What? I wasn't aware of that.

Onion wrote;
Also evidenced by Rick's appointment to the Boards of Directors and commissioned oversight in L.A. especially regarding the schools where Rick had the authority to decide the amount of wages paid to teachers,

This looks interesting. The title will be released in a few days:

The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out) Hardcover – January 16, 2024


[www.simonandschuster.com]

Changed wrote:

Onion wrote;
Also evidenced by Rick's appointment to the Boards of Directors and commissioned oversight in L.A. especially regarding the schools where Rick had the authority to decide the amount of wages paid to teachers,

OMG! What could go wrong with that arrangement? A serial abuser in a position of authority over the school, the teachers, and teacher's wages. SMH 'till it just about falls off.

This sentiment certainly applies as we head into this year. Perhaps I should just add something like 'good luck.' :)

Posted by: changedagain
Date: January 05, 2021 11:54AM

I think the many contributors to this forum through the years have done their best to facilitate healing, by (in part) sharing their personal experiences in TLWF...and revealing what paths they have took to improve their lives. But as a survivor bluntly posted just recently in the FD group on Facebook, "it's hard to "unf*ck" it all." That's certainly true. Anyway, here's to more progress, incremental as it may be, toward a healthy mental & emotional state in 2021. Be kind to yourselves.

Do you think Taylor Swift is a channel of Satan?

I really haven't given it much thought. Is this something I should be focusing on?

Yes

O.K. I'll put everything else aside, and make this top priority. I probably won't have time to help with that project at your house, though.

What?

I think you heard me.

#NewPriority
/s

A few posts from a long time ago:

Posted by: changedagain
Date: April 13, 2010 08:06AM

Amos wrote:
the problem is that the yardstick we used to measure change was given to us by people who forgot to use it on themselves first.

The default mode (post-John) was to blame the people for things not working out. The "word" and directives were never the problem, of course. Nor was the fact that all the real power (decision-making) in the organization was vested in just a couple people...resulting in a suffocating, fear-based environment. Again, something I do not miss.

Posted by: changedagain
Date: March 02, 2011 10:01PM

paleface wrote:
It is often taught that if you learned to think like the leader (MH) you would have her thinking, and that
her thinking was God's thinking. She was the "Lamp of Israel" and was the incarnation of Christ on the earth.

I remember it being said often, in the 70's, that you really couldn't understand the scriptures without John's word. And then at some point it became you couldn't really understand John's word without Marilyn's thinking...and then, of course, came the transition into the era of designated relationships where people basically lost all confidence to connect to God directly--often just doing whatever they were told to do....playing it safe, staying out of trouble, trying to get closer to leadership.
Interestingly, prior to John's death, much of his teaching centered on relationships, the "family spirit", and included warnings about the tendency of authorities to want to control those under them...rather than allowing change to come to people organically. Somehow that concept got lost, or perhaps just buried.
Oh well. People with power, and no real accountability, will do what they do...I think somewhere in the scriptures there is a statement about there being nothing new under the sun.

Mike

p.s. I realize this comment is unauthorized, but I'm posting it anyway.

Posted by: paleface
Date: March 24, 2011 08:28AM

Gary has recently admitted over the pulpit "Some mistakes have been made in the past. We are not perfect.". But that's about the extent of it. You don't get any details about what he is referring to and there is no indication of repentence of corrections to the sources of the mistakes.....unless blame was placed on a person and that person was removed from leadship. And, I guess it is easy to fault JRS and claim "His big error was not opening up to Marilyn all the way". The hint is that John missed the mark here. Was that the "big mistake" ? I don't think so.

But what I find disturbing is apparently no discussion about words that were brought that appear to have been flawed. No discussion about "Satan being brought down by John"....or... "The Kingdom is coming in 1979". No revision of unfullfilled prophecy. It's as if these words from JRS and G&M stand true and are 100% perfect. Nothing is revised or edited as it stands up in the face of time and what has transpired. And, like you said, if you question this, you are regarding in the fellowship as someone with a "critical spirit" and thus being a vessel of witchcraft.

I'm sorry, but the words and theology are just as imperfect as the vessles that speak them.

Posted by: changedagain
Date: April 04, 2011 03:55PM

paleface wrote:
I guess it is easy to fault JRS and claim "His big error was not opening up to Marilyn all the way". The hint is that John missed the mark here. Was that the "big mistake" ? I don't think so.

Yeah...specifically, I don't think John's big problem during the time period he was having an affair was not being open to another woman, also not his wife.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2024 01:32AM by changedagain.

This is political in nature, so I won't be too upset if the moderator removes it.
My response will likely just be limited to throwing some food against a wall, and perhaps tweeting something threatening that I hope my three twitter followers see.
Actually, I'm pretty sure one of them is a bot, so make that two followers.

PBS News Hour:

[bit.ly]

Came across this last night (below). It's recognizable because of what many of us experienced in the living word cult. Families torn apart over the issue of whether or not to serve a cult leader--who, of course, was presented falsely as an instrument of God, basically a savior for our country:

@dutchessprim

Confessions of a MAGA kid.
It’s long but I know I’m not alone here.

My dad is under educated but extremely smart.

My mom is highly educated but naive.

When they both fell into MAGA the family thought it was a phase but they haven’t let up. When they got covid they took hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

It was then we knew we lost them but here’s the kicker.

My mom steers the ship, always has, and my dad followed her right off the crazy train cliff.

Not once did they see it was MAGA that was destroying our family. Not once did they step back and say “maybe we’re the problem”. Instead the two of them became martyrs for MAGA.

I’ve lost all respect for my parents but I still love them dearly. I dream of the day one of them wakes up and realizes they’ve been worshiping at an alter built with hate and ignorance. Until then, I’m left self orphaning myself because I can’t live in a world where they dive into delusion and everyone just has to accept it.

MAGA proclaims to be the party of “real American family values” but all it does is rip families to shreds.

My story isn’t unique and if you’re in this hellscape of a boat too, you’re not alone.
_______________________________________________________________________________

note: the moderator can obviously remove this post, given it can be considered incendiary in nature (though true), and relates to our country's highly polarized political situation. After this post, I promise to no longer address this specific topic.

p.s. Slava Ukraine!

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Came across this last night (below). It's
> recognizable because of what many of us
> experienced in the living word cult. Families torn
> apart over the issue of whether or not to serve a
> cult leader--who, of course, was presented falsely
> as an instrument of God, basically a savior for
> our country:
>
> @dutchessprim
>
> Confessions of a MAGA kid.
> It’s long but I know I’m not alone here.
>
> My dad is under educated but extremely smart.
>
> My mom is highly educated but naive.
>
> When they both fell into MAGA the family thought
> it was a phase but they haven’t let up. When they
> got covid they took hydroxychloroquine and
> ivermectin.
>
> It was then we knew we lost them but here’s the
> kicker.
>
> My mom steers the ship, always has, and my dad
> followed her right off the crazy train cliff.
>
> Not once did they see it was MAGA that was
> destroying our family. Not once did they step back
> and say “maybe we’re the problem”. Instead the two
> of them became martyrs for MAGA.
>
> I’ve lost all respect for my parents but I still
> love them dearly. I dream of the day one of them
> wakes up and realizes they’ve been worshiping at
> an alter built with hate and ignorance. Until
> then, I’m left self orphaning myself because I
> can’t live in a world where they dive into
> delusion and everyone just has to accept it.
>
> MAGA proclaims to be the party of “real American
> family values” but all it does is rip families to
> shreds.
>
> My story isn’t unique and if you’re in this
> hellscape of a boat too, you’re not alone.
> _______________________________________________________________________________
>
> note: the moderator can obviously
> remove this post, given it can be considered
> incendiary in nature (though true), and relates to
> our country's highly polarized political
> situation. After this post, I promise to no longer
> address this specific topic.
>
> p.s. Slava Ukraine!

‘‘Tis a forum about cults, after all. You won’t have to look too hard to find people who feel that MAGA is a cult as much as TLW. It would be interesting to take a look at JRS not as a cult leader but as a religious demagogue and compere traits and characteristics to the political demagogue driving the MAGA movement. There are a lot of similarities.


Back in the day (70s) when I first got involved at Coniah, there were a lot of people tied in with John Birch Society teaching, Right Wing propaganda, Illuminati conspiracy theories, etc. you didn’t have ti dig too deep to find some really screwball stuff. MAGA is the same demegogary, just replace Illuminati with deep state and communists with immigrants.

The Cult of Trump

[culteducation.com]