The discovery of defooing
The media played an important early role in revealing the truth about Molyneux’s teaching. It was a rare and difficult occurrence, since parents, families, and friends are often reluctant to come forward to tell their stories about Stefan Molyneux and defooing, for one significant reason.
Parents who have been defooed by children who have joined Stefan Molyneux’s FreeDomain Radio are in a quandry. By the time the defoo actually occurs, the new members now view any criticism of Stefan Molyneux or the “community” itself as a personal attack on them.
I don’t understand how that all works, but it seems as if they have become so invested in FDR beliefs that it becomes more than a belief, but who they are.
Many members defoo their families with a three-line goodbye message (just as Molyneux and his wife Christina employed with their respective families). Families are quite often unaware of the hours that had already been spent listening to podcasts and chatting on the FDR forum. In fact, there may be defooed parents out there who–to this day–have no idea that a “FreeDomain Radio” exists or the role that Stefan Molyneux and the “community” played in splitting the family apart.
In December 2008, one parent broke the silence and became the face of parent anguish over the cruelty of Molyneux’s defooing practice. Barbara Weed allowed herself to be interviewed and her private story made public to warn others about the darker psychological practices of FreeDomain Radio. The reverberations from that act continue to this day. This section contains a couple of articles about Molyneux’s reactions/response to those articles.
Here are some links to the original news stories.
‘You’ll never see me again’ (UK’s Guardian article by Kate Hilpern)
Website ‘Led Teen To Quit Family’ (Sky News article by Robin Powell)
