- Topic
Do not dispute things here! This topic is a place for everyone to put ideas for what a cult is. We have cult groups that always cry foul and argue that the criteria used to prove them to be a cult is not accurate. This is a chance for everyone to put their criteria for what they believe are characteristics of a cult. The other thing cult member love to do is try to make everything look like a cult. Don't use this post as a springboard for that either. Stick with the topic and lets see if we can come to a better understanding.
Yes, that is very true. I'm sure there are many controlling organizations in the world that have nothing to do with religions. I just that I expect that anyone wanting to exercise any type of religious authority needs to have their stuff together. This goes from pastor, deacon, to bible study leader or even a kind friend wanting to share some scriptures with me. I expect them to be intelligent, rational and have good common sense. If they don't, then I don't trust them!
If your life, or you are a total mess, than how can I trust or believe anything that you are saying about God? I'm speaking hypothetically here, but I say this based on personal experience.
Only people who are kind of a mess or less can share about God.
renita.payno wrote:
Only people who are kind of a mess or less can share about God.
I would beg to differ from the standpoint that in many cases for those that have been through a manipulating situation, it appears that God and/or Jesus have failed them. While I do not know your individual experiences, it is probably highly likely that these opinions derive from experiences in organizations that are pseudo relegions. A pseudo (anything) is something that appears to be (anything), but in reality is just an imposter – like a parasite relying on another organism for what it needs.
Let's assume that a pseudo God or pseudo Jesus organization manipulated you. Let's also assume that there is God/Satan, and so on. So a pseudo God would be manufactured by Satan to deceive us. So the question is, and we are all entitled to our own sovereign thought btw, has the pseudo religion, or Satan as we have deduced, been successful in his mission?
I was a bit critical of Liberty, but I stand by it. That being said, there is research to show that the evolving of mankind was better served by groups that had religious beliefs, that those groups were more of a community, worked together better than other groups for land and resources, and that over 50,000 years or so mankind developed somewhat of a "God gene". Ultimately, while that theory is compelling, it is still a chicken vs egg problem to solve.
One thing we do know for sure is that groups with end-justifies-the-means have a sorry track record of behavior upon the very people they present up front to be there for. In my opinion psychological abuse of spiritual beliefs is the worst of all betrayals. Additionally, I feel that the road to healing comes from an understanding of the process that occurred, and that is especially hard to do in these cases because the main tenets obviously were the deity involved, and the correlations are and will remain very strong for a long, long time.
I agree iwth Simon in one way, he said the goal of the wmscog isn't to suck the life out of you, but to make money. Unfortunately, as a natural by product, they DO suck the life out of people as Joshua described. Maybe it isn't their goal, but it is what happens. And I fully believe they see it and don't care at all as long as the money keeps pouring in.
Power and money are the motives of all cults. They don't care who they hurt and they don't let anyone stand in their way. And they certainly don't care if their religion breaks up families.
I don't understand why you quoted me. But I did forget to put sarcasm at the end of that post.
renita.payno wrote:
I don't understand why you quoted me. But I did forget to put sarcasm at the end of that post.
ok, I understand now ๐
renita.payno wrote:
Only people who are kind of a mess or less can share about God.
It that were true, then God would be a total mess. I don't believe God to be a total mess, however. Nor a hypocrite.
Questioninginla wrote:
renita.payno wrote:
I don't understand why you quoted me. But I did forget to put sarcasm at the end of that post.
ok, I understand now ๐
Oh! Then, nevermind.
But I will share some experiences so you might have a better idea of what I am talking about:
Example 1
When I was 18 years old, I had a biblestudy teacher, who was in her upper-50, lower 60's. Somewhere around that range. She was always talking about God, always praying, always going to church. She would stress the importance of having a personal relationship with God. She said she was always leaning on him for direction, guidance, wisdom, understanding, etc, etc. One day she told me that she was low on money and asked me if she could borrow $50. She told me that she would pay me back. I said okay. We went to the store and then she even asked me to buy her extra things. I never saw the money again. I also felt that the large age difference between us made it inappropriate for her to ask me for money.
When it was time to eat- this lady would also pray for 45 minutes. And yes, 45 MINUTES! The food would be so cold by the time she was done and I would be so freakin mad! Not to mention the stupid bible study was already 5 hours long. WTH!
She had a Ford Focus for a car, but she was always calling it a Ford Escort. That always annoyed me. How could she not even know the own model of her car? Yet, I did with no effort.
I'm sorry- but that lady was nuttier than a fruitcake. I don't think that a fruitcake is a good representative of God's nature/grace. Nor did I find it easy to believe that she really had a "personal relationship" with God. If so, then God should've been telling her to pay back my money, not to insult my mother, not to freakin pray for so long when everyone is hungry, and to stop being so dang nutty!"
Example 2
My college bible study also stressed the importance of having a personal relationship with God and spending time with him. They had several leaders who seemed to be so "in tuned" with God. Well I felt this group had a bad problem with favoritsm. There are many examples, but I'll give one. When certain members had a birthday- they would make a big deal of it, and buy them cake, cards, presents, have a party, etc. But then for some members they did nothing at all, even when it was brought to their attention. They just didn't care.
If they really had a personal relationship with God, wouldn't he be telling them to not play such blatant favortism and treat everyone fairly!!??
Example 3
There was this pastor who had recently started his own church. Another one who talked about God so much. Treated his wife terribly and was divorced twice. Didn't carry a cell phone, and he was always late. Yet he was extremely impatient when someone else was late. I think if he was really "in-tune," with God, then he wouldn't have all these issues."
Maybe I've just had really bad luck. But pretty much all religious figures/authorities
That was one reason why I was so happy when I first found the wmscog. I thought "finally the true church. Normal people! True God!" Well.. look how that turned out…..
My only conclusion now is that obviously organized religions and these bible studies are not the way for me. This craziness can't all be a coincidence- there is some message here. I have many more examples that I did not share. If so- I'd be typing all night long.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.