Excellent investigative report on cult-like activities at Teen Mania:

[tinyurl.com]

More information on Teen Mania (Acquire the Fire, Honor Academy, Global Expeditions)

[dallascult.com]

Recovering Alumni of Teen Mania

[www.recoveringalumni.com]

Another entity, Teen Challenge has also attracted concern.

[www.google.com]

(Foul mood)

Teens and their parents have been ID'd as yet another niche market for a legion Gadarene swine to feed upon.

And, friends, this does bring a painful question about faith.

If the name of Jesus is powerful, why dont those who presume misuse Jesus' name get instantaneous laryngitis or panic attacks the moment they even think or utter that Name in support of an agenda that is not for Christs' Kingdom but for Mammon's kingdom?

MSNBC recently (Nov 6, 2011) aired a documentary on Teen Mania. Here is more info:


[liturgical.wordpress.com]

[www.recoveringalumni.com]

I read the description of the training and it sounds appalling.

One person likened it to hell week in US Navy SEALS training.

[culteducation.com]

Here are some very important differences between Teen Mania, US Navy boot camp...and differences between BUDS training for SEAL candidates.

Trainees in the BUDs program for SEAL candidates (which includes the Hell Week part) are older. These are men who have already gotten through Navy boot camp, and become sailors, OK? They're already tough. And they went on to meet the qualifications needed to even apply for SEAL training.

And you are not even to take the oath and join the US military unless you are 18 years of age. If you have parental approval, they will let you in at age 17.

So anyone who gets into Navy bootcamp is someone at least 17 years of age and above that--an older teenager.

By the time someone is in SEAL training and going through Hell Week, they are likely to be past their teens and extraordinarily tough cookies, at that.

One SEAL trainer said that the men who dont make it through BUDS training (the early phase of SEAL training) are still excellent sailors.

Other differences:

People who opt for military boot camp usually self select. They are at minimum 17 years old, if their parents have given permission. So..they are older teenagers. Their bodies are further in the growth process, making them less injury prone than younger teenagers whose joints are much more vulnerable to injury.

Yet another difference:

You can learn about the basic outlines of boot camp by asking people about it. These days you can go online. And in the larger culture, everyone knows that 'Boot Camp' is tough. That means you can find ways to train yourself. One man who lived in Florida wrote that he would see boys from military families running the trails carrying heavy backpacks and wearing boots, doing this in 90 degree weather to prepare themselves for bootcamp.

Another difference: Before induction, people have to pass a medical examination.
To take the Navy Seals Hell Week analogy a little further, one has to get through Navy Boot Camp and become a sailor, before one is even remotely qualified to apply for the SEALS and enter the first phase of SEAL training, BUDS.

So a person who enters BUDS training is already a very tough animal. Not a teenager.

THese days, one can read about SEALs training and even participate in SEAL Fit training programs before applying for the BUDS training. There is an entire forum where one can learn about this. There are programs interested persons can do to prepare for SEAL training--the SEAL fit training programs.

[www.navyseals.com]

A very big difference from Teen Mania.

That bit in the article about rolling down hillsides--one has to be taught proper technique for that--even the toughest soldiers and sailors welcome anything that will improve the likelihood of injury prevention or harm reduction.

You cant just tell people to roll or somersault down a hill--they have to be taught how.

First lesson you get in martial arts intro class is how to fall and how to tumble and roll.

bump