QuoteWell Zeuszor...from all your posts, I'm assuming that Counselor and the other ex-members never told you EVERYTHING and informed you of what was missing in the book. Ask them. What will it take for me to persuade you to realize the book is missing information? Well, the book was not meant to be a compendium of everything that ever happened at Trinity Foundation. It was Wendy telling h
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteHmm...I've been here for almost as long as you. BUT I've been here for the last seven years...You haven't. You also have NO idea what has happened nor what people are like in these last seven years. So...I won't give you names of people that may have been here for the last 3 years? 4 years? What? Tell you what...I know people that were here and worked for the Magazine
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteWhats funny is that people are forgetting that I did indeed leave Trinity and was actually part of the original group of ex-members. I think you are the main one who is forgetting that, cherenuff1. You keep saying you have been at Trinity for 15 years, but really it has been less time than that if you subtract the time you’ve been gone. That does not invalidate your experience, but I thin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotecherenuff1Ok...my husband has informed me that I'm spending WAAYYY to much time on this. I even started to call and interview people..LOL but he wants me to stop or I can forget about some Christmas ideas I wanted to do. My friends think I should stop (Trinity and non Trinity) before it becomes an obssession to me like it was to others. I'm stopping. Everyone has their own op
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteLet me ask them. Some of them were here for years, some for months, some just visited. You can skip the ones who just visited. I was there for 20 years, remember? I don't think I am going to be impressed by anyone who just visited the place and thought it was neat. But if there are people who spent time there and were legitimately involved and who do not think it is a cult, I would
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Michelle, In response to your long justification of Trinity, it feels a bit tedious to go through point by point. I think it would tend to have a he said/she said quality, so instead I will try to respond in a more general way. Of course you do not think Trinity fits the criteria of a cult. I assume if you thought that, you wouldn’t be there. I did not think it fit the criteria either whi
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I don't want to defend zeuszor's use of marijuana--I do not condone it and he knows how I feel. However, I want to make two points: 1. This is another ad hominem attack. You are dismissing zeuszor as a credible person rather than dealing with any of the points he makes. 2. His heaviest use was back in the time at the beginning of this thread when he was actually defending Trin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteI take this back. After much thought and reflection, I WILL NOT add anything else to the book. You may personally ask the ex-members, but I won't hurt them by bringing up the hidden truths. I just can't morally and spiritual hurt any of them even to discredit the book. Good. I think we can talk about the book and debate its validity in a civil way. I am perfectly open to the fa
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quote2. Of course, I have been discredited quite a bit of times. Apparantly, according to you and Zeuszor, I cannot fully and logically discuss Trinity because I have been on "the fringe" of the group. Even though I have been apart ofr 15+ years, since I disagree with the points of view that you and Zeuszor have made, I must then be "on the fringe/outskirts/etc.". Isn'
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteWell of course not...she couldn't very well likely sell a book about a Dallas cult if she had actually tried to reach and interview non-disgruntled members? We did not make a distinction or purposely seek out people we knew were disgruntled. We just interviewed all the former members we could find and (surprise!) they all had mostly critical things to say. I would be happy to talk
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteEr....I know of about 30 other members that don't feel the way you and these small handful of disgruntled members feel I would sure like to know who some of those people are. Feel free to email me their names on my private email (I don't want you to violate anyone's privacy), or, if you prefer, just give them my email address. I would love to dialogue with them.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteOf course you're disappointed in him...he refuses to take your side. Very ironic that you were all smiles and approval when he agreed with some parts of your spiel but when he disagreed you have turned away from him. I've told him that this is an anti-Trinity forum and that it is far from unbiased. No, I have not "turned away" from Nathan, and I hope he continues to pos
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteIf you want to say that the book is truth then add the OTHER reason why your first wife left you... That is so below the belt and so ad hominem I should not bother responding to it, but to set the record straight: 1. You do not even know my ex-wife. We were divorced before you even came to Trinity. 2. The only way you could know anything about our relationship is through something
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

One thing I would like to see NathanA--or any current member of Trinity--address is the question I keep raising over and over and over again. Why is it nearly unanimous among the former members that Trinity is a cult? Can anyone name me any other group that is true of that is not really a cult? As I said from the very beginning of this thread, Wendy's book is not just us in isolation as
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteAs you can see, most people on this forum are ex-Trinity members who are disgruntled and claim that Trinity is a cult. And, the one giant question in the universe that neither you nor anyone at Trinity (including their designated spokesman, John "Grima Wormtongue" R) wants to address is, "WHY DO PRACTICALLY ALL OF THE FORMER MEMBERS OF TRINITY FOUNDATION THINK IT'S A CU
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteNathanAMarion, As you can see, most people on this forum are ex-Trinity members who are disgruntled and claim that Trinity is a cult. I and one other Trinity member are the only people on this forum who have disagreed, the moderator of this forum has also questioned the accusations made here. I counsel you to talk to people on both sides of this issue, those who are current members of TFI
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteMarionThanks to both of you for the kind answer :) Can anyone else add something? I have never come across a cult leader, at least not that I know, but these type of folks seem to have what we call CHARISMA... Now this where it always gets complicated for me to understand! I can imagine someone like Ole being a good teacher, but why do all these women seem to be in love with h
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteMarionHello everyone! It seems that my cousin is in this Trinity cult... but I am not 100% sure... it is a kind of taboo topic in my family so I can't directly find out, but from what I hear on this forum I suspect the worst. I have ordered the book "I can't hear god anymore" to get some answers, altough I haven't received it yet. May I ask you, since it seems
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteNathanAThanks cultaware for your words. I actually have not asked Gary about how sufficient the accountability structure is. Good questions though. All I know is they say there is a basic 7 man board of elders, and that they have put down a few of Ole's ideas before.(ie. bringing homeless people to a large church and calling in a few news cameras) True, Ole is the leader, but the struct
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteNathanAOne other thing I would like to clarify about Doug saying he saw Ole threaten to crush a man's larnyx. I said, "Truth is, I suspect it." I just want to say that I'm not sure about it. I'm not comfortable saying "I suspect it." I just don't know. I did not personally witness the incident when Ole grabbed the man's throat, but enough people
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteNathanASo what's your interest in Trinity, Seeking? It seems like you had your position set when you first started posting. In that you judge another you are guilty of the same thing, Nathan.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotezeuszor(Just posted on the Dallas Observer- Letters to the Editor) Just as Rotten Alpha Ole: There is no doubt that the Trinity Foundation is a cult ("The Cult of Ole," by Glenna Whitley, August 3). Cults are characterized by a charismatic leader who intrudes on the personal lives of others, discourages and systematically denigrates and destroys critical thinking, destroys bo
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

As for the the abuse claims, I liken it to Jesus saying "let the dead bury the dead" to a man whose father passed away. Yes from one perspective you could say that was verbally abusive and completly hurtful. It was the truth God spoke though. I believe that is the kind of thing you are labelling as abuse. If that’s all it was, it would not be abuse. Ole once grabbed a man by the thr
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteNathanAThe only thing he does in those interviews is challenge people to search truth out for themselves. Your accusations are complete nonsense to me Brian. I find it very hard to take you seriously. Nathan, You dismiss the things we are saying wholesale, without responding to the specific points anyone is making. Believe me, I understand that Ole is a persuasive teacher and that what
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Michelle, In response to your long justification of Trinity, it feels a bit tedious to go through point by point. I think it would tend to have a he said/she said quality, so instead I will try to respond in a more general way. Of course you do not think Trinity fits the criteria of a cult. I assume if you thought that, you wouldn’t be there. I did not think it fit the criteria either while
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteNathanAOkay, I feel I should communicate clearly what i mean when I said that I question if Wendy knows the Jesus who came to give his life a ransom for many. I cannot of course speak of salvation, but I mean that she does not seem to believe in a Jesus who demands that your life be a sacrifice without condition. That you can't nurse your victimhood or justify selfish anger. That is no
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotezeuszorhad a professor in college who was friends with Ole and would tell us stories. Who was that?
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotezeuszorNext question: on page 162, Wendy describes she and Doug's disagreements about whether TFI met nine of the ten listed criteria, or all ten. Which one of the ten were you in disagreement over? I did not feel at that time that Trinity Foundation met the requirement of being legalistic--though clearly they were authoritarian. I have since revised my view.
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuotezeuszorWe were originally meeting together over something unrelated and I brought up the subject of Doug and Wendy and the book. He remembered Wendy that day all right...how she never really understood the doctrine nor wanted to be with TFI in the first place, how she'd always whine about protecting peoples self esteem (I can hear now the way Ole said in a sinssongy voice "self-es
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Quotemjr40Political scientists generally define 'ultra left-wing' as those who espouse Maoist-type governance, which involves cultic activities similar to the Cultural Revolution. Air America radio does not espouse such activities. Fair enough. I should have just said, "left wing." But, as long as we're being reasonable here, it is ridiculous to imply that First Thin
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"