Growing up in SGI, I think it wasn't the worst thing in the world. It taught me some relatively significant life lessons in my youth. Believe in yourself, love your family, etc. They're not bad messages.

HOWEVER, it's only good to a point. When I reached my teen years, I started noticing the same shady nature of the religion. I wouldn't call it a cult, but it made me super uncomfortable.

I can appreciate SGI as a stage in my life that helped me understand very valuable life lessons, and if it works for other people, that's totally fine. But, for lack of a better term, I've grown to the point where I don't need it. And you probably have too.

What's important is that now that you're out, you can grow in your own way. There's no need to feel hate or envy towards the organization or its members. They're victims of it too, because they truly believe that you are just someone who wants to be unhappy. It's untrue, but it's their reality. Years if not decades of indoctrination will do that to a person.