In Reply to: Re: From the inside posted by J.L. on November 23, 2009 at 16:18:03:
Interesting questions.
As you read, there are may perspectives about The Family, its leadership, its structure, its rules, its practices, etc. We have been there, and have been there at many levels of leadership, we know how things are and what goes on there. Things have changed, and are changing, yes, but that is not the issue. Actually, the issue is that there are many issues. How do you fix a boat that has many holes?
If you have ever been in a wooden boat you know that there is always water at first but as the wood gets wet it expands and water stops coming in. But boats tend to have water but The Family has many holes and the leadership was never able to see the difference between water in the boat because it was newly launched, or because the structure was in terrible shape.
I will not go any further to not confuse issues but right now (take it from an old sailor) the boat should be in a dry port to get fixed instead of just patching it up here and there at sea.
Consider what you say about "member satisfaction", what about the dissatisfaction of those who were members and left? That will be important to consider. Think about it.
Yes, your questions are intelligent but would need to be re-framed outside of the Family mindset, made critical as in a real audit to correct things and not as these changes suggest, having a vested interest in demonstrating only one type of result.
Yes, TF is getting to be an "advanced and evolved" organization and uses many modern tools to pursue their goals, but what are those goals? There are many similar organizations that run circles on established governments, but they are not a positive influence in the world. I am sure you can think of many groups that fit this description. What kind of organization is The Family? One without critical thinking and real self-examination?
If the organization is bringing positive change in the world, in its members, and in the network of people they influence, it will have my support just as I gave it for so many years with my own life, with my own blood, sweat and tears.
I am sorry I cannot tell you my thoughts about how it is "now" because of what I said in my first paragraph. We come from many levels of involvement, leadership and participation in The Family. We know how things work. We know, for instance, that many of these changes had already been taking place for years among members in the inner circles and only now they are being phased out to all members. We know that some are "more equal than others" and receive better perks.
So, you tell us, what are the substantive changes that are taking place? You (meaning The Family leadership) still don't trust the general membership. You have become a church just like those Berg and we used to blast. The system may be different, but not so much different.
In many cases The Family system is worse than the world system we used to scream against and chose to separate ourselves from. The leadership acting as boat captain wants the sailors to remain in the boat while the boat is sinking due to the holes. And where is the captain? the leadership? when they are giving this type of instructions?
Some of us know they are only patching holes, even if member satisfaction is high.
Let me say you something, I was a satisfied member for all the very many years I stayed there. I voted with my feet. All of us were satisfied to the point of leaving our life behind to join The Family. All of us we satisfied to the point of forsaking all not only once to join but all through the time we were in The Family. We gave all we received with a smile and complete trust. We didn't save anything in some back account in Switzerland for some future time, we gave it all, and we were satisfied and we were happy.
Do you think that learning what is making people leave is important? Do you think The Family has it figured it out? Or do you think there may be other reasons not discovered yet and that are more inherent to the individuality of humans? Or is that yet a Plan C, or a Plan D, for later generations?