Well, no one could accuse most of us of being apolitical. The cult inculcated us into a very conservative mindset, including JRS occasionally distributing material from the John Birch Society to members during church meetings. I even remember him saying from the pulpit that if George McGovern (D) was elected president in 1972, that the world would be plunged into a thousand years of dark ages. (No hyperbole there.) It was pretty easy to intuit that he believed that Republicans were the good guys and Democrats were the bad guys. Gary Hargrave has followed the tradition of promoting conservative Republican politicians. Since leaving, many of my opinions have changed dramatically. More and more, I'm starting to see cult-like tendencies in the current president and his followers. It's quite triggering.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2020 09:39AM by Reepicheep.

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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.

Well most of us were not born with a silver spoon in our mouths. Our generation was raised by survivors of WWII and the Great Depression. I would love to read your book, Changedagain. It's interesting that many of the people I know who dropped out of college to "bring in the Kingdom" are nonetheless quite well-read and very deep thinkers. It's just too bad that the cult encouraged people to forego a higher education that would have been valuable to their future. Although, some of the children of leaders in the group were not required to work in Kingdom businesses, Shiloh, and the like. They were encouraged to go to college. Interesting.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2020 10:08AM by Reepicheep.

For whatever reason, I tuned out the political propaganda that came from the pulpit while I was in the Walk/TLWF...adhering to just about everything else, however. Though I had majored in political science in college, I had never even voted until after leaving the cult in '98.

I even remember him saying from the pulpit that if George McGovern (D) was elected president in 1972, that the world would be plunged into a thousand years of dark ages.

He knew how to issue dire warnings--that's for sure.

Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> 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.

I was the same. For some reason, I sort of hedged my bet and went forward with my engineering degree while some others dropped out. It is a bit bizarre because there was often advice from the pulpit and in counseling to get an education and not drop out. I think some picked the easy route and used the JRS so-called “vision” ( and other teachings) as an excuse.

I don’t remember TLW being anti-science, anti-education, although there was some really weird stuff going on if you poked around to find it. John Bircher stuff, prepper stuff, collecting guns and ammo was all there. These sorts of things seem to vary with individual members and ministries. There seemed to be “sub-cults” within the cult.

It is a bit bizarre because there was often advice from the pulpit and in counseling to get an education and not drop out. I think some picked the easy route and used the JRS so-called “vision” ( and other teachings) as an excuse.

In my case, our local pastor...who was quickly rising up the ranks in the Walk...downplayed the importance of going to college in one of his sermons, citing the coming Kingdom. That significantly influenced my decision not to finish my education. I called my Mom not long after hearing that message to let her know I was dropping out. Her only response: "you're in a cult."
Mom was right.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2020 01:20AM by changedagain.

As we all know, cognitive dissonance is a malady of cult participation, where our experience does not reflect reality. We see this on display with a large segment of Christianity following someone who represents the exact opposite of the beliefs they espouse.

This also includes the current 'remnant', who have their eyes closed and ears covered, and still support our former 'fearless leader' down a road which will only result in eventually going over another cliff.

On a much more insidious level, I would like to highly recommend a disturbing insight into something most are probably unaware of (myself included) of another deeper level of being boiled slowly like a frog--a digital Matrix that has stunned us like a gun.

The documentary on Netflix, entitled the SOCIAL DILEMMA, deconstructs how the seemingly 'innocent' development of social media has infiltrated our mindset (individual for each) and led us into a unique experience which we view as 'reality', but is far from it. It is not a cult as we would normally define it, but the construction of a 'reality for each', where 'individualized truth' has no resemblance to the real thing.

It features most of the original programmers from Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, etc., who all realize now, they have created a monster. Just like when we were involved with TheWalk/TLW and thought that was 'reality', the digital diet we are now being fed on an individual level is something far worse.

As we are all witnessing, the polarization and disintegration of our society is not by accident. Just as in the original TERMINATOR movie, which starts out by explaining that the cyborgs became smarter than their creators, we are now living that experience in a similar scenario without even realizing it.

The algorithms have become far smarter than their creators, and know how to feed us what is NOT in our own best interests, but in the interests of both the corporations who want to capture our attention for profit, or political parties who wish to garner our allegiance while polarizing the opposition.

I cannot emphasize enough that everyone give attention to their warning. If we think we have escaped one cult, we have been drawn into another one without even realizing it.

This is the digital Matrix exposed.

[www.youtube.com]

[www.netflix.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2020 05:04PM by kBOY.

Thanks for sharing this, kBOY.

Cult Expert Calls Spiritual Group Love Has Won ‘Particularly Pernicious’


[www.yahoo.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2020 10:32PM by changedagain.

Reepicheep Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, no one could accuse most of us of being
> apolitical. The cult inculcated us into a very
> conservative mindset, including JRS occasionally
> distributing material from the John Birch Society
> to members during church meetings. I even remember
> him saying from the pulpit that if George McGovern
> (D) was elected president in 1972, that the world
> would be plunged into a thousand years of dark
> ages. (No hyperbole there.) It was pretty easy to
> intuit that he believed that Republicans were the
> good guys and Democrats were the bad guys. Gary
> Hargrave has followed the tradition of promoting
> conservative Republican politicians. Since
> leaving, many of my opinions have changed
> dramatically. More and more, *** I'm starting to see
> cult-like tendencies ***. in the current president and
> his followers. It's quite triggering.

“starting to see”? :-) Take A good open minded and honest look and ask yourself why there isn’t a forum on this board dedicated to Trumpisim. It is absolutely a cult. Check it against the cult definitions listed in these forums. I think it fits well.

The Jewel wrote:
Take A good open minded and honest look and ask yourself why there isn’t a forum on this board dedicated to Trumpism. It is absolutely a cult. Check it against the cult definitions listed in these forums. I think it fits well.

Yes

A post by 'that little red flag' from January of 2019:

Posted by: that little red flag
Date: January 29, 2019 12:19PM

Disillusioned - I hear what you are saying, there are so many good people that I continue to respect and love.

However, I would encourage you to read the moderators list of identifying cult factors. We were in a cult. We were vulnerable, thinking we were getting ourselves into a church that was "different than other churches".

I think that once I read the list I began to see that much of who I thought I was had been defined and rehearsed to me by my "shepherds". My own voice of reason on conscience was no longer there, or even allowed. Any normal course of learning about life, emotions, forming opinions, relating to everyday life occurrences had been defined and distorted by this group of people, which I now know is a cult.

I hope the following (by Rick Ross, Expert Consultant and Intervention Specialist) brings some light.

Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader.

- Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
- No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
- No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
- Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
- There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
- Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
- There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
- Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
- The group/leader is always right.
- The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.

Ten signs of a safe group/leader.

- A safe group/leader will answer your questions without becoming judgmental and punitive.
- A safe group/leader will disclose information such as finances and often offer an independently audited financial statement regarding budget and expenses. Safe groups and leaders will tell you more than you want to know.
- A safe group/leader is often democratic, sharing decision making and encouraging accountability and oversight.
- A safe group/leader may have disgruntled former followers, but will not vilify, excommunicate and forbid others from associating with them.
- A safe group/leader will not have a paper trail of overwhelmingly negative records, books, articles and statements about them.
- A safe group/leader will encourage family communication, community interaction and existing friendships and not feel threatened.
- A safe group/leader will recognize reasonable boundaries and limitations when dealing with others.
- A safe group/leader will encourage critical thinking, individual autonomy and feelings of self-esteem.
- A safe group/leader will admit failings and mistakes and accept constructive criticism and advice.
- A safe group/leader will not be the only source of knowledge and learning excluding everyone else, but value dialogue and the free exchange of ideas.