. I have no idea why it happens that way. red flags are deal breakers. and considering what toni put john through is this story, she's damn lucky to come out sober, with a career, and single with occasional visitation rights.

A setup for a potential redemption and romance? Toni and John seem worthy of a follow up. But I guess all stories don’t have happy endings. Either way, thanks for a good story.

another fantastic story, always leaves me looking forward to your next,

thank you for sharing your talent.

Not gonna lie, this one was a little on the boring side

The cops say to get a court order. What the fuck good is a court order if you don't know where to serve it?

She read his biography on the book covers? Boy, THAT really shows his qualifications! He "studied" at Oxford and Princeton? Even if true, so what if he did? He might have flunked out!

Nit picks - The short form for refrigerator is "fridge," not "frig." Toni recognized her "naivete," not "nativity."

I'm having a hard time buying the whole premise. Yes, we've had cults, some, like Jim Jones, cloaked themselves in religion, but to think that she could accept sex as part of the religious practice is asking for a LOT of suspension of disbelief.

Even if John WASN'T Tom's biological son, that would be on his wife, not on his son.

They've had a mole and been investigating for MONTHS, and don't have enough to act? Are they incompetent?

I think that MAYBE he could have gotten over her running off, if she didn't take their son with her, not to mention taking all of their money.

Considering all of the circumstances, it is difficult for me to accept John not being able to see through the situations... her addiction, her lowered self-esteem, her falling victim to a master seducer, a mother in her circumstance not be able to abandon her only child and the adultery not being consensual, more a emotional based rape with the use of drugs in the wafer ... there are grounds here which John apparently never considered.. Yes he was hurt, but counseling would appease that..... In short, John left Toni in a destroyed state.... not too happy about that. n08rkm1

A fine thorough plot and well written.

Strong writers giving us

a most enjoyable read.

Thanks!

Top ratings from me.

First, this didn't feel like a loving wives story. More like a complaint against cults and sexual slavery. Both interesting, complex and sad topics but they don't fit very well on Literotica. You spent too much time on the details. Which is an odd complaint considering most stories don't have enough detail as far as character development goes. But this story was neither erotic, sexy or entertaining. I was glad he got his kid back., I was sad he lost his wife. I was happy they killed the one guy, but why not more of them? In the end I just felt "blah". Sorry for them all. Sorry that I spent so much time reading this mess. You're good writers and I've enjoyed a number of your stories. This one? Not so much.

A rather poignant story but otherwise an excellent read!

On the whole, not all that interesting. Very formulaic in most respects. Not worth 5 pages worth of time

Definitely belongs on this site. I agree John could have worked at some reconciliation, particularly with the personal demons he had in the past.

Once again you show all the reasons why most of your "Thoughts" are worthless.

sbrooks: The cops say to get a court order. What the fuck good is a court order if you don't know where to serve it?

b&k: Exactly - Which is one of the reasons why John's father said the cops are "idiots".

sbrooks: She read his biography on the book covers? Boy, THAT really shows his qualifications! He "studied" at Oxford and Princeton? Even if true, so what if he did? He might have flunked out!

b&k: So? It was to illustrate Toni's desire to rationalize what Holland was preaching. It wasn't meant to imply the authors thought it made sense to a reasonable person. Toni was grasping at straws.

sbrooks: Nit picks - The short form for refrigerator is "fridge," not "frig." Toni recognized her "naivete," not "nativity."

b&k: You're right - it is nitpicking, but we've come to expect that from you. 15,000 words and two were misused, sorry.

sbrooks: I'm having a hard time buying the whole premise. Yes, we've had cults, some, like Jim Jones, cloaked themselves in religion, but to think that she could accept sex as part of the religious practice is asking for a LOT of suspension of disbelief.

b&k: So, you think it's more difficult to accept having sex with a minister and the congregants than feeding your own children poison laced kool-aid and committing mass suicide? Or the women who have accepted being part of a one man - multiple wife marriage and allowing their own teenage daughters to be married to old farts in Northern AZ/Southern UT? Or the number of boys and young men who were seduced by priests? And just so you don't think we only see cults of religious extremism as the only evil; how did Hitler convince the Germans to exterminate six million people?

sbrooks: Even if John WASN'T Tom's biological son, that would be on his wife, not on his son.

b&k: And your point is? We didn't say Tom was right or logical in his reaction to John's birth. In fact, it was something he was ashamed of. And rightly so.

sbrooks: They've had a mole and been investigating for MONTHS, and don't have enough to act? Are they incompetent?

b&k: Now you're showing your complete ignorance of police work and inability to read. The investigation had been going on for months, there was no mention of when the mole had gotten into the compound; it could have been a week ago. The investigation was also going after all six churches, not just the one in which the mole was imbedded. And as Bill was a police officer when in his twenties, he can say without doubt that any investigation of this magnitude can take months, if not longer.

Thanks for the story.

Not all religious "experiences" are sacred nor religious, look as some of the evangelicals today.

A part of respectful religions is that of forgiveness and clearly John didn't take this to completion.

Well written and played although a bit too much killing rather than revenge for my taste, but mine is not universal.

Tiny Tim

Ok....I agree with sbrooks……..it galls me that I had to pay to read this story and see the mistakes.....oh wait.....it was free.....take the stick out of you butt sbooks.

I read the comments and smh. I enjoyed your story, and look forward to the next one. I like how you bring in characters from other stories. Unfortunately incidents like this actually occur. Call me a softie but I would like to see two damaged people (John and Toni) brought back in another story and try to mend themselves.

I normally really enjoy your writing, but this story didn't really work for me. The wife running off with the cult just seemed to be an excuse for agent Mary-Sue to beat the crap out of the bad guys. Even the meeting between John and Toni at the end was surprisingly dispassionate... she confessed to slutting it up with the church and that was it.

After all that, the ending was a real downer. John lost his wife and ended up alone because Toni was a gullible moron who let herself be seduced by a sleazy douchebag into an obvious cult. She was joining in orgies for months before she was packed off to New Jersey, so the whore got no sympathy from me.

Why didn't John's siblings encourage him to find a nice girl for a second wife? They all seemed to be good people, so they must have known a few single women they could set him up with. Instead he ended up depressed and alone...

This author(s) is clearly not a wordsmith and there is precious little poetry and lyrical flow imbued in this tale. Having said that I give props to story structure , pacing and finally character exposition and development.

The biggest kudo , however , is reserved for novelty of concept and a credible even-handed conclusion where karma was doled out in approximate proportions to virtues ( or vices) of individual members of the story's cast. This read clean and clear like an updated Louis L' Armour Sackett clan novel. I prefer Hemingway myself in terms of terse prose, but either style is above my ability to create ( so far ). This story showed prep work and planning .

Ergo the obvious score

Full marks *****

I'm amazed at how many people who dislike my comments continue to read them.

If I see a story by an author that I don't like, I don't read it.

Ignore the nitpicking - though from my personal experience I know that is difficult. Stay the course. You have a fan in me.

A very enjoyable read. Thank you. 5*s

Toni is a pathetic figure. She had a terrible life and an addictive personality. This got her into the cult and the pastor's drugging of her cemented the deal. I would have liked to see wife get back with husband although I understand why it would not happen. Finally, after some of the stuff I have seen I do not believe that this story requires suspension of belief.

anon.1

Good story, better than the average Literotica story. I always enjoy your stories. If you keep writing 'em, I'll keep reading 'em. Thanks for another interesting story.

I appreciate your efforts to write a good story with a plot. Unlike many here in the LW category. I liked the story and it seems like it might even be based on a real life experience. Not by you but by something seen on the news.

I am always amused by the criticizers (hmmmm, was that misspelled?) who obviously have never written anything in their lives. Criticizing authors over and over, what a joke. Ignore them. And keep up the good work.

And yes I said the 'good work' even though I could probably find a dozen things to gripe about if I spent hours looking.

But I have a life outside Literotica. As apparently some do not.

Once again, keep up the good work.

RSKY

I really like all of your stories, but this one was uhh, so, so. Since I just watched a documentary on a figure skater recently I'll put it in those terms. The technical side was great, the artistic side more lacking. In the case of the story, the writing was great as usual, there was enough there to make this story really interesting with the subject line and situation, but it was missing something. I didn't really care that much about any of the characters. There certainly was no hightened drama, as the situation was resolved rather quickly and effortlessly. And I think I've made this comment regarding your stories before, but your stories are much more about the story than your characters, which really aren't that fleshed out. I think I likened it to Hemingway (whose work I very much enjoyed) in that sense.

An aside, what I've found is often times extreme personalities (like Toni) go from one extreme to another. Also, they need an outside philosophy or person to guide them. A family member of mine went from being an extreme lefty communist, to heavy right winger, then back to lefty. From atheist, to extremely religious where he put god in a lot of his statements. When I was in the hospital a couple of years back and he texted me that he was praying for me. I texted him back to not bother and spend his time more fruitfully, like by watching reality TV. That kept him away from me for a while, which was priceless. He always needed some outside philosophy to tell him what he should believe.

Toni was a tragic character, not one to be reviled, but pitied. She was messed up as a child and because of that she will have a hard time getting her bearing all through her life. With time there's room for John to get over the hurt and betrayal and get back with her. The story leaves that as a possibility open at the end.

Regarding Sbrooks103x, while it's hard to always ignore him, I try very hard but I have failed in that myself. When reading his comments just picture a bitter old man that is reviled by the whole neighborhood yelling at the kids to "get off his damn lawn". Just like Toni, we should have the grace to feel pity for him, as opposed to detest or take him seriously. But he certainly makes it very difficult to be graceful.

Great story, well written and edited (a couple of mistakes are totally forgiven for a story this long. Pisses me off when people nitpick the minor mistakes.) I think the story carried on too long, the last page confused me a little. Yes, by all means explain how the main characters go forward but by telling about everyone confused me. Nevertheless, a great story and well worthy of a 5*. Thank you for the story and best by far in a long time.

A flood of basic English errors (not common to a B&K story) has me wondering who really wrote this. Maybe it was a cut and paste job, as that would answer the occasional gaps in storyline (i.e. who is agent Davis from the FBI and why introduce a character who has no relevance to the story?). "Conscience" is spelled as such, not "conscious" (which means awake/coherent). Basic English stuff like that... 8th grade if you were lucky.

Sorry, but all the fun and such, you never mentioned the projectile during your bona-fides. Was the shooter using a 150, 168 or 200g bullet? At what point did it go subsonic? was it a factory load or did the reloader take into consideration finger oils for the FBI to recover? We never did hear why they weren't accosted at their vehicle by police once the harem members identified the direction of the shot and their footprints were found (along with the bent grasses and tire-tracks in the soft shoulder where the get-away car was stashed).

Why didn't the husband call the cell company to have his son's call tracked on the cell towers? That might have alerted the FBI to the game earlier on. For a geek he isn't very smart.

Sorry, too many issues to allow a better score. Try again please. It was different from the usual crap on here.

Smokepole

And why the funny spelling of Karin.

Assume this is a character from an earlier story that you wrote. So is this a new chapter of a series? Or stand alone story where you cannot think of new characters?

Please be clear on this. I don't want to read a series already started and have to guess at the backstory and who is who.

If not a series why even mention Karin, is she important to the plot?

GREAT STORY

Toni, had a addictive personality ,with a history of drugs, losing a child,looking for answers and finds a cult like church. She is drugged ,seduced and raped into submission. Another lost soul. They are rescued but John could not see what see Toni’s losing herself. And she is disguarded as he takes his son and she needs a lot of therapy,I’m surprised you did not write of her suicide . Sad for this broken family.t

"but to think that she could accept sex as part of the religious practice is asking for a LOT of suspension of disbelief."

Two words: Earnest Angley.

The televangelist from Ohio forces women to get abortions and men to get vasectomies, when he isn't blowing them.

"In short, John left Toni in a destroyed state.... not too happy about that."

Yeah. John should have taken her back, and then followed Toni's example. Run off with their kid and all the money. Then she can really know what destroyed feels like.

A sad story. Addictive people bounce from one crutch to lean on to another, including religion or religious cults. To a normal person, it is hard to believe anyone would be so compliant and fall for it, but the sad fact remains that people still send money to Nigerian princes. The wife is damaged, as is the husband. This unassailable gap of trust is the least of their worries. They would be better together.

You left the door to recovery open. I've been a cop all my life and I know redemption and rehabilitation don't really happen often, but when a junkie really hits bottom and makes an honest attempt to recover and their child is involved, I have seen it happen with great results. You have all the tools and a future reconcillation follow up might piss off some folks, but would not be unbelieveable with the facts you left in your ending. So you and Kate needto get your quills and ink out again ang get started.

A weak mind is easily swayed.

Any chance of a sequel to this?

yeah for a female drug addict with her back ground, having a creep of a step father (or was it her real father i cant remember and dont want to look back) anyway with all this having her fall for a religious cult that used sex practices is extremely hard to believe. liked the sniper scene description though

Since, because neither looks like Southern Baptist or American Pentecostalism, they must be the same, right? I really had trouble imagining myself saying those words with a straight face and expecting to be believed. Brilliant way of showing that the "Reverend" Holland had nothing to do with real religion, and what a complete moe-ron our Toni was.

elegant.caenorrhabditis

The characters were somewhat one-dimensional. It seemed as if you expected us to remember them from previous stories. Unfortunately I did not.

The plot was intriguing, but the writing style seemed somewhat flat. Your work usually has more of a grip on me.

I look forward to your next.

Very good story and I'd give you a ***** just for the bullet to the brain alone!

Even with the rescue, the reckoning with the Rev, and Toni's so far successful recovery, there is no happy ending here. The two father_son reunions were good but the loss of a wife was not. Some good private investigators, and an unusually cooperative FBI made quick work of the rescue. Toni's story started sad, leveled off, then totally down the tubes. The ending left some hope for her and John. I think it was a very good story, as we expect from you. You have a budding franchise with your PIs, especially the uber woman, Ms.Koon . Looking forward to more.

I felt like this story was a bit convoluted with the flashbacks. Sometimes it was a bit difficult to follow. The story line held my interest and I enjoyed it although very sad. I thought that some of the parts that could have been interesting were glossed over. I would have liked to have seen a little more detail here. I usually read Literotica for the sex and porn stories. This was none of that. Although I liked the story I am torn and gave this a 3* rating if for no other reason than it was a downer.

I enjoyed the story. Great writing and loved the plot. Thanks.

I went thru all the comments and no one mentioned one of the first well known "sex cults" in the USA starting in the 1850's - the Oneida Community in upstate NY.

Their leader was also well degreed -

"In 1831, when he was 20, Noyes was influenced by the preaching of Charles Grandison Finney and underwent a religious conversion.[3][4] "My heart was fixed on the millennium, and I resolved to live or die for it," Noyes later recalled.[4] He graduated from Dartmouth College shortly thereafter and dropped plans to study law, instead enrolling at Andover Theological Seminary with a view to entering the Christian ministry.[5]

In the fall of 1832, Noyes left Andover to enter the Yale Theological Seminary so that he could devote more time to Bible study.[6] In addition to attending daily lectures, practicing his preaching technique, and engaging in Biblical study, Noyes began to dip his toe into political activism, helping to organize in New Haven one of the first Anti-Slavery Societies in the United States.[6]"

(wikipedia)

and went on to found this commune which believed in both "free love" and "complex marriage" which somehow benefited Noyes himself far more than any of the other men. I was wondering if the author had just seen a documentary on this.

Also David Koresh in his Branch Davidians cult did much the same - and all his followers - men and their wives - allowed this. Though some men had already left that commune before everyone else was pretty much killed.

Original. Classic Loving Wives tale from BillandKate. Thanks to you both for sharing your talented skills as wordsmiths. ******

Thanks for sharing those insightful comments on sex cults. One of the reasons I enjoy reading other comments is you can learn something new.

Your stories are so much more than cheating spouses. Terrific reads

Thank You

Helluva yarn. Thanks

Seriously, a 67 Camaro with a 350 cu in engine that turns a sixteen second quarter...high fourteens all day. Otherwise a good story!

...with no real connection with the characters...

...this story was still gripping. Full of heartbreak and angst.

I suppose it's because the events written about are not really too far from credible. There really are insipid, evil people out there, just like these 'men of religion', who will use any angle they can devise for their own nefarious ends.

What's worse, is that it's more than plausible that they could use people's need to find a higher meaning in life to entrap them. It's happened before, in real life, and unfortunately it will probably happen again.

The sad thing is that to dismantle such schemes probably does require working outside the law... these people know how to use the law for their own ends, and the law let's them get away with turning people into pawns... slaves... victims.

I'm BTB all the way, but I even felt sorry for Toni, she's just a damaged soul, looking for meaning in a world all-too-ready to discard her without a second thought.

If they had reconciled, it would have been a victory against an uncaring world, and having reconciled, would have found some higher existence, some solace, some meaning in their otherwise dark lives, and it would have been honouring Jason, a chance to lift their own progeny into a better life experience.

That said, this outcome is far more realistic. And like life, a little more tragic.

It just goes to show, nothing is straight-forward, and nothing is black and white. Nothing is a given, and it's a fool who takes everything for granted.

Not bad... Holland could have suffered a bit more tho... I beat a preachers ass once... I dont go to church but i was there cause my granddaughter wanted me to hear her easter speech... After the easter show im sitting in the pews and this 30 something preacher that only has the church because the church women think he looks good... Decides to give a sermon... I sigh but think... What the hell... I can sit 5through it for my grandbaby...

After his moronic sermon... Mostly about nothing... Unintelligent with plenty of just wrong facts to boot (if you're going to preech at least learn the religion you're preeching about)... He calls for the people that want god to forgive them for the bad choices they've made to come to the alter... The people... Mostely women all flock to the front... Leaving just me sitting in the pews... Im not really a part of this... I'm just h3re for my grandbaby...

This asshat gets on his mike and says... "Well i guess some of us have n3lever made any mistakes... I just sat there thinking... "I'm going to have a little chat with this dude later... He makes 3 more vieled comments about me... I see my 5 year old grand baby's eyes getting moisture... So i get up and walk out... As i'm leaving he starts to make some comment about the kind oh heathen they dont want to be... And i see my ex babymama... My grands grqndmom lean over and whisper something to the preacher... From the look on his face she's probably telling him about my life in the street and the people i've shot... (I'm not particularly bloodthirsty... It was just a necessary part of doing business)... Anyway i wait outside til everything is over... I kiss my grand goodnight... Listen to my ex... (Who knows me pretty well) ask me not to do anything stupid... And how he was just trying to spread the word... I tell her i'm just going to give him some words... She shook her head... Grabbed up my grand and left...

It was just my intention to tell this punkass that the next time he tried to disrespect me in front of my grand child... What i was going to do... But he foolishly chose to get arrogant... I guess he figured god had his back... He got half a statement out of his mouth about what he'd do to my old ass... I was about 60 at the time... I'm no former sas or green beret... But i did fight golden gloves in the boxing talent rich environment of bronx ny... And i have a lifetime of those same streets under my belt... He was a young dumb georgia wanna be preacher... He got half of his statement out and i slapped the taste out of his mouth... I'm talking hard... Hard eye watering slap...

Then i got into a boxers stance... My intention was to knock him out quick.. with a good right hand... I was in good shape for 60... But georgia boys like to wrestle not box... And i wasn't stupid enough to wrestle around with a 30 year old... But to my surprise he turned around and ran like hell... Full out haul ass... Guess he looked around and saw that god wasn't there... And he didn't like the odds...

He later sent word that i wasnt welcome in "his" church... My ex asked me what the hell did i do... Rumors spred around our small town about "jaye beating up the preacher"... Proof positive that jaye was an unredeamable heathen... But somehow the rumor was that it was over my ex... Guess everyone likes a good love triangle...

_jaye-

How could Toni be so incredibly stupid as to accept as a religious experience having her throat stuffed with the bastard Holland's cock?!! This is not naivety. it's being moronic! Later when she is made part of a gang bang, couldn't she recognize the symptoms of ingesting a drug, since she HAD been an addict? It's unbelievable that she allowed herself to be lead by the nose by the asswipe "Revrend" with a few religious phrases! Would have been nice if instead of being given a hole in the head, the "Reverend" had his privates shot off!! And allowed to live a long life in prison as Bubba's cell mate. Tragic story ,very well written. 5*s. (Btw, it's "chasm" not"schism")

A pretty good story about a subject I love to hate. That is, Snakes on two legs who use religion to destroy people’s lives. Both the fictional ones and the real life monsters. Don’t think assholes like the “reverends” Holland and McMasters exist? Do a google search for a guy named Tony Alamo. And be aware that what you can find of his exploits on the internet only scratches the surface of all the trouble he caused and the lives that his “ministry” destroyed.

All the religious exploitation and sexual abuse cults in th he need ,and a family in peril. But it quickly jumped the tracks to one of those uber folk / marine friend comes to the rescue nonsense. It helped little that I was not in tube with the backstory , so only cared about the story of the moment.

Well written interesting story. Scarily a very possible real life tale. Another great job by you. Keep up the good work.

People like this don't exist think again. Manson, Jim Jones and the list goes on. At least this time there was no grape koolaide or a comet.

"It's Not Revenge, It's the Reckoning" This reminded me of Liam Neeson in the first 'Taken' movie. Not the way that it Should be but the way the systems work sometimes it's the necessary way. One of the really devastating things about trafficking like this is these people are small potatoes compared to what is happening out there.

As serious as this subject is I won't even quote the one typo that I noticed.

Signed: BTW

Good story, well written with only a few errors. I liked this one

Scores 5/5

Are my pick for today's reading of all their wonderful work again. This was a tough.one the first time and no easier this time through. These too close to real life stories are great, but at the same time troubling.

What a well written story of a wife and mother who got caught up in a religious cult. Being a former addict and apparently not too bright she sucked into the religious cult and by the time she figured it she was trapped. The search, the drama and the rescue was great. I can understand why John wouldn't take her back, because in the end she could have said no, especially when John had refused to go. Johns biggest mistake was letting her get involved with the church in the first place, he could have stopped the whole thing before she got sucked in to it. Such a tragedy for John and Toni, but at least Toni and her son were rescued from that horrible environment. The justice against the cult was karma. Well done 5 stars

Darn that was a hard story to read but in a good way. Cults are some scary stuff. 5 stars, not quite a happy ending (haven't read the follow-up yet) but better then what could have happened.

very good story, happy sad ending, always good to hear the bad got what he deserved. Cults and users have knack for controlling weak minds. We lost a teenage daughter to a Civil Air Patrol cadet that warped her thinking and she left us. It nearly killed my wife. We went to councilor along with the asshole and our daughter. After the councilor talked with our daughter and then us she said it will be ten years before she comes back to us and it turned out she was right and she did come back with two children. Turns out asshole was screwing the baby sitter. But there is Karma in this world. Asshole got job with the county make over $100K a year. The baby sitter came forward and asshole was arrested for have sex with minor and human trafficking. Lost the job and damaged his good rep. But they dropped the charges because the witness was bit sketchy and the statute of limitations took over but it cost him plenty is was all over the news and TV for a week. All true and you know what say "what goes around comes around" and Karmas a bitch. Good story

Cults are scary

Sad that people forsake religion and God to seek these sickos

Being an addict from a broken home doesn't necessarily mean someone is a complete idiot or a mindless submissive. Toni's susceptibility to entrapment by a bunch of pimps wearing clerical robes is neither explored nor explained well in the story. Since it can be seen as the linchpin of the plot, the failure to make it understandable is a major weakness of this submission.

So after Toni is rescued from a horrific situation she comes home to lose her home husband an son the son she protected the whole time she was living the nightmare IMO the husband is an unfeeling bastard an doesn’t deserve custody of his son. I understand he couldn’t take his wife back but to strip her of everything after what she went through is unforgivable. She was brainwashed it’s like a mental illness if she had depression an made some bad choices would he of left her contemplating suicide with nothing seems likely, so he has no redemption due him an all my sympathies are with the poor women who lived through a nightmare then rescued an came home for her husband to cause her to live the rest of her life in a new nightmare

That's the problem with believing in something with no basis in fact. ALL belief in ANY religious culture results in brainwashing and being under the control of another human. Religion relies in the giving up of freedom and stops all who believe in fulfilling their true potential

awful .

what a whore.

imagine having empathy for this rank prostitute .

anyone who has sympathy for this slut likely is a slut , or wathes his girl fuck other men.

Excellent coverage of some difficult subjects.

Some of these anonymous replies.... keep going with the crayons guys.

Mental illness and addiction are difficult subjects to write about. I feel sorry for Torrie but her betrayal of John was immense. So manynget hung up on thr adultery, and rightfully so, but she was so brainwashed that she fled with her son Jason and went to the other compound where she got continuously raped. Terrifying. She didn't deserve the fallout and losing everything but how could it happen any other way? She took their son and fled without a trace. Without John's father and his connections, she and her son would have been trapped there for years. Without her son, she ould have probably committed suicide at the New Jersey compound. She had been so depressed after the miscarriage (really tough at 24 weeks) that she was vulnerable to a sexual predator in the guise of religion. She must also be a pretty dumb person. That wasn't just naivete but rank stupidity. The supposed rewrite of the 7th commandment was hilarious, especially in the context of a heavily patriarchal society. Lol. It appears she was drugged for the more extreme sessions in Holland's "church", err sex community, but her fall into depravity and debasement was so complete and her willingness to be brainwashed so ardent, that she ran off with Jason, abandoning her husband to grief and terror. Don't see how a couple could get past that. Not sure how she could get past that. Without Jason, post divorce, she would almost certainly kill herself. Brutal. Oh and John's father was an absolute asshole when he was young. He robbed his son of a happy childhood because he didn't trust his wife and just as bad his marriage to his first wife was hurt by his suspicions of his first wife, unable to reconcile or get forgiveness because she died of cancer. Again brutal.

Long ass boring 😴 story!!!👎👎👎

Nobody, not even professionals and specialists, understand how things like this happen. It always seems so out of character, so unthinkable. But, it does happen and the explanation is quite simple….

@sbrooks103x

Comments

I'm amazed at how many people who dislike my comments continue to read them.- In a word "Baffled".

How anyone could possibly think that their input was anything but worthless.

If I see a story by an author that I don't like, I don't read it. - That is like gathering up your toys and stomping back home.

Every time you hear about a cult you wonder how they ensnare their victims, this as as likely as any of the others. Well written.

Nit-picking comment, sorry. You keep writing conscious when you mean conscience

Thanks for letting us know about conscious vs conscience. Had us scurrying back to our Webster's. (Yeah - old school).

In the past we've screwed up mute vs moot and yea vs yeah plus a few others so it helps when our readers clear these up - thanks. BTW - glad you enjoyed the story.

This story seemed more focused on everyone else than on the two MCs.

I only scanned it after seeing it going down the drain. Statistically, sexual molestation is more likely to come from a rabbi or a teacher.

… (obviously made them up), but the the most likely ‘religious’ child abusers are Caucasian male clergy or youth pastors. Don’t take my word for it, look it up yourselves!

Stands to reason, doesn’t it? That’s the best way to position themselves next to vulnerable youths and children, and to get ‘instant cred’ by masquerading as so-called ‘holy men’.

Teachers are under too much scrutiny these days, and I have never heard of a case where a Rabbi is at the center of a child-abuse ring. Abusing children is more of a Christian thing.

Christian clergy, especially those belonging to more charismatic splinters, are typically far less ‘challengable’ by their followers, so they’re more likely to be able to get away with telling their victims to do questionable acts in God’s unquestionable name.

An emotional subject handled well. Thank you authors. I love the KArin series.

My only problem has noting to do with plot, character development or writing style.

I am puzzled that the (fictional) man who was helped to recover, could not forgive and help the damaged woman who was abused. I saw that as a major flaw in his character.

I found many of the comments disappointing and quite frankly ignorant. The fact that evil people see teaching and pastoring as professions of opportunity, reflects on their evil, and not on the professions.

Example - "A former childcare worker has been charged with more than 1,600 child abuse offences – including rape – against 91 young girls at a dozen early learning centres in Brisbane, Sydney and overseas over a 15-year period."

A man who ran a home for trouble boys molested over 750. (Source -one of his victims related to me during counseling)

For example: the obviously anti-Christian comment "Abusing children is more of a Christian thing."

Christianity, far from encouraging the evil of molesting the vulnerable, stands against it and points out its evil.

On the other hand, true Christians, not used to thinking in evil terms, can more easily be victimized. I will make one exception, but some might agree it is hardly a truly Christian example: the Roman Catholic religion is invested with molesters and they protect each other.