I am in North Carolina working for the summer. I met these two guys that own a concrete finishing company in Union County. They employ several men, and all of them say that thier bosses are "true Lights" in a hushed tone. They don't have much imformation to offer about them, other than ,"they stick to themselves and don't socialize with outsiders." I am told they don't watch TV or drink, smoke, etc. I have asked both of these men about it, but they avoid the subject, saying things such as "thats our business and none of yours." Obviously, they are not out to convert me or their workers, so I don't think it really qualifies as a cult, but I beleive it is a Christian sect, or a new religous movement.
I really do not wish to offend them. I do consider myself a student of different religous beliefs, and would like to know more if anyone has anything to offer.
I have been a long-time lurker of Rick Ross's site. i only today registered to post messages because I have always been able to find the answers to my questions somewhere on this site. I am hoping someone can tell me what this group is.
Any imformation is appreciated.
Thanks

Hi Zeets,

Even though those guys are not interested in recruiting you, that doesn't mean that they are automatically not a destructive group (IE: "Cult").

This group potentially being considerable as destructive group, by definition, depends on whether or not anyone is being exploited or victimized by their activities, and/or whether or not "undue influence" is being used. It is not a matter of whether or not they are actively recruiting.

Regarding the lack of interest in recruiting you, it could be the case that the current members are fulfulling the group leaders' needs, and they are just not seeking more people at this time. That is just one example, there's lots of other things that could account for the group not recruiting at this time, be it destructive or not.

The use you describe of the term "True Light" among the workers sounds like this group may have invented a little language of its own, and the leaders have been labeled within that language with this term. This is something that destructive groups have been known to do, and this kind of label ("True Light") sounds worrysome. The clear division between themselves and "outsiders" is a warning flag as well.

You've identified enough information about this group for me to personally get the sense that they may actually be destructive, but the information does not go far enough to be able to make a positive determination.

If you are still curious about this group, and would be interested in listening to what they had to say if they finally opened up to you: I highly recommend you order Rick Ross' inexpensive DVD and watch it. I mean, order it like, now. The DVD URL is here: [www.culteducation.com] .

Also, don't forget that there are thousands of destructive cults. Lots of them have very few members, and lots of them are unknown to anyone who would recognize them for what they are. The group not being specifically recognized by anyone who reads this message board is by no means a sign that they are safe.

--NCCG_Concern
www.geocities.com/nccg_concern

Hi NCCG,
I did figure out a little more about these guys. I will relate it here since you were kind enough to post a reply to my post.
What i figured out was that this group is a FLDS affiliated group. The term "true light" is indeed a 'code phrase' for polygamy, just like the term "the principal" is used among the Northern Arizona groups. This became clear when I got them to open up a little more and recognized some of their termonolgy and behaviors.
I just didn't recognize the phrase "true light" as FLDS, and frankly am a little surprised to find polygamists in North Carolina. I actually thought that they were confined to the area of Northern Arizona and Southern Utah.
The ironic thing is that I actually live in a small town in Northern Arizona where most of the people are "mainstream" LDS. I live close enough to Colorado City to have met and even worked with members of the FLDS groups that follow Warren Jeffs. I have met members of the Jessop family, the Barlow family, the Jeffs Family, The Blackmore family - the list goes on...
I am not FLDS, nor am I LDS. I am Jewish by birth, and not very observant at that. I am of the opinion that, while I have been visited by missionaries from the LDS church, my Jewish heritage is the reason that they don't try too hard to "convert" me. I could be wrong.

I can comment on some of my personal observations from my exposure to these people. I enjoy living among my LDS nieghbors. The town is clean, the kids are polite, I have no concern for my family's safety. The town looks like the setting for a Pepsi commercial from the '60's. While the mainstream LDS church does not publicly condone the practice of polygamy, the appearance is that they covertly do. The polygamist groups are tolerated, and jobs and aid(food, clothes, money) is given them by the mainstream folks in a very discrete manner.

I know too well that this is a destructive group, I have personally seen the old men come into town with thier little girl wives. My personal opinion may not be worth much, but it is that if adults engage in the practice of polygamy and are happy, that is one thing. However, it appears that what is really happening is that it is justifcation to have sex with children in the name of religion.

When our Governor was Attorney General, she had ample oportunity to make an effort to protect these children and did nothing. I believe that an investigation by the Phoenix New Times and a Television interview with her caused her to enforce our laws because she was shamed into doing something after being so embarassed. This was 2 or 3 years ago when one of our DPS (state police) officers was convicted of child abuse after one of his 14 year old wives escaped to Phoenix and made public that she had given birth to his child at the age of 13. (he was in his 40's and she was his 4th wife)

I could go on, but I am certain it's all recorded on this imformative web site already.

I will say again that i am surprised to find polygamists in North Carolina.

Thanks again for the reply. Please excuse my spelling and grammer mistakes.

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nccg_concern
This group potentially being considerable as destructive group, by definition, depends on whether or not anyone is being exploited or victimized by their activities, and/or whether or not "undue influence" is being used. It is not a matter of whether or not they are actively recruiting.

I would add that certain groups will try to fish you in slowly and manipulate your emotions and logic bombing that way.

Quote
zeets
I am in North Carolina working for the summer. I met these two guys that own a concrete finishing company in Union County. They employ several men, and all of them say that thier bosses are "true Lights" in a hushed tone. They don't have much imformation to offer about them, other than ,"they stick to themselves and don't socialize with outsiders." I am told they don't watch TV or drink, smoke, etc. I have asked both of these men about it, but they avoid the subject, saying things such as "thats our business and none of yours." Obviously, they are not out to convert me or their workers, so I don't think it really qualifies as a cult, but I beleive it is a Christian sect, or a new religous movement.

"True Light" sounds like cult jargon. Many cults have their own internal jargon.

It may be a cult from what you have stated so far. Just because they dont try to convert you (at the beginning) dosent mean they wont slowly ease you into their world view. Manipulation has at a very slow and subtle level.

Sometimes you have to take a strong stance to cult pressure tactics like when they ask you for your phone number or "Why you dont agree with us" say "I dont need to Justify myself to you". I ran into a a number of them that wanted you to Justify everything to them so that they can logically out-debate you (they have an pre arrange answer for anything you say. Some have been debating for years.)