kBOY wrote:
Pretty ballsy to make up such a tale, but certainly explains why it fell into the 'restricted message' category.

yes

On the subject of peddling phony visitations:

Posted by: Saw enough ()
Date: November 16, 2016 10:16PM

Gary has persisted in promoting the vision JRS allegedly had in 1972 seeing 7 years into the Kingdom, even though one of the Blix girls at that time told Gary and Marilyn that she had been with John Stevens that entire day. This was common knowledge among the Living Word Building gossips. It was bad enough that John felt the need to cover for his day-long disappearance with a fantastic story about his vision and being caught up in the spirit so that he lost all track of time. But for Gary and Marilyn to continue to peddle the vision as a selling point for how they are the fulfillment of that prophetic community seems cynical and horrific.

"The Lord has been huddling in a corner of my room the past ten days, and shows no inclination of leaving. Nor will he answer any of my questions. Right now, it is just me and him together in this house, and frankly, it is freaking me out. Is it possible for the Lord to have dementia? Do I have dementia, and the Lord is not really there? Assuming it is real, would it be rude to ask him for some rent money if he continues to stay? Or ask him if he needs to take a shower?
Hope things sort out for the better soon. This simply can't go on forever!
Anyway, back to watching Netflix."

Diary entry
Sept 8, 2020

A FANTASTIC STORY

". . .the vision JRS allegedly had in 1972 seeing 7 years into the Kingdom. . ."

Two things here:

First, this completely explains all the 'warfare' JRS claimed to be under all those years, which was really the guilt of having foisted such a 'fantastic story' upon a large group of followers (as well as just one more affair to sweep under the carpet), along with the building anxiety knowing that as 1979 approached, nothing was really going to happen.

Second, how many of us 20-somethings at the time completely changed the direction of our lives (in addition to joining a cult), like abandoning careers and/or dropping out of college, that had long-term consequences that affected the rest of our lives.

Very sad that many of us didn't smell how rotten Denmark had become (no negative aspersions attributed to the Danes) when 1979 was a bust, before signing up for another chapter of the con.

kBOY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A FANTASTIC STORY
>
> ". . .the vision JRS allegedly had in 1972
> seeing 7 years into the Kingdom. . ."
>
> Two things here:
>
> First, this completely explains all the 'warfare'
> JRS claimed to be under all those years, which was
> really the guilt of having foisted such a
> 'fantastic story' upon a large group of followers
> (as well as just one more affair to sweep under
> the carpet), along with the building anxiety
> knowing that as 1979 approached, nothing was
> really going to happen.
>
> Second, how many of us 20-somethings at the time
> completely changed the direction of our lives (in
> addition to joining a cult), like abandoning
> careers and/or dropping out of college, that had
> long-term consequences that affected the rest of
> our lives.
>
> Very sad that many of us didn't smell how rotten
> Denmark had become (no negative aspersions
> attributed to the Danes) when 1979 was a bust,
> before signing up for another chapter of the con.

Luckily for me, I think somewhere in my being I hoped that JRS' endtime predictions were not true. I finished college. But I know many people, including family members, who did not. F'ing cult.

F'ing cult.

note to self: this two-word sentence would have made a perfect ending to our sixteen year discussion on this particular cult. And now you have ruined it with this comment. Next time...if there is a next time...let it be!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2020 01:41AM by changedagain.

This is a political oriented post, so if the moderator decides to remove it, I'll have no problem with the decision. Like the author of this article (below), I have been apolitical for nearly all my life, but that has changed given the present environment, and its imminent threat to the values I consider most important:


Abraham H. Foxman wrote:

Nothing pains me more than to speak up with anguish in the face of this presidential election. But silence is not an option. American Jewry confronts a fateful choice. Another four years of Donald Trump will be nothing less than a body blow for our country and our community.

I must acknowledge the unexpected nature of this statement. For more than half a century, I avoided public positions on electoral politics. When I chose a career working for the Jewish people, I took on a sacred obligation, like so many other professionals, to avoid taking sides in partisan contests — an obligation I carried into retirement.

But there is more than enough evidence Trump is a demagogue and his presidency threatens American democracy.

When our democracy is weakened, and when nativism is stoked, the rights of Jews and other minorities will be diminished too. It may not happen overnight, but it will happen, and Jews know this well from bitter experience.

I respect any American, and any Jewish American, who continues to identify with and support the Republican party, which has made significant and lasting contributions to the Jewish community. And I understand why some of these voters are struggling with their decision.

In my mind, the case is closed. His leadership endangers our democracy, and therefore our community.

My reasoning is simple and stark: Trump’s presidency — in spirit and in deed — has given succor to bigots, supremacists, and those seeking to divide our society. He and his administration dehumanize immigrants, demonize the most vulnerable, and undermine the civility and enlightened political culture that have allowed Jews to achieve what no Diaspora community outside Israel can claim in two millennia.

What’s more, American Jews look beyond our own parochial interests, for we know that our future is inextricably tied to the welfare of others. Promoting tolerance, inclusion, and equality is non-negotiable. Defending immigrants and refugees is an inseparable part of our collective story — and my own, as a Holocaust survivor and a refugee.

We must ask ourselves: Is America stronger, more stable and more caring, than it was before Trump entered office?

For me, the answer is clear. No. I know I am not alone.

Talk to Jewish community leaders in private and read surveys of the Jewish public. After decades of progress, following successive generations of rising metrics of safety and security, Jews are filled with fear and anxiety. President Trump shoulders a good measure of the blame.

Is the president of the United States an anti-Semite?

No. But that’s not the right question.

Has his leadership lifted America? Has it made Jews feel more secure? Is he our best hope for healing our nation and addressing the twin crises of a pandemic and a reckoning with racism?

If anyone needs another reason, look beyond our borders. A stable, credible, influential, revered — and sometimes feared — America has been a force multiplier for world Jewry for decades, often in ways that are most clearly visible to those of us working behind the scenes on behalf of global Jewish causes. Remember freedom for Soviet, Ethiopian, and Syrian Jewry.

Here, too, there is no doubt in my mind that Trump’s failings of character and America’s dismal global standing have hurt Jewish interests.

It is true that Trump has made decisions that many in our community have waited for, including his decision on Jerusalem, which I support. But these decisions have come at the cost of Trump’s frontal assault on bipartisan support for Israel, and some have been clothed in deeply offensive stereotypes about Jews and their ties to the Jewish state.

Our community has an enormous stake in bipartisanship. It is the only way to combat anti-Semitism and bigotry. It is how we built a strong US-Israel alliance.

Indeed, I grew up in an America where Jews were not fully integrated and Washington’s support for Israel was wafer thin. Yet the reality is different now, in large part because leaders of conscience have cultivated and sustained the broadest possible base of support for this agenda.

Trump has damaged that necessary consensus, and we cannot permit Jews and Israel to be weaponized for anyone’s narrow political interests.

We do have reason for hope. I have known Joe Biden for many years, and I have confidence he will restore the equilibrium that has been lost. He has been an ally, and he has repeatedly pledged to aggressively fight anti-Semitism. I am confident he and Kamala Harris will not back down from confronting Israel’s enemies and detractors, even if they emerge within their own party.

I am old enough to remember a world where illiberalism ran amok and dictators held vast numbers of our brothers and sisters hostage, behind Iron Curtains and worse.

And I am old enough to recall a style of Jewish American politics that was more quietist, more hesitant, a politics of a minority too accustomed to keeping its head down.

But thankfully, American Jews left this behind — yet another reason I cannot be silent at this inflection point in history.

Nor can any of us, for the sake of our nation, our people and our world.

—

Abraham H. Foxman is director emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2020 02:04AM by changedagain.

I read recently that for someone to say “I’m not political”, is a declaration of their white privilege.

Well, I have lived a privileged life, so I guess they're right.
/s



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2020 08:33AM by changedagain.

Grew up in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Indio...close to the railroad tracks. (Adobe Road)
My parents got divorced when I was 12, and my Mom raised her 4 kids while working as a school teacher.
First summer job: McDonalds
Second summer job: working in Coachella valley vineyards assisting the grape pickers (minimum wage, 110+ degree heat).
Attended an elite liberal arts college, dropping out my junior year (with a good GPA)..while submerged in a severe bout of depression (runs in the family).
Unwittingly joined a religious cult, where I spent 21 years contributing to the 'upward flow.' One day I will write something about that experience :)

note: my college education was financed from my Mom's savings coupled with a state scholarship I received. She, of course, was dismayed that I wasted that money to follow the directives of a religious con man.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2020 09:08AM by changedagain.