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I'm interested to understand and know more about this group. From what I do know, "God Bless You" takes the place of "hello" and "goodbye". Why does this or any other word change matter? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.
IF, there comes a day when someone questions "is there something suspect going on here? how could there be? these people are so nice. we greet each other with 'God Bless You'". While not indicative (of bigger problems) in and of itself, it certainly could be said at such a point in time that the meaning has now changed to become greater than just hello and goodbye, correct? In other words, what was once a simple salutation now has more than one meaning – how does this affect my thinking?
I have also heard "soft food/hard food". To the converted member, it makes so much sense for the end to justify the means. Surely we want to lead someone to eternal salvation! Who wants to err in this process? No one! Therefore, give the prospect only what they can handle, correct? Or, is it just an excuse to manipulate? If not the latter, then why not just say that God allows us to manipulate….just a little bit?
What are more words that have multiple meanings, ex-members? Does changing words matter? (provide examples if you can please)
Some of your answers might be found in the post, "Trigger Words for Mind Control." There have been a lot of comments on this subject but it might give you an idea of what might be going on with this.
God bless you doesn't look any different what I grew up with 'Praise the Lord'.
Fragrance is their word for testimony. Many cult like groups create their own words, languages, and meanings for things. "God Bless You" is a biggie for these folks as is "mother" as you can imagine. I'll find the post and bring it to the first page. You might want to check out the "This is Hardcore! Dispute it if you can." post.
We said praise the Lord when greeting someone or addressing the congregation. If we were sharing testimonies, we would stand up and say, 'Praise the Lord Saints' to let them know it was your turn to speak. Or we said Praise God when expressing something we were happy about. The Devil is a Liar when expressing something we weren't happy about. Amen to agree.
Amen!
renita.payno wrote:
We said praise the Lord when greeting someone or addressing the congregation. If we were sharing testimonies, we would stand up and say, 'Praise the Lord Saints' to let them know it was your turn to speak. Or we said Praise God when expressing something we were happy about. The Devil is a Liar when expressing something we weren't happy about. Amen to agree.
This is some new information I have not seen before. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Yea, perhaps this is why some of the things expressed here I don't agree are bad because I grew up doing the same thing.. =) I'm used to it.
I think for me "mother said…" stands out. Because if a member started his/her statment with these words, then it was the ultimate authority whether it contridicted the Bible, Ahn, or what the WMS as an organization taught before. So whatever "mother" says goes. In my opinion, this was a way to encourage blind obedience. "Don't question, just follow."
I still see nothing wrong with saying God bless you or sharing a fragrance. I think people don't like that they say it so much. But they're always greeting each other. If we replaced every God bless you with 'Hello' 'Hi' 'Hey' 'What's up' it won't seem so horrible. When I visited a church in WA, I was introduced to many of the members. I noticed that everyone greeted me with some sort of 'hello'. And everyone greeted my host the same way. I'm sure if I had just walked in without my host, they would have realized I was new by my mannurisms. All the smiling and wanting to shake hands reminded me a lot of the WMSCOG. At another church, a woman even leaned in for a hug. I didn't hug her because I don't really like touching people. Point: the greeting is not abnormal and appears to be common amongst organizations people don't view as cults.
I find it hard to believe that I am the only one on this forum who has been encouraged to go to the alter to receive prayer or share a testimony etc. I find it very weird to say bless you everytime someone sneezes. I always have. I've heard people say 'Bless your soul' when they think you've said or done something stupid or are going through a rough time. We did the same thing. If a sister started crying we would say God bless you. I guess this isn't the 1st cult I've been in from what y'all are saying and from what I've experienced way before the WMSCOG.
The question you raised could be asked of scripture which uses scent
Fragrance in a similar manner
I know when I smell something [whether it stinks or not] I ask other people to smell it, too. People are more willing to smell something that I say smells good rather than something I say smells bad, regardless how I think it smells. Being that fragrance is normally associated with good smells that people are more willing to share and more willing to smell, I think it's an appropiate name. Church people love sharing testimonies and love hearing them too.
Gay…originally meant happy. Old songs use it. 'I'm so happy. I'm so happy. I'm so happy and something and GAAAAYYY!' Today, if I say I'm gay, generally people will assume I'm saying that I'm homosexual. The meaning of gay hasn't really been changed but rather it now has more definitions. Or we can look at it in a different way, giving the same action/thing a different name. Most children I know are taught that their private areas are called pee-pees or some sort of fruit. That's what I was taught. But I made up a name for my daughter. So far, no one I've met has ever heard someone use the word I chose to describe that area. My family doesn't like it because it's not popular. Oh well.. fragrance isn't popular. They changed the name of a testimony. And?
No, I changed the name in case someone touched her inappropiately, she could tell me without the perpetrator fully understanding the conversation if s/he is within hearing range. Also, when someone says something to her about that area and she uses a different name when relaying to me, I know she's not lying about the conversation she had. Unfortunately, and fortunately, I can say this has helped in a recent event.
I pretty much tell her everything else plainly.
Americans speaking Korean!
Emily wrote:
I think for me "mother said…" stands out. Because if a member started his/her statment with these words, then it was the ultimate authority whether it contridicted the Bible, Ahn, or what the WMS as an organization taught before. So whatever "mother" says goes. In my opinion, this was a way to encourage blind obedience. "Don't question, just follow."
In all fairness I have to point out that this goes for the rest of the world as well. Only instead "mother said…." it's "scientists discovered….". WMSCOG is as deceived as the rest of the world. They've just narrowed it down to one person 🙂 Now all you have to do is to disprove her.
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