Welcome Jan.


jan w. lane Wrote:
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> I am a former "Walk" member. I joined the cult in
> the SFO bay area under Howard Klein. I was one
> of the unfortunate ones who was somehow involved
> in what I now relate to as an arranged marriage,
> being told that it was unacceptable to date
> someone who was not in the walk. Somehow I
> believed many false teachings, reluctantly but on
> the other hand, much did not ring true. I stayed
> with the "walk", stayed with a loveless marriage,
> endured the commands to quit certain jobs, move
> into communal living arrangements as a newlywed,
> told when it was not appropriate to be bringing
> children into the world.....and so much more. We
> had most of our so called cult experience under
> the so called leadership of RD Cronquist. I must
> say that as an aftermath of all of this I have had
> considerable difficulty with organized religion.
> I have retained my faith in Jesus Christ as my
> savior, but I hold most organized so called
> Christian denominations with some suspicion. I
> also went through a painful divorce which was
> sadly the case of most people who entered into
> this group around the early 70's. I don't have
> may pleasant memories of those chaotic years. The
> whole experience was a nightmare and I do not
> regret for a moment leaving the church.

BTW, does this practice of arranging marriages still continue within TLWF...given the dismal track record?

changedagain Wrote:
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> "Satirists expose those who are incapable of
> laughing at themselves and teach the rest of us
> that we probably should."
> --David Brooks



And Fyodor Dostoyevsky saw sarcasm as a cry of pain. Sarcasm was "usually the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded." Ya think FD had been in a cult too?

lily rose Wrote:
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> And Fyodor Dostoyevsky saw sarcasm as a cry of
> pain. Sarcasm was "usually the last refuge of
> modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy
> of their soul is coarsely and intrusively
> invaded." Ya think FD had been in a cult too?

I suspect this had a profound influence on his outlook (from Wikipedia):
"In 1833, Dostoyevsky's father, who was strict and profoundly religious, sent him to a French boarding school and then on to the Chermak boarding school."

jan w. lane posted in part: “The whole experience was a nightmare and I do not regret for a moment leaving the church.”

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I like the term “nightmare;” it says it all.

I am familiar with the bible. I am familiar with cults. There is not a single upside to being a sheep, everything goes against them. "I am a sheep" exactly equates to "I follow dumbly." The analogy given to us as children--of the kindly shepherd leading and guarding his lambs--is patently flawed. That gentle watchful shepherd fully intends to slaughter those sheep for his own stomach, and in the meantime use their wool. The benefit only goes one way. That there are some stories of shepherds in the old testament does not take away from the insult of the term. Sheep do not think critically nor weigh choices and make decisions for themselves, by themselves. Surely there are more positive ways of thinking of ourselves. Frankly, shepherds don't have the best reputation either.

Good point Lamp. The whole model of us being sheep creates a mental state where we never fully grow up into adults and develop normal adult skills like making independent decisions, learning to asert ourselves and defend ourselves emotionally. When we stop being sheep to other humans, we're less likely to be victims.

I've just started reading this forum and have reached page 50 ... and yet it's so active I always seem to be less than half-way to the most recent post! As late as it is, I have some information (I apologize if this is redundant due to a future post I haven't read yet) that might be of interest to Chaos1952 in his quest for some of the historical origins of "The Walk".

I was given "the right foot of fellowship" shortly after G&M so firmly took the reins. Before then I was aware that JRS as a young man had traveled to see, hear and receive impartation from ministries associated with the Latter Rain movement when it was in full throttle. He had particularly high regard for a Brother Rasmussen, who laid hands on him. Rasmussen published his own life story and account of the Latter Rain, which is worth a read.

Richard Riss (who wrote a published account of the "Toronto Blessing" from the 1990's) wrote about the Latter Rain in his doctoral thesis (which is available online) and talks extensively about the influence it had on JRS and "The Walk" (as it was called then). I have a personal letter from him describing his attempts to interview "Brother Stevens" for his thesis, but being told that he was to busy. Instead he was allowed to forward written questions, and "Brother Bailey" (I believe) was authorized to answer in an interview later, The thesis identifies 5 major streams of movements that came out of the Latter Rain - "The Walk" being one of them. JRS remained in contact with at least one of the other streams long after "The Walk" took shape, but gradually drifted into isolation from contact - I believe because of the influence of the "Yes men" that surrounded him.

Anyway I believe your own search for healing and some of the "why questions" would be well served by looking for Rasmussen's book and the Riss thesis.

Back to reading - I'll catch up with all of you when I hit the most recent post.

Welcome dbc. Thanks for the info. Was one of the 5 streams the movement of William Branham? Branham and JRS seemed to be very similar.

paleface Wrote:
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> Good point Lamp. The whole model of us being
> sheep creates a mental state where we never fully
> grow up into adults and develop normal adult
> skills like making independent decisions, learning
> to asert ourselves and defend ourselves
> emotionally. When we stop being sheep to other
> humans, we're less likely to be victims.
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Let's be clear here. There's nothing in the scriptures that says sheep never fully grow up into adults and develop normal adult skills.

Welcome dbc. Thanks for the resources.