|
In Reply to: Clarifications for readers new to Smioley, etc posted by OT2 on May 04, 2006 at 11:27:19:
PART II Texas Ray’s response to Tim Peters 15 June 2002:
http://www.newdaynews.com/crossfire/index.cgi/read/24270
NewDayNews Crossfire
Hi Tim Glad to see you here
Posted By: Texas Ray
Date: Saturday, 15 June 2002, at 4:54 p.m.
In Response To: For the record (Tim Peters)
Believe it or not I had this post all prepared before even signing on tonight. Although it may be somewhat redundant it also fills in a few gaps you left out (like my second letter to you).
My comments at the end are now inappropriate in view of your response but I leave them in place and I still mean them. Think about it.
This is the verbatum transcript of my correspondence with Timothy Peters.
see my comments after the three letters
Dear Timothy
I was very impressed with the interview on CWA.
I believe that you are indeed doing a good work with your ton a month project.
I myself spent several months in Seoul and Pussan in the 1980s (in the family).
I left the family in 1988 in Japan (in total disgust).
More recent events have only deepened and expanded that disgust.
I know that there are many sweet and sincere people caught up in the family.
However because the "family" in general has had such horribly bad fruit, stemming from horrible evil doctrines, I consider it to be an evil tree that must be rooted up and hewn down.
Therefore I intend to expose your link with it in every way possible in order to ensure that donations intended to help the poor are not diverted by FCF and/or yourself from your humanitarian project into family use.
Even FCF's 10% is too much for my taste. Why should sincere people tithe to the family without knowing it.
I would advise you to become what you claimed to be in the interview. "Independant tentmaking christian missionaries" and a "mom and dad" organization. I realize this may be largely true even now. But as long as you retain any vestige of family affiliation I'm afraid that I must consider you as being in the enemy's camp. As family members you are perpetuating an abusive cult whether or not you are directly involved in such abuse yourselves.
If you will send me an e-letter stating your rejection of heretical "family" doctrines, specifically the "law of love", "one wife" "LJR", "posession" "spirit helpers" and the divine inspiration of David Berg and Karen Zerby, I will take no action other than to publish that letter on several family oriented discussion boards.
If you do not send me such a letter I will have no choice but to contact the media mentioned on your site and inform them of the true nature of FWF and your own ministry. I do not wish to interfere with your work but the "non existent" family of love/COG or whatever other alias they go by now is an evil that must be pursued and exposed wherever it shows its head.
Sincerely,
Texas Ray
Tim's response:
Texas Ray
As a general rule I don't answer mail from individuals who fail to identify themselves.Your letter that began so cordially rapidly slid into what can only be described as an unexpected and very ugly threat. I do not know who you are and you apparently do not have the courage to fully reveal yourself. Further, you seem to have no idea who I am.
Although the tone and substance of your letter don't merit further response, nevertheless, I will state the following for the sake of the people I'm attempting to help: I am a tentmaker lay missionary who has supported his family with a modest day job for years and moonlights as an NGO volunteer that works to feed the hungry and attempts to rescue the persecuted and downtrodden in very dangerous circumstances.
After considerable research into other foundations, I have found that the 10% that the Family Care Foundation uses for its administrative expenses is considered frugal by any measure. Your other comments on this point were confusing and made no sense to me.
Because you do not know me personally, therefore you could have no idea whatsoever about my spiritual journey as a Christian and the current state of my religious convictions and affiliations. I fail to see how it concerns you.
Again, I am forced to say that your presumptuous intrusion into my life and charitable labors is unwarranted and distasteful. I'm reminded of what the Apostle Paul said: "One thing have I desired to know among you, Christ Jesus, and Him crucified."
This, though, I will gladly share with you or anyone: when I stand before the Almighty at the end of my life, one & only one thing will be my plea as a mortal man: the blood of Christ has washed my soul and in this alone I can have boldness at the seat of God's mercy. Do you, Texas Ray, embrace this sacred principle that eclipses all others? If so, let me further encourage you to reflect upon a very valuable guideline before seeking to undermine or destroy a man's lifelong work for Jesus Christ & his fellow man, as you have openly declared today in your email that you wish to do to mine: "If this thing is not of God, it will come to naught. If it is of God, no man can stand against it." and if I'm not mistaken, the passage goes on to say, "Beware lest you be found to fight against God."
May I encourage you to find your own peace with God and come to terms with anything that's unresolved in your soul. It goes without saying that it is a grave thing to attack a brother in Christ, about whom you know nothing. Please consider this deeply before you do it.
Tim Peters
my second letter:
Dear Tim
First let me say that it's true; I assumed you to be a member of the cult known as "the family" aka "children of God" aka "family of love" because you are associated with FCF which was created by and for that cult, and because your name resembles that cults practice of using "Bible names" to hide their real identities for legal reasons.
If that is not the case then I apologize for the assumption.
But I also suggest you cut your ties with FCF because you are supporting that cult by your tithe and you will constantly be considered by others to be associated with them.
If you are indeed a member of the "family" then don't bother trying to justify yourself. I know exactly what it entails. Others (not me) have already notified the concerned media of the link between FCF and the family. As I pretty much said in my first letter I do not wish to interfere with your ministry in Korea unless you do in fact represent "the family". If you do not, then I wish you only the best.
However, because of the known link between FCF and the family, and because in your letter you did not actually deny such membership, in order to convince me that you are not involved with that cult, I would ask you to respond directly to these points.
-Declare that you are not a member of "the Family".
-Declare that you do not believe that the leaders of the family (David Berg, Karen Zerby, and others) are/were "God's annointed prophets" and you do not accept their published works as being "God's word for today".
If, as you seem to be saying, you are not aware of this group, its doctrines and its links to FCF then I suggest you do some research right away.
If you are a member of that group then you must accept that others (many others) will do everything in their power to ensure that the world knows who and what you represent.
Sincerely, Texas Ray
My comments about it all:
I admit that I came on pretty heavy initially.
However, when dealing with the family, I have learned that anything else will just lead to an exchange of false platitudes and a lot of hot air. (take maria's so called apologies for example)
My intention was not really so much to threaten as to provoke a reaction in order to find out where he is coming from.
I do believe he is sincere, (as are many family members) and that he probably is not an ardent supporter of the family's wierd doctrines. Very likely his association with the family is limited to his tithe and reading and disregarding the letters.
Nonetheless, as a nationally publicized "good work" of FCF, the publicity would serve to reinforce the pretense that FCF is a charitable organization doing all sorts of good things all over the world (when in fact FCF taxes 10% of the donations and uses the publicity to provide a luxury lifestyle for a few family leaders). Sincere people (and even corporations) are being duped into supporting not Tim but FCF, believing that it is a good cause.
FCF is using Tim's interview to appeal for donations. While some donations might be earmarked for Tim, most would be just given to FCF and there is big money in tax-free donations. If the FCF scam is not exposed and they are allowed to develop a glossed over "charitable good works" image, the money will come rolling in. Corporations and rich donors will give what would otherwise just go to taxes thinking they are helping an international charitable organization, when in fact they are simply supporting the family (and in particular a few big shot leaders like Maria and Grant).
If we are serious about wanting to see the end of the family and it's abuses, the key is in exposing and thereby disactivating its fund raising mechanisms, so that they will be driven to allow members to get jobs for support. Financial independence is the key to leaving the family.
Maria's demonic "Possession" jesus (no capital for that one) will lose his power once folks taste a bit of freedom. The only thing holding the SGAs in the family is that they are so cut off from the world that they don't know how to break free.
For their sakes I encourage everyone to work toward exposing all family money making schemes now.
You are not hurting individuals in doing so. Any project that supports the family in any way is doing more harm than good.
Timothy might feel his ministry is being destroyed, but as he himself said in his testimony there are many Christian groups doing more or less the same thing. Anyone who wants to give to help feed the North Koreans is not going to be deprived of the chance. Tim's own personal income is from his "tentmaking" job so that he is not being hurt in any way. The only real difference is that the family won't get a 10% cut of the donations, and more importantly, it won't get the publicity allowing it to pretend to be a bona-fide charitable organization.
To Timothy, (I'm pretty sure you're reading this)
I'm sure you are a great guy and a dedicated Christian. You're just in the wrong camp.
We were all there once too. And one day we all had to admit that we had been duped. There's no shame in realizing this, the shame is in refusing to see it. Do some research here on this board and at ex-cog and others to see why we have taken such a stand. I'm sure the Lord has been trying to show you the truth for a long time. But like all of us you fought it thinking it was "doubts".
Read the Lord Justice Ward's report and the testimonies by Mercy, Mene, Davidito, Watchman and others. Then ask the Lord if the family is really God's movement.
It's a hard pill to swallow to realize that years of your life have been thrown away following a false shepherd who led thousands of sincere young people not to God, but into sin, perversion and abuse. It's hard, but it's the first step towards getting delivered from such horrible strong delusion.
We're here to help.
with love,
Texas Ray
_________________________________________________
Sincerely, OT2 (OldtimerToo)
PS. Please see my religious/Christian comment to Tim Peters (very BRIEF!) on Journeys.
