Yes, I understand RR. Just wanted to add that as an aside. Pardon me.

Ealier I reported about Dallas International Street Church (DISC) and contrasted my initial impressions of them to TFI insofar as their respective reputations in Dallas' homeless-advocacy community. I am uneasy now. Read my new DISC thread and give me some feedback here, please.

when I said, " give me some feedback here, please" I meant on the thread I started about DISC, not on this one. Like in the sense of "Hey, gimme a break here." Ya know?

Counselor47,

I would be interested in hearing more about the cult conference that you went to. Was there anything that pertains to this thread or would be helpful for us to know?

Thanks,
Seeking

My instructor told me today about having met OA a few years ago at some kind of fund-raising function put on by The Stratmark Group, for whom my instructor worked at the time. He told me that at the time he felt as as if Ole has this "angle" about him and was subtly probing for information. My instructor told me that after awhile he excused himself from Ole's presence and has never forgotten the man. Only met OA one time, and really impressed my instructor as creepy.

zeuszor:

No need to post link to a marketing group.

Quote
seeking
Counselor47,

I would be interested in hearing more about the cult conference that you went to. Was there anything that pertains to this thread or would be helpful for us to know?

Thanks,
Seeking

Well, the main thing about those conferences is meeting the other people who have been in cults, and comparing notes. It is always amazing how similar the experiences are, whether the cults are New Age, Eastern, LGAT, or Bible-based (like Trinity). We also got to have lunch (along with some other folks) with Janja Lalich, which was fun.

Getting together with a group like that is positive and healing, and it always reinforces for me just how cultic the whole Trinity experience was. Ole is a master at presenting himself as someone who is close to being mainstream, though a little eccentric. However, the fact is that Trinity is very classically a cult in just about every way. They absolutely fit all 8 of Lifton's criteria, but I will concede that they are better than most cults at disguising that fact.

If person X is a member of an offbeat religious group, say TFI, and you want to know if that group is a cult, simply ask person X's family if they think X is in a cult.

It's really that simple.

A good general rule of thumb, but what if there are family members who disagree? For example, the mother believes her son is in a cult but the father thinks it is just a phase that Junior is going through.

Overall, though, I think there is some validity to looking to family members as a litmus test. I know my parents would have said Trinity is a cult back when I was involved.

Info on the lawsuit:

Excerpt: "In response to multiple media inquiries, the 22,000-member Crenshaw Christian Center announced today that it had placed on the Internet a copy of its pastor’s defamation lawsuit against ABC News and correspondent John Stossel along with a short video that sets the record straight.

Dr. Frederick K.C. Price, founder and pastor of Crenshaw Christian Center in South Central Los Angeles, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court in connection with a story that falsely implied he had improperly diverted his congregation’s donations. The suit names ABC parent The Walt Disney Company, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., ABC Inc., Stossel, 20/20 producer Glen Ruppel, the Trinity Foundation Inc., and Trinity founder Ole Anthony as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that the film clip was given to ABC News by defendants Ole Anthony and the Trinity Foundation, a Dallas-based organization founded by Anthony that is vehemently hostile to evangelical church leaders. The suit states that Stossel and Ruppel knew that Anthony and Trinity were “biased and unreliable sources.”

Here is the link:
[home.businesswire.com]