Frazzled UBM said-
I think the thing about taking my son back to the Philipines was an empty threat and I quickly put the passports in safe keeping (but did not move the money out of the joint account she has acces to - even though I was tempted to do so).
She's a Filapina? None of my business, of course, but this wasn't a relationship/marriage arranged over the internet by any chance, was it? It was a cliche for military members in the 1970's to get orders to the P.I. (Philipine Islands), and get a "house-girl" (someone to clean the house as a live-in, who's services could be bought for some incredibly low amount). The girls often married the G.I.'s and thus bought a winning lottery ticket to gain entry to the big BX/PX in America as the wife of a American G.I., marrying him NOT out of love, but to get access to the States and his money (they were viewed as MILLIONAIRES, compared to the typical citizen there). The typical story is they would try to get their families in the PI in the States, serving as their sponsors. Rarely was the marriage admitted to be what it often was.
There's a member on JWN who never was a JW (an ex-cop, IIRC; I can't recall his user name, though) who learned the hard way that getting involved with someone raised in a third-world country over the internet is fraught with peril, after she had an affair and divorced him; the differential in power and control is simply too great for many couples to overcome, where some males think they're buying a wife/concubine.
BTW, that whole bit about putting their passports "for safekeeping" suggests a willingness to control her that makes JW control measures seem tame in comparison? Did I read that correctly?
Adam
