- Topic
Someone close to me is a member at one of the NJ branches and spends countless hours, most nights until 11 or 12am…
What is actually happening here, studying and movie/game nights are what I’m being told. It seems as though these events are being created to divert members away from their real families and loved ones.
Any members or former members care to share details?
It's more like 12-01. There's always someone studying till midnight, a lot of my studies were till 11 at night. The disturbing thing about it is that after they leave "Zion", they come home and study till 2.
The other thing is they occasionally took secret meetings, not everyone was allowed there, so I didn't get the chance to attend. The secret meetings are mostly late at night and I still have no idea what they were about.
Still, it sounds a bit sinister and it creeped me out.
You have to be in Zion at ALL TIMES. Otherwise you get hit by a train. Talk about brainwashing..
They always have busy schedules, when you are preoccupied you have no time to think and analyse. If they get a vacation they might put their guard back up.
But they usually bring you in gradually. First a sabbath service, then a tuesday service, then a whole sabbath day, and the next thing you know, you basically live there. How far down the rabbit hole is your loved one?
When my love one started going there, first it started with Sabbath and a couple of studies per week, then sabbath,tuesdays and 3 nights a week, now it’s every sabbath, every tuesday and every night, I’m not able to do any of the things we used to do together, we have grown far apart and any time i wanna spent time with her, she always ask for us to meet at the zion, which is the same as it we weren’t together, because she’s with the sisters and I’m surrounded by a whole bunch of guys who are very eager to start preaching me all their gospel bologne. All they do everyday and every night is to keep feeding this garbage, and keep inflicting fear into their minds.
I already have up to the idea that she is stuck in there and i can’t do nothing about it. I don’t know if i ever get my love one back, and if i do she might have permanent psychological issues.
Default wrote:
How far, so far it hurts… If I listed the things that have gone on in the last 6 months, most people would call me crazy- just to still be hanging on. They've been in almost 2 years now, with the exception of leaving for about 2 months when they found out about F&M's children through me…. I'm not sure what to do, …..
Sadly there is never a quick fix solution to the problem of your loved one. In my expereience it usually means that there might have been problems, usually self esteem related, even before she joined the cult. And she was blinded by the love bombing and false sense of security that the cult created.
You have to be in it for the long haul and show unconditional love so that what is fake (the conditionalites placed by the cult) will be shown for what it is.
Default wrote:
…I think its very bad now due to the whole Jubilee year thing, where they think we're days away from it all ending. Being physically in Zion when it all goes down, is apparently critical. Good scare tactic, so theyre basically affraid to leave.
That Jubilee thing is complete and utter bollocks! This cult has chopped and changed its story so much that they get lost themselves. Because now they are mixing OT laws with new NT ones. Where in history has the early church, which ironically claim to follow, was it ever recorded that it followed this Jubilee nonsense? Mama z is revealing herself more as the fraud that she is.
First, there isnt nor was anything that you could have done differently to prevent the issue. Don't blame yourself for the situation at hand. It is not your fault. you did nothing wrong.
You will wish you were more positive, more helpful or more understanding but none would have worked unless you convert as well. This is fact.
Not going or not accepting invitations was by far, your best choice. You could have ended up submerged in all their bull*** as well, but thankfully you're not.
She's going to accuse you of not trying hard enough or not going to the studies with an opened heart and cleaned mind. Truth is, once she opened her heart for the first time to their teachings she was done.
Know this, she went there for the first time with a pre-consieved notion that what she knew about God, the church she previously went to or the doctrine she had learned in the past was either weak, fake or false. Trust me, it is their first strategic argument in order to get people's attention. (Destroy your competitor's reputation so you can sell yourself as the next best thing on the market).
Once they have you doubting all that you knew about God and religion, they begin the process of making you doubt about your close ones. relatives and loved ones.
Food for thought: Their number one wepon is the Bible. With it, they destroy your reputation as a man, as partner and as human being; making your loved one see you the devil himself. Yet, you can't use the Bible against them. You will always lose.
As per waiting for a miracle so that maybe she would wake up from this nightmare, only if the scam is finally revealed and heavily publized, members won't simply wake up. Or as you mentioned, something happens from within the church that makes her doubt what she's doing in there, which would lead her to research about the ***they call church. You're better off letting her go and move on.
Yes, most regular members are there purely because they believe they will be saved and that the world is going to end very soon. But, they all fit the characteristic. They are very much afraid of death. Although some are educated and very smart; most lack a progressive vision of society, which would make them lose hope in the environment they live, leading them to completely submerge in the system.
Default wrote:
I wish I could be more positive, but these people are so stubborn… I guess I am as well; for never accepting invitations, never once. I think it's a source of some problems, as it relates to our relationship.
Just a few samples:
Several women there have husbands and boyfriends who attend here and there, just because. It sounds selfish on the surface, but I'm not going just because she wants me to. She claims my salvation is at stake, sexual immorality is wrong and just my presence is needed there for our relationship to flourish. They all feed off each other and stories of others seperating from "pagans" like myself, just add a dimension as its acceptable and almost encouraged.
She repeats the same lines about being 100% certain that the bible testifies about F&M so I'm literally banging my head into a wall. Whenever I ask questions or point out flaws, I'm met with some version of that line.
There are many members that I have met who have family attend, and eventually you start to see who is really there because they believe, and who is there because thier loved one has fallen victim to this organization.
The family members that go just because their loved one has pressured them, eventually find themselves getting trapped into this , and you can see the misery behind their fake smiles. Family days are just a front so they can show friends and family that they are happy and do fun things at the church, but even when I used to see outsiders come, you can tell they were there just to show support.
I've heard horror stories about kids who's parents want them out and it's caused physical violence at home. It's awful.
Personally I went in, trying to help people out of it. I'm also strong willed in who I believe is God and who isn't God, that being said, they can't trick me with the BS. If you choose to go or attend for the sake of your loved one, try talking to other family members and make contacts with them(secretly), trust me they'll be your best friends/supporters.
If your loved one is one of the members that stay and study till midnight, or go out preaching everyday, trust me, they will start to open their eyes. Those members are usually the ones who have so much pressure put on them, and have to deal with the higher ups. Let them complain to you about the "rebuking" and they'll eventually open up to the flaws. Once you let them see the flaws of the church, they'll start to open up more.
I'm no professional, this is just how I had dealt with my experience, everyone's is different. I felt the need to reply as you are probably in the same North NJ branch that I dealt with.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.