Michael Kovacs reviewed Breaking free by Rachel Jeffs
Breaking Free
4 stars
This isn't for the lighthearted and even though it ends in freedom (for some), there is so much pain inflicted to so many parties throughout the journey. Breaking Free really casts a light on how religion can be twisted and used as a human tool for absolute control and submission rather than inspiration and peace. Women were seen as objects and stats for the men and most of the men in here were okay with it because they are the benefactors of this system. Her FLDS husband still is trapped in this religion, serving made-up penances from a man behind bars, refusing to reconnect with the author and their children likely because as a man in an misogynistic religious cult, as long as he puts his head down and obeys, he gets what FLDS promises to their men. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints is one …
This isn't for the lighthearted and even though it ends in freedom (for some), there is so much pain inflicted to so many parties throughout the journey. Breaking Free really casts a light on how religion can be twisted and used as a human tool for absolute control and submission rather than inspiration and peace. Women were seen as objects and stats for the men and most of the men in here were okay with it because they are the benefactors of this system. Her FLDS husband still is trapped in this religion, serving made-up penances from a man behind bars, refusing to reconnect with the author and their children likely because as a man in an misogynistic religious cult, as long as he puts his head down and obeys, he gets what FLDS promises to their men. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints is one of the most egregious examples of an abusive religion, but I don't think one would have to look too deeply at other mainstream religions to find people in power also abusing their people.
